Baystate Jeepers

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/2005- ... e-1144202/
dealing with this problem now. jeep threw P0016 today, and i can feel a bad vibration in the OPDA. I had the same issue when the jeep was under a year old, and it was fixed under warranty. worst part is i hit 70k miles a few days ago, so i'm SOL.

$@X#% chrysler engineers! My jeep is fubar'd. First it takes me almost two hours to remove three bolts. 2 are completely undersized torx heads which strip and have plastic all around so it's hard to torch them, and the third is completely hidden underneath the OPDS and almost impossible to get a wrench on. Once I finally open things up the gear is almost completely worn through, and I'm pretty sure my cam gear is the same.

Who wants to help me install a new cam?

Is this why you had oil feed issues?

shouldn't have been the cause. the oil pump was still being driven, but the increased backlash in the gears due to wear causes timing issues at high rpm. eventually the gear wears down enough and the oil pump and "distributor" stop working, and there goes your engine.

opened it up tonight, this is what i found:



definitively time for a new camshaft and OPDA. any suggestions for a new cam? what else do i need for the install?

Crap.. do you have to pull the engine?

Time for a STROKER....

Little Napoleon wrote:Crap.. do you have to pull the engine?

No - it can be done without pulling it.
The job still sux though...

REMOVAL - CAMSHAFT
WARNING: THE COOLANT IN A RECENTLY OPERATED
ENGINE IS HOT AND PRESSURIZED.
RELEASE THE PRESSURE BEFORE REMOVING
THE DRAIN rooster, CAP AND DRAIN PLUGS.
(1) Disconnect negative cable from battery.
(2) Drain the cooling system (Refer to 7 - COOLING
- STANDARD PROCEDURE).
(3) Remove the radiator (Refer to 7 - COOLING/
ENGINE/RADIATOR - REMOVAL) and condenser
(Refer to 24 - HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING/
PLUMBING/A/C CONDENSER - REMOVAL), if
equipped with A/C.
(4) Remove the engine cylinder head cover (Refer
to 9 - ENGINE/CYLINDER HEAD/CYLINDER
HEAD COVER(S) - REMOVAL).
(5) Remove the rocker arms, bridges and pivots
(Refer to 9 - ENGINE/CYLINDER HEAD/ROCKER
ARM / ADJUSTER ASSY - REMOVAL).
(6) Remove the push rods.
(7) Remove the engine cylinder head and gasket
(Refer to 9 - ENGINE/CYLINDER HEAD -
REMOVAL).
(8) Remove the hydraulic valve tappets from the
engine cylinder block (Refer to 9 - ENGINE/ENGINE
BLOCK/HYDRAULIC LIFTERS (CAM IN BLOCK) -
REMOVAL).
(9) Remove the vibration damper (Refer to 9 -
ENGINE/ENGINE BLOCK/VIBRATION DAMPER -
REMOVAL).
(10) Remove the timing case cover (Refer to 9 -
ENGINE/VALVE TIMING/TIMING BELT / CHAIN
COVER(S) - REMOVAL).
(11) Rotate the crankshaft until the crankshaft
sprocket timing mark is aligned on centerline with
the camshaft sprocket timing mark (Fig. 33).
(12) Remove the timing chain and sprockets (Refer
to 9 - ENGINE/VALVE TIMING/TIMING BELT/
CHAIN AND SPROCKETS - REMOVAL).
(13) Remove the front bumper and/or grille, as
required.
(14) Remove the two thrust plate retaining screws,
thrust plate and camshaft (Fig. 32).

Jesus. The cam sensor must be really seized to cause that kind of wear on the cam gear. That sucks man. Given that you're just over 70K, and it's a known problem, I would try the dealer route and see what they say. bring in the cam sensor and talk to them. Can't hurt.

Swapping cams does not require pulling the engine. You will need to pull the head and front grill, but it's not too bad with the radiator and grill as one piece. There is a way to swap cams without pulling the head, but I do not recommend it, as you would be reusing your existing lifters. IMO, lifts/cams go together like a fresh shower and new undies.

After doing some research, this problem seems to be with late 04 to 06 4.0L's. To get you by, I think installing an older style drive gear would work. It would eventually be worn away by the deteriorated cam gear, but I think it would work for a while.


You know, I had a weird noise in my 2.5L a while back. It ended up being my distributor. My YJ is a '92, but the engine is a '95 and there is a slight difference in distributor design. When I disassembled the '95, I found it dry as a bone. I pulled my '92 apart and it had a slightly different design which seemed to receive better lubrication. I installed the '92 and the noise is gone. Prior to assembly on both (I caught it in time w/ no drive gear wear and was able to save the '95 for a spare) I packed them with synthetic grease. After reading the article you provided, I think my next move will be to modify the housing with a zerk, especially with the high volume oil pump I run. In comparing the two, it seems they skimped on the later distributor. Seems to be another example of how nickel and dime'n a vehicle to lower production costs kill the consumer in the end. It's a damn'n shame.

i'm going to try the dealer route, but i've had little success there in the past.

if it doesn't work out, what is required to replace the cam? what else should i replace while i'm in there? since i already have a lifter tick and they are relatively cheap its absolutely worth changing those. if you guys can help me with a list it would be appreciated.

they went to a new design for '05 and '06 to mate with the new computer. for some stupid reason some idiot engineer decided the seal should be below the upper bushing, so it never gets lubricated. that is the source of all of the problems, as it heats up and binds/wears down. mine actually spins pretty freely, but it has a bit of up and down play. because it is designed to work with the new computer only those years of OPDA will work. The mod described in that thread should fix the problem, but i need a new cam to mate it with as this one is obviously f'd.

That sucks Ryan.... Good luck with it...

JW

thanks man. anyone free next weekend? i'm assuming the dealer is going to try and f me, and i don't want to delay any longer then necessary making the repair. i can offer a years supply of steak tips on runs for starters

I'd just put a stock style cam and lifters back in. Many of the performance cams open up a can of worms that can turn a fairly simple job into a nightmare. Make sure to use plenty of assembly lube on the cam lobes and lifters! And follow the break in procedures!

holy chit..... I'd do what others said, and start with the dealer but I wouldn't stop there. I'd get the name of the regional service manager, regional sales manager, or someone higher up the food chain, who might be able to do something. I guess you could argue that the 'fix' they did under warranty was just a band aid, and postponed the engine failure. I Googled 'Chrysler dispute resolutions' and came up with some hits. Can't say if they're any good, but they're out there

And if that doesn't work and you end up tearing it apart, I can help at least one day next weekend. I have some projects lined up, but nothing that can't wait for a bit. Damn Ryan, I really have to believe someone in Chrysler will stand up and do the right thing. They have to! That's just not right

sounds good john.

thanks carl. i can't believe it's happened again, and my jeep is a whopping 7 years and 70k miles old. on the 4.0 it should just be broken in, my old cherokee hit 187k and it was still running strong!

my plan is to drop it off at the dealer on monday. hopefully they will come back with an answer quickly. if they either won't cover it or try to jack up the labor charges/deductible then i'd like to do it myself. (i'll be poor if i bring it to a shop for the whole thing) if that's the case i spoke with golen and they are getting me a quote for the parts required for a rebuild. then i will take friday off to tear into the annoying stuff like draining the coolant, removing the grill, etc. i can take care of all of that, but i really need the help/guidance once the head is off and rebuilding on saturday. if you can help, name your price!

Check your PMs brother. FjR68