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Renix seized up from lack of oil

Jbaddick17

NAXJA Forum User
Location
PA
So here is an interesting one for you all lol... to start I’m not new to jeeps, especially XJ’s at that, but I’ve never owned a Renix until this one. I’ve rebuilt a few 4.0’s including the one in my daily driver, but this is a new one for me lol. So I found this 89 for sale for $400 and he told me that it had been run out of oil and was locked up tight, I bought it figuring it would need an engine but when I got there it cranked over, slowly and it was tight, but it spun... I pulled the plugs and dumped oil down the cylinders and it eventually freed up, put the plugs in and it fired up like nothing ever happened, it had great oil pressure, smoked until the oil I added burned off, and then stopped. Now my reason for posting this thread is this, it had a rattle when I got it going, won’t call it a knock, good oil pressure and such, doesn’t over heat at all, yada yada. But it almost sounds like maybe a lifter or the piston rings are half seized, compression ranged from 136 to 150 (lowest and highest) so not sure, but like I said I rebuilt the engine in my daily xj because it too was run dry, and chewed a piston up, didn’t break the skirt off but it scuffed it up badly and all the rings were stuck in the lands, this Renix motor sounds nothing like that one did lol
 
Get a cheap borescope and look at the cylinder walls through the spark plug holes.
 
You've remove the serpentine belt and confirmed it's not any of the accessories making noise or holding back the engine? If the noise is underneath, pull the inspection plat on the front of the bellhousing and check the t/c bolts haven't loosened up.
 
You've remove the serpentine belt and confirmed it's not any of the accessories making noise or holding back the engine? If the noise is underneath, pull the inspection plat on the front of the bellhousing and check the t/c bolts haven't loosened up.

Yes I have done that, that’s how I found that the water pump was shot
 
So I did that as well, it sounds like middle of the engine so around cylinder 3-4 and at the top, any sure way to tell if a lifter collapsed ? I can’t really move any of the rocker arms when I press down on them

Measure the lift of the pushrods with the valve cover removed. Collapsed lifter will not have proper lift.
 
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