Eagle

I stand corrected. Now that I think about it, my '88 XJ came with the exact same Class 1 hitch on it, which is why the photo of the garbage up behind the bumper looked vaguely familiar. I went through the exercise of removing that hitch and installing a Class 2 receiver so I'd have a secure structure for a rear town hook. That was so many years ago I had completely forgotten that tyhe Class 2 hitch isn't what came on the XJ. But even the light duty one had the nut strips in the frame. In fact, they're riveted into the frame.

They all come from Crown (except any N.O.S. OEM units). They're on Crown's web site ( http://www.crownautomotive.net/category/XJ-Lamps.html#56000099 ). Crown won't sell direct to us serfs, but they do list their dealers on the site. It happens that my Jeep dealer also carries Crown, so I often use their stuff if the OEM parts are too expensive.

That's not an XJ/MJ shifter. It's out of a YG or TJ Wrangler, and they have longer shift handles. I have an '87 MJ 5-speed, and '88 XJ 5-speed, and a 2000 XJ 5-speed. The shift handles are all the same length. Shift throws are not massively long, but they're also not short-throw like a sports car. And it has to be kept in mind that the transmissions -- all of them -- aren't drag race transmissions. If you like to bang shifts like a drag racer, you WILL destroy the synchronizers in a short time.

I may well take you up on that. Since you have one out, can you confirm that the 4-way switch is part of the same assembly as the turn signal switch? At least for the '00 vehicle, I suspect the switch. The other odd behavior it's exhibiting is that the lane-change feature of the turn signals (where you press the stalk lightly, without snapping beyond the detent) doesn't work. The turn signals work when the switch is moved beyond the detent, but no momentary-contact lane change function.

I prefer standards and all the MJs I own and have owned have been standards. But my wife's 2000 XJ is an automatic, and so is the 2001 XJ I bought for my daughter. Around my area I prefer the 5-speed, but I have to admit that in urban, stop-and-crawl traffic the automatic is a godsend. I will also point out that (as much as I don't like to admit it) the automatic is FAR better for rock crawling and various other off-road adventures. I was able to keep up with the pack in the '88 XJ and the '88 MJ, but it was tough on the clutch, and tougher on the suspension and drive train in general than wheeling with an automatic.

I'll put this in The Pub since it's about XJs built long after the demise of the MJ. I need advice from anyone familiar with '00/'01 XJ electrics. A couple of years ago I picked up a used 2001 XJ with the idea that it would become my daughter's vehicle when she got her driver's license. That hasn't happened, so I've been driving it, and gradually repairing whatever was wrong. One defect I haven't gotten to is that the turn signals work, but the 4-way flashers don't work. Shop foreman at the dealership suggested that it might be the flasher, since the late-model XJs used a single, combination flasher. Fast forward to this week. Drove my wife's 2000 XJ, stopped at the mail box, turned on the 4-way flashers ... and they don't work. And I replaced the combo flasher in my wife's a couple of years ago. Apparently the 4-way switch is part of the same multi-function assembly as the turn signals. The part is still available from the dealer, but it's not cheap, I probably need two of them, and electrical parts can't be returned. Does anyone know enough about the late model Cherokees to know if the multi-function switch is a likely culprit?

Not even CLOSE to stock. The problem with buying someone else's mods is that they think they're worth a lot of money, but the reality is they're never done the way you would want, they're rarely done well, and it's tough to negotiate a fair price. Based on your original description I said $750. Now that I've seen the photos, I'll lower that to $500, tops. If he beat on a 4-cylinder hard enough to trash the transfer case, you KNOW the truck has been seriously abused and your buying a rolling box of problems. It's a broken truck. You're buying a rolling chassis, not a functional vehicle. Both you and the seller need to understand that.

Me too!

Bent wheel?

Post a photo. It should be impossible for the shoe to work its way off that peg (stud). Are you certain you have the springs installed correctly? Did you use new springs?

And you know that your valves have the triple grooves? If not, you should be good to go.

Sounds like a clogged catalytic converter. Does the engine make the noise when revved at idle? Usually such noises go away at higher RPM because the oil pressure is up. And the oil pressure gauge has numbers. "Low" is meaningless. What numbers are you reading? All too often people post that their idle oil pressure is "low," then when we point out that the factory spec for idle oil pressure is 13 psi it turns out their oil pressure isn't so bad after all.

What does "popping up" mean? Did you use new attaching hardware, including new hold-down pins and springs? Are you certain that the spring retainer cups are properly seated at 90-degrees to the head of the pin? If you bought new hardware, are you sure it's for a Dana 35? The D35 brakes are 10"x1.75". The D44 brakes are 10"x2.5". Hold down pins for the D44 brakes are too long for the D35.

Valves, or valve springs? I can't imagine any reason to replace the valves, but most cam kits either call for or require new springs, new keepers (retainers), and new seals.

Fram filters are notorious for causing rod knock and low oil pressure in the 4.0L engine.

I can't visualize what this means. And the Bendix drum brakes that AMC used are (IMHO) infitely easier to work on than the accursed 9-inch Chrysler drum brakes. Post a photo of where the front shoe won't seat.

Absolutely not. Use the temp sensor hole for venting the back of the block when filling. Once that's done (cold), replace the sensor and fill the bottle to the halfway mark (the notch in the post). Start the engine, leave the cap off the bottle, let it idle until it starts to bubble. Then shut it off. CAUTION! After you shut it off, the bottle will initially regurgitate hot coolant -- be careful you don't get scaled. Watch the bottle from a safe distance. After a couple/few minutes, you'll see the fluid level suddenly start to be sucked down. As that happens, add more coolant to replace the air that has been displaced. I usually have to do that two or three cycles before the system is properly bled.

How many miles on the '90 engine? What's the oil pressure at idle and at highway speed?

One other thing after all that cooling system work: Now that you've been driving it, check the coolant level. If it's not pretty close to being filled, coolant doesn't flow through the heater core.

Any Comanche that runs and isn't a bucket of rust is worth $1000. In the rust belt states, people want twice that for vehicles I would never consider buying except for scrap. 350,000 is getting up there in miles for a 4.0L, but if the previous owner changed the oil regularly it should still have life left in it. If it really is a 1988 and if it really has a six-cylinder engine, it's a Jeep 4.0L in-line six (unless it has been changed), and the best replacement is another Jeep 4.0L engine. The ones from 1987 through 1990 all have the same injection and ignition system and the same ECU as the '88. Cherokees and Comanches are identical under the hood and dashboard, which is why XJs are good donor vehicles for engines and drive train for the MJ. In 1991 Jeep changed over to a different ignition, injection and computer system. You can use the later engines, but it means either changing the entire wiring harness, or modifying the newer engine to work with the 1988 electrics. If you're into rebuilding the engine yourself, it can be bored out and rebuilt using the crankshaft from the older Jeep 4.2L I-6 to bring the displacement up to 4.5L to 4.7L (depending on how much you bore it). At 350,000+ miles, a rebuild will probably mean boring and new pistols anyway, so you might as well go for it. A LOT of people have done this, and there's a lot of information available.

This may help: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?hl=en&hl=en&key=0AvuGamS7bzt-dHJxYy1QajhuVUFUbUVDUWdiZnVFbmc&output=html

No. The plastic bottle is a pressure bottle. Nothing should escape or "bleed out." To prevent rupturing the bottle under pressure, the bottle is filled to the halfway mark when the system is cold. The air in the bottle compresses under heat, allowing the coolant to expand. How high are you filling the bottle? If you have been filling it -- there's your problem.

Fuse(s)? A '95 would be an electronic speedometer if you swapped everything over from the donor vehicle. There's a fuse for that. There's also a fuse for the TCU, and if that fuse is pulled you can shift it manually but you only get three gears instead of four. Or maybe the speed sensor in the transfer case is stripped (the gear is plastic) so the whole system just isn't getting any speed information.

No, it isn't possible. I don't know about any Marchal "agreement," but my sister-in-law had an early 80s Eagle SX-4 and that came from the factory with Marchals. There's a reason why the Jeep literature named Marchal lights by name -- that's what they were using, and back then the Marchal name was a premium brand. I very much suspect that anything else was either dealer installed or aftermarket.

Where are you seeing "ROL"? In 1987 through February of 1988 AMC/Jeep was in partnership with Renault, a French company. Marchal is/was a French company. AMC used ONLY Marchal for fog lights on all their vehicles during that time period. The off-road lights on the rollbar of my '87 MJ are KC Daylighters, and I'm certain they are factory equipment. I'm only the second owner, and the original owner was an older gentleman who just drove it, he didn't modify anything.