Eagle

Photos under the hood of an almost stock '88 4.0L: On the right side, the relay on the inner fender is for fog lights that I installed. Back at the firewall, you can see that the plastic coolant bottle has been replaced with a Moroso aluminum surge tank. That required the overflow catch tank by the air cleaner box, and the overflow bottle required relocating the ballast connector. The C101 connector has been removed.

The 87 4.0L with the AW4 transmission has a separate transmission computer (TCU). Replacing the ECU won't affect the shift points.

http://www.bteventures.com//mj1988electricalmanual.pdf

Chunks of "stuff" shifting around inside the catalytic converter, maybe?

All that really makes me miss my 1947 Hudson pickup. There were, IIRC, only two fuses in the entire wiring harness. I rewired the whole truck in one week, working about 3 hours in the evenings after supper.

Dear God! ...

Personally, I'd cut the belt.

There is NO good fix for if you break off the upper rear shock mount -- so don't do it. If it looks rusty, use a nutbuster to break the nut. It will then come off cleanly and all you have to do is replace the nut. Same for the bottom. Use anti-sieze when you install the new nuts.

No. The adjustment is at the power steering pump. You should never have to remove the alternator or a/c compressor to install a new belt.

One other possibility. If the previous owner got the wrong calipers, they may be hanging up. There were some changes within the MJ years, and you can't mix and match from one year to another without knowing what parts work with what other parts. This is what I came up with for the book I started to write. It's copyrighted, so please do not give out copies of it beyond this forum.

Skinnier drive shaft?

And here's the technical info from the Monroe web site. http://www.monroe.com/downloads/install-instructions-guides/MonroeMountingLengthSpecifications.pdf Once you find a shock with the length you want, you can go to another area on the Monroe web site to look up what vehicle(s) it fits. Once you know that, you can look up other brands and models of shocks for that vehicle.

I pulled the following from the technical data on the Monroe web site. Doesn't cover up to a 4-inch lift but it might get you started:

It's straight and mostly rust-free. Of course it's a fixer upper. As the saying goes, they don't make 'em like that any more.

Another advantage to the barn doors is that sometimes you want/need to carry something long on the roof rack. The overhead hatch bangs into the stuff -- barn doors wouldn't.

Why do some people lift their trucks? Why do some people slam their trucks? He had an idea and he had the skills to pull it off. More power to him.

Around here, "dieseling" is a slang term for predetonation. (Also for engine run-on after the ignition has been shut off -- usually caused by glowing carbon deposits in the compbustion chambers.)

Factory parts manual confirms that seals for both sides are the same. It's also the same seal that is used for the driver's side on the axles with the disconnect.

^^^ Agree

I have two 2000 XJ 4 liters, and neither is prone to predetonation. If Seafoam helped, you may have a lot of carbon buildup in the combustion chambers and on the pistons. You definitely should not have to run premium gas. It sounds drastic but, if another treatment with Seafoam doesn't fix it, I'd consider pulling the head to de-carbonize it.

Run a new wire from the relay to the fuel pump? You don't need the ballast resister. That was added in 1988 for the sole purpose of reducing the noise on the fuel pump inside the cabin of the Cherokee. The first 4.0L vehicles, in 1987, didn't have ballast resistors.

What year vehicle is the axle out of?

What this usually means is that the ballast resistor in the fuel pump circuit has failed. The START circuit bypasses that, so the engine will start. Once the key is released to the RUN position, power to the fuel pump passes through the ballast resistor. If the ballast resistor is bad, the fuel pump stops running so the engine sputters along for a few seconds until the fuel in the rail has been used up, then it dies. To test, you can jump the two contacts on the ballast resistor. You have tried that, so I'm out of suggestions. Sorry.

I'm going to be "that guy," and ask you to please restate the problem more accurately. There are several confusing statements in your opening post. "Turning over" = "cranking" ... both refer to when the starter is turning the engine but the engine is not running. The RUN position of the key is where it sits when the engine is running. The starter is not engaged when the key is in the RUN position. Are you saying the engine will start, but it won't stay running after you release they key to the RUN position?

If the goal is a better ride without a lift, you're really talking about shocks. Unless the original springs are sagged, there's not much point in replacing the springs. If you can get the rear springs off without destroying things (depends on if you live in the rust belt), new bushings in the rear springs will soften the ride without affecting the spring rate. The single most important thing for ride quality is shocks.