The waiting game begins...

Took my 2008 Jk to the dealership for some work yesterday. I've got a visible oil leak from the rear of the engine dripping down and running off the bell housing. I told the tech it was using a little more than a quart of oil between oil changes.... He said that a Jk can burn up to one quart of oil for every 750 miles, if it has more than 50,000 miles on the OD. A new one can burn up to a quart per 1,000 miles up to the 50k mark.
I guess I was baffled, so he pulled up the bulletin so I could read for myself. I don't know if I was more shocked of the statement that it was normal, or the fact that it happens ?!?!?
Moving on, I explained that I had a high speed spark knock that happens above 60 mph and under load. This is running a few tanks of 89 first. If I run 87 octane I get a spark knock at just about any speed. A tune up with new plugs and wires didn't fix.
Next on the list was a ticking sound that reminds me of a leaky exhaust manifold. It also sounds a bit like a cam phaser. I had a bad cam phaser in a F150 years ago so I'm familiar with the sound.
As I walked out the door of the service department, and get in the loaner / rental MINI VAN, the sky's start to look dark. Five minutes later I'm stuck on I40, in rush hour traffic when it starts to hail! Ten minutes of hail with no end in sight... Bad Omen??
So now I sit and wait for a phone call to tell me what's wrong with my Baby, I'm almost afraid to call and ask.

You are being told to put an LS in your baby!

That's a great omen. You just went through a long hail storm with someone else's vehicle!

that was a message from the Jeep gods...don't buy a mini van!!

All very good posts, and you guys are right, glad I was in a rental when the hail storm hit.:grouphug:
So I broke down and called the dealership, and here is what they said. Leaky valve covers and leaky rear main seal, replacing all. Going to replaced BOTH headers, gaskets and bolts due to unspecified damage. The one item that concerns me is that spark knock. When I run low grade 87 it is a pronounced spark knock, running 89 for a half tank or more and it goes away. They said the noise I heard was a shifter cable grommet that had worked loose, or was gone, and id have to replace the whole cable instead of just the grommet :banghead: The two noises I heard are very distinctly different and running 87 is almost certainly a spark knock. What do I do, I've ran about two tanks of 89, so they cant hear a knock? The dealer said they have no codes that indicates a problem with the timing. Is it possible it's a tune left over from the previous owner??

Don't worry about the quoted oil consumption figures they are only there to weed out the real oil usage problems from the imaginary ones.

When I worked at Mercedes the spec was 1 litre per 1000 kms!

Awesome that they are fixing it. I've got the same issues and hate the thought of leaving my jeep with the Chrysler monkeys.

Update on issues

So, I picked up my Jeep last week after having the rear main seal, and valve cover gaskets replaced, and both exhaust manifolds replaced. When I started her up she ran quiet as a mouse, no problems! However, over the last week a tick has started to develop. Its a slight tick at idle when cold, it can barely be heard. Once you start driving, cold, you can't hear the tick at all. Once it starts to warm up the tick comes back and gets louder and louder. It definitely follows the rev of the engine and the speed of the tick changes as the rpm's change. Its often most noticeable when shifting between gears or clutching to downshift. Its really annoying, especially since it doesn't sound the same each time I drive. Sometimes it follows the pattern I described, but this morning it started ticking from the moment it was cranked.
I'm going to "Go Topless Day" in Carolina Beach on Saturday and its a 3 hour drive, now I don't know if I want to get stuck that far from home, or on the beach. Any ideas on this? The dealer said that I have shift linkage grommet that is missing and that was the cause of the rattling I heard previously, but I don't think this noise is that at all. Any thoughts?

I had the same noises and I would somewhat explain it like what you have happening. Although sounds nuts, I had a bad grommet in on the shifter side of the t-case and it was putting the linkage "just" out of spec to where I heard more gear noise. I change the grommet and it went away.

Afterward, I upgraded to the advance adapters t case linkage. I didn't have it adjusted correctly and the noise (but MUCH louder now) came back...basically how you are describing it. Adjusted it and went away. From your posts, I think its most likely not but it "could" be.

I have that exact issue with the exact grommet. I didn't think it could cause that problem though. I'll check it out for sure!

AC1977 said:

The dealer said that I have shift linkage grommet that is missing and that was the cause of the rattling I heard previously, but I don't think this noise is that at all. Any thoughts?

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Did the dealer or you replace this missing item? I would fix known issues first before you try to track down something new.