Dipstick leak

Howdy,
I'm trying to patch up one little oil leak on my '95 4.0L. The area where the dipstick goes into the block is seeping a little bit of oil:



How the heck do I remove the dipstick (and fix this leak)? Is it permanently attached to the pan? They Hanes manual doesn't say anything, and I'm still waiting on my FSM.

Thanks!
fiz

The dip stick tube is pressed into a hole bored in the lower part of the engine block. Some tubes (and I don't know if the 4.0 is one) have an O-ring on the tube to help seal it.

After unbolting the upper end of the dipstick tube, the tube should be able to be pulled out of the block. To reseal the tube, I would degrease the tube and it's hole in the block and seal it with a bit of RTV.

You seem to be having a bunch of annoying oil leaks. (This tube, and also the distributor) If I were you, I would check to see that the CCV system is working well, and not pressurizing the crankcase. A pressurized crankcase will look for any weak spot in which to vent, and the places you are noting are sort of weak, and will only leak under pressure that they normally don't see.

AZ Jeff said:

You seem to be having a bunch of annoying oil leaks. (This tube, and also the distributor) If I were you, I would check to see that the CCV system is working well, and not pressurizing the crankcase. A pressurized crankcase will look for any weak spot in which to vent, and the places you are noting are sort of weak, and will only leak under pressure that they normally don't see.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, Jeff. Since I replaced the oil pressure sending unit, the oil pressure gauge has been very well behaved (60 on start, dropping to 40 on idle after warmed up, never more than 60 after that). I have the feeling that the block has been hemmoraging for a long time. I picked this XJ up for less than wholesale blue book in NM, which is unheard of (Jeeps are way overpriced here, probably the same story in AZ). So far the only issues have been a couple of leaks (tranny cooler line and some oil leaks). I bet the dealer was just scared of it and wanted to dump it ASAP. Mileage is about 19 MPG, so no really bad indications there.

I fixed mine. I pulled the tube out as far as I could, sprayed the area with Brake Cleaner to make sure it was super clean, gobbed some Black RTV on it and pushed the tube back in. No more leak... there anyways.