low oil

I went out to my jeep to check all the fluids to make sure they were all topped off and when i check my oil it was pretty low. my engine hasn't made any new noises or anything but is there anyway i can check for signs of wear/damage it could've got from the low oil without pulling the motor. Maybe a compression test?

Well if its low fill it :jester:

But seriously. Do you have any visible leaks? The four most common on the XJ are the
1. rear of the valve cover - get the good rubber Fel-pro gasket and do not use rtv on it(it is designed to go on dry) and just torque it down to spec in sequence of course.

2. oil filter adapter - go to the dealer and get the o-ring kit and replace em,.

3. rear main seal - easy to do but process takes a bit to get to it, do not forget to get a new oil pan gasket while you are at it. Depending on mileage you might want to think about replacing the oil pump while you are there.

4. oil pressure sensor - well there is no fix here but replacement.

To check for any internal damage..... has your oil pressure change a considerable amount? You could do a compression check but did you happen to do one recently to compare it against? Check the oil feel, and look, i.e does it feel gritty(keep in mind your fingertips have texture on them already) and or have alot of metal particles in it, a minuet amount is fine.

How low is low? An XJ 4 liter engine holds a lot of oil, and it can go well over two quarts down without damage. Usually when it goes too low you'll start to lose pressure on cornering, and you'll see the light or gauge register that, but if there was enough oil to maintain pressure, you should be fine.

If you have doubts, I'd do an oil pressure check, and not worry if it reads normal. If you have a gauge, and the gauge reads as it always has, then I wouldn't worry at all. A compression check is not a bad idea, but probably unnecessary unless you have symptoms of low compression or are burning the oil.

If your engine is losing a lot of oil from leakage, of course you should fix it, but that's not always easily done right away. In addition to keeping more of an eye on it and carrying lots of spare oil, you should get into the habit of keeping an eye on the pressure gauge when you're going around corners. As soon as you see it start to dip on hard corners, pull over and add oil. Chances are that by then it will be about 2 1/2 quarts down.

Of course if you just forgot to check your oil for six thousand miles, most of the above doesn't apply, and you should just remember to check it more often.

there wasnt any oil pressure change that i notced.I changed the oil when i saw this since it was time to anyway and when i did i didnt really notice any gritty feeling but i wasnt looking for it so ill check that one out. but i do have a few spots that leak oil and im pretty sure the rear main has to be replaced. I'll get the o-ring kit for the oil filter adapter anyway but you said get it from the dealer so that already makes it sound expensive even though there just o-rings. I'll check the vavle cover to but i dont think that ones leaking. when i was under the XJ before, there was a few hoses that had a mesh like cover around them they had oil coming off of those to. it was towards the front of the motor. do you have any idea what those lines are from that not so good explanation. i think theres 2 right next to each other.

Compression checks how your piston rings and valves are sealing. Low oil level will not harm anything until the oil pump sucks air. When that happens, oil is no longer pumped between the crank mains. connecting rods, and camshaft bearings, as well as a few other places. If this happens, your oil pressure light will come on and/or your oil pressure gage drops to zero. Your lifters should make one hell of a racket. Then pretty soon, your motor seizes. As mentioned above, a possible result of sudden wear on the bearings could be lower oil pressure because metal was worn off the bearings increasing clearance allowing excessive oil flow.

Those hoses are probably your power steering hoses. Please check your power steering fluid level too. Not good to run that dry.

the pressure didnt dip during corners and im not sure exactly how many quarts of oil low it was but it mite of been 1 1/2-2. and i do check my oil periodically but it mite of been about 1000 since the last time i check ( I know i'm slacking). my motor doesn't have any symptoms that would make me think i lost compression and magimerlin brought up a good point, i dont have another test to compare it to either.

winterbeater said:

Those hoses are probably your power steering hoses. Please check your power steering fluid level too. Not good to run that dry.

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whoops that was it! It wasnt dry when i checked that when i did my oil but it was a little low to. I really have to check everything more often. I didnt hear any lifter noise either so hopefully it didnt get too low to cause any piston damage either if the gauge drops to zero for when that happens. I'll keep an ear out for any noises that come but i hope none of the bearings got damaged. which ones would be the main ones that would've got the worst of it. i have rebuilt a chevy 350 but that was one time and I was helping a friend so im not to knowledgeable with the internals of a motor but im not that bad either

What kind of oil are you running? Obviously you are losing oil due to leaks, but you can lose more if you have a high mileage 4.0 and recently switched to synthetic. I tried it once and it would eat a quart every 1000 miles with no smoke or leaks. I switched back to dino oil and I never have to add.

I have gotten in the habit of checking my oil every time I am at the gas station. I also check the power steering fluid, take a glance at the coolant overflow bottle, and check the serp belt for cracks and tightness.

i have 163,6xx miles on it and ive been using penzoil 10w-30 for the last oil change. im going to check it a lot more often now that this happened and hopefully fix some of the leaks quickly

Even from the dealer the o-rings are cheap, so don't worry.

Depending on the year, you may also need to get and modify a T-60 Torx wrench to do the job (search and you may find others' accounts of this). The wrench will cost more than the O-rings. 87-90 bolt is easy. Some later ones use an allen head rather than a torx, so look very carefully first.

If it was only two quarts down you needn't worry this time.

mine leaks from RMS,oil filter adapter and side of the block...........