OIL Leaking....could it be the gasket
 

I have a oil leak which looks like its coming from the top of the pan. It s a slow drip but i noticed my oil filter has oil on it. Is it just the gasket? if their anything i should know before i change the gasket. Any advice would help

I suppose it could be the pan gasket, but definitely check out the oil filter adapter. There are o-rings in there that dry out and leak and can make a big mess. The oil filter adapter can be annoying to get off but the new o-rings are cheap. Very common problem on the 4.0

Like Doug says, something common to check. Since oil blows around you need to watch really careful after cleaning to see where oil is leaking. Here's some links on that oil filter adapter>

OIL FILTER ADAPRER O RINGS http://www.myjeepxj.com/cherokee-rep...filter-adapter https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/oi...o-ring-127359/

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

I was waiting for this post from crusier. I had the same issue and used this advice to narrow it down. Start at the top looking and work your way down and you're bound to find it.

cruiser54 is dead on, those are the most likely areas to check first. But start with a good power wash of the engine area of the oil leaking to see where it is coming from.

^^^

Lol! If Cruiser had quarter for every time he copied and pasted that post to an oil leak thread he'd be rich!

You know, you guys are welcome to save and post my stuff as necessary....We're all in this together.

I wonder how many quarters people have saved by fixing the real oil leak instead of doing a RMS...LOL.

^^^
What a guy :thumbsup:

Gotta love this jeep community!

What is a RMS

Checking back I think I chased the leak to the oilfilyer do i will be inserting nee oil rings and im gonna do a gasket just to be safe while i have the money ill let u guys know after sunday

Exactly. Power wash it first. Get it clean so you can "SEE" where the oil is coming from.


Then fix accordingly.

Rear Main Seal

Don't waste your time with one of those universal kits from the auto parts.

Is there a Crown Kit for HO's? If you have a dealer near you might check them. Anyway, here's the sizes>

91-01 HO Model O-rings

0.676 x 0.070 AS568 size -017
0.859 x 0.139 AS568 size -212
2.484 x 0.139 AS568 size -230

Or Root Mean Square, a type of measurement for sine waves. :yes:


:jester:

Unless this is your girlfriend, wife or mother....you have a leak.