I'm leaking...make it stop.

Just bought an '96 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L HO manual transmission (AX-15).

Some background.

The Cherokee runs great and the odometer read @ 95,000k some weeks ago, when we bought it. It had one owner who provided records of oil changes. maintenance etc. Seems like it is in great shape, however there are a few, minor leaks.I have read where the rear main seal can be a common cause of leaks. I was told by the owner that the rear main seal had recently been changed. However when I read through the documentation he had been keeping the I found a dealer's work order stating the customer denied the main seal repair. So someone may have done the work but not the dealer. I also see receipts from AutoZone around the same date as what is on the dealers work order, for valve cover gaskets, so maybe he just replaced those instead.

Anyway, the one leak I am most concerned about is a drop of fluid dangling from the bottom of the bottom bolt on what I believe is the clutch plate housing. When I look directly up above the wet bolt, to the area where the oil pan and clutch housing meet I see this...



First question: Should a gap, as indicated by the space between the red arrowheads on the above pic, exist between the clutch housing and the oil pan?

If the gap should exist, could the fluid be dripping from the gap? Is this near where the rear main seal resides? Could this be clutch fluid?

If the gap should not exist, would I just use some RTV to seal it?

lil' help...

it doesnt leak, it marks its territory

Seems like you might be new too jeeps, but I can honestly say I have never seen a 4.0l i6 not leak a bit of oil. The valve cover gasket, oil filter housing o rings, and rear main seal are the culprits. Altho that is where your rear main is located, the valve cover gasket and o rings can drip down the engine and leak down into the same area. If you really knew how common this is you would be happy to only have a small drip. If you are really craving to fix the leak first determine which of the 3 things I mentioned are leaking.

If you show me a guy who says his XJ doesn't leak, I will show you a liar.
It's is so horribly common it is nearly normal, and usually fairly benign.
If you are still determined to fix it, I would follow the advice posted above. My money is on the RMS.

stewie said:

it doesnt leak, it marks its territory

Click to expand...

Unfortunately this might be your answer.

stewie said:

it doesnt leak, it marks its territory

Click to expand...

:laugh3:

Skreed said:

Seems like you might be new too jeeps, but I can honestly say I have never seen a 4.0l i6 not leak a bit of oil. The valve cover gasket, oil filter housing o rings, and rear main seal are the culprits. Altho that is where your rear main is located, the valve cover gasket and o rings can drip down the engine and leak down into the same area. If you really knew how common this is you would be happy to only have a small drip. If you are really craving to fix the leak first determine which of the 3 things I mentioned are leaking.

Click to expand...

I am new to XJ's, have loved them for a long time. I have two other Jeeps, but both are more recent vintages; a JK & Liberty, if that qualifies as a Jeep..

When my son wanted a vehicle I jumped on the opportunity to grab this Cherokee. It has been great so far. But yes, I was unaware of it's propensity for fluid dispersion from radiator to power steering to engine oil....no worries though, now that it seems common I don't feel quite as concerned.

CherBear said:

If you show me a guy who says his XJ doesn't leak, I will show you a liar.
It's is so horribly common it is nearly normal, and usually fairly benign.
If you are still determined to fix it, I would follow the advice posted above. My money is on the RMS.

Click to expand...

At some level I hope it is the RMS as I would like to take the pan off and kick around in there.

Thanks.

If you do pull the pan it is the perfect time to re-torque the crank and rod cap bolts--they work loose.

joe_peters said:

If you do pull the pan it is the perfect time to re-torque the crank and rod cap bolts--they work loose.

Click to expand...

Will do. Great advice!

Agree with all of the above: something is out of the ordinary if it doesn't leak oil. I built a 4.6l stroker for my 96 ax15(manual jeeps are the best) two years ago and the rms started dripping a year later. Do your research here and get ready to have the parts counter guys give you wrong parts all the time(96 is the transition year from obd1 to obd2 and midway through 96 they decided to go with different connector types). Welcome!

gradon said:

Agree with all of the above: something is out of the ordinary if it doesn't leak oil. I built a 4.6l stroker for my 96 ax15(manual jeeps are the best) two years ago and the rms started dripping a year later. Do your research here and get ready to have the parts counter guys give you wrong parts all the time(96 is the transition year from obd1 to obd2 and midway through 96 they decided to go with different connector types). Welcome!

Click to expand...

Thanks. Parts guy at dealership already gave me oil pressure sending unit for a Grand Cherokee, so the other replacement part issues u mentioned will likely be a sure thing.

It's the RMS. I let mine go until it started blowing oil around and burning on the exhaust, which annoyed me. Hopefully I'll have it all back together by tonight.

alaskan said:

It's the RMS. I let mine go until it started blowing oil around and burning on the exhaust, which annoyed me. Hopefully I'll have it all back together by tonight.

Click to expand...

As I look more closely at the maintenance records it looks like they purchased valve cover gaskets, and did them themselves. They also appear to have had the dealer do the oil filter housing seals. But I see no record of the RMS being done even though dealer inspection states that the RMS is leaking...so I may get my wish after all and crack open that oil pan.

If you do complete the job and have any tips please post 'em.

Thanks.

Most of the write up's you'll find on replacing the Rear Main Seal are pretty good, but are slanted towards XJs with auto trannys.

With a 5 speed, there is no flexplate cover to remove as referenced in a lot of write up's. Instead, there's a solid mounting plate which will not move unless you remove the tranny. Don't worry about this, as it is not vital. I just tell you this so you don't spend a lot time wondering about the flex plate issue in other write up's...

Also, when you go to pull the oil pan, you'll get a little resistance from the rear section, around the rear bearing journal. It'll appear like the oil pan is "hanging" up on something before dropping. Just work the oil pan STRAIGHT DOWN. You'll wiggle past the "hold up" which is nothing more than a foam seal or sorts in the mount plate, between the engine and tranny.

Ivan said:

Most of the write up's you'll find on replacing the Rear Main Seal are pretty good, but are slanted towards XJs with auto trannys.

With a 5 speed, there is no flexplate cover to remove as referenced in a lot of write up's. Instead, there's a solid mounting plate which will not move unless you remove the tranny. Don't worry about this, as it is not vital. I just tell you this so you don't spend a lot time wondering about the flex plate issue in other write up's...

Also, when you go to pull the oil pan, you'll get a little resistance from the rear section, around the rear bearing journal. It'll appear like the oil pan is "hanging" up on something before dropping. Just work the oil pan STRAIGHT DOWN. You'll wiggle past the "hold up" which is nothing more than a foam seal or sorts in the mount plate, between the engine and tranny.

Click to expand...

Yes, the writeup on here is definitely going to get you through the project. The OP's looks pretty clean so hopefully it won't be a complete mess under there from dripping oil.

Ivan said:

Most of the write up's you'll find on replacing the Rear Main Seal are pretty good, but are slanted towards XJs with auto trannys.

With a 5 speed, there is no flexplate cover to remove as referenced in a lot of write up's. Instead, there's a solid mounting plate which will not move unless you remove the tranny. Don't worry about this, as it is not vital. I just tell you this so you don't spend a lot time wondering about the flex plate issue in other write up's...

Also, when you go to pull the oil pan, you'll get a little resistance from the rear section, around the rear bearing journal. It'll appear like the oil pan is "hanging" up on something before dropping. Just work the oil pan STRAIGHT DOWN. You'll wiggle past the "hold up" which is nothing more than a foam seal or sorts in the mount plate, between the engine and tranny.

Click to expand...

Just to confirm then, the gap that is shown in the pic in my first post, between the red arrows, SHOULD BE THERE? Because the oil pan at that point seems like it should be inserted in that gap...but someone on another forum assured me that the gap between the plate and oil pan should exist. For some reason I keep thinking that gap SHOULD NOT BE THERE. Is this gap where..." the foam seal or sorts in the mount plate, between the engine and tranny." is?

Distended said:

Just to confirm then, the gap that is shown in the pic in my first post, between the red arrows, SHOULD BE THERE? Because the oil pan at that point seems like it should be inserted in that gap...but someone on another forum assured me that the gap between the plate and oil pan should exist. For some reason I keep thinking that gap SHOULD NOT BE THERE. Is this gap where..." the foam seal or sorts in the mount plate, between the engine and tranny." is?

Click to expand...

Yes, technically there is a gap there, as that's the only way the oil pan will mount up. Though if you take a pick or screwdriver and poke around in the gap, you should find/feel the "foam" seal I mention. The foam seal sits in the the engine/tranny mounting plate.

Keep in mind that I have a '98, so the foam seal may or may not be there for your '96. Even the rear oil pan strap you see in the picture, went through several iterations as I found out.