Hi,

While trying to identify a noise, I saw this part that doesn’t look good. Seems to be bent.
and an oil leak that « might » be from this area.

any clue ?

thanks

 

I believe that is the inspection panel for the flywheel/flexplate. I don't think the bends will hurt it any, and it could probably be pounded back flat pretty easily. Might have gotten caught on a stick at some point in the past, or perhaps someone was struggling to get it off and was trying to pry against it. Its just a metal cover.

 

That is your flexplate cover. Thinking is nothing to worry about seeing how it is bent out and not in.
One of the things guys will tell you to check on your Jeep is your flexplate and flexplate bolts.
So remove it, bang it straighter, check your flex plate bolts and inspect the flexplate for cracks, put it all back together, and move on.

 

It's just a cover over the "spinning" flywheel. You need access to that area when ya bolt the torque converter or to the flywheel, or inspect starter teeth. Don't worry about the bent part. Any leaks are probably coming from the rear top of the motor and drizzling down, or perhaps from the crankshaft rear main oil seal. But most likely is from the top rear of the engine. What commonly happens is oil builds up in the starter, soaking it, and at some point, starting issues may occur.

 

As already mentioned, that's an inspection cover. If you have a rattling or scraping noise from area (and even if you don't), you 'll want to remove it and check that the flexplate->torque converter bolt are still tight and the flexplate doesn't have any cracks. If you haven't found them already, you'll want to peruse Cruisers excellent archive of tips at www.cruiser54.com. For that leak, feel the bad of the engine block. If it's wet then it's likely a valve cover or oil filter adapter leak. Verify those aren't the sources before assuming it's a rear main seal leak.

 

I'm betting it's already too stretched for that.

But it's no big deal.

 

Ok. So I keep it that way !

cool.
the oil is ok aswell ?
not too large a leak ?

 

When I bought my 95 (manual transmission) and went to change the oil for the first time, I noticed that I could see a good 5-7cm of the flywheel. It turns out the previous owner had used the plate from an automatic transmission Jeep between the engine and transmission without the lower inspection plate section (in other words, I was completely missing the piece that is bent on your Jeep).

I suspect my Jeep was driven for about 2 years like this. The previous owner had replaced the engine and clutch 2 years prior and because of the missing plate, the throw-out bearing on the clutch had started to fail and was making noise.

I ended up buying the proper manual transmission plate (the manual uses a 1 piece plate instead of the 2 piece plate that is used on automatics) and replaced the clutch and plate.

It should be noted that the proper plate still has a small opening in it (about the same size as yours) that I believe is to allow moisture to drain out of the bell-housing. I don't know if the automatic would have something like this or not, but the people who are saying it's "no problem" are very knowledgeable, so I would trust that it's not a problem.

Regarding the oil leaking - if you keep a close watch on your oil level and add oil when necessary, you can take your time and fix the oil leaks later. I still have a small oil leak on my 95 due to a bad oil pan gasket that I haven't fixed yet (and I've owned the Jeep for 2 years).

 

For the oil leak, see Cruiser54s tips. There are several places a leak can develop, and they all wind up running down to the same place, so every leak looks like a rear main seal leak.

Start at the top, the valve cover, then then around the oil pump, check the distributor too, and I'm probably forgetting something.

If you can't find it, try some AT-205 (if you can buy it there). It works spectacularly well sometimes, middlin' well sometimes, and sometimes it does nothing. But it's cheap enough to be worth a try. I've used it to stop a gusher of a front main seal leak on a Ford 351 and a bad power steering leak on an XJ. I've used to to slow down a transmission leak on an XJ. I've also seen it do nothing at all to another XJ transmission. Still, it's worth a shot.

 

1 bottle is enough ?

I’ll order it on eBay and give it a try.

thanks for the tip


regarding Sanctus Cruiser54, I am applying all his tips over time. 😇.

 

One should be enough.

 

In your opinion, is it engine or gearbox leak ?

 

I'm pretty sure that engine oil because it's all over the front of the inspection cover, and I'm willing to bet the back of the engine block. A leak from the front of the transmission would generally jut drip inside the bell housing and leak out just behind that cover plate.

 

My 96 has that "bend" I believe it is factory and I would not hammer it flat.

 

Thanks.

I am investigation Cruiser' tips about oil leaks.

I'll use the "stop leak" and post my feedback right here .

Rapahel