Need some advice on my non-running TJ

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reesester

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hey guys need some advice on where to go from here, my girlfriend bought (on my recommendation) a 2001
TJ. it was advertised as having the engine fully rebuilt at 68K (supposedly to make sure it was reliable for their
daughter) the jeep ran great for the summer but noticed that the temp was tacking when the heater was on,
yes the heater core was shot so i told her to just leave the heater off until i had time to replace it, well she let a friend
drive it and he ran it out of water blowing the head gasket. he had the entire head supposedly replaced with a better
head. It ran ok for a bit but it smelled of antifreeze (the top tank was leaking now) my daughter was driving it and
it just stopped running and would not restart, of course she wasn't watching the gauges. I had it towed home and it fired
right up but had 0 oil pressure and ran really rough, knocking and sounding like crap. put a monitor on it and got a p0112.
so i replaced the air intake temp sensor, no change same error. Looking at some of the forums and with the symptoms
several people said it could be the OPDA, so i changed that and the P0112 went away but it still won't run right so i am fearing
the worst. It is knocking pretty good, won't idle, has 0 oil pressure at idle and will go to almost 10 at 3000 rpm. there are 2 oil
pressure gauges, stock and manual and they both report the same. What would be your next troubleshooting step?
 
Dont run it! If its knocking that bad, should be around 10 PSI for every 1000 RPM
does it now have water/ coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant?
Was the head actually replaced? or just the gasket? was there steam or exhausts smell under the hood when you started it after the tow home?
When she ran it after the replaced head and it stopped had it cooked again?
Problem is when somebody else cooks your motor you dont know just how bad and usually they fill it with the nearest water source while its still too hot just to get them off the road or home.
I would call out a mobile mechanic or tow it to a mechanic to look at it because I doubt you will get a solution on any forum even from experts without looking at it and hearing it run. :(
 
The next step?

Get a known good used engine out the boneyard and install.

Make daughter do some of the work to realize the importance of gauge monitoring.

Go wheeling !!!


P.s.

I'm willing to bet the engine was ran low on oil.
People who don't pay attention to gauges are also really bad at checking/changing oil.

Having a business that fixes this shit we see neglect ALL THE TIME.

Don't keep trying to think of a reason not to swap engines. Just find one and do it.
 
Fishtaco said:
Dont run it! If its knocking that bad, should be around 10 PSI for every 1000 RPM
does it now have water/ coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant?
Was the head actually replaced? or just the gasket? was there steam or exhausts smell under the hood when you started it after the tow home?
When she ran it after the replaced head and it stopped had it cooked again?
Problem is when somebody else cooks your motor you dont know just how bad and usually they fill it with the nearest water source while its still too hot just to get them off the road or home.
I would call out a mobile mechanic or tow it to a mechanic to look at it because I doubt you will get a solution on any forum even from experts without looking at it and hearing it run. :(
Click to expand...
no water in the oil or visa versa, coolant level was fine, oil level fine, oil doesn't smell burnt. no steam out the exhaust but more than usual condensation. the knocking although loud isn't deep, i was hoping it was more top end than bottom. it is running so rough it definitely is not burning all the fuel. I'm afraid Rubicon is right but i was hoping i could find the problem before having to do all of that work, i am not big on having to spend 20 hours on a ride that isn't mine while both of my rides need tlc as well.
 
reesester said:
no water in the oil or visa versa, coolant level was fine, oil level fine, oil doesn't smell burnt. no steam out the exhaust but more than usual condensation. the knocking although loud isn't deep, i was hoping it was more top end than bottom. it is running so rough it definitely is not burning all the fuel. I'm afraid Rubicon is right but i was hoping i could find the problem before having to do all of that work, i am not big on having to spend 20 hours on a ride that isn't mine while both of my rides need tlc as well.
Click to expand...
it is acting as i spun a bearing, guess a compression test would rule that in or out?
 
reesester said:
no water in the oil or visa versa, coolant level was fine, oil level fine, oil doesn't smell burnt. no steam out the exhaust but more than usual condensation. the knocking although loud isn't deep, i was hoping it was more top end than bottom. it is running so rough it definitely is not burning all the fuel. I'm afraid Rubicon is right but i was hoping i could find the problem before having to do all of that work, i am not big on having to spend 20 hours on a ride that isn't mine while both of my rides need tlc as well.
Click to expand...
Just because oil level is ok today doesn't mean it was ok. It might have dawned on a friend of a friend of your daughter to check oil...ohhhh it's low....and then add.

If you've got head gasket issues...over heating...
knocking...zero oil pressure...

Don't chase your tail on this.
Find a good used one and install.

Matter of fact why are you still posting. You could have that engine pulled by end of the day doing it yourself and inexperienced.

Easiest modern vehicle to pull an engine from!!!
 
Also...shit happens occasionally even to the most reliable of engines.

We get situations and stories just like this all the time. Obviously I don't know your daughter nor was there but it seems to me neglect was at play here...and it's safe to say collectively.

People today want to do one thing.
Get keys...
get in...
drive....
Shut off.

I swear they think all cars require zero maintenance and don't give a fuck about any of it. Just get in and go. That's their only concern.
 
Pull the oil filter off and cut it open. Don't use a saw or cutting wheel as that will throw metal into the filter. Use a tin snipps and cut the top off. Take a good look at the paper especially between the pleats. Chances are good there will be some flakes there. If so pull the oil pan off and take a look. If it is knocking that badly the damage should be easy to spot.
 
Kid Mechanic said:
I was just trying to make a joke about this guy’s girlfriend letting her boyfriend use the vehicle.

Not a very good joke, I suppose I used to many words for the set up :unsure:
Click to expand...
I understood completely....
But replied in a serious mode because part of societal decay is this "gimme that it's mine" mentality and lack of care, respect and pride.
Parenting with the wallet and pocket book versus raising them with teaching of class, respect, responsibilities..etc.
 
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really doesn't matter, my daughter is very responsible and only drove it to the gym and back, well almost back.
the only reason for the background is honestly i have no idea of what has really been done as far as work on it.
They could have said they replaced the head and did not, they may have cracked the block, lord only knows.
I was just looking for some advise before i spent all that time and money. I will do a compression test, cut the filter, drop the pan.
Those 3 things should lead to something. Thanks for all the input guys.
 
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Unfortunately, crap happens. My kid is an honor student and super responsible. One day she called me up and said her car smelled like it was burning. I told her the first thing you want to do is pull over and get out. 😳

Turns out she had been driving with the e-brake partially on. So I had to rebuild the rear brakes and flush out the system. I give her shit at every opportunity.
 
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ok so update today, i started a compression test with my 40 year old guage and got 0 compression
out of the first cylinder i picked (#3), thinking well the guage is oud and F'ed up i had a neighbor
put his on and 0 as well, check another cyl. and 150. Ut oh, so i pulled the valve cover and saw this:

IMG_7390.jpg
 
so as you can see bad news on the push rod and yes it is bent, i drained the oil and cut open the filter,
filter looks ok but this is what the oil looks like:

IMG_7391.jpg
 
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Looks like bearing material. You wrote about it knocking, probably rod bearing. And the bent pushrod, bummer. Sad to see that an engine that could see north of 200k go like that. No sense why someone would rebuild an engine like these at 68k just to rebuild it. More to that story for sure.

I’ll be watching to see what you find.
 
well i have a feeling KM is right and that the rebuild did not fix the underlying issue, think i will pull
the head and see how bad that hole looks, if it is not damaged i will drop the pan and look at the bearings.
Probably stupid to waste the time but i just cannot afford a motor right now.
 
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