Tennisjon2002

My 1987 4.2L Jeep Wrangler with only 36K miles on original engine is leaking some oil. It seems to be only a few drips per trip that I get on the garage floor when I come back. It seems as though the oil level is staying constant, I have been watching it. Is there anyway to stop the leak or is this very bad? I never run into problems like this on my hondas lol

65 Fury Convert

So buy a Honda and quit complaining. The dripping oil could be coming from after an oil change or it could be the transfer case leaking. I'd say get under there and look fro where it is coming from.

iTimmy

Are you sure its not a 4.0? A 4.2L engine is not available in a 87 jeep to the best of my knowledge. In any case as vehicles age, even if the mileage is low, seals will dry out a bit and develop small leaks. You can either find the leak and fix it or continue adding oil. If its something simple like an oil pan gasket(very common on jeeps) then it would make sense to fix it, if its a front or rear main seal, just keep adding oil because it would probably cost more to have that replaced then the truck is worth. Another common leak on jeeps as they age is front and rear differentials also the transfer case almost always seeps a bit as they age.

Tennisjon2002

Yea 87 up until i believe 91 was offered with the POS carbed 4.2L. There is also a small leak in the back which i believe is the differential. The front leak I am pretty sure is oil, I wiped it up and it looks and smells like oil, what does differntial fluid look like? I will just have my mechanic look at it because as usual it is going into the shop again soon for other stuff
Thanks!

SodaLuvr

Run two bottles of Auto-RX through it with conventional oil, follow the directions on the Auto-Rx.com website. Look for the coupon code in the FAQ section to get $$$ off.

Use the cheapest 10w-30 engine oil you can find on sale (Pep Boys has Exxon Superflo and Castrol on sale), or you can go to Walmart and buy Trop Artic Blend 10w-30 for $1.50/qt. Use Supertech Oil Filters.

This stuff works very well in removing buildup and helps condition seals safely. Much success with this product on Bobistheoilguy that has been verified by before and after oil analysis results, as well as compression tests.

Tennisjon2002

Michael Wan- since you are the "oil expert" what do you think of this stuff? http://www.restoreusa.com/restorer.html ? it is simillar to auto rx isn't it? and does it work at all? I know that this is something I can get locally and i believe it is significantly cheaper. Just wondering. Thanks!

SodaLuvr

That stuff is worthless, and can be quite damaging to the engine due to its composition.

BTW, make sure that it is actually a seal leak before trying Auto-RX, as Auto-RX doesn't work on gaskets.

Tennisjon2002

ok so i went under there and checked it out. It looks like it is leaking from the filter and the filter won't tighten any by hand. Should I get a filter wrench and try to tighten it? And now the oil is it at the fill up line on the dipstick, so tommarow I am getting more oil. Being the oil newb I am, can I take off the filter without the oil leaking comming out? and what is the best type of oil filter wrench?

Chemmech

I had an 87 Jeep Cherokee. I had oil running back from the filter housing to the rear of the engine. It was deceptive in that it looked like a rear main oil seal leak. There are about 5 o-rings in the oil filter housing, without even running the engine over time these seals will fail. There is like one bolt holding the filter assembly onto the engine, pretty easy to replace the seals.
I'd check that first along with the valve cover .

anothercls

When was the last time the oil was changed and what kind of oil did you use at the last change? I am not sure if you can remove the filter without all the oil coming out, but some oil will come out with the filter, just put a bag around the filter and take it off. Maybe the filter has a bad seal on it and it is leaking due to that. Make sure you have a new filter if you're going to pull the old one off.