TwinTurbo: The second car I actually was bought in late 1967/early 1968. It was a 1957 Chevrolet 150 2 door sedan. Inline 235 cu in 6, 3speed M/T column shift for $100. It was 100% reliable. I drove it for about 1 year when I was offered $250. That old Chevy was driven by the next owner for 3 years. It may still be running and driving. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. I’m afraid OP is in the losing category.
Starting at age 18 with my 1st car to my 30’s I always made money with the cars I bought. They were not junkers, just good cars with potential and I fixed them, drove them and sold them. Now I am at a different stage of my life/career and have to pay a premium for a car that will start and run at all times.
I just skimmed through all 10 pages on that other forum . . .
Seems to me he can’t even turn the engine over with a breaker bar. He said it would only so far in either direction. Sounds like something let go in a BAD way
I’ll bet you guys lunch this guy paid WAY more than $500 or $1000 for this vehicle
He keeps saying how immaculate the vehicle appears to be . . . that doesn’t help much if the engine might be toast
he even said he bought spark plug socket tools BEFORE trying to turn the engine over by hand. Don’t see what plugs being installed or not has to do with being able to turn it over, or not
This sounds like a pretty expensive project for a total novice
He got taken ,but if He lucks out ,He might find a decent engine for this thing ,there is a reason good looking fairly late model Jeeps are cheap.Its a shame its so hard to upgrade an engine now,I would like to put a Pentastar in my Dakota in Lieu of the Powertech six My Dakota is approaching 93K now and I have the feeling that an event is not too far in the future.This engine has always had a funny racket upon starting it sounds like marbles or glass slapping around ,nothing has come out yet though ,somewhere I heard that this could be piston slap,these engines were poorly designed in having the top ring too close to the top of the piston ,also I have heard of valve seat problems with these engines.So I guess time will tell ,hope it makes it to Virginia Beach this weekend ,have to help some family members move some stuff .
Well, it seems the Penstastar V6 engines were having some serious problems with their cylinder heads for awhile, AFAIK
Those guys on that other forum sure are patient. What I read never had somebody saying ‘buddy, it’s toast, and you need some help’.
On the other forum the OP mentions that the engine will only rotate a little each way before locking up.
That means something in the cam chain case has broken or something like a rod has given up.
The OP also does not know what a rocker is. The odds of the OP getting this Jeep going again on their own are not going to be very high.
That engine was run without oil, the top of the cylinder head is dry and the cam lobes are marked with damage. It seems the OP wants to discover the damaged parts firsthand.
As for the desire to remove the spark plugs, he may have taken that suggestion from page one;
"If the crankshaft won’t turn with a breaker bar, especially with the spark plugs removed, you have a serious internal problem."
I must have bought 15 cars when I was a teenager, some had a rod knock and some without an engine. I’m sure there was ridicule from onlookers who would never would take on a challenge but I am good at ignoring people.
Camshaft toast? What’s a new camshaft & set of lifters cost? hmmm … a quick search, probably not for that exact engine, but here’s a brand new camshaft and 16 lifters for a very affordable price, $103 . While replacing the camshaft, I expect OP will figure out what a rocker is.
You can’t compare the cost of a high volume Chevy V8 cam to what’s needed here. Summit has none for the Jeep. And there’s 4 of them, right? It’s a big job, especially for someone that knows nothing. And there are other major problems with that engine. Not worth spending a penny without figuring out what all is wrong.
The damage to the camshaft is just an indicator of the lack of oil. The real damage is in the bottom end.
stick a fork in it
My first car was a bad deal. I gave myself a budget of $250 though and when I hit that point I sold it and got my money out of it. Just lost all my time and effort is all. I hadn’t even gotten to the engine or transmission or brakes yet. So you just establish your own parameters and let it go when you hit them.
I agree though, from what it sounds, a camshaft will do nothing to restoring this engine. Total restore. Find a different engine or resell.
Lack of lubrication problems are never confined to one specific part or area. It’s all encompassing.
I also wonder if the OP was led along when buying this thing. It’s not rare for someone selling a vehicle with a known major problem to play dumb about the cause.
They may know full well the engine is wiped and will put it up for sale while using phrases like, “running great and it just stopped, well maintained, didn’t run it out of oil, no noises at all” and “it’s probably just a fuse or sensor or something”.
Yep, any used car is a gamble and you should know that going in. My point is that when I was first learning to fix my own cars, I did not start with huge issues. I bought something that basically ran and could get me around (beats walkin’). I fixed stuff along the way that gave me experience and confidence to tackle more difficult repairs. It allowed me to gradually expand my tools and skills. Eventually, I could take an entire car apart down to the last fastener and fix most everything myself. This guy bit off a huge problem right from the get-go and has no tools or experience AT ALL. That is just setting yourself up for failure. I’m afraid OK is right. He saw a decent body, clean interior and bought a sales job on how it’s probably something minor. Tough lesson.
The OP has this subject going on another forum besides this one and the second one mentioned previously.
There are some pics of the cam and valve train. The cam lobes look scuffed due to lack of lubrication and everything looks bone dry. Everything looks suspiciously clean. Very clean. That makes me wonder if someone has been into that engine with a cylinder head replacement followed by oops…
There are 5 or so pages but below is a cut and paste from the last page. Who knew…
Hey guys, I checked with the boroscope and there’s a lot of debris inside the engine, I’m guessing it’s blown. At this point I have 3 options:
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Try to rebuild this engine
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Get an engine with a warranty for around $2K it seems
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Get an engine from a junker without warranty for a lower cost and give it a go.
Let me know what you guys think thanks
In the Jeep forum he stated that a friend with a shop offered to replace the engine as a favor/$1200.
I looked at Libertys in that area a few days ago, there were three that needed engine for $850 to $1200. I doubt that the OP paid thousands for a Jeep that doesn’t run.
Well, people that get good deals are usually quick to point it out. Especially when they realize there is a major issue that could cost $$$. People that overpaid tend to keep mum and skirt that question if it comes up. I haven’t seen this guy say, oh, well I only paid $500 for it anyway so it’s worth a new engine…wouldn’t be the first time I ran across someone that bought a line from a seller; she’s a peach, just needs a starter or something simple. It was running right great (up until it stopped) 
curious…did you get it started and if yes, what was it?
There is a reason ,good looking Jeeps are cheap,neighbor bought a good looking Grand Cherokee recently,after two or three engines I think it is up and running again,I wouldnt buy a cheap high mileage Jeep ,they may have wrote the book on 4WD,but they seem to lack in the social graces(or is that sausage gravy ,Garth ?)