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CJ Oil Leaks

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  hfjeff 
#1 ·
When I bought my CJ, it had practically no oil leak I could tell.

I then got the oil changed and started having leaks. It appears most was from the old plastic valve cover. So I replaces it with an aluminum one, and all seemed mostly better. After I thought most of the leak was gone, I bought some degreaser and cleaned out the engine bay. Well, don’t you know that the rear main seal started to leak like a sieve after that and I also noticed a bit of leaking around the new valve cover.

I replaced the PCV and made sure its getting clean air. I am ready to replace the rear main seal, but I am worried that if it is the rings, it might not work. What is the best way to check the piston rings to see if the are good or not and causing any blow-back. I am new to this arena so I have no idea how to even replace the rings and how much work I am looking at. I just don’t want to waist too much time on the rear main until I know what the problem is.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
Gee Gumby, that was pretty brutal even by our standards. Where the love is?
 
#4 ·
Oil Pan

Try tightening the bolts on the oil pan. My jeep leaked badly too, and after I replaced the valve cover gasket I still had a small leak. I finally tightened the oil pan bolts which seemed pretty loose and no more leak.
 
#7 ·
I once needed to torque my valve cover and oil pan and tranny filter bolts to stop pesky leaks (who'd-a-thunk-it).

As for your piston rings you can simply do a compression test, or, better yet just pay a competent mechanic at a reliable garage hook it up to an engine analyzer, tons of useful data for the money if you want to know what's going on inside your engine.
 
#8 ·
never post after a afternoon of football beer and wings oh and the inevetiable buy back rounds at the sports bar things that are funny then are not so funny now
 
#11 ·
Go to your local tranny/engine rebuild shop and ask them for a bottle of dye. It turns the oil a neon green that is meant to show up with an ultraviolet light but it will show up with just a normal light. I had my tranny/t-case rubuilt by a local shop and one of the seals was leaking. Since everything was freshly painted black, it was difficult to tell where the leak was coming from. I poured a couple ounces of dye in the oil and drove it for a few miles. It was easy to tell where the leak was. Good Luck.
 
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