my jeep, 1990 4L str6, has some leaks. my son tells me that, because it has a 3" lift, removing the oil pan will be much easier than described in my manual.
do any of you know if this is accurate? he is a mechanical genius, but is quite messy and disorderly when he works on cars and may have forgotten some details.
some how he can take apart the most intricate of things, including any kind of carb, and without labeling or ordering the parts,and without instructions and put them all back correctly. (if he can find them) this baffles me, I want labels and manuals and everything put in order.
he seems to know the purpose of every pc and orifice too.
he was very surprised when I told him that the trophies I was most proud of were the ones he won for the technology contests in high school and not for the sports trophies which he won where I was part of the coaching staff
My 1991 started leaking oil at about 150,000 miles. I suspected the pan but after some degreasing discovered it was the timing chain cover. That weekend was National Guard so I planned to replace the gasket and timing chain assembly the following weekend. On my way to National Guard I totaled the Jeep.
sorry to hear that sarge. I hope you were ok.
on the bright side, no repair necessary…
I m gonna do some degreasing and discovery myself before I start on gaskets. I had planned to have it done already but no such luck.
I was gonna do it earlier today but I noticed my garden was in serious need of harvesting, so we stocked the freezer with veggies instead. much more pleasant than grease. although I ve been told there is a copperhead lurking around my garden, and had to be careful. I think it was a garter snake, but better safe than sorry.
apparently either catbirds or mockingbirds (they look the same) have babies this time of year. momma was in the tree squawking at me. I realized why when I saw the baby bird in my cucumber vines that have grown up into the tree branches.
at our last house there was a mocking bird that appeared three yrs in a row. it would sit on a certain powerline and go thru its series of different calls. my daughter and I really enjoyed watching him or her. and the variety of bird and other sounds it made was amazing
wesw I was not injured at all. It was a seemingly very minor accident that resulted in very major damage to my Jeep. I would call it a “freak” accident. It had rained early that morning for the first tme in at least 2 weeks. I was quite familiar with oils leaching from asphalt under this condition. Even though my tires were in very good condition I shifted my select drive into AWD. I was able to negotiate the 2 lane highway with curves for 6 miles at the 55mph speed limit and the 4 lane highway for 6 miles at the 55mph speed limit. I had no problems in town on a 4 lane boulevard with 35mph speed limit. I was approaching a red light at a “T” intersection which had a left turn lane and 2 right turn lanes. I was in the left right turn lane as I wanted to access a ramp that kept me on the same boulevard. As I was braking for the red light it turned green. I released the brakes and turned at more than 15mph but less than 20mph. I had all 4 wheels slide like they were on wet ice! Unfortunately for me this was my first non RWD vehicle, If I had done nothing It probably would have resulted in minimal damage. After decades of RWD I turned in the direction of the skid. My left front tire hit the 6 inch curb at about a 45% angle. It was a significant impact but not very bad. I was thinking wheel damage. After hitting the 4 way flashers I exited the vehicle for a look and it was OMG! The left front was about 6 inches up and 8 inches back from normal. The radius rod was almost a corkscrew. The front axel was cracked and leaking. The transfer case was cracked and leaking. Holy crap!!! Fortunately insurance paid about $7,000 after $250 deductible. Although I still miss my Jeep.
You caused the accident yourself by driving on the road in the rain in 4wd. Save the 4wd for dirt or deep snow or rock crawling. You don’t have a true AWD system and they are the only ones designed to work on the pavement.
You didn’t get in trouble on the highway (even though you could have) because you didn’t turn the wheel sharply enough.
I had a neighbor who asked me what was wrong with his Trailblazer. He told me his gas mileage was horrible, chunks were coming out of his tire tread and it squealed like mad when he was climbing the levels in his parking garage. It turn out he always had it in 4WD. I told him he shouldn’t use his system on the pavement and he said " I never go off the pavement, what use is 4WD if I can’t use it? "
I said “Beats me.”
Oil pans don’t leak unless they’re damaged or rotted. Since they spend their lives covered in oil, they’re rarely rotted. I’d be far more suspicious of the front crank seal, since they often seep oil once they get worn and it runs down the pan, making a mess under the pan. The crank seals are just rubber seals, and crankcase pressure can force oil past them once they get old. Yours qualifies as old.
There are blacklight sensitive UV additives that can be added to oil to trace leak paths. Add some. run the engine for a while, then slide under and hit it with a blacklight. The path will glow.
actually changing the front seal is part of the pan dropping procedure in this jeep, and the seal is my suspect. the oil pan gasket itself seems ok. the timing chain cover is now on my list of suspects too.
oldtimer 11 I admit I caused the accident. I was in all wheel drive and instinctively turned in the direction of the skid. I was not in 4WD. In 1991 Jeep offered Command Trac which was traditional 4WD. 2WD, neutral, 4high, and 4low. I had Select Trac which added what Jeep called “Full Time Four wheel Drive”. It was a “true” AWD. It may have been a superior AWD as it distributed power or lack of power between individual wheels. I’m not sure how the magic worked. I drove the Jeep about 98+ % in 2WD. In 10 years I used 4WD 3 or 4 times. I used AWD 4 or 5 times.
I have the command trac I guess. I m new to 4wd but I had much more control in the snow last year.
I m afraid I may make a similar mistake tho sarge, as I have always had rwd.
I am pretty good at handling emergency situations while driving and have avoided a few wrecks by quick reaction.
any tips on how the jeep will react differently in emergencies? in 4wd that is.
wesw I only used 4WD twice in snow and once to climb a sandy berm. I have zero experience with 4WD in an emergency situation. If your transfer case selector lever does not have a position labeled “full time” you definitely have command trac. Not that there is anything wrong with that.