2001XJRedBarron
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hawaii
I have searched quite a bit to try and answer these questions but have been unable to. So I have a 2001 stock XJ 4.0 Auto (AW4). It started leaking oil quite heavily while driving up a mountain with a very full load of passengers. The oil dripped down onto exhaust pipe causing smoke which I noticed and pulled over. Didn't lose much oil so engine is fine that way but now I am trying to address the leak. I have already replaced valve cover gasket and oil filter adapter o-ring and have checked that there isn't any oil leaking near the oil pressure switch but still some oil appears on the inspection plate between the transmission and the oil pan. I am planning to replace the rear main seal and oil pan gasket but am having a lot of trouble getting the pan dropped. There is a small plastic piece that keeps me from being able to remove the last two bolts in the oil pan nearest the inspection plate.
What is this plastic piece? Will it come off if I remove the inspection plate? I can't get the plate off because the exhaust pipe keeps the 18mm corner bolt from being removed.
I've seen a lot of threads that say you have to remove the catalytic converters from the exhaust manifold and take off the exhaust (which would solve the bolt problem) to drop the pan but is that absolutely necessary? I basically just want to drop the oil pan as easily as possible to replace the rear main seal and oil pan gasket, but now it looks like i have to remove the intake manifold to access the exhaust manifold bolts to remove the catalytic converters to move the exhaust pipes to pull the bolt from the access panel to get that little plastic piece out of the way to get those last two bolts out of the oil pan. Complicated much? Haha I think I may be able to get the cats off without removing the intake manifold but it looks like a big PITA! Anyway I just want to know what is the bare minimum I can do to get the seal/gasket replaced. If the little plastic piece isn't real integral to the vehicle I can cut it to get access to the two bolts but I don't want to do that without knowing what the plastic piece is/does. I have seen pics online of earlier model cherokees without that piece but both this car and another 2000 xj have it.
Also- a guy on a different thread said he just put a heavier oil (10w40) and stop leak in and that solved the problem of a slow leak from around the inspection panel. I'm concerned with the longevity of this jeep (it's a daily driver not really for wheeling) so would this "solution" affect the overall life of the engine negatively at all?
What is this plastic piece? Will it come off if I remove the inspection plate? I can't get the plate off because the exhaust pipe keeps the 18mm corner bolt from being removed.
I've seen a lot of threads that say you have to remove the catalytic converters from the exhaust manifold and take off the exhaust (which would solve the bolt problem) to drop the pan but is that absolutely necessary? I basically just want to drop the oil pan as easily as possible to replace the rear main seal and oil pan gasket, but now it looks like i have to remove the intake manifold to access the exhaust manifold bolts to remove the catalytic converters to move the exhaust pipes to pull the bolt from the access panel to get that little plastic piece out of the way to get those last two bolts out of the oil pan. Complicated much? Haha I think I may be able to get the cats off without removing the intake manifold but it looks like a big PITA! Anyway I just want to know what is the bare minimum I can do to get the seal/gasket replaced. If the little plastic piece isn't real integral to the vehicle I can cut it to get access to the two bolts but I don't want to do that without knowing what the plastic piece is/does. I have seen pics online of earlier model cherokees without that piece but both this car and another 2000 xj have it.
Also- a guy on a different thread said he just put a heavier oil (10w40) and stop leak in and that solved the problem of a slow leak from around the inspection panel. I'm concerned with the longevity of this jeep (it's a daily driver not really for wheeling) so would this "solution" affect the overall life of the engine negatively at all?