Seeking additional info abour repairs to a Jeep

Bob-googlegroups did pass the time by typing:

The rear-main-seal is on the engine output shaft. It's two C shaped bits of rubber, one that fits into the engine block and the other that lays on the back of the oil pan. Understand that a lot of "rear main seal" leaks are actually the rear of the valve cover, especially on the 4.0 I6. Always check there first as rear main seals last quite a long time.

End result is your jeep will drip oil on the garage. Keep an eye on the oil level and it's not that big of a deal.

That's the output shaft seal and probably bushing. Unless it's a gusher all it does is drip a bit of tranny fluid on the driveway. Check fluids regularly.

That's a can-o-cleaner they put into the fuel rail and run through your engine, including running stuff down the throttle body. It cleans out carbon deposits and fuel injectors. Not a bad thing and not unreasonable for the price, although if your engine is in fairly good shape there are good in-tank cleaners available. Techron for one.

The prices you were quoted aren't unreasonable for the mechanics time. And if you trust the mechanics work that's better than saving a buck and getting a crap job done.

I'd still have a look at that rear main seal vs/ valve cover leak first. All that take is reaching behind the motor and wiping the block off just below the valve cover. Then after you drive it and let it cool, go back there and wipe again. If you come up with oil, that's the source. It leaks from the back and runs down. Does a good impersonation of a rear main seal leak.

The parts themselves aren't expensive, it's the time. That's why lots of us do our own wrenching. The money saved allows us to buy more toys.

An induction flush is a high pressure cleaning of the fuel injection system.

If, and that's a big I-F, the rear main is really leaking, then it would take about $400 to fix. The part - the rear main seal - is about $30, and the oil pan gasket set is another $30 or so. That's $60 for gaskets and $340 for labor. That is a bit on the high side, but not hugely on the high side. I don't think your rear main is the problem, the Valve Cover Gasket is the more likely culprit.

This is a tough one. The tcase does have seals on the front and the back, and if the seals are leaking then you need to have them replaced. It is a job that most of us will tackle at home, but you said that you don't do any service more complicated than filling the gas tank, so you will be subjected to the going rate at the service center. If the repairs you listed up here, this is the one that has the best chance of actually being needed. The Rear Main is probably a valve cover gasket, and the injector cleaner is stuff that you can pour into the gas tank yourself. I suggest you pass on the injector service, have the shop take a close look at the valve cover -- particularly the portion near the firewall -- and get a second opinion on the tcase.

This is a giant bottle of snake oil. You can buy a few small bottles of snake oil at the auto parts store and pour one in with every fill up for the next several weeks.

Snake Oil is a bit of a misnomer, but you can buy Fuel Injector Cleaner for about 5 bucks per bottle, and throw one in with a fill up, and follow that with the next fill up or two, then add one bottle with each fill up when you do an oil change and this should keep the injectors clean and trouble free. There is nothing with this service to warrant a service ticket for $150.

What we think is a rear seal problem is almost always a combination of a clogged Positive Crankcase Ventilation system and a leaky valve cover gasket. If it is a rear seal four hundred may be a fair price for:

If you have an automatic where running between the pint safe marksis so important, then it should be fix, and three hundred sounds like afair price for dropping the transfer case. If you use a major gasoline then you will have been using cleanerin your injection system, so there's no need for an induction flush is ahigh pressure cleaning of the fuel injection system. Only if you feelthe misfire of a clogged injector, which has never happen to me. God Bless America, ßill O|||||||Omailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@HamsterRepublic.com wrote:>

Depends on how much it leaks. It can leak onto your clutch, giving your some slip when first used in the morning, until the oil burns off. It can also leave nasty stains in yours, and others' driveways. However, it's nothing major and even if you fix it, it will return. I've had my rear main seal repaired twice, only for it to leak again. This is very common to the inline six.

The rear main seal is exactly what it sounds like: the rear seal of the engine on the crank. It's costly to repair because of the 4WD system. They have to drop your skidplate, disconnect both driveshafts, pull the transmission + transfer case out of the engine, remove the clutch, drop the oil pan (possibly unmount the engine from the mounts and jack it up for clearance, and replace the seal and oil pan gasket and reverse the procedure. The parts aren't much, but the labor involved is murder.

Easily fixed on your own if you're even slightly mechanically inclined. I'm not sure if this is referring to the seal joining both halves of the transfer case, or the seal around the yoke. Either way, it's not difficult to replace.

Many mechanics recommend it. Basically, they hook up a bottle of some high powered cleaner to your fuel rail, I believe, and clean out all the gunk in there. They also clean out your throttlebody too. I've had my intake off to repair the exhaust header, and there gets to be quite a bit of gunk in there. I scraped it out and used carb cleaner to clean it all, including the throttlebody, out before I put it all back together. I did noticed slighly more power when I was done, but nothing to write home about since it has

147,000 miles on it.

You can buy some of that high powered fuel injection cleaner you put in your tank from STP, Slick 50, etc. and get about half the cleaning that professional job gives you. Those cans cost between $8 and $10.

problems,

jeep-people

Rear main seal is the one piece seal that closes the area between the engines crankshaft and the engine block. If this is a 4.0 engine this is a VERY common problem with them. Leakage there depends on how bad it actually is. Put a piece of cardboard or paper under the rear of the engine and see what shows up in 24 hours. IF you have a spot on the cardboard the size of a dime or smaller don't worry about it for now. If it is between a dime and a quarter then if you can spare the vehicle for the time required and have the money get it repaired 400.00 is about correct since it is a rather involved repair. Especially on a 4X4. If it is over a 50 cent piece get it changed out ASAP since you are losing quite a bit of oil.

About the same as a rear main seal BUT since the transfer case is difficult to fill and check it would be a good idea to get it changed out if it is leaking more than a drop or two per day. If it is just damp around it don't worry about it.

150 would be a bit high for just an injector cleaning, BUT if they are doing injector cleaning and top end cleaning then it isn't too bad.

Are you high? There's nothing in that $150 "induction flush" that cannot be achieved with a $16 bottle of Chevron Techron or BG 44K.

Not as common as a leak at the back of the rocker cover *mimicking* a rear main seal leak, as others have pointed out.

Um...not. There is no such a thing as them "doing a top end cleaning, too". The stuff they hook up to the fuel rail is injector and top-end cleaner. So is the stuff in the bottle labelled "TECHRON" or the can labelled "BG 44K" that you buy for $16 and pour in the fuel tank.

Even if we assume that removal and thorough cleaning of the throttle body and AIS were included, $150 is kinda rich.

...

Or just use Chevron gasoline... Shell gas also has the high-tech additives in it now. This is one service you don't need... major boondoggle. __ Steve .

I'm not high and that $16 bottle of techron has no where near the cleaning capability of the stuff they feed directly into the rail. I prefer to use this system though.

Average cost is $99 and ittakes about half an hour.

4.0 rear main seal is 2-piece, not one. Tranny does not have to come off the replace it and it's definitely not a $400 job. Took me 2 hours to change mine - and half od that was getting the old pan gasket off so the new one would seal. Pay attention to the advice - put a rag behind the rear of the engine under the valve cover and see if that's where the "rear main" leak really is. That's a lot more common than a rear main (mine was over 150k before it really did start to leak).

I just tried a tank of that Shell 91 octane super crap on a trip and my engine went insane!

I don't know what is in it, but my manually set up 258 would 'not' run over 65 mph except on a down hill, I even had to gear down on a couple long uphill runs, which is unheard of for my rig, even 3rd gear wouldn't pass 65 mph! (normally 3rd pulls fast up to at least 75 mph)

I also lost about 30% for gas mileage. It made for a long trip home too.

I finally got it low enough and put in Esso gas and magically my engine came back alive with it's normal tire chirp off a fast start and top end power restored.

Mike

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

I always burn the high octane, it makes almost 100 miles per tank better mileage with it.

It has to be the additive or maybe the alcohol. My engine runs the same shitty on petro canada gas with their super cleaner.

Someone mentioned I might be running lean, so last carb kit, I went slightly richer on the high speed metering rods and tried the Shell gas. All that got me was a bog if I tromp it too fast.... At least I can get at that from the top to set it back.

Mike

"L.W.(ßill) Hughes III" wrote:

Could be, but there are two gasses that use that cleaner and my 258 runs like crap on both of them.

Someone mentioned I might be running lean, so last carb kit I went a little richer on the high speed metering rods and then tried that Shell gas. No help, it still won't burn the crap. All I got was a slight bog if I stomp it too fast with real gas. At least the adjustment is up top so I only have to open one plate to get it back.

Mike

RoyJ wrote:

I think your formulation and ours are different - we get 92 ron "Premium" and 98 ron "Super". I found that the 98 ron Super gave better mileage but worked out at the same cost per mile.

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

They are. Ours are some kind of average where 91 or 92 is high test, 89 regular.

For me the performance boost is large and the cost per mile is a bit better depending on how I am driving it. It costs 10% more almost and I see more than a 20% mileage boost so....

Alcohol mixes are bad news for my engine and the government is mandating it. My owners manual even says not to any kind of alcohol mix except in an emergency as performance may degrade.

Mike

Dave Milne wrote:

Here in the states (NJ anyway) we get the averaged 87 for reg, 89 middle grade and 92 or 93 (depending on brand) for premium or super [2 words for the same level]. Would I see better mileage in my 2002 TJ with a 4.0 or is it just an older Jeep thing? Tomes