Oil Leak Question.

A while back i had my buddy (who is also a mechanic) fix my oil leak. he gave me a call and said it was just old oil that when it got hot would run down the back of the block and leak down. Well i drove it like a week with no leaking what so ever. then it started leaking again, so i delt with it for a while. Then i decided that i was pretty sure it was the VC gasket. So i replaced it, but no help. but i also think i did a half ass job on the valve cover in the first place, so i just delt with it. now im getting pretty sick of it, so i decided to try and trace it. It SEEMS that it is coming from the Valve cover, and running down the Bell housing (in between the oil pan and transmission, because it seems it runs to the passenger side of the bell housing then makes it way towards the center and then drips on the ground. Now if it was indeed the RMS that was leaking, would it leak even after it has been sitting? or would it only leak after its been driving? because at night, ill wipe the bottom of the bell housing clean, and it won't leak anymore untill after i drive it.

hey Kid,


You should check the valve cover screws to see if they loosened up; About a week after I changed the valve cover gasket i started to leek on the injector side, It was the screws that loosened up. You don't need to torqe them down super tight but make sure they are tight.


Pigpen

Also check that it's not coming from the oil filter adapter - the second most common leak after the valve cover.

dont mean to be a dick, but this is something if you search you will find. check the oil filter adapter, the o rings get real brittle. also if you do the vc again, silicon it real good and make sure and also make sure the bolts are tight, dont tightened them too much or you could crack the block head.

you dont need to silicon the VC, just get a good rubber/metal gasket....but yeah, the torque value for the VC is really low...in fact, it might even be in inch pounds....

ive used RTV, the "right sutff", and cork gaskets on my 89 and they always leaked after a few months. the only thing that worked was when i spent the money on a good rubber/metal gasket. i used a fel pro permadryplus gasket and have not had any signs of leakage.

I've always used cork valve cover gaskets with no issues. It all depends on the alingment to the cover. I don't see the point in wasting 40$ on a gasket that can be replaced for 5$ and a little time if it ever leaks.

89xj said:

ive used RTV, the "right sutff", and cork gaskets on my 89 and they always leaked after a few months. the only thing that worked was when i spent the money on a good rubber/metal gasket. i used a fel pro permadryplus gasket and have not had any signs of leakage.

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With the cork gaskets that i have used. I find you have to go and retorque about a week after initial installation. No leaks YET!!! I believe the torque specs on it was 55in lbs or 4 1/2 ft lbs. You can snap the head off these bolts real easy so be careful. I rubbed a lil RTV on the top of the cork gasket also valve cover side.

Remember, a leaky valve cover, oil filter adaptor, and rear main all can mock a rear main leak (they eventually leak from the same area of the Jeep).

Look at the bottom of your oil filter...if it's oily that's where the leak is.

Run you hand behind the valve cover on the back of the engine (obviously when the engine is cool), if it's oily, thats where the leak is.

If both turn out to be fine, and there are no other obvious leaks, then it's probably the rear main.

Or you may have been lucky like me, and at one point had 2 or all 3 leaking at the same time.

I've done the first two, but the rear main still needs to be done. Mine doesn't really leak sitting still, only after I get stuck in traffic for a while and everything gets good and hot. Driving down the highway all day and there's no problems :dunno:

My rear main seal was leaking just a wee bit and now like a sieve. So starting Saturday i will try to replace it. I found a good write up on by searching and Gojeep.

So, i've been trying to look after my oil leak problem for the past couple of days. Well at first it seems its coming from up top and coming down the side of the bellhousing and then running down to the middle of it and dripping on the ground. So i decided to try and clean it up a bit, well tonight i went out there and it seems now there is oil coming down the passenger side of the oil pan and dripping down on the ground. Im guessing Oil filter adapter?

If it's the valve cover, I've had good luck with the cork gaskets. Use LocTite #518 "Gasket Eliminator" on both sides of the gasket. Set it in place, finger-tighten the screws to "contact," then break for lunch to let the sealant tack up.

Come back in an hour. Remove the screws one at a time, apply LocTite #222 (Low Strength) or #242 (Medium Strength) to the threads, and torque to, I believe, 84 pound-inches/7 pound-feet (torque spec is on my site in the "Tech Archive" - taken from the FSM.)

Recheck torque after you've driven it for a day or two - the LocTite isn't a guarantee. However, as the cork gasket soaks up oil, it will swell and help lock the screws in.

If you have to do the O-rings on the oil filter adapter, I've found that a bit of RTV black on them (in the grooves and on top of the rings) doesn't go amiss. Don't get silly with the stuff - it's just there to help fill in imperfections.

The rear main is involved, but can usually be done inside of a day. Even on the earlier engine, use the later (1996-up) oil sump gasket - it's one-piece moulded rubber, and saves you a lot of wrestling.

A quick way to eliminate the rear main as a leak is to remove the inspection cover on the lower front of the bellhousing - if you see radial oil streaks on the engine side of the flywheel/flexplate, you have a rear main leak. No streaks? Check the valve cover (it tends to start leaking at the rear first) or the oil filter mount. Clean the engine, idle for 10-15 minutes, and recheck.

There is one more small gasket to check and that is the distributor gasket. I replaced the oil filter o-rings twice only to discover it was the gasket under the distributor. when it leaks the oil runs right under the oil filter adaptor making you think the o-rings have gone bad. just something to keep in mind.

ok well i checked it today and this is what i found.
this is an older picture, but the arrows show where the oil is traveling before it drips onto the ground. where does it seem like its coming from? Also there are NO oil streaks or lines of oil running down the front of the flexplate.

That pic isn't terribly useful - but I'd say, since you don't have the streaks and it's dripping down the outside of the bellhousing, that you're going to have to check the oil filter elbow, the distributor mount (I've not had a leak there, but that doesn't mean it's impossible) and the pax rear of the valve cover.

Clean those three areas well, and dry. Idle for 10-15 minutes, and you should be able to spot the leak.

So if it WAS the RMS, where would the oil show up? dripping down the bell housing? or on the oil pan?

Cherokeekid88 said:

So if it WAS the RMS, where would the oil show up? dripping down the bell housing? or on the oil pan?

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An RMS leak would drip down from inside the bellhousing.

ok, so i guess im probably looking at re doing the VC and the oil filter o rings. Im having my buddy who is also a mechanic, look at it for me and hopefully find out where its coming from. Also i think i asked this before, but would a RMS leak still leak after the jeep has sat over night and been cleaned? or does it only leak after its been driven?

Cherokeekid88 said:

ok, so i guess im probably looking at re doing the VC and the oil filter o rings. Im having my buddy who is also a mechanic, look at it for me and hopefully find out where its coming from. Also i think i asked this before, but would a RMS leak still leak after the jeep has sat over night and been cleaned? or does it only leak after its been driven?

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The RMS can drip after the engine has been shut off, but only for a little while. Pretty much like any other seal that doesn't actually retain an "oil bath" - since that describes pretty much any engine seal except the sump drain plug, that means that pretty much any seal that is failing is likely to drip for a little while after shutdown, then stop. That's why I keep telling you to clean the suspect areas, then idle for 10-15 minutes - that will show up the leak with fresh oil, and make it easier to spot.

ok i cleaned it off yesterday and drove it to work and back home. i let its sit for a little while and inspected it. The oil is coming from the top and dripping down the side of the bell housing and then finally dripping from the bottom of the bell housing. also there is oil coming from the passenger side of the oil pan, i looked directly up and i see the oil filter adapter and it looks wet, so im guessing the o rings need replacing. well this afternoon i popped the hood and reached my hand behind the valve cover and pulled my hand out and my hand was covered in oil. So im guessing my problems are my valve cover gasket needs to be redone and my o rings in the oil filter adapter need to be replaced? Did i nail it?