Calgary Jeep Association

4x4 Related Groups => Tech Talk => Topic started by: inferno on April 28, 2012, 02:50:38 PM

Title: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: inferno on April 28, 2012, 02:50:38 PM
Hey Everyone,
    I have a 2000 Tj Stock motor. for the last while ive noticed that after driving my jeep for awhile i start to loose oil pressure. at idle i have to rev it to keep the pressure up. and ive noticed that im loosing coolant as well. i have had a leak in the rad b4 but it seems to of stopped... could these problems be related? ive checked the oil and show no signs of water in it.... imput is appreciated
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: THE GOLD DIIGGER on April 28, 2012, 03:15:45 PM
If you find out its your bottom end and don't want to rebuild it I have a 4l with 560km on it brand new ;D  2000k steal of a deal.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: inferno on April 28, 2012, 03:53:47 PM
lol i hope it wont come to that but if it needs to be done ill do it lol... if i just put thicker oil into it what grade should i use?
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: THE GOLD DIIGGER on April 28, 2012, 07:17:50 PM
20/50 but i don't think that will help you too much.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: jandh on April 28, 2012, 08:34:17 PM
Any stains on the ground?  I would say if not then your burning up antifreeze.   Your oil pump could be on the way out, or it could be one of the other 20 issues.  I would say norrow down the issue, find someone to help you take a look at it, or run Castrol 20w 50 with a can of B2 until it dies and replace it.  but I would go with option one or two before giving up and killing a probably ok engine.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: BUKI on April 28, 2012, 08:51:12 PM
What is your oil pressure?  I think you can go as low as 1 bar at idle. But have you tried an aftermarket gauge or swapping out your oil pressure sending unit.  Is there a warning light or are you going by the gauge alone?  Is the jeep rough running?  Any sounds from engine that would indicate low oil pressure (ie if you had bad oil pressure I believe your head would be oil starved first).   For coolant do you smell anything sweet?  Are you building pressure in the coolant? Check the weep hole on the water pump it could be leaking.  If you are burning coolant there would be more steam/smoke coming out the back, and I believe it would smell like caramel (not to mention your jeep should run like crap as your compression would be out to lunch).
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: The Machinist on April 28, 2012, 09:25:15 PM
Is it due for an oil change?  Noisey lifters are a good sign of low oil pressure.  You could check your spark plugs for signs of burning coolant.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: inferno on April 29, 2012, 11:52:29 AM
i refilled the coolant and it seems like i may have a rad leak  :-[ but besides that i have put in a mechanical guage, ut statred awhile back and i noticed my pressuse had gone to the max. so i pulled over and checked averything. about an hr later i started it back up and everything was fine. the next morning when i started it the lifters were all making noise for a few minutes. these days its running fine untill the motor gets warm and i start to loose pressure.. id like to narrow it down and fix the issue but its kind of hard to do when u recently moved here and dont have the space to work
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: morerpmfred on April 29, 2012, 02:41:52 PM
If you have a head gasket that leaks antifreeze when it is warm. Then it is possible antifreeze is going into the oil or oil in antifreeze.  In that case it does not take long to wash out the bearings. Thus low oil pressure when it is warm.
 Is there a milky froth on the dip stick or a little oil skum in the rad or overflow tank?


Sent from my I junk
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: jkrubi on April 29, 2012, 03:40:32 PM

How many kms on the jeep? You buy it new or used? ( it makes a difference as if used you never know ofthe previous owner ran it low/out of oil, as well as type of oil). What grade of oil are you using right now?

What have you checked, changed? What was the last thing you did to the eng before this started to happen?

When you had the gauge on, what was the pressure at idle (cold and warm)?  At speed (cold and warm)? You said that it pegged  the needle when did that happen (cold or warm)? What were you doing when it did that?

As well do you have a light or a gauge on the dash telling you that you have low oil press? Are you gettin any noise from the en when the indication is on? Is it matching up to your mechanical gauge for the given pressure? ( either gauge or light turning on?)
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: inferno on April 29, 2012, 05:17:17 PM
ive checked the oil and theres no water in it.. but like i said its probably from the leaky rad.. i bought the truck used almost 4 years ago and has about 250km on it and running ither 5w-30 or 10-w30 i cant remember lol.. the first time it pinned i was on the highway for a few hours lol the mechanical gauge is still connected in and the stock gauge is acurate... usually when its cold i run at 3-4kpa and when hot and idle is almost at 0
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: jkrubi on April 30, 2012, 01:25:33 AM
Have you done anything recently to it? Changed oil n filter? So it drops off when it gets warm? Does it do it all the time when warm?  It's starting to sound like to me anyways like the bearing in the bottom end are worn out!  Or the oil pump is failing. What happens when you run heavier oil in the jeep?

Have you tried any oil thickener type additives?
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: Bnine on April 30, 2012, 09:47:27 AM
If the gauge is accurate and matches the mechanical, then the bottom end is loose and losing pressure when it warms up.

If you drop the pan and do the rod bearings it will probably buy you some time. You could pull a couple main caps and see what they look like. If you are lucky you might just get away with rod bearings.

Easy enough to do. Just time consuming.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: inferno on April 30, 2012, 04:50:46 PM
its always consistent...  when its warm pressure drops. i havent tried thicker oil yet but it maybe my next step since i dont really have a place to drop the pan. how much of a pain is it to replace the bearings?

and for worst case scenario how much would a used motor cost me?
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: jandh on April 30, 2012, 05:32:24 PM
$ 192.99 including core, at pick and pull. and you get what you get, whether its running or not. 
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: THE GOLD DIIGGER on April 30, 2012, 06:23:52 PM
Just buy mine stop wasting your time motor cheap and new sitting on a shelf at Jason shop you no you want it, has over$ 6000 put into it and only 600km on it.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: Bnine on May 01, 2012, 07:02:19 AM
its always consistent...  when its warm pressure drops. i havent tried thicker oil yet but it maybe my next step since i dont really have a place to drop the pan. how much of a pain is it to replace the bearings?

and for worst case scenario how much would a used motor cost me?

Drop the exhaust and pan. Pull the spark plugs so its easy to rotate. Pull one rod bearing at a time. Re torque and continue.

The ones towards the rear will usually be the worst.

Thicker oil is not going to help.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: jkrubi on May 01, 2012, 03:53:27 PM
Drop the exhaust and pan. Pull the spark plugs so its easy to rotate. Pull one rod bearing at a time. Re torque and continue.

The ones towards the rear will usually be the worst.

Thicker oil is not going to help.

This is the fastest and easyest way to do it. An eng swap would take you all weekend, and you'd still need a place to do it, if your paying someone sell the jeep it's not worth it.   Buying a used eng, before putting it in I'd do the bottom end bearings anyways. Save your money and just do yours. You know what you have already plus it runs.
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: THE GOLD DIIGGER on May 01, 2012, 05:18:51 PM
My motor runs great and its new you could swap it out on a weekend and you can't rebuild yours for what im selling it for. The guys that wheeled with me no how great that motor is ;)
Title: Re: Low Oil Pressure and loss of coolant
Post by: inferno on May 01, 2012, 05:35:53 PM
is there any write ups on how to do it and what to look for?