Hi,

I purchased my first Jeep last week (KJ, 2.8CRD, 2004, UK, 147,000 miles). I bought it at a good price, and it is a stunning machine.

Only one problem, it sometimes won't start, or will start, idle badly and cut out. Doesn't always do it, but mainly after it has been sitting. Also had an oil leak bad enough for me to take it to mechanic.

He told me today that there was a tremendous amount of oil mixed with diesel in sump. The pressure had popped the dipstick tube also. Said that was the cause of the oil leak. The oil level was way, way above the line on the dipstick, and he had to drain nearly 5 litre of it to get the levels back down.

I asked what I need to do to fix, and his diagnosis was that an injector was leaking. Said that to get it fixed he'd need to send all four injectors off to get checked, as he couldn't tell which one was faulty. Mentioned that at that age (147k miles), it was a good chance that all injectors would come back "bad", so should probably swap out all four. So he's quoted over £1k (GBP) for the work, and even then says its not worth it as he's not 100% it will fix it, and it will cost more than the vehicle is worth, so should just go ask money back from dealer.

He said it will take over 5 hours labour to get to the injectors, and even then he had to factor in an injector may be stuck etc.

I told him I could get injectors swapped for recon instead of new to save a lot of money, but he advised against it, citing that he'd fitted recon injectors before and they failed within 3 months.

So...

I said thanks and took it to another mechanic.

This one said, it's NOT an injector. Engine isn't shaking about, and no smoke coming out when driving.

Says it's the pump. But, also said, just sell it, it's not worth repairing it.

Thing is, we really like this truck. It's metallic blue, in really good condition in and out. It's like new inside.

I've even been looking round for replacement engine including injectors, with lower mileage to do an engine swap. Fair enough, we may end up paying more to repair it than we paid for it, but I can see myself keeping it for years.

Is this a common problem? Does anyone know for definite what it is and how to fix? I guess I'll have to get a third mechanic to take a look to really get to the bottom of it.

Since you are in the U.K., you may want to check with the V.M. Diesel Specialist.

They have been working with KJ CRD engines for years, and will likely have the used parts and perhaps rebuilt parts you are looking for to fix that problem.

http://www.vmdieselspecialist.com/

I am at a loss as to how the injector pump could cause excess fuel to get into sump. It seems all it could cause is a separate leak not into sump or lower pressure than desired to injectors etc. and in that case there should be too little fuel in cylinder not too much or none.

Maybe an injector open could be. If its injector I seriously doubt it would be more than one or possibly two. You could do a fuel return measurement on injectors to get an idea which one it could be if this is the problem. If you needed an injector you could buy a used one here much less expensive than new. If you are not going to check it I would take it to a Bosch certified shop. VM Diesel Specialists are a great suggestion also and can also supply most parts.

Have you been running it since removing the excess ? I am curious how long it takes for the oil level to begin rising from the fuel if you have. Though I don't think you should run it. If it doesn't take long to see a change in oil level you could disconnect wiring to one injector at a time and try to see which one may be causing the problem but would probably have to run an extended time. Of course the oil is not functioning correctly if it has much fuel in it.

If it didn't have the fuel in the oil first thing I would consider for the intermittent start would be air in fuel. Next would be the crank position sensor.

_________________
05 Blu LIM, OME GDE Tbo, wk II 245/75/17, KC Lights, bull bar, 195K H TC
05 Blu Lim, Dayton, GDE HT, 255/75/18 , 210K , H TC
06 Bla Lim, GDE Eco, Destination AT 245/75/17, 151K, H TC
06 D Khaki Lim 126K wkII Eur TC
05 D khaki Lim 145k refurbishing
All CRDS: Fumoto, Lift , Fan Shroud mod, fuel head Gen II, SAMCOS,self TB, 2 Mic filt, Hayden

Had injectors checked, they're all fine. Oil did not rise up again. Must have been the PO or the dealer that poured so much oil in. But why?

Who knows but if the PO knew what was wrong with it they probably would have fixed it instead of selling with all but the worst problems such as a crack in block or head.
I stopped trying to figure out what some people will try to either repair or maintain a vehicle.
Just a possibility though, some people do add diesel to the motor oil as a sort of motor flush then drive it for a time such as 100 miles or so then change the oil so maybe they were "flushing " the motor and it didn't help so they just left it in .

_________________
05 Blu LIM, OME GDE Tbo, wk II 245/75/17, KC Lights, bull bar, 195K H TC
05 Blu Lim, Dayton, GDE HT, 255/75/18 , 210K , H TC
06 Bla Lim, GDE Eco, Destination AT 245/75/17, 151K, H TC
06 D Khaki Lim 126K wkII Eur TC
05 D khaki Lim 145k refurbishing
All CRDS: Fumoto, Lift , Fan Shroud mod, fuel head Gen II, SAMCOS,self TB, 2 Mic filt, Hayden

Agreed... There are some REALLY dumb repairs, upgrades and backyard "upgrades" circulating around for all vehicles, but especially Liberty CRDs.

Diesel fuel used as an engine flush is "probably" O.K., but ONLY WHEN RUN IN AN ENGINE THAT IS FREE-IDLING, AND NOT UNDER LOAD OF ANY KIND. Part of the function of any engine flushing agent is to loosen up oil deposits and sludge, and to do that you have to severely degrade the viscosity of the engine oil. Putting any engine under load with severely degraded viscosity engine oil is multiplying the wear on all of the engine's bearing surfaces normally protected by that oil. DUMB move.

For the record, I do not believe for 1 second that you would do this, TKB4.

Thanks for the clean record . You are exactly correct!

_________________
05 Blu LIM, OME GDE Tbo, wk II 245/75/17, KC Lights, bull bar, 195K H TC
05 Blu Lim, Dayton, GDE HT, 255/75/18 , 210K , H TC
06 Bla Lim, GDE Eco, Destination AT 245/75/17, 151K, H TC
06 D Khaki Lim 126K wkII Eur TC
05 D khaki Lim 145k refurbishing
All CRDS: Fumoto, Lift , Fan Shroud mod, fuel head Gen II, SAMCOS,self TB, 2 Mic filt, Hayden