'04 Jerp WJ 4.7 engine issues

[BigSki]

Didn't take pics, just worked like a smelly dog all day. Engine is 'buttoned up". If the monsoon rains fail to appear on Monday, wrenches will turn and I might get to twist the key and see if comes back to life.

Jerps still suck. I just want this one to run so that I can sell it and it disappears from my life forever.

[BigSki]

It's alive! I got it started yesterday but not without some drama. After filling the radiator and squeezing the hoses to burp out as much air as possible I thought that it was ok to start. After about 10 minutes of running, the hyrdo cooling fan spins up to max RPM, it sounded like a hover craft. I look inside at the gauges, water temp was showing 230*. I shut it down, opened the rad cap and put a bit more water in. When I squeezed the hoses, the upper hose wasn't very warm to the touch and it didn't feel like it was moving any water so I popped it off and found nothing...

My immediate thought was that I just wasted the motor. I removed a bleeder/purge plug on the top of the timing cover and poured some water down the hole. A few seconds latter I got a steaming geyser of water and green coolant. I walked away and let it cool down a bit. 20 minutes later I add more water and get some more steam ( but much less than the first attempt) and some bubbling water. I wait another 20 minutes and pour water down the hole. This time nothing pukes back out. It took 2.5 gallons of water to fill it up.

I was ready to give up. I was certain that I had damaged the engine. I twisted the key and it fired right up and idled fine. I got a few bubbles out of the filler neck on the rad then put the cap on and let it run. It got up to 195* and stayed there. I ran it for an hour then shut it down. It started right back again, no smoke or knocking/rattle noises. I drove it around the industrial complex a few times and parked it.

I go back this morning completely expecting the motor to come apart when starting it. I first check the oil, no water contamination. I pulled off the air box on the TB and look for oil, didn't see any at all. I put back together and start it up. No issues, no noises, nothing to suggest that any damage was done. The water level was still full. I connect the A/C manifold to it and start recharging the system. Once the A/C was blowing ice cold I went for another trip through the industrial park and into a grassy field to check the operation of the AWD T-case. It seemed to work well.

I'm feeling more confident that I didn't damage anything but I still feel dumb for not watching the gauges after the initial start up. I'm planning on going back to it on Monday and using the shop transport tag and take it out for a good shake down run.







My makeshift sun awning. It was in the high 90's with high humidity all week, the shade helped make it a bit bearable but I know that had to mumble " I'm too old for this s*it" at least a few times...

[Natedog]

Congrats on getting it running, Chrysler products have been s**t since 1972-ish...omg worked on a few newer models and as you discovered many of the bolts and crap are cheap not made to last fall apart...sad. I'd have done just as you did and smooth out the piston and run it. WHat kinda machine shop tells you don't worry about the scrapes and gouges around the new valve seat? Sell that Jerpjunk while it still runs, I'm tired of those kind of jobs, done many of them. Really hate hte ones with no working room, just like you described. Anyways great job!

EDIT: Your Forester is a million times better SUV.

[youngblood]

Well done Walt! Still running well?

I do not envy you working under that tarp like that, looks like a real bitch but sounds like you were rewarded.

[BigSki]

Thanks Brian. It runs pretty well, I have a few minor repairs to make for it to pass inspection. It was miserably hot, Mitch came out a few times to make sure that I wasn't dead.