I noticed a leak under the front of the xj, I changed the valve cover gasket, drove it around no leaks, I parked it, checked it again after a half hour no leaks, the next day there was a small spot under the oil filter area which might be residual from the oil change and a small spot under the oil pan, (rear main seal ) ? The oil pan is dry.. thoughts...

 

Check to see if it's leaking from the oil sending unit, the oil filter adapter and the distributor. If any of those leak it can look like it's coming from the RMS. Because the oil will run down the engine to the rear The best way to check them is to wipe those areas down really good and keep checking them.

 

No distributor on my model, that's eliminated, what is the ems? Also as the motor is running I do not see an active leak

 

best idea is to crawl under there with a flashlight and an inspection mirror and work your way up... if your valve cover gasket is new (and not leaking of course) then the oil filter adapter housing o-rings could be the culprit..

Once you eliminate all the gaskets and o-rings.. your pretty much left with a RMS

Start with a THOROUGH cleaning and degreasing... grab some gunk degreaser or something of similar strength... and coat that bottom and and wash it.. over and over and over.. take a brush to areas you can get to..

This will help you diagnose the area its leaking from too...

I replaced all of my gaskets and she still has a fairly significant amount of oil and "build-up" on the oil pan and transmission bell housing.. I KNOW I have a RMS leak along with a slight pan leak... its just not dripping to the driveway.. so I check oil once a week, hit it with degreaser to keep the "dirty" at bay... and ride on!

 

I will try the adapter o rings next and relpy back thanks so far

 

Localising leaks goes from top to bottom and front to rear. Keep in mind that your 4.0 sits slightly tilted with the front up. As a result may 'other' leaks end up showing oil at the back near the RMS.

Locating leaks becomes easer if you give the engine bay a good clean and start checking for leaks from then on.
Like stated, the oil adaptor is a common and notorious leak, well not notorious for the leak, but notorious for the challenge the adaptor proves to get off.

 

All I can find is 1 o-ring for a 2000, but posts for older Cherokee's like 96 show 3 o rings? did they change the design on a 2000?

 

Get the o ring set from the dealer which will have all three. If you buy at AutoZone or O'Reilly there will only be the large o ring.

 

thanks

 

changed the oil filter adapter today, the way to do this is definatly this, go to autozone, buy a t-60, knock out the star bit with a bolt, attach a 10mm wrench to it, and crack it loose with a bar, then use a ratchet wrench to remove the bolt, definatly remove the oil filter, it makes the job easier, and definatly disconnect the neg battery cable, but this was not a hard task once the proper tool was used.