Who has the highest Miles on an OEM 4.0L...no head/cylinder work.

[sidriptide]

'88 XJ = 240,000

'88 MJ (2.5L, but essentially the same engine) 219,000

Guess I've got a way to go to catch up :wave:

yeah but i'm dying to know what the odometer says on the "stealth" 2000 you have sittting at home and NEVER DRIVE!!!! :twak:

mike

 

[lapisxj]

Our 96 has 184 on it and going strong.

 

[Erik the Red]

My '88 MJ just clicked past 202k. Other than very minor low end thumping during a cold start, the engine just keeps hanging in there. No real oil consumption either (if you don't count the valve cover gasket leak).

Erik
88 Comanche

 

[AJ-MJ]

1990 MJ with only 164K

 

[sbxj]

got about 250K on my 87 4.0L, but my 99 got a new engine at 73K...... whats up with that??

mike

It's a maintenance thing....I'm curious, did you buy the '99 new? If not, how many miles were on it when you got it?

 

[yellowxj]

my bought my engine used from the junk yard three years ago and have run discount auto parts 20-50 in it since day one. It sounded like it had piston slap when I first put the motor in but after a trip from Florida to Nevada and back on 33's with 3.55 (drafting behind semi's to pick up speed, screaming down the downhills, etc.) the piston slap noises disappeared. My mechanic friend, MR. DOOM declared that the engine didnt have much life left...that was two years ago.

 

[Ed in North Ga.]

my old 89XJ that I sold had 310,000. Last I checked, it was still puttering around down in Atlanta somewhere.

My 89MJ has a hair over 200,000 on it now.

neither leaked oil, both are/were abused.

 

[5-90]

It's a maintenance thing....I'm curious, did you buy the '99 new? If not, how many miles were on it when you got it?

It's not just maintenance - the Renix blocks are cast with a similar high-nickel content iron that was used for the Hemi and pent-roof mountain motors by ChryCo in the 50's, 60's, and 70's - until the ChryCo/DC revisions in 1991 and 1995 or so (when they went to a lower nickel content alloy.) Nickel makes iron harder and increases wear resistance in moving iron assemblies, which is a key to the survival of the Renix block on regular oils. All of my Renix XJ's run Valvoline 10-40 or 20-50, and couldn't be happier.

Side note - when I lost the oil pump in the 87 (which lead to the hole in the spash wall in the crankcase I mentioned earlier...) and had to take the head off, there was a total of .001" of top cylinder ridge (yes, that's .0005" actual height) which came right out with stones. I suppose if I'd put new rings in while I had it torn down, I'd still be driving it - the failure wasn't the fault of the basic engine components - it was catastrophic oil pump failure. And no, I didn't spot it in the quarterly checks since it failed all at once (relief spring collapsed, I don't know why.)

You'd be hard pressed to kill off a Renix engine under normal (or abnormal!) use without willfully abusing it, and even that would be likely to take work. My major project will be centred around a Renix block, and even Mike Parrish has admitted to boring a Renix block out to an even four inches (that's .125" over - the accepted maximum is .060") without incident and with solid service!

5-90

 

[yuppiexj]

I feel like a newbie... 1988 with 202k 1944 with 168k.
althought the 94 sounds worse a ton more piston slap and pinging.

<dcxEngineer>who needs a knock senor anyway?</dcxEnigneer>

 

[saint_raider]

Wow!!! Those are some impressive numbers. I am new to this board as I have just purchased a 1989 Cherokee with 106000 miles. This rig is in near perfect shape and I now know that I can expect many years of enjoyment out of her.

 

[oldmopars]

I have a 1989 with 240K with 4.0L/AW4 combo. Some slight piston slap, but not all the time. I beat this thing hard, overheated it several times. Once, I overheated it so bad that the needle passed the 260 degree mark and went till the needle pegged. It was burning the oil off the side of the block! It still runs like a champ. I did fix the problem. The only other engine I have seen that will take this kind of abuse is the Slant 6.(Another Mopar inline 6)

 

[biscuitboy87]

my buddy has an 89 with 250 on it and it runs better than my 2000 with 64 on it. side by side at idle mine sounds rough. his is faster and more torque (stick vs auto?). to bad they realised that planned obsolecence would net more profits than brand loyalty. if the nickel content thing is true (nickle is one of the miracle metals) i wonder who uses the most nickle in a block today?
keep on trucking guys...great thread!

 

[Beej]

My Dad's 90 has just over 664000kms. That's about 413000 statute miles. He has never rebuilt anything, just lots of frequent fluid and filter changes and replaces things as they come up. Its a 4.0 with an auto tranny (sorry, I don't know which one). Most miles are highway miles and he hardly ever offroads it. My 97 has 195000kms (121000miles).

Beej.

 

[Shanbo44]

88' 4.0 with 253,622 miles and still running strong. The engine has never been opened, no work on it at all.

 

[woody]

My Dad's 90 has just over 664000kms. That's about 413000 statute miles. He has never rebuilt anything, just lots of frequent fluid and filter changes and replaces things as they come up. Its a 4.0 with an auto tranny (sorry, I don't know which one). Most miles are highway miles and he hardly ever offroads it. My 97 has 195000kms (121000miles).

Beej.

Wow 413! Thats great!

All my XJs are middle aged: 2@200 (88/89) and 1@227. (90) The oil psi isn't so hot in the 90 and it feels some weaker than it's pals. The 89 trail rig runs really strong & cooled well, OK psi. The 88 DD is somewhere in between but good psi. :dunno:

IMO three things for a long-lived machine:

1-use quality fluids on time, levels kept up between service.

2-maintain well-filtered air and eliminate air leaks.

3-avoid over-revving and overheating at all costs.

Well, more than three... but violations of those have all got into my wallet at some point.

 

[NotMatt]

I'm running a mix of whatever 10w-30 bottles I can find at whatever gas station I'm at. I've only changed the oil on this thing once since I got it because I'm always refilling it so it's always fresh. Just changed the filter the other day though, mine points up into the engine bay so it's really easy to get at. I just change the filter whenever I feel like it needs it and I have a few bucks in my pocket for one at Schuck's.

 

[LRRH]

so why do the newer engines only seem to last 100K at hest? It can't be only because of less nickel content.

 

[yuppiexj]

Could be the lack of a knock sensor...every knock and ping beats on something in the reciprocating assembly.
Does anyone know what "fails" in the newer engines?
Other than baking it with no water and still driving it.
I have not personally seen any 4.0 engines fail

 

[jkkj]

yuppiexj: I find it funny that you would pick that one example. Is overheating what kills most of the newer motors? I have a 1998 with just over 80k on it and the water pump went out. When I was replacing it I found about an inch of brown sludge in the block. Kind of like baby poop with a little more grit thown in. It didn't smell or taste like baby poop though? At any rate It took me a good while to flush it all out. Now it is much slower to warm and runs cooler. Imagine that.

 

[Don Becker]

The original 4.0L in my '88 XJ Limited went 325,000 miles and was still running exceptioally well in spite of a rod or wrist pin problem in the #5 hole . . . . 'never even opened-up the engine . . . . 'found and replaced it with a '93 HO 4.0L that had some 70,000 original miles . . . the '88 has a current total of 352,000 miles on it . . . . . . . 'going for 500K

My wife's 91 XJ w/the HO 4.0L has about 218,000 miles and it already had a factory rebuilt engine when we bought the vehicle . . . . 'no idea what happened to the original in that rig . . . . but, it's going strong and my wife loves it.

Don