While watching the latest Pilgrimage to Moab video, seeing some of the angles the Jeeps were in made me wonder what happens when your Jeep is angles 60 degrees or more (EX: the White Knuckle drop off in Moab)? Could this starve oil from part of the crank or flood the area under the piston with oil? I can't imagine this is very good for the engine. At the very least it would cause oil foaming right?

 

I don't believe anyone of us experienced any issues with White Knuckle. One thing I do know, is that the gas tank intake is in a bad spot...we have been low on gas and idling on a hill facing downwards and stalled. Fortunately we were just airing up and could coast to a flat spot, but had another friend have that happen while in a precarious situation while wheeling and it wasn't good. Lesson there is not to wheel if your gas light is on and if you do, make sure you aren't facing downhill on an obstacle that requires the engine running to get out of.

 

I have lost some auto tranny fluid out of the breather when I have the nose pointed at the sky. At that point more concerned about going over backwards than anything. Does not seem like it would be good for the motor oil circulation either. But what can you do about it really, and still have fun?

 

So far nothing. I'm not at those angles for long and the engine is usually just idling. Manual transmissions will work upside down. Automatics not so much.

 

I've lost some coolent but nothing more than that

 

As long as the oil pan has enough oil for the pick-up tube to "pick up", you're fine. As far as oil getting under the piston and into the combustion chamber, you'd have to be at such an angle that you're either laying on the side, front, back or upside down. Basically, if you're moving and didn't roll the Jeep, it won't (I should say shouldn't) happen. As other's have said, your trans breather tube and coolant overflow could spit out some fluids. Also, if you're at such a steep angle for a long duration, your front/rear main seals could leak.