New member, First Jeep!

[GrimmJeeper]

the jeep needs suction there to pull crank case fumes out of the engine, it needs to be hooked up correctly. that plastic piece that is smashed all to hell right there is what the hose from the valve cover should pass through and then on to the airbox. it looks like one piece but it is actually two halves and both are made aftermarket by dorman. you should be able to get them on rockauto.com.

the part number is 46003 and 46004 for each piece, they are listed in the emission section under vacuum harness, front and rear.

 

[seanR]

I had a chevy V6 that looked like that. I drained the oil added a gallon of diesel fuel and let it idle for about 5 minutes. Drained the crud ot of it and filled it back up with high detergent oil and drained that after 1000 miles. It cleaned things up pretty well. But the car was a POS to begin with.
Do so at you own risk.
Just throwing that out there.

 

[NewJeeper]

the jeep needs suction there to pull crank case fumes out of the engine, it needs to be hooked up correctly. that plastic piece that is smashed all to hell right there is what the hose from the valve cover should pass through and then on to the airbox. it looks like one piece but it is actually two halves and both are made aftermarket by dorman. you should be able to get them on rockauto.com.

the part number is 46003 and 46004 for each piece, they are listed in the emission section under vacuum harness, front and rear.

Thanks for the part numbers. There is a vacuum line that comes out of the left side of my air box, but that traces the driver side fender along the firewall and to a charcoal canister. That's the only place I feel the vent from the crank case would go. Any input? I can supply pictures if needed.

 

[NewJeeper]

I had a chevy V6 that looked like that. I drained the oil added a gallon of diesel fuel and let it idle for about 5 minutes. Drained the crud ot of it and filled it back up with high detergent oil and drained that after 1000 miles. It cleaned things up pretty well. But the car was a POS to begin with.
Do so at you own risk.
Just throwing that out there.

Sean, I've heard diesel, ATF, or kerosene works well. So I take it you didn't even scrape the sludge? Did you check out the oil pickup after that? I'm definitely going to after I flush. I'm still uncertain as to what I'm going to use. I'm going to run a few tests with some of the hard sludge and the three different cleaners. Whatever works best, I will use the one that liquified the crud. I will fill the motor to the hilt with it and let is set and not run. During that time I'll tackle checking the grounds and electrical components. Then Ill drain it and do normal OCI's with frequent filter changes. Before I run the motor I think it would be a good idea to prime the oil pump with the valve cover off so I know everything is circulating fine.

 

[NewJeeper]

Update... Due to it being very difficult to get the top end components clean, I decided to use some left over Por-15 Marine clean. We will see how well it cleans the rockers, bearings, and push rods. I mixed a gallon of hot water and a gallon of cleaner in a cheap plastic tub and set the parts in the tub the order they came out of the motor. The bottom picture is roughly 5 min in. I will give a picture update roughly 24hrs in.

The rockers on the left had already been hand cleaned and I said %#*? it!

 

[sidriptide]

Welcome to the world of XJs!
that much loose crud in the engine is sometimes better left alone.. it will be like a snowball, and you will never know where to stop because you will keep finding more, the deeper you look.
if you arent careful with your cleaning and choice of additive you can end up breaking too much of this stuff loose at once and plug up the filter or pick-up tube.
i did an chevy V8 engine swap last year for a kid and the replacement engine had the exact problem you have and i cleaned the top end and lifter valley spotless but i didnt open up the bottom-end.
the kid ran 2 cans of seafoam in the crankcase and drove it a couple days and changed the oil, then did the same thing again and packed his filter so full of carbon that it starved the crank and smoked the engine in less than 1 day.
i'd suggest adding 2 qts of ATF to the crank case and change your filter every day, drain 1 qt from the crank case every day and monitor the amount of lose crap in the bottom and change the oil when you arent comfortable with the amount you see.
ATF will work, just slower.
if possible, cut your filter open after you swap it so you have an idea of how much loose stuff you are dealing with.
the initial reaction is to try to clean it out quickly, but it's been there a while and you can afford to wash it out slowly, rather than endanger the engine. if you have good oil pressure that crud hasnt done much to damage your engine any more than regular wear and tear. your filter has been catching it.
be careful now that you've started this process.

 

[DrMoab]

That jeep is a perfect example of why Penzoil should be run out of business.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

That jeep is a perfect example of why Penzoil should be run out of business.

I thought the same thing. supposedly they stopped using a wax base years ago but I keep seeing cars with that nasty paraffin sludge caked in everywhere and 9 times out of ten the customer was running penzoil for years.

 

[WB9YZU]

Though I avoid Penzoil products like the plauge. But IF you keep up the 3K Mile oil and Filter changes, it simply doesn't do that. I guy I knew ran only Penzoil products in his Vega. He was religious about changing the oil ever 2.5K. His engine did not look like that, infact, it was sparkely clean inside. It had 75K on it at the time I saw it.

I've had 318 and 360 engines with the same milage that I litterally had to pry the valve cover off with a screwdriver becuase they were completely full of carbon/sludge. They too had good oil pressure, but when you did the tear down, there were grooves in every bearing surface, the valve guides were shot, and the cylinder walls looked like someone left a pile of black sand on top of the piston. IMO Engines don't get that way because someone used XYZ brand of oil, they get that way though neglect

 

[NewJeeper]

Welcome to the world of XJs!
that much loose crud in the engine is sometimes better left alone.. it will be like a snowball, and you will never know where to stop because you will keep finding more, the deeper you look.

Thanks and I hear ya on finding mote the deeper you look. It's a little overwhelming!

if you arent careful with your cleaning and choice of additive you can end up breaking too much of this stuff loose at once and plug up the filter or pick-up tube. be careful now that you've started this process

After seeing how bad it it and knowing that small pieces have probably already made their way to the pan and pickup, I have devised a plan that I feel is a solid.
I'm going to purchase some rubber plugs to block all the drain passages in the head and continue cleaning it spotless. Once finished I will pull the plugs that blocked the oil drain passages and dump about 8 qts of diesel fuel through the top of the cylinder head. I'll let the motor sit for a few days and drain it. (From research, this should break up any sludge in the oil pan and pickup screen.) After this, I will install the pushrods and rockers and go through the correct sequence to adjust the valves. From here I will run 5qts of oil to 1qt of ATF and frequently change the filter. The Jeep is gonna stay in the garage until inspection of particles in the oil filter is acceptable. After this, I plan on cleaning the engine, changing the oil and checking for leaks. Any leaky seals I find I will replace. Before I drive it on the road I will drop the pan and inspect the pickup and replace as necessary. I will replace the oil pan gasket too.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

while you're under there swap the rear main out too, no sense in skipping it while you have the pan off.

 

[sidriptide]

Thanks and I hear ya on finding mote the deeper you look. It's a little overwhelming!

After seeing how bad it it and knowing that small pieces have probably already made their way to the pan and pickup, I have devised a plan that I feel is a solid.
I'm going to purchase some rubber plugs to block all the drain passages in the head and continue cleaning it spotless. Once finished I will pull the plugs that blocked the oil drain passages and dump about 8 qts of diesel fuel through the top of the cylinder head. I'll let the motor sit for a few days and drain it. (From research, this should break up any sludge in the oil pan and pickup screen.) After this, I will install the pushrods and rockers and go through the correct sequence to adjust the valves. From here I will run 5qts of oil to 1qt of ATF and frequently change the filter. The Jeep is gonna stay in the garage until inspection of particles in the oil filter is acceptable. After this, I plan on cleaning the engine, changing the oil and checking for leaks. Any leaky seals I find I will replace. Before I drive it on the road I will drop the pan and inspect the pickup and replace as necessary. I will replace the oil pan gasket too.

sounds like a good plan, maybe even over-kill, but it should help you get it clean.
since you are obviously dedicated to getting it right before you put it on the road, what about just pulling the engine and doing all this work on an engine stand in the garage? you will not enjoy dropping the pan on your back, and you will be able to clean it better and throw a gasket kit at it as well.
just a thought... it's a little extra work but it will make the project easier over-all.

 

[NewJeeper]

Grimm, I will definitely be doing that. I didn't type it because I was in a hurry trying to finish my post because we were taking the boys to the kid park. I bet it was evident with a few wrong words in places I blame it on fat fingers and the Ipad keyboard.

sounds like a good plan, maybe even over-kill, but it should help you get it clean.
since you are obviously dedicated to getting it right before you put it on the road, what about just pulling the engine and doing all this work on an engine stand in the garage? you will not enjoy dropping the pan on your back, and you will be able to clean it better and throw a gasket kit at it as well.
just a thought... it's a little extra work but it will make the project easier over-all.

I know its overkill, but I'm not in a huge hurry. I have a motorcycle I have driven almost daily for a year now. The other reason I am approaching it this way is because I had a 75 K5 blazer that I refreshed and when I pulled the intake, I noticed someone painted the lifter galley and it was chipping off. I worked on the blazer a little more and got everything sealed up, timed, and all fresh fluids. Then I started driving it and not long after that, clunk clunk clunk. I forgot to replace the oil pickup. Dumb mistake. When I tore the motor down, the entire pickup screen had paint chips blocking it.

So about pulling the motor... I have the picker and the stand, but I'm not sure if I want to embark on that journey quite yet. You make a very valid point, but I think I'll just throw it up on jack stands and do the RMS, inspect oil pickup, and replace the pan gasket. I'll save pulling the motor for when it needs a rebuild.

 

[DrMoab]

4.0L engines aren't bad to pull. Half a day each direction.

 

[NewJeeper]

Progress update... The Por-15 marine clean and 48 hours of soaking worked wonders on the rockers, push rods, and bearings!!

Time to soak the almost clean valve cover...

Dropped by Lowes this morning to pick up some rubber stoppers for the push rod holes. (This makes the head cleaning tons easier and it sits flush with the head when installed.) I added the eyelets for easy removal. The first one I installed pushed all the way through on accident. I blame it on the poor lighting! It took a while to get it out of the lifter galley, but I used a sharp rod and poked the small end and pulled it up just enough to get a grip on it with needle nose pliers. If you do this set up, a through bolt eyelet with a washer and nut will eliminate this problem. (Or just don't strong arm it in there like me!) Also use a line to connect two plugs. This way you can pull the line and remove two plugs at a time. Here is a pic of the plug setup and them installed:

As you can see there is diesel pooled up on the plugged holes. I filled the motor up with 2 gallons to break up and emulsify the crud in the pan and filter.

Here is where I am working on the Jeep. Just enough room for my SV1000 to stay out of the elements :roll:

 

[Glenn B]

Excellent project, loving the updates. Nice work and attention to detail!

 

[NewJeeper]

Excellent project, loving the updates. Nice work and attention to detail!

Thanks Glenn! I think it has something to do with the military So a through bolt on the plugs is a must!!! I pulled 2 eyelets out of the plugs when removing them. Here is the finished product!

Not bad!!!

 

[NewJeeper]

Dropped the oil pan tonight. I was surprised to see a Fel Pro Crushless gasket after working on the valve cover!!! So the crank actually looks good! (No pics.) Here is a pic of the rear main bearing.... Notice the smoother spot in the middle and the slightly scored edges on each side. Any advice on how long this motor will last with the condition of the bearing? (I assume the rest are the same.)

 

[DrMoab]

You need to measure them to really tell.

 

[PacificEd]

Thanks Glenn! I think it has something to do with the military So a through bolt on the plugs is a must!!! I pulled 2 eyelets out of the plugs when removing them. Here is the finished product!

Not bad!!!

That looks fantastic. Good job cleaning up an old Waggy.

Oh and don't listen to SeanR.....the SEC boys know how to have fun in Harlan, KY.