eriddle

The whole bottom of my xj is comepleatly covered in fluid ive cleaned it off and no luck on finding leak im replacing oil pan gasket and rear main seal and also haveing a issue with the slave cylinder resevior i have to refill it occasonally i have racked my brain for over a year trying to find a leak please help

cruiser54

Approach it from the top, not the bottom.




I'd be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.

Everybody, who doesn't own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking.

Many mechanics, friends, people on Jeep forums who can’t see your Jeep from where they’re at, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?

A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don't jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.

Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons.

First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area. Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber's adage apply here. "$hit flows downhill".

Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.

Revised 02-26-2013

Fred/N0AZZ

Had the same issue when I purchased mine (good bargaining tool) I might add. When I got it home I steam cleaned the engine top to bottom then let it sit running for a while. The only leak was coming from the oil filter adapter O-rings, cheap and an easy fix.

centuryhouse

You didn't specify what type of fluid. I'm going to presume oil.

If it's oil, mine had a HUGE leak and everything underneath was constantly soaked in oil. I literally was getting under it with a towel and wiping it all down every day before driving it, to avoid a fire.

It turned out to be part oil filter adapter leak, and mostly valve cover gasket. With as much oil as it was, I had been convinced it was RMS, but it wasn't. Not a drop leaking now.