1995 xj with the 4.0 inline engine. It started peeing oil everywhere! And leaving a wet puddle at every stop.

Looking into the engine compartment, just showed me an oily mess..all over the engine, the filter, the valve cover, everywhere.

Valve cover maybe? or perhaps a leaking oil filter? Or maybe rear main oil seal?

No matter, I figured the tired old beast was due some attention and replaced the following...

oil filter
oil pan gasket
valve cover gasket
rear main oil seal

Aaaand, since I was down there anyway, I replaced the bad starter and corroded battery cables. (I've been going through the "turn-the-key-no-start" thing as well.)

And hey! the wheels are off... let's replace those paper-thin front brake pads too!

So, mechanical sidetrips aside, once I got the xj all back together and drove it around the block. I found.... aww heiilll no!... a lovely trail of clean, fresh oil trailing behind the vehicle. Including a brand new wet puddle of oil under the jeep when stopped.

After banging my head against the stucco wall of my garage for a few moments it occurred to me that maybe I should look at the engine WHILE IT WAS RUNNING to see if I could spot the leak.

Turned out that the inconveniantly placed oil sensor had failed and was merrily shooting oil out it's backside whenever the pressure raised above 40 psi.

I'll replace that little guy tonight.


Now, if I'd just taken the time to watch the engine while it was running in the first place, I could have avoided a LOT of dirty, extra work.

The moral of the story being..."look before you leap" I suppose.

-Outersketcher

 

Woulda Coulda Shoulda.....been there done that.
Thanks for sharing, you might save someone from the same pain.

 

Hey, it may have been a lot of extra work, but you did buy yourself some piece of mind with it, now that you know all of those things have been done and are up to snuff.

 

It's funny tho how everytime you go under the hood to fix one problem... you discover 2 or 3 other things that need attention.

Like, for instance, in my case... all that rotten suspension and steerage rubber.

 

try opening the hood more often lol

 

I know how you feel. I bought my '96 not too long ago and I'm trying to get everything into good working order before I worry about lift and such, but it seems like every time I'm about to finish with one thing I notice something else that needs to be done.

Of course, I'm a computer geek, not a mechanic, so it takes me a while since I'm learning as I go. If I knew what I was doing I could probably knock everything out in a matter of days. LOL

 

Piece of advice for new owners - be careful the first time you change the oil on a 4.0L. That pressure sensor is placed perfectly so that if you slip while removing/replacing the oil filter and give it a light bump, it'll crack and then fail soon down the road. Been there done that.

Lesson learned!