Is this an OPDA issue or not?

Cajun001

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Mar 3, 2020
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43
Location
Baton Rouge, La
2006 TJ 4.OL AUTOMATIC
Read many post on the OPDA issue symptoms.... (clicking, squealing, howling monkey)???
When these issues start is it something that is a continuous sound or random?
The squeal I am hearing is when I am driving and at a steady speed, the squeal stops when accelerating and when I let off the gas. So I ask is this a typical symptom or once the squeal starts it will stay until replaced? I have let it run in park and rev the engine up and down but do not hear the squeal. I did pull the top off of the OPDA to see how much vertical play there was, it moved about 1/16" up and down, is this a sign of wear???
This is the original OPDA with 101,000 miles on it.
 
You don't want to wait to replace OPDA. There are two kinds of original OPDA, one that have failed and ones that will fail. What fails is the upper shaft bushing, it seizes and then takes out the gear on the cam that drives the OPDA. Don't guess if the squeal if the OPDA just replace it with a Crown unit, reuse the original sensor if it a Mopar unit.
 
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Usually it’s a continuous sound, but will increase with RPM. If you think it may be the OPDA, do not drive it. Park it, remove the OPDA, and inspect.
 
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HUH ok guess I'll have to tell my brother to order 1 to have on hand. I had read somewhere on here that the REV. E were good to go ! his is a 06 which one should he get ?
 
This is not good, Crown OPDA only 10K and shaft looks worst than the 100K it replaced.

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Crown seems to be the favorite. However, I've had a Dorman in mine the last 135K mi with no issues.

Keep the OEM cam sensor from the old OPDA.

What he said, keep the old sensor and reuse it. However, be very careful when removing it from the original OPDA. These Jeeps are old now and the plastic is may have become brittle. The plastic on my OEM sensor started to break and I still haven't gotten it out yet - each time I try more plastic breaks off.
 
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2006 TJ 4.OL AUTOMATIC
Read many post on the OPDA issue symptoms.... (clicking, squealing, howling monkey)???
When these issues start is it something that is a continuous sound or random?
The squeal I am hearing is when I am driving and at a steady speed, the squeal stops when accelerating and when I let off the gas. So I ask is this a typical symptom or once the squeal starts it will stay until replaced? I have let it run in park and rev the engine up and down but do not hear the squeal. I did pull the top off of the OPDA to see how much vertical play there was, it moved about 1/16" up and down, is this a sign of wear???
This is the original OPDA with 101,000 miles on it.

It doesn't have to be continuous and not sure where the laughing monkeys or barrel of monkeys comes from as it doesn't sound anything like laughing monkeys? It sounds more like belt slippage and can come or go be continuous or intermittent.

As a precaution you should change it ASAP as its not good to have "or suspect" OPDA noise because it can be catastrophic to the gear on the cam shaft that drives it causing the oil pump not to work.

If it was built after Feb 2006 the issue was fixed or semi fixed? but I think the fix maybe did more than just prolonged the life a bit for a "quick fix" given so many if not the vast majority have all done over 100K miles in 16 plus years.

The 2005 and very early 2006 that started to squeal while still under warranty caused the panic and stigma that some TJ enthusiasts may have blown out of proportion given any component that starts to fail after 16 years and over 100K is just another worn part that needs replacing.

2005 and 2006 are very common years for TJ,s in Australia because the Dollar was parity so a 2005/ 2006 new was a fair bit cheaper than a 1999 -2004 and the reason we have so many Golden Eagles and 65th models, Most Australian TJ,s are low mileage compared to those in US and OPDA failure has never seemed to be a major issue.

New OPDA is as cheap as a quality coil rail and 6 plugs so can be changed just as frequently. :)
 
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HUH ok guess I'll have to tell my brother to order 1 to have on hand. I had read somewhere on here that the REV. E were good to go ! his is a 06 which one should he get ?

I dont think it matters which brand Crown or Doorman! If Crown was the only good one then Doorman would have stopped making them.

I did read some time ago the 2006 had the upgraded version as apposed to 2005 and very early 2006 that needed a fix for warranty purposes and its obviously true given the amount of 2006 with over 100,000 miles without failure.

I kept a spare and used it but unless they are in short supply and TJ is a DD and needs to be fixed as soon as you suspect an OPDA noise/issue then its just another part in the shed as a "just in case" Only my opinion though.

We should have a survey of how many 05/06 forum members or known 05/06 owners actually experienced OPDA failure beyond an infrequent noise against how many changed their OPDA just as a Precaution. :)
 
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I dont think it matters which brand Crown or Doorman! If Crown was the only good one then Doorman would have stopped making them.

I did read some time ago the 2006 had the upgraded version as apposed to 2005 and very early 2006 that needed a fix for warranty purposes and its obviously true given the amount of 2006 with over 100,000 miles without failure.

I kept a spare and used it but unless they are in short supply and TJ is a DD and needs to be fixed as soon as you suspect an OPDA noise/issue then its just another part in the shed as a "just in case" Only my opinion though.

We should have a survey of how many 05/06 forum members or known 05/06 owners actually experienced OPDA failure beyond an infrequent noise against how many changed their OPDA just as a Precaution. :)

well atleast I know I aint going crazy ! 1st thing I did when he got his 06 home was to check the REV. on his and it was REV. E which was the updated OPDA supposedly . but I guess we'll pick one up for a spare !
 
well atleast I know I aint going crazy ! 1st thing I did when he got his 06 home was to check the REV. on his and it was REV. E which was the updated OPDA supposedly . but I guess we'll pick one up for a spare !

When I got my 06 it was my first Wrangler so I searched the net and then started to worry I had made a mistake but seems the worry came from mostly those who had never had an 05/06 or from new car warranty fixes. In the end my research lead me to the updated OPDA being used after Feb 2006, you are lucky I had to pay shipping from US to OZ which cost as much as the unit, gets a bit expensive having parts laying around. :)
 
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The OEMs all have the sealed upper steel bushing. Rev does not matter.

Then why did they bother to change it and not just continue with the simple 05 warranty fix ? How many later 06 had OPDA failure compared to 05/ early 06? This is what is needed to be known and doesn't seem to be anywhere, I truly would like to know ! What is out there though is the amount of 2006 only experiencing problems after many years of use and many miles with the majority being swapped as precautionary measures. Very bad design I agree along with heads that crack and manifolds that crack, inferior sensors and Overall design changes to a simple engine that worked. :)

So lets say a 16 year old vehicle with well over 100,000 miles had a factory design fault fixed "to a point" while it was being manufactured and nobody it seems has a figure of how many OPDA,s failed beyond the 05/early 06 re design and I imagine the figures are not there because they don't exist for a reason?
 
The early 05 fix was for an improperly hardened OPDA gear. The upper bushing is a completely separate issue which was never fixed.

My 06 had 115k mi on it when the cam sensor died. The OPDA was OK, but was not as easy to spin as it should have been.

The problem is some seize at low mileage while others go 200k mi. I was checking mine every so often before replacing it when the sensor died.
 
This is some good information, I just changed out the OPDA, I believe it was stock the sticker Had LDI on it. So my issue now is I am getting the P0016 code, I reused the sensor from the original OPDA but it was not original. I believe I put the OPDA back in the original position I am sure not more than a couple degrees off. so I swapped sensors back and forth, made some small adjustments on opda position and still getting P0016 code. any tricks I can try to clear this up. Also the original OPDA looked good had some wear but nothing I would not expect for 100000 miles. and that was not the answer to my squealing, still working that issue. Any tips for the 0016 code clearing would be appreciated