VM 2.8 carnage......do you're scheduled maintenance

[DonFitzwater]

So....I picked up this Liberty with known engine problems.....dealer claimed the engine is "bad" cause the timing belt broke. Well, the belt didn't break. It jumped time because THE WATER PUMP WENT OUT! I pulled the intake last night and found almost all of the rocker arms were broken. FYI-This is a designed failure point in the event of timing problems. The rockers are actually the weak link in the system.

Anyway, I've got nearly all the parts rounded up from inside the engine.......just missing a couple of needle bearings! I'm going to drop the oil pan for the hell of it to see if there are any other surprises hiding in there for me.

Do your scheduled maintenance! The previous owner even had a new water pump and timing belt but neglected to change it "because it was only a slow leak!".

Thanks to all of you that posted in my earlier thread.....www.lostjeeps.com has been great! Not quite as good as TDR but for such a small group of vehicles, it's a great resource for the owner that is needing some guidance.

Don

 

[mwilson]

So the rocker arms give up if there is piston to valve contact??? No harm to the valves that way??

If so, not such a bad idea..

 

[mwilson]

You're not going to have to even pull the head, right??

 

[AllianceDiesel]

They actually designed the rockers that way for just this reason. Piston closing valve=no good

 

[mwilson]

You're going to get out of this pretty good, ain't ya Don.....

Nice!!

 

[DonFitzwater]

Well...........I hope to. It's got 117,000 miles on it and was a fleet vehicle prior with women driving it so it hasn't exactly been beat on but it received zero maintenance except oil changes. Thank goodness it got that! The few rockers that were good showed no wear and the roller bearings were tight.

I'm gonna pull the engine to find the last couple of mia rocker needle bearings and since I'm already there, replace the head gasket and STUD it! It's going to get a GDE hot tune, torque converter and all of the Obama-nomics-EPA garbage stripped off and tossed in the dumpster where it belongs. The intake was horribly clogged up with a sooty.........oily.......nasty buildup. I can already imagine how much better this thing is going to run when it's finished!

 

[DonFitzwater]

Good thing I decided to pull engine AND trans today. Found loose mounts on the trans, loose v band clamp on the exhaust, severed rear brake line on and on and on and on. Plus, when the dealer had the trans out for the TC recall they left out about half of the hardware.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Just an update, finally got this little diesel Jeep running! It's been back burnered since I'm a boat mechanic and summer in Alaska is crazy busy but it's finally running. I ended up rebuilding the transmission and updated the valve body with a shift kit and a new solenoid pack as well as a good torque converter. Transfer case looked beautiful and just got new seals.

The only problem I ran into during the initial start up was trans cooler lines that decided to start leaking.

If any of you guys have a liberty, Ecodiesel or any of the euro engines, call GDE and send them your PCM for programming changes. Unbelievable difference between a stock liberty and what this one can do!

 

[promisedland]

Thanks for the write up! I love those smaller 'trucks'... I am 'toying' with the idea of getting one with time to fix it up and keep till i cant drive no-more!
Go green?? NA, GO DIESEL!!

 

[MLee]

Don the by-pass kit you refer to is on sale 11/27/15 for 25% off today, Black Friday only. and the head studs also are on sale. From Sasquatch.
My son and I just went through what you are doing/done with out doing the by-pass, so far its running better than when new. Also the fuel return line junction is very tender, cause its made out of plastic, we broke his and we made a new one out of brass fittings You'll find this item in Lost Jeeps also.
His was diagnosed with a hole in the top of # 4 piston. Disassembled and found NO HOLE, but perfect piston tops. Poor dealer diagnostic, used a bore scope to diagnose, he must have had a patch over his eye. Good luck with your rebuild.

 

[DonFitzwater]

She's good to go. I am only waiting for the transmission cooler lines to come in and it'll be time to drive the tires off this little turd!

The Sasquatch Black Friday specials are great. Thinking about getting the sst exhaust system today.