Read bold text Did you go with a Hughes Plate or the ebay plate?

 

Too obvious...... I am going to claim tiredness, as I just got home from work... yeah, that's it.... tired......

 

Yea, I got the aluminum plate from the guy on speed freaks. I think it's the same as Ebay. Used felpro gaskets and replaced the valve cover gaskets at the same time. New bolts all around yadda yadda. Cleaned the intake out really good. No porting or cutting just left it real clean. I have checked repeatedly and there is no oil in the intake since then. Just some drips from the PCV valve which I replaced now as well. The old one was dirty.

I'm going to replace the plugs tomorrow because it's cheap and since the valve cover gaskets were leaking fairly good, it may be possible that one or more of the plugs are fouled. Although it's just weird that this problem started instantly like 2 hours prior to it running really well for 4 days. It's just really weird that after I put new power steering fluid in it and then started it up that it shakes right after that. But that has got to be a coincidence. Nothing spilled and I was sure to make sure that all of the air if any was out.

 

Have not done compression test yet. But it may not matter once I put a .50 though the block. Don't worry, I wouldn't say that in front of her.

 

Ok, here is where I'm at today. Put new plugs in and now it idles smoother than before but still shakes. I drove it to the parts store and it seems worse off now. I't noticeable at higher speeds too even though it smoothes out a bit. Oil pressure is good and filled to spec. Transmission oil is looking good and filled to spec and shifting good. The exhaust note sounds nice and even when idling and revving. There is no weird smell or smoke coming out of the tailpipe. I am pretty sure I notice the motor moving around more than before at idle too.

Nothing I have done so far be it mechanical, fuel related, or electrical has helped changed the condition. I took another look at the motor mounts and they look pretty bad. I think they maybe just sitting in there totally torn off. What made me think it wasn't them was that this shake happened suddenly and not over time.
What I think could have happened is that a couple of days after the plenum repair I was really getting on the throttle to enjoy the new awesome power of the 5.9. This could have been the breaking point for the motor mounts. When I got home and turned it off it's totally possible than one or both collapsed and sunk while it was sitting there and later that day when I started it up the shake was there. It is defiantly more pronounced today than it was.

Friday I am going to order new motor mounts from RockAuto and hope this is it.

 

Ok , after reading all darn day and searching all kinds of automotive forums, I finally found 1 post where a guy was experiencing the same thing that I am. The Harmonic Balancer. Same symptoms as I am having now. I have never had one go bad before so I don't really know how to detect it. As I kept reading I found that they can go out suddenly. Also read that it's a common issue with the 5.9. Possibly torque related. I checked mine out and I can see the rubber coming out a little and there are cracks in it. Along with the motor mounts, I am going to replace this as well. I'll post feedback when it's done. I don't like when threads are left with no solutions. Here are the two sites that lead me to this idea.
http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums....php?p=4688845
http://forum.stangtv.com/showthread.php?t=5010

Wish me luck.

 

Put a pry bar on the motor mounts because the HB looked ok. Here is the vid. Do these look a little worn to you?

Both right and left are like this and I am just going to assume the tranny mount is done as well. I have been putting the hammer down since the plenum repair and I guess it was enough for these mounts to finally crab the bed fully.

 

Well theres your problem!!!! Those are definitely shot. At least you know it shoukd run like a top when you get the new ones on.

 

You might add these to your parts list, they made a big difference in my truck, even with new motor mounts.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...ame&Sec=131674

 

Definitely look like good mounts. I am going to have to go cheap here just to get it running with some Omix mounts and later down the road get the nice ones. We are getting ready to move back east and I'll be shipping the ZJ and taking the car. Here are the mounts I was looking at. I'm quite relieved that I may have finally put this mystery to rest. Thanks for all the advice. I post the results when I get it together.


http://www.ironman4x4fab.com/Products/MM.html