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DIY Oil Change on 4xe

DewHawk

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I figured I'd throw some good info out there for anyone looking to DIY their oil change. Let me preface this by saying I am not an engineer or a certified Jeep mechanic so take what I'm about to tell you outside of the normal oil servicing as one enthusiast making some inferred guesses based on 16 years of garage wrench turning and 10 years of fighter aircraft maintenance. If an actual engineer or certified tech from Jeep can confirm or deny any of this, I'm all ears.

Everything about the oil change itself is standard 2.0L Turbo stuff (torque specs, quantity, oil type, filter size, etc).
Where it gets interesting however is your first start after everything is put back together. When you start the jeep after swapping fluids, the engine will immediately turn on without having to press anything outside of the brake pedal and starter button (e-save, shift to manual, whatever, they aren't needed).
Apparently Jeep was smart enough to program the system to recognize when it's had an oil service done (again, my guess but if it's correct, well done engineers).

The hood posts that recognize when your hood is open/disables external charging to the J1772 port can be finicky to deal with if you did your run up with the hood open (as most mechanics do to ensure everything is operating correctly with no leakage). If you shut down the jeep with the hood still open, the system will remember this and will not allow you to plug back in again even after you've closed the hood with the engine off. You'll have to turn the jeep back on (foot on brake, start) for the system to reset itself before shutting down and allow for external charging to resume. What you'll notice on this second start however is that the ICE will NOT fire over this time. MY assumption here is that the system now recognizes the oil servicing was completed and resumes normal operation in hybrid mode.

This was a very straight forward process overall. The whole hood post issue I ran into was an interesting twist but didn't take long to troubleshoot at all (maybe 5 minutes). If anyone feels intimidated by the whole hybrid aspect of this vehicle to swap the oil out, don't stress. It's very easy to do. After reading all the insanity in the news about the dealership suing the owner during a routine oil change on a manual wrangler, I'm finding more and more reasons to avoid the service bay at the dealership. I'm at roughly 3000 miles on the ICE alone (if not slightly less) and my oil life indicator was showing 25%. I can confirm the oil coming out looked like black death and the filter wasn't any better. I highly encourage staying on top of your oil changes with this vehicle considering how much start and stop the motor does in hybrid mode. You'll be shocked at what comes out.

Hope this helps everyone!
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GATORB8

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I love how exposed the drain plug and filter is on these.

I did a home change at 5k (probably 3k ICE) and figured Iā€™d do wave at 10k, to let the dealer do any updates. My warranty is probably limited to the engine and hybrid system at this point, if that, lol.
 
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DewHawk

DewHawk

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I love how exposed the drain plug and filter is on these.

I did a home change at 5k (probably 3k ICE) and figured Iā€™d do wave at 10k, to let the dealer do any updates. My warranty is probably limited to the engine and hybrid system at this point, if that, lol.
Skid plates are definitely on my short list right now. Itā€™s incredible how exposed the pan is. Given the scrapes my diff took on Poughkeepsie Gulch last year stock, Iā€™m amazed I didnā€™t catch anything on the pan.

I know the feeling here. Iā€™ll be surprised if they honor my drivetrain on the 37ā€™s right now or my suspension with the AEV lift.
 

Getmadboy

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@DewHawk thanks for the info! Iā€™m sure the ICE starting up instead of the electric motor right after the oil change would freak people out, so thank you for the PSA šŸ‘
 

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Um, by what mechanism would the computer be self-aware of an oil change? I'm sorry but I don't think there is any such thing. Which is why there is a procedure to reset the oil life indicator.

Yes, when the hood is open the engine runs - don't you think this is what you experienced when power on after the oil change? Or it just decided to run because it does that sometimes?

I haven't had the need to do mine yet - so maybe there is something super clever. I'm imagining some arrangement of micro switches on the drain plug and filter. Or an always active ultrasonic level sensor in the oil pan. Or just a tiny camera and a guy in Michigan watching over LTE for when I've done it, probably to void the warranty because I used Kirkland oil ;-)
 

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DewHawk

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Um, by what mechanism would the computer be self-aware of an oil change? I'm sorry but I don't think there is any such thing. Which is why there is a procedure to reset the oil life indicator.

Yes, when the hood is open the engine runs - don't you think this is what you experienced when power on after the oil change? Or it just decided to run because it does that sometimes?

I haven't had the need to do mine yet - so maybe there is something super clever. I'm imagining some arrangement of micro switches on the drain plug and filter. Or an always active ultrasonic level sensor in the oil pan. Or just a tiny camera and a guy in Michigan watching over LTE for when I've done it, probably to void the warranty because I used Kirkland oil ;-)
I was waiting for someone to question my reasoning on this and I'm grateful you did.

I'm not suggesting there's some technologically insane wizardry going on under the hood of our wranglers (if there was, that would be pretty wild). My theory is based on how the vehicle goes into FORM to 'refresh' the engine oil and protect against moisture content. The sensors in the system must be aware on some level that the oil has been 'altered', right?
I might be going way out on a limb here so bare with me but what if the system knew the last time it shut off the oil temperature was X, and the next time it started it recognized the oil temperature had drastically changed in a short period of time? Would that be enough to trigger a line of code that tells the system to engage the engine?

Of course, I could be just overthinking it and the simple fact that the hood was open triggered everything. That being said, the last time I had the hood open and the vehicle on while I was airing up on the trail, I had to engage esave to fire the ICE and give my air pump better voltage. It didn't just pop on automatically. Maybe it was a fluke, maybe it wasn't. I didn't build or program the hybrid system so I'm just guessing at this point.
 

Terminex

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I am not aware of any analysis / sensors checking the quality of the gas or oil.

my understanding regarding form, is simply an algorith. The ecu knows when gas is put in the tank, and how much. (I am sure there are lots of other parameters, but i think those are the most pertinent)

It also knows when the engine runs, for how long, and what temperature it gets to. The biggest factor in FORM is simply how long has the gas been in the system without the engine ever getting up to full temp for a certain length of time (20 or 30 min)
 
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DewHawk

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I am not aware of any analysis / sensors checking the quality of the gas or oil.

my understanding regarding form, is simply an algorith. The ecu knows when gas is put in the tank, and how much. (I am sure there are lots of other parameters, but i think those are the most pertinent)

It also knows when the engine runs, for how long, and what temperature it gets to. The biggest factor in FORM is simply how long has the gas been in the system without the engine ever getting up to full temp for a certain length of time (20 or 30 min)
Iā€™m gonna throw a random guess in here and say thereā€™s gotta be something going on beyond that that coincides with the ā€˜oil life remainingā€™ in the dash display. Thereā€™s no way that estimate goes purely off mileage or time in service with an algorithm. If there isnā€™t some kind of sensor to determine the oil quality in the motor then Iā€™ll happily eat crow and move on. Iā€™ve seen that displayed percentage change as much as 5% after 2 days of running around town for less than 15 miles on the motor alone.
 

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My god, this forum is going to make mechanic out of me.
Im doing spacer lifts, LCAs, now ideas to do oil changes, whats next? lol
 

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Iā€™m gonna throw a random guess in here and say thereā€™s gotta be something going on beyond that that coincides with the ā€˜oil life remainingā€™ in the dash display. Thereā€™s no way that estimate goes purely off mileage or time in service with an algorithm. If there isnā€™t some kind of sensor to determine the oil quality in the motor then Iā€™ll happily eat crow and move on. Iā€™ve seen that displayed percentage change as much as 5% after 2 days of running around town for less than 15 miles on the motor alone.
I wouldn't rule anything out, but to date, I have not seen oil quality sensors being adopted by the major auto manufacturers. I have dealt with them extensively in the heavy machine industry, as well as diesel.

The challenge I would see with oil sensors in the car, is using different brand & formulations of oil.

I have not seen any way to specify the brand or formulation of oil I am using when doing an oil change, and I have gone through everything you can adjust in JSCAN, as well as the Taser, and I have looked through all of the sensor data you can pull through JSCAN & the TORQUE apps.

I am not an expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night........
 

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DewHawk

DewHawk

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I wouldn't rule anything out, but to date, I have not seen oil quality sensors being adopted by the major auto manufacturers. I have dealt with them extensively in the heavy machine industry, as well as diesel.

The challenge I would see with oil sensors in the car, is using different brand & formulations of oil.

I have not seen any way to specify the brand or formulation of oil I am using when doing an oil change, and I have gone through everything you can adjust in JSCAN, as well as the Taser, and I have looked through all of the sensor data you can pull through JSCAN & the TORQUE apps.

I am not an expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night........
Fair enough. Iā€™d definitely love to know more about what the hell goes on inside this 4xe. Maybe itā€™s more simplified than my crazy brain is making it seem. This kind of thing is why Iā€™m a crew chief and not NDI or Avionics (NDI uses JSCAN too. Iā€™ve seen how the system works first hand).
 

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2021 just hit 5k miles so I decided to do an oil/filter change. (curious about oil condition). While I appreciate all the cautionary advice in this and other threads, there is nothing to be overly concerned about. Easiest Jeep oil change I've ever done. (try a JK 3.6 w/ plastic oil filter housing). Extremely easy to access. A 13mm wrench or ratchet and a properly sized band-type filter wrench is all it takes. (other than 6-qt drain pan and a funnel). I did not start the car with the hood up (to check for leaks) as the drain plug and filter can't be seen from above. Neither did I reset the oil life. I'll let it continue as if nothing occurred and when it reaches the point of indicating a change is due ( 7500-ish) I will do the dealership first change under Jeep Wave. The oil that came out looked, and more importantly smelled, 'normal' with no hint of unusual fuel build-up. So as they say, Happy Motoring.
 
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hybrid_eg

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Thanks for the info! I'll be doing this myself as well. Does anyone know the oil pan plug size in MM? I'm thinking of adding Fumoto unit for ease of changing oil more frequently.. they have a redesigned version that should have improved clearance.

Regarding oil type, from what i read any SP/GF-6 certified oil will do?

Slightly off topic, anyone got a performance air filter for 4xe? Something that can be cleaned vs factory replacement which is just one time use?

Thanks again!
 

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I have a Fumoto valve on my F150 but the drain plug sits behind skid plates. With the Jeep being out in the open I don't think it would save time or really be that great of Idea.
The 4xe is simple to change the oil. I have done it a couple of times now. Would rather spend $40 myself than get the free ones from the dealer. That has been too much of a circus.
 

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is there an oil reset function in the vehicle settings? I'm about to change the oil and curious.. thank you!
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