I bought my XJ a couple years ago. When I bought it, it didn't hold oil pressure, I was told it should go fine and not to worry about changing the oil pump. In the last 6 months, the push rod on the 4th cyl has popped out of place. I have been told to either replace the motor and oil pump by one guy, or to replace the lifters, rockers, and oil pump by another. Any advice on which avenue to take? I'd consider junking it, but I just lifted it 9 months ago and have done some other work to it, so I'm hoping to save her.

 

Real easy to find a replacement engine, FYI the oil pump has little/nothing to do with oil pressure. Option #2 find a decent priced good running XJ swap over lift,etc part out old one or sell as a project.

 

Any idea why the push rod keeps slipping out of place?

 

Lifter could have completely collapsed, rocker arm loose, or bent push rod.

 

If that's the case, could I get away with just replacing the lifters? I appreciate the input.

 

You can, but back to your original post you said it had low oil pressure, what is the oil pressure, also are you relying on the factory gauge? Or did the mechanics you talk to measure with a gauge? The latter needs to be done, if indeed you do have low oil pressure, then you will run into same/other issues. Rod and Main Bearing clearances are what is responsible for oil pressure, excessive clearances (worn) bearings results in low oil pressure. I forgot to mention if you didnt already know to replace the lifters you have to pull the head.

 

When the engine is hot, the oil pressure reads where it's supposed to while you're driving. When you come to a stop, the gauge goes all the way down, and the "check gauges" light comes on. When you accelerate, the light goes off, and the pressure goes up. One mechanic unplugged the sensor and plugged it into a scanner, (not sure what else to call it) and it read 0, but when you gave it gas, the reading would go up, so it's not the sensor. He says whoever owned it before me probably never changed the oil. So basically, the motor is toast and needs to be replaced? Sweet... Haha.

 

It needs to be verified with a mechanical gauge to see what the exact pressure is.