Jump to content

Oil is everywhere


Recommended Posts

Any ideas??

 

Picked up another MJ last weekend, its an '88 MJ, 2wd 4.0 220K miles . Drove it home on the interstate about 1.5 hours at 65 mph, rode and drove great, but slowly got warm on the temp gauge.

 

Problem # 1

Parked in the street when I got home and the resevoir(sp) started boiling over. Haven't really had the time to check, but am assuming termostat, radiator, or losing pressure somewhere...... correct??

 

Problem # 2

There is oil everywhere under the truck..... it is dripping from the crossmember under the tranny, it is all over underneath the tranny and the back part of the engine and now all over the driveway..... seems to me like a bunch of oil. Would a RMS cause this much oil??

 

Thanks for any imput!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought I had a bad RMS once and it turned out to be the three orings on the oil filter adapter. When I took the bolt that holds it on off the rings were shot. $1.37 later and my problem was fixed. Bad part is that I replaced the RMS before I found out this was my problem.

 

I doubt its blow - by, but when I had blow- by it leaked down in the frame and came out of the holes by the tranny crossmember...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just for thought - The '88 I DD, when I got it 1-1/2 years ago, with 81K on the clock, it leaked oil in every direction, from every where :eek:

 

My thought was this, the truck is 20 years old, the seals have got to be dry rotted, worn out and I started on the front, and went thru every thing, and replaced every seal on the thing, one of my worst oil leaks was a "slice" in the oil pan, so - new oil pan, and rubber gasket. All axle seals, input/output shafts on the trans and transfer case, also I replaced the axle bearings front and rear, and now, NO oil leaks.

 

I know this is extreme, you might have one bad seal causing your problem, but I've read here many times "changed this seal, still leaking", so I just went full bore and did everything at once. Other things were checked and replaced in the process also.

 

The best thing is to "degrease" your underside, and then check where the worst leak is coming from and work from there, or go extreme and ......Well, read above :D

 

As far as your boiling over, I would guest the radiator is partitaly pulged, the thermostat would cause it to run Hot all of the time, again, it's 20 years old, look close at the bottom of the fins to see any corrosion. The pressure bottle /cap could be bad also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought my XJ had a RMS leak...but it was the valve cover gasket. It leaks from the rear of the cover, and leaks down to the bottom of the engine. See if those bolts are loose, and if they are...tighten them up a little (not too much, because that CAN destroy a gasket) and see if that slows the leak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought my XJ had a RMS leak...but it was the valve cover gasket. It leaks from the rear of the cover, and leaks down to the bottom of the engine. See if those bolts are loose, and if they are...tighten them up a little (not too much, because that CAN destroy a gasket) and see if that slows the leak.

 

X2,m same thing. Use a 1/4" ratchet w. a 10mm (if I remember correctly) socket, and just "snug" them up. Cured my leak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would a RMS cause this much oil??

Yes, absolutely.

 

Been there, done that. I drove an older XJ across the country, leaving a trail of oil behind me. Connecticut to Montana, about 2200 or 2300 miles IIRC. I used a full case of oil. It was almost literally a question of stopping at every service area or interchange to check the gas and fill up the oil.

 

Fortunately, on the 4.0L the rear main seal is a two-piece unit that can be changed just by dropping the oil pan -- no need to pull the transmission.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

changed the valve cover gasket.... there was some rubber-like one on there, is that OEM? the oil leak slowed alot although i have not driven it much...... still dripping from the RMS, i am pretty sure.

 

took the radiator out to have it check, b/c i am running warm.... should I change the water pump while i have all that stuff out of the way, or just not worry about it??

 

THANKS!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any ideas??

 

Problem # 1

Parked in the street when I got home and the resevoir(sp) started boiling over. Haven't really had the time to check, but am assuming termostat, radiator, or losing pressure somewhere...... correct??

 

 

Thanks for any imput!!

 

i had the same problem...truck was idling in front of my g/f house and "BOOM" it started boiling over real bad...fixed it or so i thought and then again 2months later did it again...turned out to be the pressure bottle and cap were bad...check those

 

i finally got fed up and swapped to an open system and never had a problem since...that was the first upgrade i did when i got the XJ...they both run great

Link to comment
Share on other sites

with out looking at the gauge..... i remember the needle staying in the 12 o'clock or so position then crept over to the 1, then 2 o'clock positions. hope that makes sense! then i turned it off and the bottle started boiling over....

 

 

 

what's involved in going to an open system??

 

Thanks!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

changed the valve cover gasket.... there was some rubber-like one on there, is that OEM? the oil leak slowed alot although i have not driven it much...... still dripping from the RMS, i am pretty sure.

 

took the radiator out to have it check, b/c i am running warm.... should I change the water pump while i have all that stuff out of the way, or just not worry about it??

 

THANKS!!

 

there was some rubber-like one on there, is that OEM?

 

No, the OEM was a cork gasket, So that was replace before.

 

should I change the water pump while i have all that stuff out of the way,

 

With 220K on the clock.........Yes, and you should change the Timing Cover gasket and seal which is behind the water pump to help with your oil leaks. Also if you going that far.......that would be the time to tackle the oil pan gasket and the rear main seal. And if your in that far, change the Thermostate and gasket. If you take the 6-8 screws out of the grill, every thing is right there, all accessed from the front and easy to work on ;)

 

Here's a link for up grading the raditor if you go that far -

http://www.dirtdevils.org/XJRadiatorUpgrade.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...