IIQII

Hello all,

I am working on my '12 Rubicon. It ended up needing a timing set (long story).

This post is not a how to, but more FYI for anyone needing to do this. I am also not trying to start a flame war over this gasket is better than that. Go with what you want to for your Jeep.

The timing cover is going to need 4 seals (6 if you are messing with the water pump and crossover) which includes the crankshaft seal. When looking at gasket sets pay careful attention to the contents. I bought a Fel-Pro (TCS 46162-1) set to replace everything. It has 6 seals/gaskets (including an extra for the crossover in case your Jeep crossover is one of 2 versions) and a seal for thermostat housing shown below. I am replacing the themostat/housing on mine so I wont need that seal.




Overall the set is nice, but it is/was lacking one seal (which is often referred to as an O-ring). It is not really an O-ring but is a seal. This seal not included in this kit is this:




After looking at a couple other sets, the seal shown is not in them either. It is included in the much cheaper (money wise) Crown or Mopar kits. The Crown or Mopar kits kits do not contain the water pump, crossover gaskets/seals, thermostat housing or crankshaft seal. They only contain seals 1,2 & 3 shown above.

I have only done a cursory look for the highlighted seal (#3) but can't find it not in a set. It is not a standard O-ring so it cant just be readily swapped. Looking at several other kits this seal is also not included.I will post a pic of this seal later (by editing this post) so you all can see it is not an O-ring.

I ended up with the Fel-Pro kit and ordered a Mopar kit (3 pieces) for the highlighted seal. The Mopar kit was only around $20, but the Fel-Pro kit is $60-$70. I am not saying the cost is killing me or would kill anyone to get what is needed, rather trying to save someone from headache.

You may not need everything in the Fel-Pro kit (or other kits) since it is not necessary to remove the crossover or water pump when removing the timing cover. In that case you may be able to save some money (and aggravation) buy going with the Crown or Mopar kit and getting the crankshaft seal on it's own.

There may be other kits that have all the seals/gaskets needed, if anyone comes across one please post. It may just help a fellow Jeep owner out.

Hopefully this helps someone and keep anyone from having to deal with the nonsense and have everything on hand that is needed.

resharp001

I think the explanation for the Mopar kit not including a lot of the other things is that the service manual does not have you removing everything off the timing cover in order to remove the timing cover, so they don't account for those gaskets/seals as being necessary. That said, yes, they should include #3 as part of the timing cover gasket set.

Curious, was your WP gasket all pitted? I recall when I replaced my WP some time ago I was surprised how pitted my gasket was.

IIQII

I haven't pulled the water pump off mine. The outer edges seem good and there was no leaks. Never a problem with coolant temp or anything. As such I am wondering if it is worth pulling it and replacing. If it goes in the future the replacement isn't overly difficult.

To me, the Mopar gasket set for the timing cover is correct (minus the crankshaft seal), but others like Fel-Pro that say they are complete are in fact not complete. I purchased the "complete" kit out of habit and my thinking better to have and not need than need and not have. I screwed myself by not checking or realizing that one little seal was not in the "complete" kit.

The crossover on mine is metal which caught me by surprise because I thought they were plastic. The only cooling system work it has had to remove parts is that I did take it in not long after purchase as I think it was the P0128 code it was throwing. At the time it was a common problem and warrantied, so I know the thermostat housing was changed but doubt the dealer would have replaced the crossover. I didn't think the 2012 model years had metal.

OK Russ, you know I will ask an opinion... I am going to replace the thermostat since it had to be removed. It is yet another plastic piece. Any opinion(s) on switching to an aluminum housing or just keeping the plastic that is there?

I am half tempted to replace the oil cooler with metal since I am in there, but only half because there is no problems there either and it has not had to be removed.

resharp001

Thermostat is one of those things that I prefer to stay factory, and since factory is plastic.....that is what it is. I don't mind changing a thermostat from time to time as a wear item. They're easy to access, and typically easy to see a leak or to troubleshoot.

I replaced my WP just as preventative measure the last time I swapped radiators. I just figured I had everything out of the way and that was staring me right in the face. Access would never be easier than it was......cept for changing out timing .

I'd be on the fence with the oil cooler. Part of me says if there's no problem with it, leave it. Other part of me says most things are off already and access is easy.....just remove that lower intake and voila. I think that I'd probably get eyes on it, either with endoscope or pull the lower intake up. If it's all dirty as hell then may as well replace it. If things look clean then I think I'd just leave it. That is one thing that if you replaced and THEN introduced an issue when there was not one before you'd be kicking yourself. If you ever did need to address that in the future it's not all that hard to get to. I can have air box out, oil catch can out, and upper intake off, and the lower intake out of the way to have eyeballs on it in about 30 minutes. Granted, i have scrapped a couple of brackets like the thing that holds the engine cover at the firewall.....things like that save me a few minutes of fiddling with junk.

IIQII

Good deal, thanks.

Got the XTool D8W BTW. Looks like a pretty nice unit.

IIQII

Update for everybody, I ended up calling Fel-Pro after using their web form almost a week ago for support. The never bothered to contact me back.

I was told their kit indeed does not include that seal. It is only available from Chrysler. Strange because there are Mahle kits and Crown kits that show it is included.

So now I will be going to the dealer to get a gasket set and finish my task. I will either end up with a couple of Chrysler gaskets/seals left over or the entire set of Fel-Pro gaskets left over. I am sure I could fight for a refund, but I am really tired of this whole episode. I will chalk it up to a loss and just never bother with Fel-Pro again.

Just wanted to keep everyone informed.