New Member :-)

[MTKross]

Just wanted to say hi to everyone! Just became a member as I recently acquired a 2004 Liberty 4x4. I also have a lifted Nissan Titan and wanted a secondary vehicle to save on gas (not that these get the greatest mileage lol) and always liked the look of the Liberty!

Sad to say after a few drives, it started showing problems. It started smoking on startup which was a tell tale sign of a blown head gasket and then a day later something went array in the engine and I could hear a loud banging noise accompanied by a flashing CEL.

I have since opened her up to find a thrown rocker which I was hoping would possibly be a broken valve but they all checked out when I got the heads off. Unfortunately, now I must go deeper.

Next is to drop the oil pain and see what I can find from underneath!

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[ltd02]

Welcome!

How many miles? The thrown rocker thing happens sometimes. Mine dropped #2 exhaust a few times but all good after replacing the hydraulic lash adjuster. As for the smoke or possible HG issue, any signs of coolant loss? Coolant in the oil?

 

[LibertyTC]

Yes X2 on how many miles/coolant loss.
It is believed that gunk can build up inside the lash adjuster / causing poor lubrication.
This is a good reason to keep CLEAN oil in the Jeep. I use full syn Penzoil Platinum and a mobil 1 oil filter and now change it by 2500 miles.
Generally buy new rocker & lash adjuster and hope for the best or consider rebuilding the head with new seats.
Here is a video how quickly a rocker by itself can be re-installed,
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st1AoYfTPlY
Good to know if it pops off & you need to get cover off and rolling in the back country.
& another good read link: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f196/engine-problems-26447/index4.html

 

[MTKross]

Welcome!

How many miles? The thrown rocker thing happens sometimes. Mine dropped #2 exhaust a few times but all good after replacing the hydraulic lash adjuster. As for the smoke or possible HG issue, any signs of coolant loss? Coolant in the oil?

It's just under 150,000. When I pulled the heads there was actually a small puddle of coolant sitting on top of the pistons on the passenger side. The lash adjuster looked fine but I'll look at it again since you've experienced that problem. If the engine checks out fine, I'm going to have the heads planed and install new gaskets all around while I'm in there so it will be good for the long haul


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[LibertyTC]

Are you removing engine or able to remove the oil pan? Want to make sure pick up screen is clean! Coolant in oil = big problems.

 

[ltd02]

These hydraulic lash adjusters can "look" okay but they fail or get gunked up like LibertyTC said and won't pump up correctly. With 150k I'd change them anyway while you've got it apart. Check the coolant and make sure the oil isn't contaminated. I'm dealing with the aftermath of that right now with my 02. Mine overheated about 30k ago (Hmmm, right around 150k) and now I've got it all apart with some nasty looking bearings.

These things can't handle any level of overheating.

 

[ltd02]

Are you removing engine or able to remove the oil pan? Want to make sure pick up screen is clean! Coolant in oil = big problems.

Good point for the OP. Really have to pull motor to get pan off. My pickup screen was almost completely plugged. Some metal but mainly sludge. New one is on the way.

 

[MTKross]

The oil was surprisingly free of coolant, and I had been keeping an eye on the coolant level and it hadn't dropped to my surprise. So the head leak was small. There was a small amount of milky residue on the oil filler spout when I took that off to pull the passenger head.

That's good to know the lash adjuster may have just been the culprit. I always assumed something much worse had to be going on for a rocker to fall loose. Broken valve or bearing maybe.

I've never worked on a Liberty before and haven't crawled under it yet to take a good look at the pan. You really have to pull the engine to get the pan off? [emoji15]The engine is mostly apart at this moment so pulling it wouldn't be too bad.


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[LibertyTC]

It is good that the coolant leak was small.
If you google "oil pan replacement Jeep Liberty" there are a few utube videos may be worth viewing.
Forum members state 2 ways to get pan off....link: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f196/oil-pan-replacement-51572/
Would be nice to have a shop bore scope and have a peak thru the oil drain plug.
I am not sure if you could see the pick up screen then or not though.

 

[MTKross]

It is good that the coolant leak was small.
If you google "oil pan replacement Jeep Liberty" there are a few utube videos may be worth viewing.
Forum members state 2 ways to get pan off....link: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f196/oil-pan-replacement-51572/
Would be nice to have a shop bore scope and have a peak thru the oil drain plug.
I am not sure if you could see the pick up screen then or not though.

Thanks for the links! Yeah looks like pulling the engine may be the easier of those options at this point as this is all that's left of it thus far.

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Stay tuned! Lol


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[MTKross]

On the plus side the oil filter is super easy to get to now lol


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[Dave]

Welcome to the forum and Jeeps. Sorry you are having trouble but it looks like you found the right place for some help. Keep us posted.


Dave

 

[MTKross]

Well just as an update I turned it over by hand and the bottom end seems to be fine. Free moving, no noise and no suspicious flakes or gunk in the oil. I decided to take my chances and bought a new gasket kit and a full set of lash adjusters. When I was in there I also noticed the timing chain guides were worn and decided to order a set of those as well. They should all be coming in the mail here shortly and then I will slap it all back together, hoping for the best!

On my hunt for answers on why the rocker jumped its spot I also found a thread where others were having this same issue with their 3.7 and some with the 4.7. A guy actually had the rockers jump ship on him 3 times! He then took it upon himself to find a solution to this issue and built "rocker locks" which are these little clips that keep the rockers held on to the lash adjusters. Clever idea!!!

Here is the link:

http://rockerlocks.com/index.html


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