I removed my oil pan yesterday and at the bottom of it i found a few small pieces plastic... a friend of mine said it could be the timing chain tensioner anyone have an idea?

 

Could be, yes.

 

Very possible. Do you have any picts of them?

 

The 4.0 has a timing chain tensioner????

 

I was thinking the same thing...

Could it be bits from an old distributor arm?

 

Up until 1996 it was called a Timing Chain Bumper, from 1997 to 2001 it was called a Timing Chain Snubber. None of which have 'tensioner' attributes.

 

Or maybe pieces of a broken valve cover grommet found there way down there? Or cap, would be white...

 

i dont have pics it was like maybe 3 or 4 really small pieces i thought it may have been old gasket but wen comparing it was differant so idk does my 87 jeeo have a tensioner? or should i just slap the oil pan bak on and hope for the best/
?

 

Unless you want to go on an expensive scavenger hunt, I'd put the pan back, fill the oil and drive.

 

thats what i was thinking but are you sure tthat is the best thing to do/

 

Well.. define "best thing".
You could pull the engine apart and find the source of the plastic (the expensive scavenger hunt),
Or simply go on the assumption that no critical engine parts are made of plastic and button it back up.
If it were mine and it were running fine without any oddball noises, I'd run it as-is until it gave me reason to do otherwise. I can't say if that's the right decision for you.

 

X2

 

i understand i think the only thing it could be is the timing chain snubber but thanks for the advice always helpful

 

I never had to rip into the internal of any of my XJ's So I just figured it would have a tension pulley.
This is a go piece info to know.
Thanks for posting it.