New flattie runs!!! oil pressure problem *update*

Jerry (xl3ltt) and I wrenched on his Willys last night to see if we can get it started after 5 years of sitting. New plugs, belt, battery -- dumped a little gas down the carb -- Varooom! It started right up and idled as if it ran yesterday!! We looked at each other --like Huh?

She's a bit smokey which doesn't seem to go away but no knocks or noises. Oil pressure is weak at idle and 5-7 at best. We took her for a SLOW road test on his street with ZERO brakes Smooth shifting trans, 4wd works, overdrive is, well, pretty dern cool!

So, off to replace the master cylinder and re-bleed.

Anyone know of any L-134 oil pressure tips? Can the lower end be that bad to lose oil pressure yet no knocking or valve noise? The engine runs super quiet but the 'wimpy' style exhaust tells another story.

More pics when we get them uploaded!




Original eBay photo

 

Somebody will correct me - IIRC the L4 only has one cam bearing? and the other bearings run in the block? If the crank bearings are ok, that's where I'd look first.

You could look here: http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Tech/OilPressure.html

 

Oh, should be solid lifters, no? No valve noise if they're adjusted right.

 

Wow, 400-600 grit seem coarse to me. Maybe crocus cloth instead?

I believe Steve's opinion that you can polish-and-go though. Willys 4s have a steel crank that will stand a lot of abuse without scoring.

 

Yeah, I was thinking last night of pulling the oil pump apart since it is easy to get to and progress to a ring job which is really not that difficult. Where do I get an oil pump kit?

We should be able to plastigage the middle main journals while going after rings eh?

Thanks for the info guys!

 

R) R) R)

 

Regarding your low oil pressure problem. Let me share with you a similar problem I had with a jeep that had been sitting up a few years and a quick fix. When I got it running, it started smoking.

I put in some marvel mystery oil in the crank case and drove it about 100 miles over a period of a few days and it quit smoking. A mechanic friend of mine suggested I do that before tearing into the motor.

I appears the rings on the piston had stuck inside the grove of the piston and would not flex out to increase compression as they went up and down. Driving it with the Mystery Oil probably caused them to become unstuck. And this caused it to stop smoking.

Jeeps really don’t have all that much oil pressure at low RPMs I bet a few miles of driving will pick up oil pressure. I would recommend changing the oil and filters a couple of times in the first few hundred miles. Another additive I have used in the past on some jeeps is Rosaline (sp?) and Engine Restore. Both seemed to help. You might want to try all three over a period of driving, and see if you can get those rings working better. You should also notice a bit more power under acceleration.


Also I just got finished doing an in frame ring job on my 56 Willys CJ5. I think I was out about 250 bucks on rings, intake valves and having the head ground down. It is running great now. Not a big job, especially if 2 of you are working on it


I rented a ridge reamer and piston ring compressor tool from Auto Zone. It was actually free. You put up a deposit on the tool when you get it, and when you take it back you get a full refund. R)

Keep us posted on how you come out.

Regards
Cliff

 

Well, are getting closer to figuring this L-head out. We dropped the pan and found 3/8" of sludge in the bottom. You could see the impression of the floating type pickup in the sludge and the screen had some in it too but fell out easily. Hopefully the oil pressure problem will be resolved. Looking up into the engine everything appears squeaky clean so I don't know what this sludge was all about. The smokey exhaust is also subsiding substantially but we are switching to straight 30w oil anyways.

We pulled the diff covers and everything checks out good. The new master cylinder is in position and should be functional soon.

We are hustling to get this to the dunes July 7-11!

ZERO brakes! 1st gear crawl



Willy's twins

 

Good call mike!!! Boy, does that ever sum it up!!! R) R)

 

sounds like the oil never got changed on a regualr basis
po just kept adding a quart or 2 whenever it was low
heavy contaminants just settle to the bottm of the pan
make sure you pull the pickup tube off and check for restriction as well, being as you are there
I remember a 76 Wagoneer that came into our shop one time; engine knocking; pulled the oil pan drain plug; looked worse than Henrys roof tar trying to come out the hole!

 

SPY versus SPY that what I was thinking also!!

 

Sunday evening Oil Pressure updates.

After not seeing my family to two evenings (I was under the jeep, they were not..) we have 30 psi at idle, 40 psi at 2000 rpm! Took apart the oil pickup and gave it a carb clean bath. I love it when a plan comes together.

If I only had brakes. Michigan_Pinstripes (a.k.a the "black SPY") performed welding surgery on the link connecting the brake pedal and master cylinder (the replacement master cylinder is longer, hence the link had to be cut and welded). Well, I may need to order another link. Any ideas???

Good news is that my finger nails will eventually grow back after smashing them between the backside of the rim and rear hub.

Stop laughing......

P.S. Need rear seat belts, or else mom won't let the kids go for a ride.

 

Ho boy -- Our great fabrication concept was flawed and I burned up two sticks trying to save the piece. Oh well, buy another and try again another day!

Jer, Wilwood Engineering in Cali 805-388-1188. Tell them you need a new rod for your master cylinder because your friend goofed it up!