2011 Wrangler Engine Died After Repairs

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Pat G

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Jan 22, 2024
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Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Hi all,
I have a 2011 Wrangler Sahara. Just had it in the shop for a major oil leak. They determined it was leaking from the timing cover and valve covers. Also found a leak in the radiator. Gaskets were replaced and new radiator. Also needed a new EVAP canister. All this was done and my Jeep died down the road 25 miles later. Had it towed back to the shop and now they say I need a new motor. When the Jeep died going down the freeway it went into limp mode and the only lights that came on the dash was the lightning bolt. This is for the throttle position sensor. Now the Jeep won't run and the shop says it has a low end knock. Their only answer is it needs a new motor. What happened? Could they have done something wrong in replacing the timing or valve cover gaskets? Radiator? I know there had to be several things taken off the front of the motor to perform this work but if it ran when I picked it up, how could this all happen so suddenly and now need a new motor. Any thoughts?
 
Pat G said:
Hi all,
I have a 2011 Wrangler Sahara. Just had it in the shop for a major oil leak. They determined it was leaking from the timing cover and valve covers. Also found a leak in the radiator. Gaskets were replaced and new radiator. Also needed a new EVAP canister. All this was done and my Jeep died down the road 25 miles later. Had it towed back to the shop and now they say I need a new motor. When the Jeep died going down the freeway it went into limp mode and the only lights that came on the dash was the lightning bolt. This is for the throttle position sensor. Now the Jeep won't run and the shop says it has a low end knock. Their only answer is it needs a new motor. What happened? Could they have done something wrong in replacing the timing or valve cover gaskets? Radiator? I know there had to be several things taken off the front of the motor to perform this work but if it ran when I picked it up, how could this all happen so suddenly and now need a new motor. Any thoughts?
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Sounds like you need to find a new shop.

When the lightning bolt comes on all you need to do is shut the key to OFF and then start it back up. There's a Reset procedure you can do to reset the lightning bolt. I had the LB a couple of times after I replaced my Throttle Body and had to do the reset, that was 4 years ago and not a problem since.

wranglerjkforum.net

Throttle body reset procedure

Step 1: Turn the Jeep to the "on" position but not the engine running position. Step 2: Wait for all of the dummy lights to turn off (check engine light will stay on). Step 3: Depress the accelerator REALLY slowly...Driving Miss Daisy with a touch of Cocoon slowly...all the way to the floor...
wranglerjkforum.net wranglerjkforum.net
 
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BLACKJKU said:
Sounds like you need to find a new shop.

When the lightning bolt comes on all you need to do is shut the key to OFF and then start it back up. There's a Reset procedure you can do to reset the lightning bolt. I had the LB a couple of times after I replaced my Throttle Body and had to do the reset, that was 4 years ago and not a problem since.

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Thank you for the reply. I haven't had a chance to try this. The Jeep broke down at 11pm at night on the side of the freeway. I had it towed back to the shop the next morning. They have had it ever since. They are a reputable shop. They specialize in Jeeps and 4x4's and have great reviews. I'm sure they must know how to deal with the lightning bolt. Not sure why they're saying it needs a new motor though. It didn't have a knock before so not sure what they could have done to it to cause all this. That night on the side of the road it wouldn't even restart. I hope to know more today.
 
Pat G said:
Thank you for the reply. I haven't had a chance to try this. The Jeep broke down at 11pm at night on the side of the freeway. I had it towed back to the shop the next morning. They have had it ever since. They are a reputable shop. They specialize in Jeeps and 4x4's and have great reviews. I'm sure they must know how to deal with the lightning bolt. Not sure why they're saying it needs a new motor though. It didn't have a knock before so not sure what they could have done to it to cause all this. That night on the side of the road it wouldn't even restart. I hope to know more today.
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Also if there is a small red dot on at the right top corner of the dash cluster your Jeep won't start. That's the security system, when it happened to me my FOB battery was dead.
 
If it's developed rod knock, it would most likely be related to the major oil leak, not the repairs. It was probably oil starved, but there's no way they could really check that without a lot deeper disassembly than was done to repair the leak.
 
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Dirty Dog said:
If it's developed rod knock, it would most likely be related to the major oil leak, not the repairs. It was probably oil starved, but there's no way they could really check that without a lot deeper disassembly than was done to repair the leak.
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Thanks for the reply. That's pretty much where we're at. It needs to be taken apart and assessed. Just debating if it's worth it on a 2011. It had 135,000 miles on it.
 
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Pat G said:
Thanks for the reply. That's pretty much where we're at. It needs to be taken apart and assessed. Just debating if it's worth it on a 2011. It had 135,000 miles on it.
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Whether or not it's "worth it" is up to you. Might be influenced by how much else you've done.
This is Jeepers. She belongs to my wife. She's a 2011 JKUR. As you can see, there's been a fair bit done to her.
IMG_5039.JPG
My wife absolutely loves her JK. After 199,5xx miles, she blew a head gasket. I don't see any sense in replacing the head gaskets on a 200,000 mile engine. After that many, it just makes more sense to rebuild it. So I have a crate engine sitting in the garage. I'm putting a new water pump on it and swapping retained parts over. Then it'll go in. It's worth it to us because she really loves it, and because we've put a bunch of other work into it.
 
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Dirty Dog said:
Whether or not it's "worth it" is up to you. Might be influenced by how much else you've done.
This is Jeepers. She belongs to my wife. She's a 2011 JKUR. As you can see, there's been a fair bit done to her.
View attachment 126104
My wife absolutely loves her JK. After 199,5xx miles, she blew a head gasket. I don't see any sense in replacing the head gaskets on a 200,000 mile engine. After that many, it just makes more sense to rebuild it. So I have a crate engine sitting in the garage. I'm putting a new water pump on it and swapping retained parts over. Then it'll go in. It's worth it to us because she really loves it, and because we've put a bunch of other work into it.
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Very nice Jeep! I can see why she loves it and wants to keep it going. Ours has been my sons high school and college car. We haven't really done anything to it other then a light bar and a wheel and tire swap but he does love to drive it. This was a picture I took after the wheel/tire swap about a year ago.

Jeep.jpg
 
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Pat G said:
Very nice Jeep! I can see why she loves it and wants to keep it going. Ours has been my sons high school and college car. We haven't really done anything to it other then a light bar and a wheel and tire swap but he does love to drive it. This was a picture I took after the wheel/tire swap about a year ago.

View attachment 126105
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what size tires are those WildPeaks on your stock suspension, please? I am looking to upsize my 255/75/17s but not lift it.
 
Pat G said:
Very nice Jeep! I can see why she loves it and wants to keep it going. Ours has been my sons high school and college car. We haven't really done anything to it other then a light bar and a wheel and tire swap but he does love to drive it. This was a picture I took after the wheel/tire swap about a year ago.

View attachment 126105
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That's a nice Jeep @Pat G ! If it were me and I was happy with the vehicle as-is I would go the same route as @Dirty Dog - reman engine. It doesn't make sense to me to go after just a short block w/135k. Plus if you spun rod bearing (or similar failure) and there are metal particles in the oil galleries they can get to places you don't want them to go.
 
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Pat G said:
Thank you for the reply. I haven't had a chance to try this. The Jeep broke down at 11pm at night on the side of the freeway. I had it towed back to the shop the next morning. They have had it ever since. They are a reputable shop. They specialize in Jeeps and 4x4's and have great reviews. I'm sure they must know how to deal with the lightning bolt. Not sure why they're saying it needs a new motor though. It didn't have a knock before so not sure what they could have done to it to cause all this. That night on the side of the road it wouldn't even restart. I hope to know more today.
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You want the shop to explain exactly what the problem with the engine is. Also, you want to know how it was they didn't catch the problem the first time you had the jeep in the shop. Something more or less catastrophic has to be wrong with the motor.
 
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Duster said:
You want the shop to explain exactly what the problem with the engine is. Also, you want to know how it was they didn't catch the problem the first time you had the jeep in the shop. Something more or less catastrophic has to be wrong with the motor.
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The shop is going to open up the oil pan this week and see if they can see what happened.
 
tJKrider said:
Those look like the stock Rubicon tires to me - 285/70R17
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You're exactly right. That's what they are. Bought them used from someone that was adding a lift and new tires/wheels to theirs. I did have to put in 1" spacers to avoid rubbing in the front. I went ahead and added them to the back as well. A 3" lift would be nice but we'll see where we end up with this engine issue first.
 
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