Ben-88Comanche

I just got discharged from the Navy during boot camp, even though i had a waiver once i got there they Xrayed my foot and saw the pins in it and gave me a RE-4 convenience of government discharge. I was pretty pissed because my recruiter said it would be fine, and i didnt lie about it or anything, did all the right paperwork. I was in as EOD But wasnt in a SEAL division for some reason, had a SWCC and 2 divers in my division with me and we got up early and went to the special ops physical training. I'm hoping i can get my code changed and join the army special forces. But good luck! Navy boot camp wasnt very physically hard, more just getting yelled at 24/7.

Well i changed the filter with a purolator from Advanced auto (buy 1 get 1 free :bowdown: :bowdown: ) and now the oil pressure is better, it doesnt drop below around 20 ever but still seems kindof low. One of my buddies at college has a mechanical oil pressure gauge so i didnt buy one (kind of low on cash :dunno: ) so i should be able to see how it is in a few days but the engine noise has pretty much stopped, once and a while I can still hear a little ticking though :doh:

I was hoping to get an answer like that :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: I am using a FRAM filter, what kind should I switch to?

Oil pump pickup, what part is that? I had the oil pump out when i was doing the rear main seal less then a month ago, no visible wear, if that makes any difference and ive heard people talking about that seafoam stuff, what is it supposed to do?

alright so i did some searching but still haven't found any problems like this I have an 88 MJ, 4.0 150k miles automatic 4x4, When i first start driving, my oil pressure stays around 40, when i gas it it goes up more, when i ease off it goes down but after around 20 minutes of driving, it will go down where it hovers at around 20, when i floor it it barely goes above 20, maybe like 25, and when i come to a stop at around 1k rpm, it drops to zero. After the pressure initially drops from 40, you can hear noises coming out of the engine, like a ping noise and the sound of not being lubricated I think, but I'm no expert. If you shut the truck off and start it without waiting probably over 2 hours, it won't return to the 40 psi, itll stay low. I don't have a mechanical oil pressure gauge, but I'm thinking ill get one tomarrow to see if the gauge is correct, but anyone have any idea whats wrong? from what ive read i would think its the oil pump Reluctant to do that unless absolutely sure since i just changed the rear main seal and the oil pan is a pain in the @$$ to take off and put back on :doh: But if anyone has had this problem or has any insight, it would be appreciated :cheers:

alright i removed the connectors on the sway bar, don't think that got me any more room tried the screw jack thing, pushes axle down a little, but i don't think itll be enough (havent tried yet, took the time not knowing what to do to paint the oil pan, waiting on it to dry now) Still lookin for some sort of miracle that will save me from having to drop the axle, the bolts look pretty stuck in there :roll:

oh yea starters long gone, my bad. very intruigued by the screw jack idea, was trying to think of something to push down on the axle with, that just might work!

lol thanks for the responses, and yea all those writeups seem to leave quite a few detailts out :cry: Ill pop the tierods out tomarrow and see if that helps, and just keep moving down the list of things to remove i guess

Hey guys, quick question if any of you changed your rear main seal/oil pan gaskets, (on a 4.0 automatic 4x4) did you have trouble getting the pan on/off? After breaking it loose from the engine block, and it was hanging freely, it took me around 2 hours of moving it around with another person to get it off. Now today i was going to put it back on, tried for about 4 hours, again with another person, couldnt manuever it past the axle to get it on the truck. In all the writeups and manuals, nobody mentions this as being the hard part, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if the fact that its a 4x4 automatic (adding cooler lines and vacuum lines into the equation) is what is making it harder? is there some other way to drop the axle? so far ive already removed.. -tires -skid plate -view cover on bell housing -oil pump -steering bolt -shocks and i can't seem to get quite enough clearance, its close, but not close enough Also this is just trying to get the pan on without the gasket, with that it will be even harder, so if anyone has any helpful advice that would be greatly appreciated =] Or if nobody else is having this problem and theres just somethin messed up with my MJ, if anyone knows a way to make the front axle sag more besides taking the tires off and unbolting the shocks, that would also help

Ok, battery terminals were fine, but i cleaned them anyways this time when i went outside it started before and after the cleaning and sry for the confusion. You can hear the fuel pump but no turning over when it didnt start. just a click. nothing else

thanks for responses I'm gonna go clean the terminals now, then hope it starts for the next few days XD

Ok, so this morning i was late for finals, ran outside, got in the truck, put the key in, no start. fuel pumped was good, could hear it. Made no attempt to start. Tried a few more times, didnt work, popped the hood, cursed a lot, got back in, and it started. I am assuming the connection on the starter needs to be cleaned or something? Leaving school it did it again, tried starting twice, nothing, third time started right up. Anyone else have advice?

Your a pretty ambitious dude thats a good sized list of stuff. I'm graduating high school soon too, joining the navy nuclear power program, see where that takes me. After the schooling you can become an officer and void that contract for a new one, so I might end up doing that. Its gonna be sad though I don't want the MJ to sit there and rust up while I'm gone, so i'm going to have to sell it.

if you have fuseable links, check them. One of mine was bad and when you turnedf the key to run it would die, but maybe yours is just a weak connection or something? pull on them to see if they come apart, if it stretches, replace it

So that little oil leak that existed when i bought the truck has slowly become a leak that would probably take a quart a week. Figure its time to change the rear main seal and oil pan gasket, as I already changed the valve cover gasket and I'm pretty positive its the rear main (150k miles). I have read lots of threads about changing it and remember someone said 1- make sure you get mopar seals 2-get oil pan gasket for xj 1996+ with the one piece oil pan gasket (not sure of exact year somewhere around 96' anything else I should have in mind? ill probably buy/order the parts this weekend then change it next weekend Thanks in advance o btw my truck is a 88 4.0 4wd automatic shortbed i think i forgot to put that in