My 89 cherokee is leaking bad up front and at the rear alittle,is is a stock 89 4.0 auto. is not the valve cover.I was just trying to find some good threads or u tube videos on replacing the gasket and main seal.I see some issues with the jeep being at stock height.I,m just trying to find some info so I don,t go into this blind.It has 300,000 K,s on it so might as well replace oil pump too.

 

I chased an oil leak on right side of engine for a year , changed valve cover gasket twice , replaced oil filter O-rings , and then the rear main seal (pain even with a lift ) . None of these things solved it , so one day last week I poured dye in engine took black light along side of the engine and oil was coming from camshaft synchronizer (you will have a distributor) . Replaced it this weekend and old one had no gasket on it . So just make sure you check everything before crawling under your Jeep for a couple of hours .

 

I also had a distributor gasket leaking a HUGE amount of oil .




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

 

OK I will give it a pressure wash and clean as best as I can and look again.I did another search on oil pan removal on a different search engine and found some good info

 

Best plan yet....

 

Cleaned it and is hard to tell ,is coming from the front of the motor ,nothing up top from the valve cover [which I replaced 2 years ago].I,m thinking might be the harmonic balancer .I,m sure there is a seal around it.

 

There is. It's called a timing cover seal.

 

I forgot all about the balancer,might as well put a new timing chain and other front gaskets on while I,m there

 

If it makes you feel better and you feel like disturbing the seal at the front of the oil pan............