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Thread: Oil issues

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  1. #1
    Super Moderator CLNethery's Avatar
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    Oil issues

    I drive a '99 TJ with 227,xxx miles on her. Recently (january) I noticed an increase in loss of oil, from nearly no loss to +/- 3qts a month. I'm not noticing any puddling underneath which says I must be burning it. My best guess, considering the mileage, is that it's that the piston rings are just worn out and can't hold a proper seal anymore. Because I am on my summer break, now is the best time for me to do an overhaul if need be. Questions: How much damage (to the jeep and my pocket book) will it cause if I just keep adding oil every time it needs it instead of actually fixing the problem? Can anyone say whether this is a problem that even needs an overhaul? Advice on diagnosis? Because it's my DD, I would rather not rip it apart and be without a vehicle for so long, but if it's the lesser of two evils - so be it.

    Thanks guys
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  2. #2
    Tommy sucks Sharpe's Avatar
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    What engine? Buying a rebuildable core to work on while you continue to drive the jeep is a perfectly viable option. You can get an engine swap done in a weekend with some help.
    Last edited by Sharpe; 05-12-2015 at 07:32 AM.

  3. #3
    Like my rock crawler? KrazyKarl02's Avatar
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    You can limp a fuel injected engine along for quite sometime with oil loss. You will start fouling plugs and smelling like a 2 cycle weedwacker, but it will go for quite a while as long as you keep topping it off.

    As for the diagnosis, a quick simple thing is to pop your valve cover air breather off and see if it is constantly blowing air out of it, more than likely it's air and oil. A more in depth approach would be to run a compression check on all the cylinders. You can buy a compression checking gauge for pretty cheap or O'reilly's might even loan them out. It's no more technical than changing the spark plugs to do. With the compression gauge you screw it in your spark plug hole, crank the engine over, then read the pressure. You should be over 125 psi. You are also looking for deviations between the cylinders (like if cylinder 1 is 150, and cylinder 2 is 125, you have a problem). That's where I would start.

    More than likely you are correct in your ring assumption with that many miles on the engine. You then have a few options depending on your pocket book, level of skill, and free time:

    1) You could pull the engine, remove the crank, pull the pistons and just put new rings in it. This is going to make the problem go away for about 10,000 miles and probably cost the least
    2) You could look for a crate engine from Jeep, I would imagine this would be in the $3000 range, then just pull your original engine, install the new one and swap the accessories. If you did this you would be out $3000, but your downtime could probably be a weekend or less.
    3) You could pull your engine, send it to a mcahine shop, have them rebuild it, and re-install. I would guess a decent rebuild would be ~$1500, the problem is the machine shop would probably have the engine for ~2 weeks, so while it's half the cost of the crate motor, it's a lot more downtime.
    4) Like Sharpe said, find a rebuildable core, have the machine shop rebuild it, then just swap it over a weekend.
    5) Another viable option is to check junk yards and see if they have one pulled from a wrecked car, it is a gamble, but if you're on a college student budget it might be worth taking. Sometimes they will tell you the miles the vehicle had before the engine was yanked so you can get a feel for the engine condition.

    Everything I listed is there is just my pulled out of the air estimate on what that stuff could cost, so it could be more or it coukld be less. Another expense in repairs like this is all the other stuff on the motor, like a water pump, engine mounts, spark plug wires, etc.... Are you going to pull the engine out and then put a water pump with 200k miles on it? I wouldn't but you could to save cost.
    Last edited by KrazyKarl02; 05-12-2015 at 07:52 AM.
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  4. #4
    Registered User uglyota's Avatar
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    Orrrr....you could do a 5.3 swap!
    Can't you even do a ring and hone job with the motor in place? Pull head and pan, replace rings and bearings, slap it back together with new head bolts and head gasket? That would probably be the middle ground between a junkyard motor and a full rebuild
    Last edited by uglyota; 05-12-2015 at 12:42 PM.
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  5. #5
    Old school badass Seth's Avatar
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    What motor? How many miles are you driving to burn 3 quarts?
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  6. #6
    sam_hodnett's Avatar
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    My high school truck burned a quart a week. I drove it like that for 3 years and my brother drove it for 2 years before it finally gave out. But it was getting about 2,000 miles a month put on it.
    "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

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  7. #7
    Super Moderator CLNethery's Avatar
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    I'm running an 4.0L inline 6, 5 spd manual transmission. I burn a quart of oil every 250- 300 miles. Thanks for the input, my dad is in Canada on business this week so we're going to look at all the options when he gets back. 5.3 swap would be sick, but I'm a broke college kid so not really an option at this point. Considering the miles, I don't think I can sell it for what I would want. Which means I might as well do a fix that is a balance of long lasting but not necessarily as extensive or expensive as doing a 5.3 swap.
    Last edited by CLNethery; 05-16-2015 at 11:16 PM.
    Collin Nethery
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  8. #8
    Registered User tommy53002's Avatar
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    So it's consuming 3 quarts every 300 miles? That is a lot. I don't know how long that could limp along.
    Swap in a rebuilt long block and be done with it for another 200k...

  9. #9
    Super Moderator CLNethery's Avatar
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    No, I added 3 quarts in the last 740 miles.
    Collin Nethery
    '99 TJ
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    2016-2017 President

  10. #10
    sprayin' the house down CheapJeep's Avatar
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    Karl pretty much covered everything as far as rebuild options go. If you're attached to your rig and plan on building it over time, an LS swap might be a good choice... $750~ 5.3 with accessories and ecm is pretty standard going rate at yards.

    You might try a quart of this with your next oil change while you're limping it along. http://lucasoil.com/products/engine-...oil-stabilizer (I use it in all of my vehicles and race cars, it works...)
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  11. #11
    Hazaa Fredo's Avatar
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    Robbie brings up a good point. The snake oil challenge is worth a try.

    Lucas is some good stuff. I've got a engine that wouldn't probably be alive without the stuff. Refer to this thread to see what I'm talking about: http://www.tamor.org/forums/showthre...lace-Your-Bets!!!
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  12. #12
    Super Moderator CLNethery's Avatar
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    Thanks for the info on the additive, I'll pick some up next time I'm out. A little back story, I forgot to mention but remembered after reading Fredo's old thread. About 6 months ago my oil pressure started dropping off to 0 then bouncing back as I drive or keep the rpm up. Not sure if that helps diagnose the issue or not, I considered replacing the oil pump but never got around to it. Newb question here, when you say "LS swap" are you referring to the 5.3 and 'LS' is just a style? I'll start checking the salvage yards around to see if I can find one for decent price. It's my first rig, so it's hard to decide whether to keep putting money in just to fix it, or while I'm fixing it and spending the money (money is tight) I might as well upgrade. If I'm not upgrading it almost makes more sense to sell the thing since it's bound to break again. If I can find a solid 5.3 and can convince my dad, I agree that's the way to go (looking at the big picture). I appreciate all of the help guys.
    Collin Nethery
    '99 TJ
    c/o '17 ANSC major
    2016-2017 President

  13. #13
    sam_hodnett's Avatar
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    I agree an LS swap would be slick, but if you think it has adequate power for what you are using it for right now, just swap in a rebuilt block until you are done with school and can afford to do a nice 5.3 swap.
    "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

    "It's not cheating if you pay for it"

  14. #14
    Like my rock crawler? KrazyKarl02's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sam_hodnett View Post
    I agree an LS swap would be slick, but if you think it has adequate power for what you are using it for right now, just swap in a rebuilt block until you are done with school and can afford to do a nice 5.3 swap.
    While he's doing the LS swap he should go ahead and do the one ton axle swap....
    -Karl
    2006 Chevy K3500 4X4 - No J.B. Weld on it yet!
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  15. #15
    Come and Take it BroncoJo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KrazyKarl02 View Post
    While he's doing the LS swap he should go ahead and do the one ton axle swap....
    Only if he plans on keeping it for a while...
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