Most of them should easily last that 300k. That's very unfortunate. I guess it's time for a reman engine.
Is it lifter noise? 02 Wrangler 4.0
- Thread starter tristan6555
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Most of them should easily last that 300k. That's very unfortunate. I guess it's time for a reman engine.
I think im going to experiment and just change the pistons, rings, rods bearings and any gaskets that I get to while doing that then see how long it goes
I think im going to experiment and just change the pistons, rings, rods bearings and any gaskets that I get to while doing that then see how long it goes
If you have the knowledge and skills, then yes, I would say that's a far better route to go.
If your bores aren't scarred, it should be. Replace the main bearings while you're in there.
I may look into that
Ive never done it but ive been watching a lot of videos on it. Figure its a 500 dollar gamble but if it works ill save 2-3k
I should mention I did my partial engine rebuild with the engine still in the Jeep. Thus couldn't pull the crank so that is why I opted to not hone the cylinders. Had I done it with the engine out, I absolutely would have pulled the crank, hones the cylinders, and changed the main bearings.
I'm having my doubts about that. It seems like this piston skirt issue is showing up a ton in the 140-180k range. I'd guess alot of engines above that have some mild ticking that signals the start of this but no fully broken skirts. The failure seems to be as Hemmingway would put it, slow at first and then all of a sudden.
The reman side faces the other issue of failing cam lobes on new cams.
I had a 99 Wrangler that I sold with 253K, engine had never been opened and it was quiet. I wonder if this piston skirt issue is more of an time/age related issue than miles. The 4.0 has always been touted as a bulletproof engine, but the amount of piston issues lately is crazy. The pistons in my 06 LJR were not cracked surprisingly, but cylinders 2 and 5 had bad piston slap with aluminum transfer to the cylinder walls that I'm sure would have lead to cracks and breaks.
Went through this same process last year at this time. Number 3 piston skirt ended up in the oil pan and the sound was just like yours. Got the quote on a reman and decided it was worth the try to put new pistons in it over the price they gave me. I got the pistons and rods from the kit that Dex sells along with a full gasket set, new head, and manifold bolts. This is a job that can be done in a weekend easily if not in a long day. If you watch the videos from Dex and take your time it is not a hard process and can be done in the jeep without pulling the engine. Also don't make the mistake I did and decide to change the lifters while you are there. One of the new lifters decided to eat itself up on the cam lobe and then we were taking it apart again to do a cam. Right now I have around 10K miles on the motor since the work and it is running good with no complaints. Feel free to ask any questions you have on this job.
Get dex he does all the work for you,you will have to send your old rods in for cores.it will run forever if you do this.
Yep they changed something from 2000-2006 in the 4.0 that the skirts tend to break.they couldn’t keep well enough alone.
I don't believe that to be true. There are examples of broken piston skirts throughout the years of 4.0L production and they changed things constantly throughout 15+ years of production. The big difference in my opinion of why we're seeing it now is that the later years were younger when the values of used TJs and XJs started to rise and a survivor bias/attitude started to rise enough that people thought about fixing them rather than scrapping them when they got mechanically totaled.
As a metallurgical engineer/material scientist by education I would say very unlikely. Aluminum is inherently prone to repeated stress fatigue failure. It tends to propagate cracks under repetitive motion from stressed points at joints, radius, corners. Repeated stress at those points initially hardens in most alloys and then cracks begin. Those cracks will lengthen with time. Just sitting at ambient temperatures, nothing would cause it to weaken.
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