[bob1340]

I only have 19K on my '06 and really have not been worried about this OPDG issue until going through 70 pages of info over on Jeep Forum and looking at stuff here. I am pulling mine this weekend to see what I gotz. I agree Chrysler is not going to do anything about this until I have a failure and I trust them like a wet phart on fixing it right. I plan on keeping my Jeep for a long time past the warranty and have been doing stuff I figure is good insurance. ACEA A3 oil, good gasoline, not too much abuse. Proactive is a good thing.

Now for a question.

Some guys have installed grease zerks on the OPGD housing to keep the shaft and bushings lubed.

If the grease zerk is a good idea, how about running a very small oil line off the oil gauge sender to lube it? I figure the oil could drool out the bottom and help keep the gears lubed as well.

Would this work or is it sealed? I know Hesco makes a oil pump deal to squirt oil up to the gears but I don't see why this won't do the same thing.

I'm talking about a tiny hose or tube similar to a oil gauge line with possibly a small orifice in it to limit the flow.

Although my wife tells me I am crazy all the time, me things this may be a good idea.

 

['05TJLWBRUBY]

Bob-

I have no idea what to tell you as I'm on my third. I sent my second out for "testing/research" if you will. Not sure what exactly will happen with it but talk of grease zerk and higher ZDDP levels in the oil have been mentioned a few times. Have you seen the recent posts on JF where the guy is having a machine shop cut a spiral groove into the shaft itself to get oil up there? Not sure what effect that will have overall when it's together, but you never know. Being Hesco has their special pump, I understand the idea behind your installed line, but how/where do you plan to run it? I don't think it would hurt anything though so if you have a good plan, post up-love to see it.

I've been running slightly heavier 10w40 RP oil for a bit now. This particular weight is allowed by the government to have higher ZDDP levels due to weight, and the levels are in line with what our engines need anyway -or so I'm told... No noticeable change at all up till now, and tonight, started it up in 5 degree temps fine without issue. Only mention that as some folks freak when you mention the weight and the "need" to run 10w30 in the winter especially. We're supposed to hit something like -11 below zero tonight, maybe colder, so I'll be sure to mention any ill effects of doing so. I'm afraid my battery will fight me more than the oil. Besides, I'm at the point now where with this OPDG issue and my stupid misfire I can't eliminate, I really don't think I'll care too much if I kill it early. Could at least swap in a Chev engine at that point and have more power with something that will run... Sorry-pretty crappy of me to say something like that, but hey, getting frustrated I guess you could say with all this.

Let's see what you have in mind-make it happen Captain!

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

[bob1340]

[quote='05TJLWBRUBY]Bob-

I have no idea what to tell you as I'm on my third. I sent my second out for "testing/research" if you will. Not sure what exactly will happen with it but talk of grease zerk and higher ZDDP levels in the oil have been mentioned a few times. Have you seen the recent posts on JF where the guy is having a machine shop cut a spiral groove into the shaft itself to get oil up there?

Mike[/quote]

I may order a new one and tear the old one apart and look. From pictures I've seen I see no actual seals at the top ???? They appear to have a double wall type construction that is supposed to allow oil to weep up to the top bushing. I have always trusted Doctor D's advice on oil. I used the M1 Extended service oil the first couple years and switched to the High Mileage 3 years ago. I'm gonna figure something out on this. I want to keep mine.
Chrysler is famous for this stuff. I love Chrysler, my father in law worked for them for 41 years as an executive. I had a 1/2 ton '02 Dodge Ram that had the LSD 9.25 rear end. These things failed at an alarming rate and they never came up with a fix. They warrantied them, but just stuck the same crap back in. Not the way to run a company.

 

[Jim K in PA]

Bob - Your idea for pressurized oiling of the upper CPS bushing is interesting, but could be problematic. First - my experience is with my 2005 LJ, which apparently had the E05 recall performed, as my CPS is a Rev. E. It was squealing and I did the research here and at JF to find a fix. Shortened version, I pulled the CPS, and removed the cap from the lube well for the upper bushing. I installed a zerk, but there was no oil passage in the upper bushing in my Rev. E CPS. I drilled two ~1/16" holes in the upper bushing (via the lube port) to allow grease to reach the CPS shaft. This has worked well, and I caught the problem before the shaft or the bushing were totally trashed (despite running for over 80k miles with nothing more than the assembly lube on the CPS shaft).

There are two bushings in the CPS housing; an upper and a lower. While cleaning the CPS housing, I did find a rubber seal between the two bushings. This seal prevents engine oil from migrating up to and past the upper bushing, and subsequently filling the upper CPS housing with oil. That is why they incorporated a seperate upper lubrication well for the upper bushing. Too bad they forgot to drill a passage in the bushing to actually allow the grease to reach the shaft!

So - if you intend to provide pressurized oiling via the upper lubrication well, you will have to remove that intermediate seal from between the bushings. You will also likely find that oil will migrate UP the CPS shaft and into the CPS housing, creating a mess. I suggest doing what I, Dr. D and others have done and just pull the plug from the lubrication well on the CPS housing, make sure there is a passage in the upper bushing (some have it some don't), and install a zerk fitting in the housing where you removed the plug. It works well , and will allow you to periodically re-grease the bushing. I used a high temp marine wheel bearing grease that has great surface tension properties, and should last a long time.

I still have a partially trashed cam gear to deal with, but that is a seperate issue.

Hope this helps.

 

[bob1340]

Right Jim, I figured that out. The only thing as far as getting lube all the way through would be to machine a groove the full length of the shaft. That would defeat the sealed bushing below and allow oil to run out the bottom on to the gear. Getting more oil to the gear is what I am/was aiming for. But the snag is there is no seal at the top so I fear oil getting pumped up into the CPS area which is no good. I have not torn one of these apart yet so I don't know what is involved with the top area to get a seal on it. If that looks simple I may give it a shot.

As far as lubing the top bushing what I have found is:

The plug deal at the rear is where the manufacturer installed the wax/grease stuff into the housing. It is double wall there as is the bottom. The bottom gets oil from the engine and the top gets the waxy stuff. As the shaft heats the bushing I guess the waxy stuff impregnates the bushing keeping things lubed. This is where they fail as either some did not get enough wax in them or the wax is insufficient for the job. On the JF a guy did this to grease it. Popped out the plug and drilled through the bushing. Of course the shaft needs to be removed to do this. He also heated the housing in boiling water to remove most of the wax. He then drilled through the outer housing only 180 degrees off and tapped it for a zerk. The plug is reinstalled on the other side. What this does is give you a reservoir for grease. The housing fills with grease and as it heats up it flows into the hole drilled 180 degrees from the zerk. Does that make sense?

I am going to order a new unit and gasket soon so I can tear apart and play with my original. I have never had codes or noises, but I am going to pull mine this weekend to look at it.

BTW, I put the guy who designed this on my "Just Shoot 'em" list at position #5. Give them books and give them books and all they do is eat the pages.

 

[TheGovner]

Here's a nice read on ZDDP from the lab that does my EOA's

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/Newslett ... dium=email

 

[bob1340]

Here's a nice read on ZDDP from the lab that does my EOA's

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/Newslett ... dium=email

I read that. I am a strong believer in good oil and gas for the Jeep. That zinc deal means nothing to me. But you have to keep those valve stems clean as well. Quality gas with additives is the only way I roll. I drained the factory oil at about 1500 miles back in '05 and have used Mobil 1 Extended for about 2 years and after reading up on some of Doc's stuff I use only Mobil 1 High Mileage 10-30 now. It's gonna be interesting this weekend to see what my OPDG looks like when I pull it out. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

 

[TheGovner]

If memory serves me correct, DrD once told me that "it was the viscosity the the M1 10/30 (ACEA 3) gave us.. not so much the additive package or ZDDP -------but i may be wrong

 

[bob1340]

If memory serves me correct, DrD once told me that "it was the viscosity the the M1 10/30 (ACEA 3) gave us.. not so much the additive package or ZDDP -------but i may be wrong

Yes, that is true. It is a superior base oil. Some of the diesel oils and off road racing oils have more of the zinc in them. But I believe a very good oil is a very good oil.

 

[bob1340]

It's gonna be interesting this weekend to see what my OPDG looks like when I pull it out. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

Well, I pulled it out. The gear looked very good. You could see some wear/shine, but it was consistent all the way around and what I'd say was defiantly mild/normal use looking. I pulled it apart and found some very mild scoring at on the shaft at the top bushing area, again very minor. I drilled out the plug and tapped that area with a 1/4" X 20 tap for a new screw in plug. I also drilled through the bushing on that side where the plug was with a 1/8" bit. I then flopped it over and drilled through the housing in the area under the ID tag. This is a double walled deal and I only went through the outer wall here. I tapped it 1/4"X28 for a grease zerk. I cleaned it up and installed a zerk and before putting the 1/4" plug in the other side I shot grease in with the shaft in and forced out the yellow crap Chrysler has in there. Now the factory reservoir is full of good grease and I can pump a couple daps in there every 5,000 miles or so.

The original idea I had to run pressurize oil would be an engineering nightmare as there is no seal at the top of the top bushing. In theory it could be done, but what a job.

I am glad I have run good base oil in mine since new. I was expecting a worn gear, but it looks great. Apparently oil is getting to the bottom bushing just fine as it looked perfect.

 

[SweetPee]

It's gonna be interesting this weekend to see what my OPDG looks like when I pull it out. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

Well, I pulled it out. The gear looked very good. You could see some wear/shine, but it was consistent all the way around and what I'd say was defiantly mild/normal use looking. I pulled it apart and found some very mild scoring at on the shaft at the top bushing area, again very minor. I drilled out the plug and tapped that area with a 1/4" X 20 tap for a new screw in plug. I also drilled through the bushing on that side where the plug was with a 1/8" bit. I then flopped it over and drilled through the housing in the area under the ID tag. This is a double walled deal and I only went through the outer wall here. I tapped it 1/4"X28 for a grease zerk. I cleaned it up and installed a zerk and before putting the 1/4" plug in the other side I shot grease in with the shaft in and forced out the yellow crap Chrysler has in there. Now the factory reservoir is full of good grease and I can pump a couple daps in there every 5,000 miles or so.

The original idea I had to run pressurize oil would be an engineering nightmare as there is no seal at the top of the top bushing. In theory it could be done, but what a job.

I am glad I have run good base oil in mine since new. I was expecting a worn gear, but it looks great. Apparently oil is getting to the bottom bushing just fine as it looked perfect.

MAN I wish you got pics of all this! Sounds good

 

[bob1340]

MAN I wish you got pics of all this! Sounds good

I should have took some. Didn't think of it. Pretty simple to figure out once you have the thing removed. I think the whole job took an hour start to finish. The only hard thing was turning the engine over. I did the screwdriver through the holes deal so I could make sure it went back in correctly. I also etched the target wheel and the housing before I loosened the bolt for reference. This is one of those simple mods that cost nothing if you have a grease zerk laying around.

 

[TheGovner]

:worthless:

 

[bbusch]

Here are a few shots of mine, overall it looked pretty good so hopefully my cam is still in good shape, the unit is bad so a new one goes on Tuesday after I get back to Tahoe.

 

[bob1340]

Here are a few shots of mine, overall it looked pretty good so hopefully my cam is still in good shape, the unit is bad so a new one goes on Tuesday after I get back to Tahoe.

Mine had about the same wear. Is your gear rusty, mine wasn't that color.
What is wrong with it that you are changing it? Bushings?

 

[bbusch]

It's gone bad, squeels like a belt and throwing codes finally ( from time I suspect it was going bad it took 75K miles to finally go out) so it's getting replaced tomorrow... and yeah I suppose it's just rusty??

Nobody, dealership or private shops, could figure it out until it finally started throwing codes again (hasn't thrown a code since I had 35K miles on the rig way back in April 2004).

 

[SweetPee]

Most of the gears on the OPDA I have seen after being pulled are that color or close to it. I asked Doc once and he said it really wasn't an indication of anything. It is more or less a "stain" from the oil and contaminates in the oil from the engine. You can find that color on many things inside the engine.

Least this is the way I understand it.

 

[bob1340]

It's gone bad, squeels like a belt and throwing codes finally ( from time I suspect it was going bad it took 75K miles to finally go out) so it's getting replaced tomorrow... and yeah I suppose it's just rusty??

Nobody, dealership or private shops, could figure it out until it finally started throwing codes again (hasn't thrown a code since I had 35K miles on the rig way back in April 2004).

You gonna put a grease zerk on the new one?

 

[bbusch]

You gonna put a grease zerk on the new one?

I haven't decided yet, tomorrow it's going on but I may pull it later if the mod continues to make since for me to do.

 

[mikel]

My 06 Rubi just started with the screaching noise. It is loud. Very loud. To me it sounded like a pully bearing. Well some friends helped me isolate the noise. It appears it's the CPS. When the noise happens you can feel vibration on the OPDS unit. I have the larger unit.

The one local dealership, GO Chrysler Jeep in Littleton, has just quoted me $2400. I'm not throwing any codes yet but they claim the OPDS, camshaft, and lifters willl a most likely need to be replaced. If it is JUST the OPDS-CPS then it's only $800 parts and labor. That is: 1ea 53010624AC and labor. $800.

Where the hec are the guys on JF getting them for $140 or are they blowing smoke?

Bob, you did the right thing by installing the jerk. It may save you a bundle down the road. Especially considering it appears, STRICTLY MY PERCEPTION, that Jeep/Chrysler is taking advantage of a bad situation and price gouging. I mean if they were selling for under $200 and now a dealership wants $800? What else is there to think?