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Burning oil

Z

Zice

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Gettysburg, Pa
alright so a little background... about 6 months ago I was mudding with my friends and completly swamped my jeep air cleaner sucked in alot of mud, water coming in the doors you know the whole deal... and ever since then my jeep has been burning too much oil and it seems to be getting worse over time I feel like Im filling up the oil like every other gas fillup and Im getting really tired of the black smoke blowing when I get on it SO im guessing that its something major thats causing this and its not a cheap fix and it would just be easier just filling up the oil all the time BUT what are my options?
 
I suspect some dirt must have gone into at least two cylinders when you swamped your Jeep and as a result, that dirt has scratched the cylinder walls so oil is getting by the piston rings.
Do a compression check on all cylinders. First do a dry test, then do a "wet" one by adding a spoonful of engine oil into each cylinder. Post the results and we'll know what to advise you to do next.
 
maybe your valve cover is loose? i had same prob. thought it was rear main seal (F@CK!!) but it wasnt just valve cover. :D
 
Shomsky462 said:
maybe your valve cover is loose? i had same prob. thought it was rear main seal (F@CK!!) but it wasnt just valve cover. :D
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this could be it because there looks like a leak around the valve cover but not really a serious leak...

Im no mechanic so Im not sure how to do a valve test... but thats prolly it...
 
just go and get a compression tester.
It screws into the spark plug socket and has a big guage on it. Disconnect the coil wire to the distributor to the engine won't start, use the starter to turn the engine over. Do the first test with the cylinder dry, the add a small amount of oil to the cylinder and test again. If the number comes up when you add oil then your rings are shot or the cylinder is scored. If the number doesn't come up then it's likely you've got a valve problem.
 
Zice said:
this could be it because there looks like a leak around the valve cover but not really a serious leak...

Im no mechanic so Im not sure how to do a valve test... but thats prolly it...
Click to expand...
its really easy . there are about 10 or so bolts that hold the valve cover down. just tigten them down a bit. you dont have to rape them shut just tight enough so oil wont spew out.
 
Zice said:
so basicly if the number comes up its going to be alot of money or new motor and if it doesnt its gonna be cheaper?
Click to expand...
Depends. If the number comes up then it's likely what was said earlier, you sucked some ugly into the motor and scored the cylinders. If the cylinder is scored you're looking at a rebuild.
If you hosed a valve then I suppose you could get away with finding a junkyard head and refreshing it.
Sucking mud into an engine is about the worst thing you can do to it.
 
87manche said:
Sucking mud into an engine is about the worst thing you can do to it.
Click to expand...

That's second only to hydrolocking the engine with muddy water. With a hydrolock, you'd have at least two bent rods in addition to scored cylinder walls.

Zice said:
so basically if the number comes up its going to be alot of money or new motor and if it doesnt its gonna be cheaper?
Click to expand...

If the dry compression numbers are low and they increase when you add oil, you're at the very least going to need new piston rings. If the cylinder walls are scored, the engine will also need a cylinder rebore and new pistons in which case, you'd be advised to go all the way and completely rebuild the engine. Yes, it'll cost you more if that's the case.
Either way, the head will need to come off so it'll be a good idea to recondition it and either have the valves/valve seats lightly lapped if they're in good condition, or have new valves fitted with a 3-angle grind to the valve seats. You can also have the valve stem oil seals replaced and replace the freeze plug on the back of the head.
 
would it be a better idea to look around for a used engine from another xj that hasent been beat and harassesed or would a rebuild be better suited? Id love to stroke it but I dont know the first thing about rebuilding engines or stroking an engine so I dunno... would running it as is make things worse or would the problem just exist in its current state until the motor poops on me? because I have been running it how it is for atleast 6 months...

thanks
 
Zice said:
would it be a better idea to look around for a used engine from another xj that hasent been beat and harassesed or would a rebuild be better suited? Id love to stroke it but I dont know the first thing about rebuilding engines or stroking an engine so I dunno... would running it as is make things worse or would the problem just exist in its current state until the motor poops on me? because I have been running it how it is for atleast 6 months...

thanks
Click to expand...

yes it wil make matters worse. if the cylinder walls are scored that means that some kind of metal that came off the cylinder walls is floating around in your engine along wiht the dirt and mudd that was there originally. In a perfect world those pieces would get caught in the oil filter as the oil passes through but that doesnt always happen. then that piece of metal and dirt thats floating around can get into things and score them as well such as the bearings and jourlnals which then leads to alot of worse things. such as oil leaks or if it scores a rod bearing that could potentially worsen and you could end up throwing a rod which in that case you will have to replace your whole engine ( been there done that, learned from first hand experiance) my advice is to change your oil at the time you check your compression and run the old oil through a filter such as a paper towl or coffee filter and check for dirt or metal shavings or pieces that might have come off your engine. if it looks like brass then its probly a bearing which needs to be adresses immeadiatly.
 
compression test X4. If it were the valve cover gasket leaking that much your entire transmission would be coated in oil and your driveway would have about 5-gallons worth of oil stain on it.b Smoke is the big telltale, is your back hatch covered with tiny droplets of oil? You really hurt the engine, and if you don't fix it soon, you run the risk of killing it to the point of being un-rebuildable.
 
Sorry to jump in on this thread but it is pretty close to my problems so I will ask here instead of starting a new one.
Previous owner hydrolocked the engine Memorial weekend and I was there to help get it running again. Engine has been running great but is starting do develope some issues. Check engine light came on and am starting to blow black smoke out the back off of the start and when really getting on the gas. There was a fresh tune up including plugs, wires, cap, and rotor right before I got it which was last week.
There is less than a hundred miles on this tune up. I took out the first three plugs a couple of minutes ago and they were COMPLETELY black like the engine is running rich or something. I have no oil spots on the back hatch or anything collecting on it but alot of black smoke in the rear view. Could my motor be running rich from bad sensors or the like or did the same thing happen to me as already mentioned in this thread? It is a 96 4.0 with 110,000 miles.
 
BLACK smoke is excess fuel richness....oil smoke is BLUE.
 
85xjwoody said:
I took out the first three plugs a couple of minutes ago and they were COMPLETELY black like the engine is running rich or something. I have no oil spots on the back hatch or anything collecting on it but alot of black smoke in the rear view. Could my motor be running rich from bad sensors or the like or did the same thing happen to me as already mentioned in this thread? It is a 96 4.0 with 110,000 miles.
Click to expand...

As MudDawg said, your engine's running way too rich and the commonest reason for this is a bad upstream O2 sensor.
 
Dr. Dyno said:
As MudDawg said, your engine's running way too rich and the commonest reason for this is a bad upstream O2 sensor.
Click to expand...

Thank you both for the response. Time to replace the 02 sensor.

Kim.
 
yea I replaced mine and that made a big difference and but Im gonna get a compression tester tonight or tommorow... for now I threw some slick 50 in it and im hoping for the best... Ill post the results from the compression test pronto...

thanks
 
To further the fouled plug description...rich shows black DRY fluffy deposits...oil shows as heavy wet crusties...check the entire intake tract to be sure you don't have a slug of mud or a trout or something hung up in there...you would be amazed at the crud I have dug out of filter inlets and air tubes...since the jeep efi doesnt have a mass airflow sensor...it is likely to run too rich at part throttle if the intake tract is partially plugged up.
 
MudDawg said:
you would be amazed at the crud I have dug out of filter inlets and air tubes...
Click to expand...
I sucked a shit load of muddy water through a straw out of my throttle body the day of the swampage... I was amazed...
 
Zice said:
would it be a better idea to look around for a used engine from another xj that hasent been beat and harassesed or would a rebuild be better suited? Id love to stroke it but I dont know the first thing about rebuilding engines or stroking an engine so I dunno... would running it as is make things worse or would the problem just exist in its current state until the motor poops on me? because I have been running it how it is for atleast 6 months...

thanks
Click to expand...

Before you think about a good used replacement engine, wait and see what the results of the compression tests are going to be. Even then, I think you'll need to have the engine torn down, assess the extent of the damage, and decide if it's worth rebuilding from the cost point of view.
Running it as it is will only make it worse and it's almost certain the engine will eventually die altogether. At least it's still salvageable at the moment.
 
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