OEM V aftermarket

Aight, I will be busting into my lower engine in the next two weeks. I will be replacing my iol filter adapter o-rings, pan gasket, oil pump (related parts) bearings, rear main seal, and valve cover gasket.
Should I stick to OEM mopar parts (I get things at cost through work) or save a few bucks and go to AZ/NAPA/Advanced Auto.
I already have the Oil filter o-rings (mopar $3 for the kit)
What about the rest? Also cork or rubber? The cost difference in the gaskets will be about 10 bucks more for rubber (I already priced, but haven't bought em yet. Need to know asap, so I can order my stuff either tomorrow or thursday.
TIA.
PS- If I missed something I should also do while I'm in there, LET ME KNOW. Rather do it all now than later.
Oh yeah, Can I ditch my xfer case for a while and run in 2wd without problems?

I rebuild my lower end a couple of years ago using aftermarket stuff mostly, except for the 1 piece oil pan gasket. I did the oil filter adapter previously, my local Jeep parts pusher carries the right o-rings at the right price.

Ditch the t-case temporarily? You'll for sure need a new drive shaft, as well as a different tailshaft adapter on the transmission. Why?

ChiXJeff said:

I rebuild my lower end a couple of years ago using aftermarket stuff mostly, except for the 1 piece oil pan gasket. I did the oil filter adapter previously, my local Jeep parts pusher carries the right o-rings at the right price.

Ditch the t-case temporarily? You'll for sure need a new drive shaft, as well as a different tailshaft adapter on the transmission. Why?

Click to expand...

Not all together. Just wondering if I can "leave if off" or do I have to put it back (it will leave stuff exposed or something). I dont wheel this xj, so I don't really need 4wd. Was just trying to save myself some time by having one less thing to put back in.

Then the answer is "no, you can't." Without the t-case, you've got a short driveshaft and no tailshaft adapter on the transmission. No way to get power to the rear end. And no way to get it to the front either.

You could probably do an in-frame rebuild, although dropping the front axle out would help tremendously.

Odered my parts. and a little FYI. For some reason, my year vavle cover gasket is premolded into the vavle cover or something. So in order for my to get an OEM gasket, I had to buy a new cover too (at 185$, I don't think so!).
Anyways, picked up an oil pump/screen, pan gasket, and rear main for 140$.
So, I should be breaking it open this saturday if all goes as planned.

Should I wait and look at the bearing first? Or go ahead an order some now? Over(under)sized or standard?
180k on the ticker and has some noise(if thats any indication).

Check your FSM for the over/under codes that'll be stamped into your block then. Mine didn't have any codes stamped, and the straight replacements Plastigaged nicely in the middle of the tolerance range spec'ed.

ChiXJeff said:

Check your FSM for the over/under codes that'll be stamped into your block then. Mine didn't have any codes stamped, and the straight replacements Plastigaged nicely in the middle of the tolerance range spec'ed.

Click to expand...

Roger, Roger.

Question for you...if you are just doing the lower part of the engine, then why are you taking the transfer case off the tranny in the first place? Everything you listed can be done by just taking the oil pan off. Ask how I know? Just did it 2 weeks ago on a 91 I6.

However, I did eventually take the tranny/xfer case off of the motor, because I ended up pulling the motor out for further repair. But I did not separate the xfer case from the tranny. If all you are wanting to do is Main/Rod bearings, and rear seals....then just drop the pan and have at it. What year is it? Very strange that you have to buy the entire valve cover for the gasket. Mine scraped off nicely, and then I took a scotch brite to it and shined up both the cover and the block for a good seal. And I vote for the rubber gasket. However if done right, I have not had a cork leak yet.

Good luck. And make sure you have both metric and standard sockets, plenty of extensions, and a good torque wrench handy.

James

jmagyar said:

Question for you...if you are just doing the lower part of the engine, then why are you taking the transfre case off in the first place? Everything you listed can be done by just taking the oil pan off. Ask how I know? Just did it 2 weeks ago on a 91 I6.

However, I did eventually take the tranny/xfer case off of the motor, because I ended up pulling the motor out for further repair. But I did not separate the xfer case from the tranny. If all you are wanting to do is Main/Rod bearings, and rear seals....then just drop the pan and have at it. What year is it? Very strange that you have to buy the entire valve cover for the gasket. Mine scraped off nicely, and then I took a scotch brite to it and shined up both the cover and the block for a good seal.

Good luck. And make sure you have both metric and standard sockets, plenty of extensions, and a good torque wrench handy.

James

Click to expand...

B/c I thought the rear main was a one piece (not a two piece) seal. Therefore you would have had to remove the transmission and transfercase. Have there been alot of threads on rear main replacements? Yep. Did I ever read em till now? Nope. Therefore, in my ignorance, I assumed something. Now that I know it is a two peice seal and I have read the threads on replacement, I know it's a simple job. And as for the valve cover gasket, this is for an OEM Rubber Gasket that you must buy the whole valve cover. Answer your questions? :gag:

Hey, sorry...did not mean to get on your bad side. Good luck this weekend


James

jmagyar said:

Hey, sorry...did not mean to get on your bad side. Good luck this weekend


James

Click to expand...

Didn't mean to come off as an ass. Just had a REALLY bad day at work that day.
Anywho, Today I got most of it done (worked from 845-200). I ran into alot of stuff I didn't expect. So far, the oil pan is off and cleaned up, the new oil pump is on (I primed it with some 20-30) and the rear main is out. Tomorrow I will finish putting the rear main back in and change out the o-rings in the adapter filter. I looked at the rear main bearing, and it looked very good, so i decided not change those out.
On a side note, the pan was a PIA to get off, had to undo the shocks and sway bar AND have two people pull the wheels down. I just hope this solves most of my leak problems.

I always prime oil pumps with vasoline not oil...

RichP said:

I always prime oil pumps with vasoline not oil...

Click to expand...

Any particular reason?
Can I still do it?

Gives you a better draw on startup and vasoline is less apt to run back out. Ideal method on a first start condition is to spin the pump up before putting the distutor back in, that pressurizes the oil system, fills the filter. On the new bearings, did you use assembly lube ? Just curious. I used to break down my VW and porsche engines after running them on the beach, used stp to lube the bearings for reassembly or a similar stuff called 'stud' a stp clone in a clear bottle. Kept the bearings lubed till the pressure built up...

RichP said:

Gives you a better draw on startup and vasoline is less apt to run back out. Ideal method on a first start condition is to spin the pump up before putting the distutor back in, that pressurizes the oil system, fills the filter. On the new bearings, did you use assembly lube ? Just curious. I used to break down my VW and porsche engines after running them on the beach, used stp to lube the bearings for reassembly or a similar stuff called 'stud' a stp clone in a clear bottle. Kept the bearings lubed till the pressure built up...

Click to expand...

The only bearing removed was the rear. I have not put it back in yet (haven't gotten the rear main seal in yet). I am going back to the shop tomorrow to try and finish up. I was using assembly lube on the seal, is that ok for re-install?

I pulled my Dist and inserted the special tool down into the oil pump and preprimed the engine that way. It took over 30 seconds for the oil pump to catch the prime with a drill. BTW, special tool is the longest flathead screw driver you can find, cut it off at the handle, and inserted in a drill. I feel for you on the Oil pan. If you changed oil pumps, make sure that you measure how far the pick up is from the bottom of the oil pan. My new one must have been bent slightly, because it would have sat on the pan...and I had to bend the pickup slightly to have the propper clearance. Its only supposed to have something like 3/8's clearance. But if its on the pan, then no oil will get in.

The best advice I have is just make sure that you have plenty of oil pressure before turning the engine over. I highly recommend pulling the dist cap and prepriming it. Its a PITA, but so much damage can happen if the pump is slow on priming. I actually ran the drill for almost a minute after it primed just to make sure that oil was everywhere in the engine it needed to be. And you will know when it catches the prime and builds pressure...the drill will slow down quite a bit.

Might also pull a rod bearing while down there. My mains were not bad, but my rod bearings were shot. Rod bearings are cheap compared to mains. Might as well at least look while you are this far. Especially if you had low oil pressure going into this.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

James

well, I got it all done today (10 hours of total work). It was my first "big" job and man did it suck. Especially since everything was covered in old oil. Everything went back together pretty much without any problems. The o-rings for my oil filter adapter were wrong, which pissed me off. Luckily, we had some at the shop that I MADE FIT . When I first cranked it up, there were no leaks, but after driving for 10 minutes.......well you know the rest. It is leaking only from the pan this time though. I Can see it leaking from the front seal (Should I have put RTV all around?????) and some of the pan bolts on the right side. The left side seemed dry. What should I do now? Order another pan gasket and use RVT all around? It will be a week or so before I can get to the pan gasket again. (At least next time, I won't have to completey remove it!)
Chime in with your buck fitty.

Retorque the bolts, they may have loosened once they got warm/hot. The seal area on the pan needs rtv on both sides of the engine, just a couple of goobers in that area to make up for where the pan gasket can't quite seal the corners.

RichP said:

Retorque the bolts, they may have loosened once they got warm/hot. The seal area on the pan needs rtv on both sides of the engine, just a couple of goobers in that area to make up for where the pan gasket can't quite seal the corners.

Click to expand...

Can you rephrase that? I'm a bit retarded at the moment and no matter how many times i read it, it doesn't quite make sense. Which sides of the engine? I put some RTV on all 4 corners where the pan dips down around the front and rear. Can I reuse the same gasket (just wipe off, apply some RTV, and slap it back on?) or should I just spend the 10 bucks and get a new dry one? I will try retorqing the bolts tomorrow to see it that works.

You got it, right in those corners where the pan dips down to go around the crank, don't be stingy just keep it off the crank and let it setup for 20 min or so, what color RTV did you use ?