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She's a bleeder! (Pics)

M

MrAnderson

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Arroyo Grande, Ca
Awesome, I got an oil leak for Christmas. After I noticed it this is how much dripped over about an hour
9CD19A2C-85A8-419A-A57C-456A9FB54DD5-10434-00000FF7D0D81A9C_zps4ac87c7d.jpg


I'm hoping its the valve cover gasket and assume this because there is clearly oil along the backside of the cover
CE4E0BE3-A20B-466D-8D32-33BF1383D12B-10434-00000FF7A85E2780_zpsd01bbb45.jpg

2382085B-8653-45E6-8662-1344C5AD339B-10434-00000FF7ADC3FD07_zpsec888e62.jpg


A pic from below shows that the drip is fallin from right under the plug(which I'm pretty sure is mostly useless information)
4BA72F05-E711-4370-80D7-C11CE4162D3D-10434-00000FF7BE50D5FE_zpsb1f9a280.jpg



Anyone ever dealt with this?? Is this what a leaking vc looks like?
 
It honestly could be a little bit of everything. They all drip down to the same place. Start with the easiest which is the VC gasket. After you replace it (or before like I would do to avoid the repair being as messy) clean engine bay and underside of the engine with a good degreaser, I use Greased Lightening. This is make it easier to pinpoint where the oil is coming from. This could also be the oil filter housing o-ring or the rear main seal. Odds are it is a combo of all three but you may get lucky and it be the VC gasket. An RMS is the most costly to repair if sent to a shop but the actual cost of the repair for the parts is nothing. The labor is the real cost in the repair since it is a huge pain in the butt to repair. The oil filter housing o-ring isn't terrible but not fun either.

These motors just leak oil. I have replaced all of these seals twice since owning my Jeep (10 years and 155,000 miles) and they all are leaking a little bit again. My rule of thumb is if it isn't leaving oil spots on the ground or loosing oil at an alarming rate, then leave it be since these motors will never not have oil seeping out.
 
The old saying is that XJ's don't leak.....they mark their territory.

The other saying is that if you don't find a puddle after parking, check the fluids.

Rather than a gasked on a valve cover, I like to use The Right Stuff sealant. It works where nothing else will.

Good Luck.
 
What color is it? What does it smell like?
 
its your valve cover.


and your oil pan gasket


and the rear main seal


and the oil filter adapter


and the oil pressure switch


they all leak, all the time.
 
Check your oil level regularly. Top it up as needed. If you need more than a 1 qt every 1,000 miles or so, clean the engine with degreaser and drive it 50 miles. Now look at what's wet & fix it.
Otherwise... try to relax & just keep it topped up. A 1 qt bottle in the back & checking the dip stick when you fill gas is sufficient.
Like others have said... XJs leak. They just do.
 
Dime sized in an hour? That's it? Man it's just breaking in.

If you got in it right now and drove it without stopping it would probably take you 40,000 miles before it come half way down the dipstick.
 
DrMoab said:
Dime sized in an hour? That's it? Man it's just breaking in.

If you got in it right now and drove it without stopping it would probably take you 40,000 miles before it come half way down the dipstick.
Click to expand...

Try this visualization trick. Drop one (1) drop of oil on to a piece of cardboard. Wait an hour, see how big the drop is. About the size of a dime, I'd say.

There are about 60 drops in one ounce of oil. There are 32 ounces in a quart, there are 6 quarts in your engine.

60 drops x 32 oz. x 6 qts = 11,520 drops. After an hour you'll have 11, 519 drops. That there would not concern me. Check your oil occasionally to bring your drop count up.
:wow:
 
Last edited:
　
I'd be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn't own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking.
Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don't jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.

Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons.
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area. Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber's adage apply here. "$hit flows downhill".

Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
Revised 9-15-2012
 
cruiser54 said:
　
I'd be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn't own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking.
Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don't jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.

Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons.
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area. Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber's adage apply here. "$hit flows downhill".

Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
Revised 9-15-2012
Click to expand...

I agree. do the valve cover first. then the OPS, then the oil filter adapter (make sure you get the right t-60 wrench, there is a thread on it :roflmao:)

but chances are the oil pan is leaking. usually when an RMS leaks, it leaks bad. luckily, every XJ I've ever worked on has had a 2 piece RMS, that means you don't have to pull the trans.
 
This for the feed back guys!

I picked up a fel-pro vc gasket today and got to the part where I break the vc loose with a mallet and a flipping cloud came outta no where and started dumping! Thk god I didn't bust it off or I'd b f'd(gotta love the central coast, gorgeous to raining in a min flat) so I tightened her back up and put it off till the next sunny day.

I get it that xj's leak but it makes me sad to see my baby leaking like that
 
Last edited:
look at it this way, its just preventing the underside from rusting. :roflmao:
 
MrAnderson said:
This for the feed back guys!

I picked up a fel-pro vc gasket today and got to the part where I break the vc loose with a mallet and a flipping cloud came outta no where and started dumping! Thk god I didn't bust it off or I'd b f'd(gotta love the central coast, gorgeous to raining in a min flat) so I tightened her back up and put it off till the next sunny day.

I get it that xj's leak but it makes me sad to see my baby leaking like that
Click to expand...

None of mine are leaking.:clap:

Gotta love those clouds. One of them followed my brother back and forth, and back forth about 4 blocks one day, LOL. It was the only bloody cloud in the sky too! He was trying to finish some brake work to pass inspection......
 
Also a had a question about the gasket installation itself. The box clearly states to follow included instructions and then inside the box there's no instructions HA! So here's my Q fellas

There's the gasket and a bunch of little black rings. So my newb butt assumes that the little black rigs go around the bolts. BUT WHERE?? I would imagine they don't go in between engine and vc cover cuz that would cause gaps so my thought is that they go under the washers(seems wrong), under the bolts (seems likely) or on top the bolts(seems useless)

Anyone know this one?
 
When you pull the cover you'll see that there are little steel inserts that go around each bolt. The rubber rings go around those steel inserts.

Other than that there really isn't any need for instructions. Pull it off, make sure both surfaces are clean and I like to use a little RTV on both sides for added insurance.
 
After I repair my oil filter o-ring and VC gasket, I might clean the engine to be able to see if the leaks stopped. Are there any tips for someone thinking of degreasing the engine for the first time? Anything to be careful of? Should I wrap sensors in plastic? Should you not hose the engine down? Is it smarter to just take it slow and hand wipe the areas clean with towels?
 
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