DJSJK50

Hello all. For a while (like past 1,000 miles) I have been smelling something like oil burning. I have looked all over, but no leaks or any sign of an oil leak. The smell does not occur all the time. I drove all the way to Denver and back (Colorado Springs) and only the last 2 miles did the smell occur. Today I found a small drip on a hose. I have pic’s , but it is on the driver side, in the wheel well. It is a rubber tube that has a shield (heat shield I suspect) next to the front shock. I cannot see where the tube goes or comes from. From the top, one cannot see it. I had KJ and only now have the JK, so I am not really familiar with the engine layout. I got it used 08 and it only had 1,200 miles on it. It now has 3,000. Can anyone tell me what this tube is coming from and going too? I am trying to determine if this is under warrantee or it is something I may have done. I have been on one beginner trail since I got it. And I went through a mud puddle (I was not mudding; it was a mud puddle under a freeway bridge). The pic's are in seq from top to the bottom. The last pic is, if one was looking from the top, it would be under this part.

falconfixer

pics are kinda small but I'm almost positive that you are talking about the breather hose for your front diff. Did you have it serviced recently? It's possible it could be overserviced from the factory or if you did some water crossing, you could have gotten some water in your diff (through this hose)

bostonMA

Post a close up of the oil drip.

If you have too much gear oil in the front diff it will be expelled from the black hose that runs up from the axle and connects to the driver’s side front mount.

See if you have any oil around the white cap on the breather hose.

Also, if you think there is any chance that you have water in the front diff (if it was used you never know) check out the gear oil change posts. You may want to change it anyway just to be on the safe side.

RedneckJeep

Some of us are kinda old and need a picture instead of a microscope slide.

mkjeep

You may wanna pull the fill plug on your differential and see if alot of gear oil; runs out, as stated before, either it may be overfilled or got water in it. If your smelling oil. Might wanna also check and make sure your engine oil fill cap is on.

DJSJK50

I will try to repost these pic's. They are bigger, but I think the fourm resised them when I used the gallery. The oil cap is on tight and the top of the engine is clean and free from oil stains or signs of leaking.

If this is the breather hose for the front diff, where does it pop up so I an check the cap? Thanks guys... I will get the pic's bigger.

jkkat

folow the hose up the back side of the shock mount tower and you will find a little whiteish plastic cap. This is kind of normal for the diff to use the breather to release the extra fluid when it gets hot and expands.

DJSJK50

Here are the larger pic's.

Top of the wheel well


A little lower down, the rubber tube is now pased the heat sheild.


This shows the tube bending and going toward the diff? The oil drips from this point. It looks like it is running down from above behind this sheild (first two pic's). I can reach behind the shild and it has oil and dirt built up.


Looking from the top of the engine.


Thaks jkkat, I will look for the white cap.

falconfixer

yep that's the breather hose. Like it was mentioned, make sure you are not overserviced and there is no water in there. Some good preventative maintenance if you are going to hit the deep stuff is to extend those breather lines. It's a cheap mod and won't take too long to do.

btw gear oil has a different aroma than motor oil

DJSJK50

I have not gotten it serviced yet. I got it used, and I know that dealer changed the oil & oil filter. It is at 3k, so I was going to dump the oil, diff's and trasfer case, to clear the breakin fluids.