Is Brad Penn 0w30 ok in my Jeep 4.0?

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pbiancardi

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Hi guys, I know this is the go to forum for oil questions so here I am, any help is appreciated.

I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee with 166,000 miles and I had a knocking sound at startup which goes away once it is warmed up (here is the sound with 5w30 Pennzoil Dino Oil):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhELwZgzXlY

I have gotten several theories from my favorite Jeep forum ranging from piston slap, rod knock, valve train, and flex plate. I figured the easiest thing to try first is an oil change so I did some reading and found that the high ZDDP content of Brad Penn oil should be good for my flat tappet cam 4.0. I decided to go with the 0w30 figuring that it would be good for cold winter in my area. So I purchased from Amazon Brad Penn 009-7126-12PK 0W-30 Partial Synthetic Racing Oil and put that in along with a premium Bosch oil filter and a day or two later the noise either went away or got a lot better (I don't know if it had to do with the oil or the outside temp, but I did not change anything else with the engine but the oil). Here is the sound (same early AM cold start) with the Brad Penn oil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HwF11xApow

I guess my main question is will this oil be ok to use for 3,000 mile oil change intervals? I know it has the potential to foul the cat converter but I dont really care about swapping that out. I have read a lot about it but not sure what is current so I figured I would ask. Ideally I would like to run the Brad Penn 0w30 in the winter and the 10w40 in the summer since it seems to have helped with whatever my issue is. Is this a viable strategy? Thank you for any advice.

Also is there any good reason that oil would fix (or at least lessen) that knocking noise?
 
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The Brad Penn oil can easily go 3000 miles. It will not immediately foul your catalytic converter unless your engine has a bad oil consumption problem. Or you could use Mobil 1 0w40 year round on 12,000 mile change intervals.
 
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4.0s get noisey as they age. A lot of time it's piston slap ... very rarely is it "lifter tick".

Being a 2000, it's probably piston slap. Mine piston slaps and it's going to break a skirt some day. Just part of having a 2000
 
So would it make sense that the Brad Penn oil would quiet it down?

Mechanic just had the oil pan off to change gasket and oil pump, said there was no metal there so I am assuming it hasnt broken a skirt yet.
 
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Originally Posted By: Chris142
But Your 2000 is prime for a broken skirt and no oil is going to fix that.


Seconded. Run it until whatever is making the noise breaks completley, then fix. You won't avoid broken things with oil.

Plus, there's been many a noisey 4.0 with piston slap, chunked skirts and chattery wrist pins that have run 300K no problem
 
Well since it is quieter I will stick with the Brad Penn oil and see how it goes, apparently that is not going to cause me any additional problems.

Would getting a Blackstone report after 3,000 miles give any insight into what the issue might be?
 
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Is their racing oil ok for street use? some racing oils have low detergents/tbn.
 
I would try to fix the real problem, not mask it with oil.

If its a cracked piston skirt you should consider replacing the piston before a chunk of piston skirt falls off and causes catastrophic failure.

When I replaced my Jeep engine at 96K, the rod was no longer connected to the piston, so a chuck of piston skirt fell down and jammed.

I had the ticking noise for several months before the failure.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I would try to fix the real problem, not mask it with oil.

If its a cracked piston skirt you should consider replacing the piston before a chunk of piston skirt falls off and causes catastrophic failure.

When I replaced my Jeep engine at 96K, the rod was no longer connected to the piston, so a chuck of piston skirt fell down and jammed.

I had the ticking noise for several months before the failure.


Not trying to mask anything, I just wanted to verify the oil I tried was ok to run.

I am actually dropping off at a 4x4 shop over the holidays to have my lift worked on and he is a master mechanic and says he should be able to diagnose and advise on what (if anything) should be done. Only problem now is that the knock is almost gone so might be difficult to pinpoint (which did make me think maybe I just had an oil flow issue that higher quality oil solved but sounds like you guys are saying that isnt possible).
 
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Originally Posted By: pbiancardi
Originally Posted By: Donald
I would try to fix the real problem, not mask it with oil.

If its a cracked piston skirt you should consider replacing the piston before a chunk of piston skirt falls off and causes catastrophic failure.

When I replaced my Jeep engine at 96K, the rod was no longer connected to the piston, so a chuck of piston skirt fell down and jammed.

I had the ticking noise for several months before the failure.


Not trying to mask anything, I just wanted to verify the oil I tried was ok to run.

I am actually dropping off at a 4x4 shop over the holidays to have my lift worked on and he is a master mechanic and says he should be able to diagnose and advise on what (if anything) should be done. Only problem now is that the knock is almost gone so might be difficult to pinpoint (which did make me think maybe I just had an oil flow issue that higher quality oil solved but sounds like you guys are saying that isnt possible).


I brought my Jeep to a few places including one who rebuilds engines. He felt the tick/knock was not crankshaft speed but cam shaft speed. He was wrong.
 
I am quickly realizing that these things have so many quirks they are near impossible to diagnose. Why does everyone say they are "bulletproof"??

I am not going to lose sleep over it, everything else is in great shape on it, worst case scenario I swap in a rebuilt engine.
 
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My vote is drive it till it breaks. There are plenty of those 4.0 out there with a massive amount of miles. If it were to die, you could easily get a re-manufactured 4.0 if you wanted to keep the Jeep, or heck, bet there are plenty used out there for cheap.

Post how that Brad Penn does. That oil has always caught my interest but never tried it.
 
Originally Posted By: BillyTheKid
My vote is drive it till it breaks. There are plenty of those 4.0 out there with a massive amount of miles. If it were to die, you could easily get a re-manufactured 4.0 if you wanted to keep the Jeep, or heck, bet there are plenty used out there for cheap.

Post how that Brad Penn does. That oil has always caught my interest but never tried it.


When my 2000 4.0 ends up breaking a skirt completely, I'm going to find a rusted out 1999 or older and swap the bottom end with a newer (2002+) head.

Seems like its going to be a lot cheaper.
 
My Jeep is extremely quirky. Back when I used synthetic, it used to tick all the time even when warm. After finding this site, I switched to conventional pennzoil (PYB) and a Mopar filter and it stopped the tick most of the time. High ZDDP isn't necessary with this engine but it won't hurt either. PYB, QS Defy, (has very high ZDDP levels) Valvoline Maxlife, Pennzoil high mileage and Rotella T5 and T6 are all excellent choices.. No need to use anything else.

Now it ticks when cold and warming up, but once warm, it's very smooth. Seems to be a nature of the beast and I can live with it. It's been a great vehicle overall though and is a pretty sweet ride. 2" lift and 31" Goodyear Duratrac tires. Only a few things have needed to be replaced in the 60k that I've had it.

In your climate, I'd run either a 10w-30/ 40 April to late December and a nice 5w30 the rest of the time. They seem to like the thicker oils.
 
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With that many miles on the clock, why on earth run a 0W anything. That motor has clearance issues...

Switch to 15-40 fleet oils and it'll quiet down and run well. Delo, Delvac, Rotella dino oil will not hurt the cat and it will make for a quieter motor
smile.gif
 
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