4.0 Piston skirt replacement
 

Heard a pretty loud ticking noise coming from the rear of the engine, louder from underneath. Under further diagnosis after pulling the oil pan, I found pieces of the #5 piston skirt laying in the pan. So Pull the valve cover, pull the head and intake and push the piston up from underneath. Luckily the bore seems really good and the bearing seems decent. Take the old piston to get replaced and use the old rings. Another 5 hours and the cost of the piston and gaskets and she'll be back together... Hopefully haha

Your lucky your motor didnt take any more damage. How does the crank look? Any obvious dents in the oil pan?

all looks really decent considering. had no loss of power or oil pressure

Please see quote in my sig

Did you have to use a ridge reamer to get the piston out?

How many miles on the engine?

Where are you going to get a replacement piston, and what size piston do you need?

Did you use a cylinder bore gauge to determine what size piston you need?

Are you going to deglaze the cylinder wall with a hone?

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post title, haha.

Nice work...is it easier to pull the head with the intake and exhaust manifolds on?

Keep us posted. I have a '98 with a broken kilt on #6, and I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do with it.

I thought the same thing!!

I was glad to see the OP didn't see the rod hanging there.

I think it's WAY easier to pull the head without the manifolds on.

Gonna take it to a buddy at Jeep Thrills. Was thinking of honing the bore but if I use the same rings I shouldn't have to. Didn't need a reamer at all as the top was nice and smooth. no ring at all.

Was super easy to leave the manifolds on. Just disconnect the exhaust and make sure you got a buddy to help lift it out cause its pretty heavy.

Soon as I get some cash together ill post more pics of the reassembly and what it cost to do it. Its a bandaid fix but ive seen those run for 200k+ km

So piston went in without a hitch. Heads back on and she purrs like a kitten

Piston was about $100
Rings about $85
Gaskets about $150
Oil and misc tools about $100

I rehoned the bore, put a ring compressor on the piston and pushed her in. Re connected the bearing and torqued the bolts. Gaskets oil pan and head back in. I reused the same head bolts as I'm a broke *** but they army stretch bolts anyways. Rods back in their original slots and all rockers torqued back to specs. Connected spark plugs and fuel injector wiring. Throttle body and power steering. Serpentine belt. Filled it with oil and she started up on the 2nd time cranking over. Mass airflow sensor will need to be cleaned to sort out any rough idling but she sounds amazing. Would never know such a critical engine component disintegrated without destroying the engine.

Stoked on the result. I should've taken more pics during the rebuild but I forgot. If it happens to anyone out there my suggestion is to just do it. As long as you don't have engine damage. Under $500 and prob a weekend of wrench time. Just have a buddy to lift the head out cause its heavy and awkward.

Nice work hope she lasts for ya. How many miles are on it?

I have that same work light, lol. Wish it was a little brighter. That seems like a lot of expense for a DIY job. Fun times

Thanks for sharing. I have a broken #6 and have to decide what to do with it, so I appreciated being able to read your story.

Speedo reads 282 but the engine prob has around 180 on it. Can't be sure tho. Pretty decent internally

only things i would have done different is replaced all the pistons, rings and rod bearings....

but i mglad you were able to get it going for cheap