What to do...

[Bansheemanche]

Ok I took my MJ to the shop today to get my oil leaks fixed, mainly the rear main since I don't have the right tools to do it myself. So I take it in because it has been blowing out about 4 quarts a week. Yeah alot. I drive my truck everywhere and usually put on atleast 400 miles a week.

 

So I take it to the shop and he basically said the rings are shot from all the pressure built up and extreme blowby. I do have the oil in the air filter thing, I did replace all vent tubes for the engine as I heard that is what you should do if you have this. So I did that, didnt really help, so I have been waiting for it to warm up so I can pull the valve cover and clean it out as they say that will help also.

 

I just don't know what I should do as it only has 101K on the 4.0. It runs good, doesnt smoke or anything. I mean I will continue to drive it till I figure something out but I know I need to do something as the whole undercarrage is coated with oil and it gets oil spray on my drivers side bedside, that is how bad it is.

 

I like the truck and was planing on putting on a new exhaust and repainting it this spring but now this throws a wrench into things. I mean it is a nice truck, lived in california its whole life till it came here to nebraska a year ago. I got it back in september too.

 

I just need to way the cost of rebuilding the engine or putting in a used engine to just getting a new car. I would have no issues of putting in a engine but the tranny is getting tired too as it will sometimes grind going into second so I know that is going to wait for me.

 

I also understand it is a 20 year old truck but that is why I like it cause it is easier to work on. Any fixes or thoughts on what I should do cause I just don't know if I want to dump that much money into a truck that in the end needs a paint job as that would suck all my paint job funds so I don't know.

 

Thanks.

[DirtyComanche]

The engine is fine. Tell the mechanic he's an idiot. Just get that rear main replaced.

[JeepcoMJ]

without actually looking at the rings, he CANNOT guarantee that they're shot.

 

have the rear main done (or did you), and take care of any other oil leaks. then drive it and see what happens

 

again, I can't stress enough that unless he's seen them, he cannot tell you for fact.

 

 

and, if it runs great and doesn't smoke, I don't think the rings are shot. fix the rear main and go from there.

[ifixit8]

if you have oil in the air filter that means more than likely you blew a head gasket. how is your coolant? if that is gone and/or mixed with oil then you just have a head job on your hands. I did one in 2 nights with about $250 in parts. I'd get a second opinion. and i'd fix it.

[LJRockstar]

without actually looking at the rings, he CANNOT guarantee that they're shot.

 

If he uses a Leak down tester and uses it CORRECTLY he can definitively say weather or not the rings are shot.

 

As for the head gasket, it is MUCH more likley that water will mix with the oil or that you can get overly high pressure in the cooling system due to combustion gases' building up in the system. There is a pretty easy check for that as well. A good professional mechanic should have a tester that tells you weather or not Carbon Monoxide is present in the coolant. I know that Snap-On sells one under the Blue-Point name.

 

I have one and it has saved my but a few times on diagnosing potential Headgasket problems.

 

I would definatly get a second opinion, and by all means if you do end up needing to rebuild or at least re-ring it will be worth the effort and money. You drive one of the coolest trucks on the road!

 

If all checks out put a rear main seal in it and enjoy!

[deziped]

I'd run a compression test myself. It very easy to do & compression guages are easy to buy or borrow. I had the same pronblem, oil blowing up & over the tailgate & lots of oil in air cleaner. Mechanic said same, need ring job. Being the skeptic I'am, I checked compression. It was very close to where it suppose to be on all cyl. So I replaced the rear main, pulled the valve cover & cleaned all the gunk out, put on new vac lines, put in fresh oil, and got lucky. I haven't leaked any oil & only added 1/2 qt in about 3k miles. However, if a comp test shows bad rings, etc., the mech GUESS may be right.

[Eagle]

if you have oil in the air filter that means more than likely you blew a head gasket. how is your coolant? if that is gone and/or mixed with oil then you just have a head job on your hands. I did one in 2 nights with about $250 in parts. I'd get a second opinion. and i'd fix it.

?????

 

Oil in the air filter does not indicate a blown head gasket. It indicates that the CCV tubes are clogged and that the crankcase pressure from ring blow-by is pushing oil back through the large tube, which is supposed to be the inlet tube. Bad rings might contribute to this, but if the rings are bad you'll have poor gas mileage, low power, and it'll smoke a lot.

 

The right way to check the rings is to run a compression test. First check it when it has sat for several hours - preferably overnight -- without starting it. IF you get low readings, then squirt some 30 weight oil into the cylinders are run the test again. The reason for this is that low compression can be caused by valves or by rings. A few squirts of heavy oil will seal up worn rings enough to raise the compression a few pounds, but if there's no change then you're looking at valves. The next step after that would be to have a leak-down test run, but most of us don't have the equipment to do that one.

 

Back to the original post: Have the rear main seal replaced -- preferably NOT by the genius who "looked" at your rings and pronounced them bad. Then yank the valve cover and clean up the inside of that. Then see if it makes any difference.

 

FWIW, my Cherokee is an '88. I'm a couple of miles short of 280,000 miles and it doesn't use a quart of oil in a 5000 mile change interval. Your engine at 101,000 miles would have had to be beat on to the point of destruction to need rings at such a low mileage. I think you need to find a different shop.

[Bansheemanche]

Well there is alittle coolant consumption but I just that has been normal with all my other vehicals I think I have topped it off once since I have had it, not enough to be concerned about. No oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil at all.

 

I mean do I seem about right about atleast starting out with cleaning out the valve cover? I have been going off this article on my oil in the airfilter. http://jeep.off-road.com/jeep/article/a ... ?id=257985

 

I love this little truck and would hate to get rid of it and don't feel like wheeling and dealing for another vehical for awhile.

 

Thanks.

[WahooSteeler]

x2 on Eagle and deziped.

 

I was going to suggest compression check first. and as noted, if your rings were "shot", it would definitely smoke.

 

x2 also on Eagle's comment about the likely condition of your engine. at only 100k, your block/cylinders are probably clean as a whistle or you would have commented about a lot of other problems.

 

I'm not trying to repeat others comments, I'm adding my "vote" for the "you're probably ok" analysis vs. the "you might be in trouble" one.

 

Please keep us informed of what you do and the outcome! :popcorn:

[Tracker]

I think you need to find a different shop.

I don't think you can use a quart of oil every 100 miles without seeing some burn- if your rings are shot like the guy said. The probable answers have already been offered up. I'd start with a good cleaning and plan on a main seal unless the cleaning shows that it is coming from somewhere easier.

[Pete M]

Just make sure no one charges you for dropping the trans if they do the rear main seal. Only the oil pan needs to be dropped. :thumbsup:

[speed_racer]

Yeah, Pete!

 

Too many ppl overcharge for RMS changes.

 

We've done them, RELAXING, with HAND TOOLS, in under 4 hours.

 

A mechanic? c'mon now!

[a1awind]

if you were enjoying bad rings, you would see smoke and a lovely gasoline aroma in your oil.

 

when i was a service advisor we had a ranger 4.0 (ford v6 of course) that had such bad compression that it barely moved under its own power. ....kinda funny, if you took the oil cap off while it was running it would stall!

 

get your rear main fixed.

and do tell me about that sick lookin vicky wagon in your icon!