Why you NEED!!! !!! !!! (READ MUST HAVE) Oil Pan Skids

Haven't had time to download my pics yet, but just the same as the video Paul was kind enough to upload.

For those that weren't at ADA '08, I ran Milkshake... I thought I would make it... had a strap tied just in case, and went all out...

Somewhere along the run I bashed the oil pan good (no ones fault but my own... I chose to run it and take full pride in how far I made it on my own)... once free of the mud I dropped to idle and Black n Blue stalled...

At that point it was seized... checked for water in air box first to make sure not hydro'd, then the starter vs sledge trick which got it turned over, but I had no oil pressure.

Paul and I thought it best not to mess around on the trail... our group was kind enough to tag along back to staging, and then return to their wheeling while I assessed the damage.

Sunday I swapped out all the oil at Rausch in the staging area...

When drained the oil filter was empty... all the times I have ever drained oil I always poured out a filter full... this was close to bone dry.

Old oil was foamy, slightly off color, but no signs of foreign liquid...

With the new fresh oil in I fired the jeep quick... just to see if it built pressure, and it did... So i let it run about 15 minutes to come up in temp...

All was well for the 15, then it dropped out again... so I shut it off... about an hour later I went to fire again, but the starter was frozen... a few taps from the sledge got it fired, and oil held again... for about 10 minutes.

At above 1200 RPM it does built pressure, but the gauge is all over the place.

So I killed it before I did any damage (hopefully).

When we loaded it on the trailer, Blue again roared to life (literally... he does not sound happy at all)... drove up the ramps in shame, and drove off the ramps in dishonor to his place in my parking lot...

The neighbors came out to see what created the ruckus... and I was re-telling his demise til about 9pm before retiring from exhaustion.

Long story short... I know the pan is mangled (tried to get a pic but too close to focus camera)...

yesterdays general opinion is the pickup for the oil pump is either displaced to high out of oil, plugged, or broken off... so if the oil sits and settles for awhile all is well, til it pumps to higher ground...

I do know the dip stick shows 1 quart over (ish... hard to judge, but basing it on the 1 qt under meas.). But I also know I only put in 5 quarts, and I had the plug pulled for a good hour to make sure I got all the nastiness out (and no leaking seal or something).

Oil has stayed brownish, coolant is steal the toxic green glow in the dark color...

And when it does fire with pressure I have no pings, knocks, etc... so fingers and toes crossed drop the pan, assess the damage, and go from there...

Sounds easy... lol... if it wasn't for the darned exhaust crossing under the pan...

So... after that looooooooong azzzzz post I will try to keep it short and sweet...

I figured this pain in the butt project might go quicker if I did it a little at a time so as to not get discouraged all in one day (spread my frustrations out over the week so I don't just get all angry and do something stupid... wait... that doesn't sound like me at all... )

So... here is my plan...

Monday (Today) - Unload jeep and strip interior of all non essentials... (passenger seat, electronics, top, etc). Call Alex for a tow to the car wash and spend a boat load to pressure wash the drive train (ONLY drive train) as clean as possible... (since the mud is still wet and not baked on by engine heat it may not be that bad)....

Tuesday - pray for rain to let mother nature do the interior... PB Blast all bolts... call around for oil pump quotes (if the pan is off, might as well... why pull it all again).

Wednesday -Pouring Rain.... Install 1" motor lift brackets (Factory service says to jack up motor 1"... so might as well put the mounts in while it is up there).

Thursday - Tsunami or Flash Flood... til I get home from work... then try to break loose pre-cat banks from header to drop the exhaust

Friday - Try to convince work I need some alone time with my baby, and then attack the oil pan.

Saturday - Reassemble in reverse order. Add Skid Row Skid Plate (which has been in my closet for 6 months ) so as to not have to repeat this week ever again... This involves unbending the lip of my T-Case skid as well...

Sunday - Bills (4-0) vs Arizona... so hopefully relaxing before going into an overnight at work... or buffer for procrastinating Monday thru Friday...

beware...motor mounts can be a PITA so plan for some extra time. From what I remember at least on the YJ a couple of the bolts seemed impossible to get too. the mounts will be different sizes so make sure the correct one goes on the correct side. You will need to remove the belly pan and support the tranny/tcase on jackstands. might take some work with the jack under the belly pan to get it situated right. also don't tighten down all the bolts until both sides are installed.

Good advise... didn't think about dropping the belly pan... does make sense...

Also have to do fan shroud, and the 4wd shift linkage bracket thing from the body lift...

Woulda skipped all that if not for you bill... thanks again

Factory Instructions make it sound so simple... oh look... might as well pick up the starter too (step 6)

REMOVAL
(1) Disconnect negative cable from battery.
(2) Raise the vehicle. (Lift Kit already... I can get my fat butt under just fine)
(3) Remove the oil pan drain plug and drain the
engine oil. (Really... ASE certified mechanics really need to have this spelled out for them... )
(4) Disconnect the exhaust pipe at the exhaust
manifold.
(5) Disconnect the exhaust hanger at the catalytic
converter and lower the pipe.
(6) Remove the starter motor. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
STARTING/STARTER MOTOR - REMOVAL).
(7) Remove the engine flywheel and transmission
torque converter housing access cover.
( If equipped with an oil level sensor, disconnect
the sensor.
(9) Position a jack stand directly under the engine
vibration damper.
(10) Place a piece of wood (2 x 2) between the jack
stand and the engine vibration damper. (I have an engine crane... so 9 and 10 will be replaced with said crane)
(11) Remove the engine mount through bolts.
(12) Using the jack stand, raise the engine until
adequate clearance is obtained to remove the oil pan.
(13) Remove transmission oil cooling lines (if
equipped) and oxygen sensor wiring supports that
are attached to the oil pan studs.
(14) Remove the oil pan bolts and studs. Carefully
slide the oil pan and gasket to the rear. If equipped
with an oil level sensor, take care not to damage the
sensor.

Soooo simple in theory...

Also found this tidbit of reassuring info a few pages further...

CAUTION: If the oil pump is not to be serviced, DO
NOT disturb position of oil inlet tube and strainer
assembly in pump body. If the tube is moved within
the pump body, a replacement tube and strainer
assembly must be installed to assure an airtight
seal.

So I would think bashing it with the oil pan and disrupting it constitutes broken seal, and would explain my lack of oil in filter, and oil pressure woes...

May not need the pump... just the pickup... (though summit has both for $90...)

Side note... does Hi Flow oil Pump constitute higher pressure, or just more circulation... obviously high pressure can be as bad as low pressure... I only ask because the Summit part is a Mopar Performance High Flow pump...

Tony see if there is any information on primeing a oil pump on a 4.0 when I put my new engine in my CJ I prime the pump with a screw dirver in a drill ran the oil pump until I saw oil come up to the upper part of the engine. Not sure if you need to do this.

I will call you this weekend if I have time to head up to you and help.

I replaced my oil pump soon after i got the jeep, its really not hard. I think it was 4 bolts that held it up, the hardest part was getting the pickup tube out of the old pump and onto the new one. I just reused the old one. I got it from advance auto parts. I have had no problems with it. the High flow pump is not a higher pressure pump. It should be fine if you are worried about it. As for priming it, i just filled it with oil before i filled it up. You can pull the distributor and turn the slotted peice if you are worried about priming it.

I looked at the factory service manual again... it doesn't mention priming the pump...

It does say the pump also drive the cam shaft position sensor, and I SHOULD NOT under any circumstance manually rotate that with the engine off because it will effect the computers timing...

I hate emissions... stupid... stupid stupid computer.

Alex was worried about towing me, so we risked a 5 block drive today...

I am happy to say that aside from sounding like a diesel engine (knock on the rockers/lifters ) that it still drives on the road like a dream...

It was a quick 5 minute trek there... $40 pressure washing the engine bay.... I would so 90% of the mud is gone...

Starter is shot... tried the sledge trick.. that resulted in fireworks from the solenoid...

We push started with second gear and it roared to life again...

I draw a lot of attention cutting thru parking lots with all the racket, but it got home and will now sit there til it is done.

Thursday I will order the starter and oil pump... hopefully it arrives friday...

Keep ya posted.

Tony

Did you drive it to work?

I have not driven it to work... ran it 5 minutes to the car wash... He sat there while I spent over an hour giving him a bath... then 5 minutes back...

Oil pressure did not drop in that quick trip...

Yes I pushed my luck, but it had to be done... couldn't start tearing into it if the block is covered in mud.

I was extremely luckily on a few points...

1) That I did not seize the motor since pressure held for the short trip

2) The mud washed off fairly easy... most was still wet with the help of the rain... 2 gallons of simple green and the hi pressure did the rest.

3) Not running the engine didn't bake all the mud into hard concrete stuff...

After that episode I will not be driving again until I am positive I will not do more damage... I don't want to continue pushing my luck because it will only last so long.

*UPDATE*

So far so good...

Disconnected Battery completely (going to add that to replacement)

Starter is pulled... also found why it failed... hole in the side about same place rock hit oil pan... so 2 for 1 deal on the rock.

Broke loose all the motor mount bolts, well... pulled them then reinstalled for now.

Pulled the bolts for the pre-cats (Y tube) to header...

That leaves raise the motor, drain the oil... drop the pan...

By dumb luck tomorrow I will be home by 2pm so plenty of day light to lay underneath... (of course I have to go in at 4am... but hey...)

Toughest part was actually the header bolts... not stuck... just getting access to them... once I got the wrench on it spun right off...

FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY AM

Well... its 2:30 in the morning... and I am hitting the sack... but thought I would wind down with an update on my progress so far.

I got the M.O.R.E. 1" motor lift mounts in... driver side was a major pain...

Exhaust is dropped from all but 1 hanger... rear passenger shock removed.

Engine oil pan has been completely unbolted and broken free of the seal...

I can't get the exhaust low enough to clear...

Stupid F&^%@@ Y tube... I swear when I am rolling I am driving to Toledo and giving the genius who cross exhaust under the pan a piece of my mind.

Anyway... new oil pump assembly (Hi Flow) was delivered from Summit today (overnight shipping and total was still cheaper than going to dealer... plus dealer does not sell as assembly... each piece separate, and none had all the parts at one place.)

Starter (Mean Green) also came in today... again... cheaper than stock...

Aside from the exhaust snaffu all is going without a hitch... from what I can see in the pan all looks good... no extra bits of spit out metal, etc.

Tomorrow... or is it today ... whatever... Saturday I am going to split the muffler from the cat... that will allow me to remove the Y tube entirely for now so I can clean the block real good and prep for install...

I don't want to jinx myself, but if it goes as smooth as everything else I should be bolted up tight tomorrow night...