Thanks for all the comments.

I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
the cylinder head.

I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
effective that will be.

I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
won't matter anyway.

Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.

mc

 

Thanks for all the comments.

I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
the cylinder head.

I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
effective that will be.

I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
won't matter anyway.

Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.

mc

 

Thanks for all the comments.

I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
the cylinder head.

I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
effective that will be.

I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
won't matter anyway.

Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.

mc

 

Wow.....

That really has to make you wonder eh? Once they started tearing down
the head I wonder if they would have been honest enough to stop when
they spotted the broken spring or if they just would have taken you like
they 'sure' seemed intent on doing. LOL! Missed a busted valve spring
on the dead cylinder in question while 'looking' for a broken
spring.... Ya Right....

There is 'no' other reason to open the cover except to inspect the valve
mechanics in question.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Mike Cagle wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.
>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>
> I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
> this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
> The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
> while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
> here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
> won't matter anyway.
>
> Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.
>
> mc

 

Wow.....

That really has to make you wonder eh? Once they started tearing down
the head I wonder if they would have been honest enough to stop when
they spotted the broken spring or if they just would have taken you like
they 'sure' seemed intent on doing. LOL! Missed a busted valve spring
on the dead cylinder in question while 'looking' for a broken
spring.... Ya Right....

There is 'no' other reason to open the cover except to inspect the valve
mechanics in question.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Mike Cagle wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.
>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>
> I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
> this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
> The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
> while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
> here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
> won't matter anyway.
>
> Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.
>
> mc

 

Wow.....

That really has to make you wonder eh? Once they started tearing down
the head I wonder if they would have been honest enough to stop when
they spotted the broken spring or if they just would have taken you like
they 'sure' seemed intent on doing. LOL! Missed a busted valve spring
on the dead cylinder in question while 'looking' for a broken
spring.... Ya Right....

There is 'no' other reason to open the cover except to inspect the valve
mechanics in question.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Mike Cagle wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.
>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>
> I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
> this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
> The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
> while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
> here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
> won't matter anyway.
>
> Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.
>
> mc

 

Wow.....

That really has to make you wonder eh? Once they started tearing down
the head I wonder if they would have been honest enough to stop when
they spotted the broken spring or if they just would have taken you like
they 'sure' seemed intent on doing. LOL! Missed a busted valve spring
on the dead cylinder in question while 'looking' for a broken
spring.... Ya Right....

There is 'no' other reason to open the cover except to inspect the valve
mechanics in question.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Mike Cagle wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.
>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>
> I'm aware of the downsides of running with a K&N air filter. I drove
> this Jeep for 70k miles in Arizona before moving to Minnesota in 2002.
> The amount of damage done by all the suspended particles in the air
> while off-roading in AZ will likely dwarf anything I could ever do
> here... unless I hydrolock it while bogging and then the air filter
> won't matter anyway.
>
> Thanks again. Hope everyone has a good Jeep'n weekend.
>
> mc

 

Mike,



"Mike Cagle" <rzbj70@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:88826838.0408131107.4aa31487@posting.google.c om...
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.

Glad to hear you found the problem and got it fixed so inexpensively. It's
also gratifying that the symproms you described did in fact add up to a
stuck open exhaust valve. ...and it's a *really*& good thing you didn't
listen to the RC (resident curmudgeon) and have a total rebuild done!!

>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>

Agreed. I'd say the "old fellow and his sons" have done a bunch more to
earn your future business than the stealer and his inept gang of thieves.

Keep the rubber side down...
-Fred W

 

Mike,



"Mike Cagle" <rzbj70@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:88826838.0408131107.4aa31487@posting.google.c om...
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.

Glad to hear you found the problem and got it fixed so inexpensively. It's
also gratifying that the symproms you described did in fact add up to a
stuck open exhaust valve. ...and it's a *really*& good thing you didn't
listen to the RC (resident curmudgeon) and have a total rebuild done!!

>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>

Agreed. I'd say the "old fellow and his sons" have done a bunch more to
earn your future business than the stealer and his inept gang of thieves.

Keep the rubber side down...
-Fred W

 

Mike,



"Mike Cagle" <rzbj70@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:88826838.0408131107.4aa31487@posting.google.c om...
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I took the Jeep to a local shop ran by an old fellow and his two sons.
> They were baffled by the diagnostics too but seemed more competent
> than the mechanic at the 5-Star dealer. Upon removing the valve cover
> they found that the valve spring on the exhaust valve was broken.
> They confirmed that the valve cover had indeed been removed by the
> dealer so the 5-Star mechanic simply missed it. They recommended
> replacing all the springs since it appeared to be a fatigue failure.
> With that they also replaced all the spark plugs since they had 85k on
> the factory originals anyway. My total bill from the local shop came
> in at just over $400. A far cry from the total of removing/replacing
> the cylinder head.

Glad to hear you found the problem and got it fixed so inexpensively. It's
also gratifying that the symproms you described did in fact add up to a
stuck open exhaust valve. ...and it's a *really*& good thing you didn't
listen to the RC (resident curmudgeon) and have a total rebuild done!!

>
> I called the GM of the dealership and explained the situation.
> Curiously he asked if the shop that did the work could confirm that
> the valve cover had been off. Sounds like he questioned the integrity
> of his own service people. He's refunding the bill for the work they
> did and throwing some extras in to convince me to give them another
> shot the next time either of my vehicles needs work. Not sure how
> effective that will be.
>

Agreed. I'd say the "old fellow and his sons" have done a bunch more to
earn your future business than the stealer and his inept gang of thieves.

Keep the rubber side down...
-Fred W