wikiwaugh

I'll try and explain this the best I can, and thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

My 08 WK got in a crash in December, to which insurance deemed a total loss. After careful inspection, I called bulls**t on them and took the vehicle back (the payout was ridiculous, typical insurance) They quoted 9,000 in repair costs and now that I have it back together and safetied my total came in at 2,100. Win win.

My problem is now that I have it back together, I'm idling a little rough when cold - and once it's warmed up and not in motion, the engine has developed a decent knock. If I bring it up to anything above idle when in park and let it go back down, it drops below idle for a few seconds and then goes back.

Apart from troubleshooting this with a stethoscope from the bottom up, I can't wrap my head around how the engine would be doing this now, when the damage was specifically to the cooling system.

- All my fluid levels are properly done to spec. (oil, trans, power steering)
- I have not recharged my freon, I hope that's not an issue (-30C here)
- I did the ignition test and only received a P2181 code (cooling system), which I imagine just needs to be flashed due to the damage it took.
- Tested my fuel pressure at the rail, no issue.

Not sure what other details I can provide, but I thought I would explain my case and update as I figure things out. Again, any help would be great!

I've attached a couple pictures of before/after for reference.

Thanks!

dave1123

Looks good, but I suggest you put some aggressive tires on it for the snow.

How long was it running after the crash? It might have overheated or suffered oil starvation in the crash.

wikiwaugh

It made it home after the crash, overheated a bit from the rad not being in tact - I realize the stupidity of doing such a thing...

I'm allowed a stupid question - how would it suffer oil starvation?

Snow will be gone in a month or so, I haven't been driving it the last two months so they haven't really been necessary.

Thanks for the reply!

dave1123

Sometimes in a crash, the oil is slammed to the front of the engine uncovering the oil pump pickup. Usually this has no effect on the engine but if it's a gear pump, it can lose it's prime and not pick up oil.

Famous drag racer Don Garlits had a problem getting more than one run out of a crankshaft. He built a clear oil pan and added a camera on the side. He found that under acceleration, the oil went vertical in the back of the block and was whipped to foam by the last two rods. He fixed it with an ingenious baffling system.

OverlandZJ

Knock sound from top or bottom end?

As I understand it the 3.7's have been known to have valve issues once hot/overheated, it's worth looking into. Sorry cant be of much help otherwise, cant think of why you would have a lower end knock, and I don't think an accident would cause oil starvation, had that been the case you probably would have had the idiot light come on during the ride home.

I just picked up a 3.7L WK for my daughter.. I'm not familiar with these yet.

wikiwaugh

Thanks for all the advice guys. Turns out I'm an idiot and adding coolant doesn't work the same as it does on my '91. Added 6 additional litres and problem went away. However, I need to burp it as I'm getting the common rushing water sound on on the passenger side.

Yesterday, my check engine light came on again. So I checked for codes and it threw a P0304. Turns out it's a misfire on cylinder #4.

So now I have to narrow it down to either the coil pack, spark plug or injector. Are there any other variables I should be checking for?