Line of oil on top of engine

[Upnarms]

Is there a part number for the decoupler? I have a rubicon so I think that's the 220a alternator (no tow package from factory). I think this happened to me but the spray line wasn't as crisp.... Maybe cause I was driving fast at the time? Cleaned it up and didn't see any oil leaks from the engine. Couldn't get it to spray more, I assume it's all gone from decoupler. It's this something that would be easy to check the decoupler for a leak or blown seal?

Pics below with highlight of oil spray line. It continued on under side of hood

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[Upnarms]

I went ahead and replaced my alternator based on the experience of others. Couldn't find a decoupler pulley by itself, so I just bought a new unit on rockauto. Rockauto had it for $300 plus $55 core fee, but I hesitated and when I bought it it was 50 more... Guess different distributer. I took the opportunity to upgrade to the 240a from the 220a.

On my 3.6L it was straight forward but to access it I had to remove the air intake from the throttle body to the air box. Take out the box as well to give room for relieving tension on the belt later. For air intake I found a good video from cjoffroad but it's just 2 10mm bolts up front, 2 8mm screws on the hose clamps and disconnect a small hose, temp sensor, and a retaining clip. I couldn't get the temp sensor to come out so I left it in and just moved the intake to the side. Air box only had one 10mm bolt holding it in.

So now I had the alternator exposed with some space. Went to put a 1/2 breaker bar in the tensioner pulley and found I didn't have clearance due to another component in the way. Forgive my ignorance, I don't know what it is, but the dang thing was installed right where it partially blocked the 1/2 square hole. Easy fix was to take out one bolt 13mm i think, and rotate it out of the way.

With a 24" pipe on my breaker bar, I took tension off of the belt and removed it from the pulley on the far left side. No component here, maybe it was power steering in the jks, now just a pulley way out there on the left by itself.

So now i disconnected the positive cable from the alternator as well as the 2 pin harness. 2 15mm bolts and 2 13mm bolts and i was home free. The 15mm bolts were on tight and made some noise like they were going to snap. I suggest using a hand socket wrench to break them loose, fearing an impact may snap them. They are really long too. Also need to use a thin walled 15mm socket cause there isn't enough clearance on the alternator side for the socket to seat.

Got new one on and put everything back in reverse. Success!

On closer inspection of the old decoupler pulley, I saw fine streaks of oil or grease. The shop I took it to when I first saw the oil all over my engine bay didn't see this and neither could I until it was removed. If you suspect this happened to you, wipe a paper towel or your finger on the face of the decoupler to see if there is any oil.

Ill include a couple pics of the stuff I talked about. Hope this helps somebody

 

[Alasek]

I stand corrected. It's not just the oil filter housing, but both. I got the engine put back together, everything is sealed nice and tight, and I'm still getting that line right under the belt. I've got an alternator on order that I'll replace on Monday.

I was wondering if you fix the oil leak around the alternator?
I’m getting the same oil leak and I want to be sure that is the alternator because I replaced the the oil cap and I’m still getting the same oil leak

 

[Spank]

Yep. They were separate issues, but I fixed them both. I didn't fix the pulley on the alternator, I just replaced the entire unit.

 

[Nathan08t]

Yep, just replaced the pulley with the info in this thread. Didn’t see any oil leaks under the engine or around the oil filter/cooler. The old pulley looked like shit when I took the cap off it. So far it’s running fine and I’ve yet to see any oil.

also, anyone got the torque specs on the alternator by chance?

 

[Upnarms]

Yep, just replaced the pulley with the info in this thread. Didn’t see any oil leaks under the engine or around the oil filter/cooler. The old pulley looked like shit when I took the cap off it. So far it’s running fine and I’ve yet to see any oil.

also, anyone got the torque specs on the alternator by chance?

Where did you get just the pulley? When mine leaked, I got a new alternator as I couldn't find just the pulley

 

[jaymz]

Where did you get just the pulley? When mine leaked, I got a new alternator as I couldn't find just the pulley

See here. I’ve got the OEM number (probably still useless) and the aftermarket number that I used.

 

[Upnarms]

See here. I’ve got the OEM number (probably still useless) and the aftermarket number that I used.

Great, thanks. There should be some kind of class action suit in these (though I think those suck and just get attorneys rich). But what a joke. 166k miles on my tj, original alternator. Replaced this one at 37k miles. Looks like lots of others have same issue.

 

[Nathan08t]

Ya… This, the pos oil filter, and the six battery are definitely in need of upgrades

 

[DaltonGang]

FYI, mind e was throwing a line of grease, a couple of years ago, and since stopped. When it was throwing the grease, the belt was a little noisy, at times. For about a year now, there has been no grease line, and the engine has been very quiet. Either it self sealed, ran out of grease, or it was just too full of grease to start with. Then again, it could blow up tomorrow. Time will tell.

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