Well its a long story but I took my jeep cherokee off roading at Mounds ORV area and got it stuck a few (4) times, ripped my bumper off, got it full of mud and on the way up there my brake pad caught on fire (nobody could figure out why) Anyway one time I got stuck in about 2-2.5 feet of water, the engine never stalled out, it kept running and my intake was above water I got out and went swimming under the truck to put the strap around my axle (35 degrees, froze my but off!) and my brother pulled me out we drove 60 miles home and I parked my jeep in the garage, no problems yet, well this morning I started it up to move it and the oil filter blew up and the seal blew out! I thought this was strange but I changed the oil and filter and started it up and the same thing happened, the filter blew out! It is the 4.0 liter straight 6 engine and everything sounded fine except blowing out the oil filter and seal. The only thing I can think of is the oil pump spring is worn out but I don't see how this would cause such high oil pressure to blow the filter. I am working on it right now but I am stumped if anyone has any suggestions or ideas as to what the problem could be please let me know. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Check the PCV valve. You might have gotten mud in there causing it to not work.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but I checked the PCV valve and even tried it with the valve off so there wouldn't be any way oil is being blocked and it still blows the filter, I can't find a bypass near the filter either and the actual oil pump is inside. There must be a blockage somewhere before the filter or after it. I've never had an engine run this high of pressure to blow out the filter. My LT1 idles at like 10 psi. But the highest oil pressure is also when you first start it when its cold. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

 

To blow the filter off, you need LOTS of oil pressure. It probably isn't the pump spring. It could be that if the oil has nowhere to go and the relief valve in the pump is not big enough for ALL the oil to go through, the pressure builds up and blows the filter.
Even if your intake was above water, your valve cover may not have been. The only thing I can think of is something is blocking the oil passages. Take the valve cover off and see if oil squirts out of the pushrods. If it does, I'm perplexed. If it doesn't, it still may not mean anything since it takes the oil a few seconds to get up to the pushrods. Anybody else have an idea?

 

I just got in from working on it and it won't even run long enough for me to check and see if oil is coming above the pushrods. As soon as I start it it blows out the oil filter. I pulled off the passage from the filter to the block and nothing was in there that could cause it. Tommorrow I will pull the oil pan off and remove the oil pump, but I don't know how hard it will be to get to, a guy at the auto parts store told me I have to remove the crankshaft to get the pump out but I find this very hard to believe. I don't knwo of any other way to find out what would blow the filter other than pulling off the oil pump ($80 for a rebuilt one). Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

to pull the pan, you need to let the front axle hang, you may need to turn the wheels one way or the other and/or unbolt one end the the steering stablizer & remove the torque converter/cluch inspection cover & the starter, then,to remove the pump, other than a possible main cap brace running across all the mains, it will come right off, it still sounds like a plugged oil passage farther into the block, also, what brand oil filters do you use? mopars are competitivly priced and I think you should always use the manufacturers filters

 

I agree that it sounds like a blocked oil passage. But what the heck would be able to pass through the oil pump and filter, and then block the whole thing up so hard that the filter explodes?

 

WATER..........................which then turns into ice.
If it were mine I would aim by heater at the block and leave it for a couple three hours. And try it again.

 

I have a buch of 4 wheelin buddies that go to the mounds all the time. I'm willing to bet that 95% of the time their trucks come back on a trailer and not under their own power. I know those guys get stupid out there, but to me I'd rather spend my money modding my car than breaking and fixing my truck

 

Check your air filter and see if it is full of water. That happens alot. The water gets down into the engine that way and into the oil. You can hydralock the engine that way. I have seem this happen many times.

 

Where is this Mounds ORV area?, me and me friends need a legal place to go with a 91 explorer and 85 chevy k1500 w/6 in. lift & 35 in tires

 

Yup, those are the mounds I am talking about just north of Flint, I would say don't take the explorer, the chevy with 6" lift might still have some problems as well, take a tow strap and get ready to get muddy, they are open 365 days a year. I'll never go there again until I get some BIG tires.

Anyway back to the progress on the jeep.
I cut the oil filter apart and found some very small pieces of bearing material and small traces of water, I thought water might have gotten in the engine but there is none, also its been in my heated garage so if there was ice blocking it it would have melted since I had the heat on in the garage all day. Tommorrow if I have time between studying for exams I will pull the oil pan and replace the oil pump, while I'm there I will change the crankshaft bearings and see what else could be wrong. This just means more money on the credit card with $58 to my name. I need to get a job as soon as this semester ends.

Well between changing the oil pump and crankshaft bearings does anyone have any more suggestions as to what the pressure spike could be caused from? There is oil that must of went through the piston rings cuz I got oil in my air filter but with all that pressure to blow the filter (blew another one today) this is normal.

Also I still have the flat tire to fix from the trip (sand in the beads) and I don't know why my brakes caught on fire, oh yea and I still need to put the bumper back on. What a horrible trip.

 

The bearing particles are probably due to starting the engine dry. Are you SURE the engine was thoroughly warmed up? What happens if you take out the spark plugs, block the throttle open and turn the engine by hand? That way you could tell if the oil passages are completely blocked or just mostly blocked.
Good luck on your exams!

 

If you have oil in your air filter it most likely came through your PCV system, and not past your rings. This could either be because of high blowby, a malfunctioning PCV valve, or a baffle in your valve cover that doesn't work very well when trying to keep oil mist or liquid from entering the induction system instead of just crankcase vapors. I wouldn't imagine this is connected with your oil filter blowing out.

The theory of ice in your oil passages sounded really promising to me until you said your garage was heated. Since you've changed your oil at least once since the accident I imagine you would have noticed if there was a large amount of water in your oil however.

To blow out your oil filter you'd need way more oil pressure than your pump should be able to output at idle obviously. My guess is there is a bypass valve either in your oil pump itself or in a block passage at the outlet of the filter that is stuck closed. Even so, it's hard for me to imagine this happening immediately upon startup.