What is the OPDA and do I need to change mine?

As impossible as it sounds, I think your timing is off. Either that or one of your sensors (Camshaft or Crankshaft) decided to crap out coincidentally.
It just doesn't make sense other than one of the two went bad. I had no check engine light until this evening, roughly after 75 miles of drive time.
What about the up and down play in the OPDA shaft? It's about a centimeter or less of movement right where the shaft goes into the housing. Is that normal or should there be no play?
 
For anyone who's interested, here's a 1-minute video of the "laughing monkey" squeal of the OPDA gone bad. Looks like you need to listen to location, since a bad serpentine belt idler pulley or belt tensioner can also make a similar squeal, but from the front of the engine.

WOW! It sounds exactly like I imagine a barrel of monkeys would! HAHAHA! :rocker:
 
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It just doesn't make sense other than one of the two went bad. I had no check engine light until this evening, roughly after 75 miles of drive time.
What about the up and down play in the OPDA shaft? It's about a centimeter or less of movement right where the shaft goes into the housing. Is that normal or should there be no play?

No, that little bit of play is normal, that's how mine is too.

I know it doesn't make sense, but sometimes these coincidences do happen. The first thing I would do in your situation is re-time the engine and make 100% certain it's accurate. That takes that variable out of the equation. If that doesn't work, clean the connection to the OPDA and make sure it's not loose or anything. If that fails, I suspect it is indeed either your camshaft or crankshaft position sensor.
 
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You could also try resetting the check engine light and seeing if it comes back. Could just be a fluke. If it comes back, then there's definitely a problem. Actually, that's what I would try first.
 
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You could also try resetting the check engine light and seeing if it comes back. Could just be a fluke. If it comes back, then there's definitely a problem. Actually, that's what I would try first.
How does one reset the check engine light?
 
How does one reset the check engine light?

Auto part stores won't reset them due to bullshit "liability" lawsuits.

You need a code reader / scanner to do it, and then it's easy as 1-2-3.

Do you have access to an OBDII scanner or anyone who might happen to have one?
 
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So i got to Maryland and drive the Rubicon around today. Drove great, took it up to Arlington for a funeral and back (About 4 hours round trip).

Got to talking with my father in law about the jeep and asked him if it's ever had this part replaced. He'd never heard of the issue. It's got 110k on the odometer and then he mentioned that it did make a funny noise upon startup a few weeks ago, but hadn't made it since.

So i play him the video from the previous page and he confirms that that was exactly what it sounded like. We're going to see if we can hunt down an oem replacement at autozone tomorrow but I'll also be ordering the crown replacement once I'm back in North Carolina.

I'm glad that someone pointed this out to me. Otherwise I'd have never known and likely chalked it up to belt squeal.
 
So i got to Maryland and drive the Rubicon around today. Drove great, took it up to Arlington for a funeral and back (About 4 hours round trip).

Got to talking with my father in law about the jeep and asked him if it's ever had this part replaced. He'd never heard of the issue. It's got 110k on the odometer and then he mentioned that it did make a funny noise upon startup a few weeks ago, but hadn't made it since.

So i play him the video from the previous page and he confirms that that was exactly what it sounded like. We're going to see if we can hunt down an oem replacement at autozone tomorrow but I'll also be ordering the crown replacement once I'm back in North Carolina.

I'm glad that someone pointed this out to me. Otherwise I'd have never known and likely chalked it up to belt squeal.

DO NOT use an autozone OPDA (or any other local auto part store for that matter), they usually don't carry the Crown OPDA, which is updated to address the issues of the factory OPDA. You will regret that Autozone one big time. Take my word for that, I would rather you do it right the first time.

This is the one you want: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NEW6GTA/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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Think it would be safe to drive back to NC? He said it's only done it the one time. It's a 372 mile drive that id be making at 60-65mph the whole route.
 
Think it would be safe to drive back to NC? He said it's only done it the one time. It's a 372 mile drive that id be making at 60-65mph the whole route.

That's a crapshoot honestly. Part of me thinks it would be safe, but then the other part of me has seen what happens to engines when the OPDA goes out (bye-bye engine).

I'd say it might be worth the risk, just make sure you have AAA and make sure you have a savings account just incase you have to fork out $1500-$2000 for a new engine.

Not trying to scare you, just being cautious since that's a long drive.
 
Mine began screaming the other day. I turned around and parked it in the driveway. It's not worth the risk. I'm riding a bicycle to work until the part arrives from Amazon. O'Reilly and Napa should be able to order the Crown Automotive part within a couple days. Do it right the 1st time.
 
Napa was able to order the Dorman version so I'm going to go with that and then buy the crown afterwords just in case. Napa will have it here tomorrow morning so i can replace it before driving back to NC.

Edit: The Dorman version is updated to address the issue, correct? @Chris
 
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Napa was able to order the Dorman version so I'm going to go with that and then buy the crown afterwords just in case. Napa will have it here tomorrow morning so i can replace it before driving back to NC.

Edit: The Dorman version is updated to address the issue, correct? @Chris

This is a quote from another TJ owner who has run both the Crown and Dorman OPDA:

"I have both, ran the Dorman for 4,000 miles, the crown for almost 500 miles so far as I was one of the first to buy it on 6/8. The Crown has a better build quality but has one minor issue, the CPS in the OPDA housing is junk. Not a big deal, it's easy to swap out.

I can't explain why but the Crown CPS sensor caused a shudder/hesistation, then a rough idle, then almost exactly at the 200 mile point it caused several trouble codes (CEL) to show up including p0175, p0151, p0153. Bad 02 sensor? I thought but as soon as I swapped out the Crown CPS for my original Mopar CPS sensor, the CEL was gone, all codes were cleared, and it runs/drives 100% now. No other issues with the Crown unit as it works perfectly otherwise.

I wouldn't let the CPS sensor deter anyone from buying the Crown OPDA, just don't throw out the one from the Mopar OPDA. It's one 10mm on the side of the housing so it's easy to swap out in 10 seconds. I think the PCM is just "overly sensitive" to non-OEM sensors based on what I've read here."
He hit the nail on the head. The Crown OPDA from everything I have hear is a better design, I've heard that a lot. The issue with the Crown OPDA (and even the Dorman one from what I've heard) is that the CPS sensor attached to it seems to have issues. The quick solution to this is to swap the CPS sensor out on your replacement OPDA with the OE Mopar CPS sensor that came off your vehicle. This fixes all the issues and is very well documented.
 
Awesome.

So I'll do that as planned then and run the Dorman to get me down to NC and then swap to the crown on the first oil change, pending issues don't crop up with the Dorman prior to that.
 
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I'm at 175,000km with no issues so far. If something catastrophic were to happen, could a pre 05 engine be swapped in?
 
I'm at 175,000km with no issues so far. If something catastrophic were to happen, could a pre 05 engine be swapped in?

Yep! That's exactly what I would do if my engine exploded, swap it out for a 04 and earlier engine.
 
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This is a quote from another TJ owner who has run both the Crown and Dorman OPDA:

"I have both, ran the Dorman for 4,000 miles, the crown for almost 500 miles so far as I was one of the first to buy it on 6/8. The Crown has a better build quality but has one minor issue, the CPS in the OPDA housing is junk. Not a big deal, it's easy to swap out.

I can't explain why but the Crown CPS sensor caused a shudder/hesistation, then a rough idle, then almost exactly at the 200 mile point it caused several trouble codes (CEL) to show up including p0175, p0151, p0153. Bad 02 sensor? I thought but as soon as I swapped out the Crown CPS for my original Mopar CPS sensor, the CEL was gone, all codes were cleared, and it runs/drives 100% now. No other issues with the Crown unit as it works perfectly otherwise.

I wouldn't let the CPS sensor deter anyone from buying the Crown OPDA, just don't throw out the one from the Mopar OPDA. It's one 10mm on the side of the housing so it's easy to swap out in 10 seconds. I think the PCM is just "overly sensitive" to non-OEM sensors based on what I've read here."
He hit the nail on the head. The Crown OPDA from everything I have hear is a better design, I've heard that a lot. The issue with the Crown OPDA (and even the Dorman one from what I've heard) is that the CPS sensor attached to it seems to have issues. The quick solution to this is to swap the CPS sensor out on your replacement OPDA with the OE Mopar CPS sensor that came off your vehicle. This fixes all the issues and is very well documented.

Just received it 4-7 days early! I have already replaced the censor with Mopar. I'll swap it with this latest one.
 
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Awesome! Amazon is great when it comes to getting things to you fast!

It's was sold via 3rd party. I emailed them and they processed and shipped it within 16 hours instead of 48. Great customer service.