Ok guys, here we go. I pulled the head - take a look what I found

Have you got a problem Oil Ring on that cylinder?

wow! that's a lot of oil. was the head torqued down correctly? how does the head gasket look? it could be coming from the valve guides. when you remove the head gasket, check for runout on the mating surface of the block and head. it the engine overheated at one point, the head could be warped and not sealing very well.

Well, here are the things I noticed.

The head bolts, some (a couple) had rust to a degree which made me question the quality of the ability to retain a torque. Others (about 60% were ok with a thin film of some kind of oil. The others were heavily satuated with this funky oil. Man, this stuff stinks like the funk of 40,000 years. I don't know if this is normal or not or where this oil comes from.

I looked at the valves on #2 and they feel pretty snug there. It felt ok, both exhaust and intake.

I look at the cylinders and they "feel" good to the touch. Smooth. On the edge at the area between the cylinders (on the top rim of the cylinder wall at the area where two cylinders are closest) there is some crusty, looks like carbon.

The gasket looks good as far as I can tell. There is a "wet" area around #2 bleeding out to the driver's side of the engine.

Anything else I can look for on this?

Thanks,

Bill

It looks like your #2 cyl has oil in it.

Brad.

Just kidding - to get that much unburned oil in the cylinder you must have faulty rings or very poorly seating valves and valve seals. Not much other way to get oil in the cylinder. I would first start with the valves and give them a very close visual inspection and slowly disassemble the intake valve and check for any possible leak. If you don't find one it will more than likely be in your rings on the piston.

good luck- Brad.

diagnositc

a fresh 4.0L

screwed up.

anything?

but I wanted

Bill, My first gut instinct is that you've blown your rings in that jug. I had a BMW that looked like that and when I yanked out the cylinder in question, the rings all fell out in tiny pieces. Despite the fact that all the rings were broken in several places, there was no visible scarring of the cylinder walls. I re-ringed it and gently honed the jugsnas well as sticking in new main & rod bearings (just in case) and drove that motor for another 150,000 miles before it finally blew (and we're talking BLEW).

Cheers, - Jeff G

Well the funny thing is is I got the same results on a cold engine 150 psi which is what they told me.

Bill

Didn't he say he checked and got the same readings???

I'm with you; I d> Show those pictures to the shop that told you had a hundred and

I will take a real close close up look tomorrow when I down load and magnify, but that looks like gas wash to me.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

William Oliveri wrote:

If there are no scratches/gouges in the cyl wall, then you got off easy. The dark area between 2 and 4 show an area where the gasket was leaking a bit, and would have blown. I would have the head checked for warpage, and probably shaved before installation. Pop the valve springs off, check the guides for wear by wiggling the valves. Have the machinst check it too, chances are they are acceptable. What you really have is bad oil rings. If you hone the cyl walls, you will get some abrasive in the engine, so you will have to flush it out with a lot of carb cleaner, and will never get all of it, but that's what a filter is for. Oil in the cyl raises compression, so that jug could have tested higher or the same as the others, but I would not expect a lower reading. Nice pics, i have to get a good digicam. That "old headbolt" smell, can't seem to forget it.

-- Paul Calman, Hathaway Pines, California

I'd be interested in that response and would like to learn how you could tell that it was a gas wash if it is.

Thanks,

Bill

Looking at the stain on head 1.

The way it is running between 2 ad 3 is a gas oil mix stain, not oil. Oil doesn't wick out in that kind of shape.

Cylinder 3 shows a wet piston.

Cylinder 4 shows the same piston seemingly dried out. Oil doesn't dry up.

How does it look today?

If you had that much oil in a cylinder, you 'must' have had one massive blue cloud of smoke following you.

I bet you still didn't swap injectors yet eh?

Mike

William Oliveri wrote:

What is gas wash? I don't think I've ever heard that term before.

Interesting, Mike.

I do not see #3 as being "wet" and #4 being "dry". They look pretty close to me. In fact. #3 through #6 all look pretty close.

Now, #1 does look wetter than numbers 3 through 6. Is it possible you mean this one?

I did run a can of BG 44K though the engine before I pulled the head so perhaps this made the effect on the other cylinders.

I did not have a big blue cloud following me. The only time I noticed it clearly was at the smog station.

No, I didn't change the injector which I can see now is not that hard to do (have to pull the rail) but will keep that in mind for when I get everything back together.

This is what I'm going to do.

1. Take the head to a machine shop today to see if he can find anything wrong with or around #2.
2. If he can't find anything wrong with it I'm going to pull the piston from that cylinder and inspect/change the ring(s).
3. I'm going to put the 4.0L head on instead of the 4.2L.
4. Change the injector to another cylinder far removed from #2 (maybe #4 or #5).

If everything goes well I should be done by this weekend so we'll see what happens then.

Some questions I have.

1. What's the best way to prepare the block for the new head? How to clean it up, etc?

1. I didn't feel any lip at the top of the cylinder that would call for a reamer but there is carbon crusted there. How should I take that off? Should I get the reamer anyway?

2. Regarding the push rods and the new head. What should I do in this situation since the head is totally different and therefore cannot match up "worn" parts.

Thanks for any information.

Bill

If a cylinder or engine runs flooded, the gas washes the oil and carbon build up out and it makes a messy stain like the photos show.

It washes the cylinders down and allows oil to mix with it and get past the rings.

The stuff is almost oil like and almost varnish like and it makes a wicking stain. It is also a lot thinner than oil to the touch.

Mike

Paul Brogren wrote:

Oh, now that it is apart, can you get a visual on the nose of the injector from #2 and one from another port to compare?

Mike

William Oliveri wrote:

Interesting, Mike.

I do not see #3 as being "wet" and #4 being "dry". They look pretty close to me. In fact. #3 through #6 all look pretty close.

Now, #1 does look wetter than numbers 3 through 6. Is it possible you mean this one?

I did run a can of BG 44K though the engine before I pulled the head so perhaps this made the effect on the other cylinders.

I did not have a big blue cloud following me. The only time I noticed it clearly was at the smog station.

No, I didn't change the injector which I can see now is not that hard to do (have to pull the rail) but will keep that in mind for when I get everything back together.

This is what I'm going to do.

1. Take the head to a machine shop today to see if he can find anything wrong with or around #2.
2. If he can't find anything wrong with it I'm going to pull the piston from that cylinder and inspect/change the ring(s).
3. I'm going to put the 4.0L head on instead of the 4.2L.
4. Change the injector to another cylinder far removed from #2 (maybe #4 or #5).

If everything goes well I should be done by this weekend so we'll see what happens then.

Some questions I have.

1. What's the best way to prepare the block for the new head? How to clean it up, etc?

1. I didn't feel any lip at the top of the cylinder that would call for a reamer but there is carbon crusted there. How should I take that off? Should I get the reamer anyway?

2. Regarding the push rods and the new head. What should I do in this situation since the head is totally different and therefore cannot match up "worn" parts.

1. Can I or Should I replace only one ring (oil) or should they all be replaced.

Thanks for any information.

Bill