1991 XJ, currently 204K miles. I've owned it for about 8-9 years; nothing ever done to engine AFAIK. Been leaking ... a LOT ... for some time now. Last summer, I replaced the elbow gasket and the rear main (needed help with that, but that's another story).
Improved, but still leaked. Oil seemed to be spraying from the dipstick tube. So, novel diagnostic solution: 1) remove dipstick; 2) put some plastic hose over dipstick tube; 3) drill hole in cap of empty soda bottle and anchor it with zip ties in an out-of-the-way location; 4) run tube to soda bottle. The thinking was it would collect the oil and eliminate the leak, which presumably was coming from worn rings resulting in oil blowing out the tube.
Funny thing: no oil in the tube or bottle. Still leaking, but better. Assumption: Can't be the blow-by, right? Since I only drive 10 miles/day, I ignored it and added oil every so often.
This week, it dawns on me that I put the tube on VERY tightly and probably just created a closed pressure system that wouldn't allow oil to blow that way. So I loosen the bottle cap a bit to see, and HOLY CRAP. Nearly filled the bottle in an hour of 65-mph driving. (Yep, I tightened the cap back up.)
So now I have two questions:
1) Is this proof that the rings are so bad that I need a reman/rebuild?
2) If question #1 is "yes", would you replace an engine on a Jeep that has a 3-year-old clutch, 7-year-old OME suspension (that I LOVE), and 4-year-old radiator/T-stat/hoses/belt, and good rubber... BUT it slips a little in 4WD, needs rear brakes, still has original front & rear diffs, a cracked windshield, a crappy stereo, a sagging head liner...
So what's a guy to do? Is it worth the $5K to have a rebuilt put in (I'm not confident I can handle that much work, so my neighbor, who has a shop, would be the installer)? Or should I just pull the suspension and put it on an XJ with lower miles?
I LOVE my Jeep. What would y'all do?
Improved, but still leaked. Oil seemed to be spraying from the dipstick tube. So, novel diagnostic solution: 1) remove dipstick; 2) put some plastic hose over dipstick tube; 3) drill hole in cap of empty soda bottle and anchor it with zip ties in an out-of-the-way location; 4) run tube to soda bottle. The thinking was it would collect the oil and eliminate the leak, which presumably was coming from worn rings resulting in oil blowing out the tube.
Funny thing: no oil in the tube or bottle. Still leaking, but better. Assumption: Can't be the blow-by, right? Since I only drive 10 miles/day, I ignored it and added oil every so often.
This week, it dawns on me that I put the tube on VERY tightly and probably just created a closed pressure system that wouldn't allow oil to blow that way. So I loosen the bottle cap a bit to see, and HOLY CRAP. Nearly filled the bottle in an hour of 65-mph driving. (Yep, I tightened the cap back up.)
So now I have two questions:
1) Is this proof that the rings are so bad that I need a reman/rebuild?
2) If question #1 is "yes", would you replace an engine on a Jeep that has a 3-year-old clutch, 7-year-old OME suspension (that I LOVE), and 4-year-old radiator/T-stat/hoses/belt, and good rubber... BUT it slips a little in 4WD, needs rear brakes, still has original front & rear diffs, a cracked windshield, a crappy stereo, a sagging head liner...
So what's a guy to do? Is it worth the $5K to have a rebuilt put in (I'm not confident I can handle that much work, so my neighbor, who has a shop, would be the installer)? Or should I just pull the suspension and put it on an XJ with lower miles?
I LOVE my Jeep. What would y'all do?