Eagle

No spark -- or no start? Have you removed a spark plug wire from the spark plug, and held it (carefully!) near a solid part of the engine while cranking to see if a spark jumps from the wire to the block? Have you removed the coil-to-distributor wire from the distributor, put a screwdriver into the terminal at the end of the wire, and then checked to see if there's a spark between the screwdriver and the distributor cap terminal? In other words ... HOW have you determined that there's no spark?

If it backfires, it has spark.

Cherokee 4-doors ... the front doors fit the Comanche, but a 2000 XJ will have the latches at a different height than your XJ and will require some modifications to the door posts. There are write-ups on this here on the forum. Wheels are the same bolt pattern, but if the XJ is a Classic it should have 16" wheels. The Sport and base models still had 15" wheels. Rear axle could be a Chrysler 8.25, or if the XJ has ABS the rear axle will be a Dana 35. Seats and console require adaptation for use in an MJ but can be made to work.

How much of a hurry are you in? Since I can't find a buyer, it looks like I'll be pulling the drive train out of an '86 XJ 2.5L. That's the same Renix throttle body that your '88 has. I can pull the wiring harness before I scrap the body -- but it's mid-January and snowing outside. I won't even start on it 'til Spring.

DO YOU HAVE SPARK? HAVE YOU CHECKED?

Looking at the photo on the beach, I think you need a bit of lift in the back, not in the front.

You can't -- they're hydraulic. Why do you "think" you're not getting spark? It's easy to check, so check. An internal (some would say "infernal") combustion engine only needs three things to run: Fuel, air, and spark. Take away one of the three and you have a problem. Spark is easy to check, so verify. Either you have spark -- or you don't. Did you remove the distributor from the block when doing the head gasket?

I believe it's a '74 304 CJ. IIRC. That sounds familiar.

Doesn't it need the pilot bearing from some obscure AMC-era CJ?

Ah, so. There are no u-pull junkyards in Connecticut. The state outlawed them a number of years ago. Junkyard prices for used radios range from $40 to $100, and there's no assurance a replacement (radio or display) would be an improvement. The one I have worked fine for a year, then it became progressively flaky. A replacement could last ten years -- or ten days. If I can "fix" it with a resistor and a soldering iron, I'll be happy.

Swapping the display requires unsoldering a bazillion tiny solder joints. The guy in the video obviously knows how to do that -- I can solder larger stuff, but I know I'm not good enough to do that. But ... The video shows that the display itself wasn't the problem, it was one of the chips that drive the display. So if I replicate his jumper experiment and my display light up, then I should be able to "fix" mine the same way he did, just by soldering in a jumper through a resistor. That I can handle. Dave, I have two Kenwoods new-in-box that I could use. I prefer the factory look, and the factory radio does everything I want. If anybody made a reasonably-priced 1-1/2-DIN replacement I might be tempted, but there were never a lot of those and they now seem to have disappeared from the marketplace. To go aftermarket in a 2001 XJ you have to use a single-DIN head with a 1-1/2-DIN adapter bezel, and I think that looks stupid.

One of my high school classmates does plowing for hire. I don't think he does large, commercial lots but I saw him just last week and asked him if he's still doing it. He is. He has about fifty residential customers. He used to use an old full-size Bronco, but around 2002 or 2003 he replaced [what was left of] the Broco with a 2001 Cherokee. He said he still has the Cherokee and it has been better for his needs than the Bronco because it's more maneuverable.

Did you see the electronics gear he had on that bench? WOW! Impressive. Must be nice to know what you're doing. There's no way I could possibly undertake to go through what he went through. But the video did answer the question of whether or not I could splice in a display from a different radio ... unfortunately, the answer seems to be "No." So much for Plan A. But I think I can handle his Plan B -- just jumper directly from the 12-volt input through a new resistor and power the display directly. If I can source a resistor with those specs from Radio Shack I may give it a try. As he said, I could just toss in an aftermarket radio (and I already have a couple I could use), but I'd rather keep it looking factory if possible. Thanks for finding that video.

I need help. As some of you may have picked up from other posts, a year and a half ago I picked up a 2001 Cherokee. I admit -- I was seduced by the fact that it's a near twin for my 2000 Cherokee, it appeared to be in decent shape, and it was (for a ten-year old XJ) relatively low mileage (83,xxx at the time). I paid too much for it, and I've been paying ever since. The current problem is the radio. It has the factory AM/FM/CD/Cassette head, and the display illumination is getting progressively flaky. Not the backlighting for the controls -- just the dial. It'll work for awhile, then get dim, then go out -- and a couple of hours or a couple of days later it'll be back ... for awhile. Recently, the no-display intervals have been getting longer and the visible intervals have been getting shorter. When the display goes out, the radio still works and the CD still works. I suspect it's something about the power connection to the LED or LCD display that's flaky but I have no idea how to go about troubleshooting it. Can anyone provide guidance?

Ignore my previous ideas -- I overlooked the no power to starter factor. Ignition switch?

Possibly a flaky CPS. Also possibly a dying fuel pump.

What's the issue? I see a photo with no explanation of what problem it's supposed to be showing. The lower end of that arm goes to a bellcrank on the frame rail. That bellcrank pivot gets rusted up or gooked up and doesn't rotate freeley. That's the most common problem with the Renix throttle linkage, and the cure is usually to shoot it with PB Blaster and work it manually until it rotates freely.

Use the HB to size it. I agree..........that's what I'd do. I think that's what I would do, too.

Start with a good set of plug wires. For spark plugs I like NGK, with Champion truck plugs being second choice. Don't waste money on platinum plugs -- not needed.

I don't think you want to add lift. You seem to be happy with the way it is now, except for the slight rubbing, and I agree that you want to keep the center of gravity as low as possible, especially with a camper. Before you even start discussing a lift to cure the rubbing, you need to find out what's rubbing and where -- and then determine whether or not a lift will address that. 30-inch tires would normally be expected to rub on the lower control arms ... with Jeep wheels. I can't tell for sure from your photos but it looks like you are running aftermarket rimes, so that means less backspacing -- the rims (and tires) sit farther outboard than the same tires on OEM rims. If that's the case, the rubbing is almost certainly going to be the shoulder of the tire rubbing the lower portion of the flare behind the tire -- right side rubs on right turns, left side rubs on left turns.

The Renix system is already a high-output system. You can waste a lot of money on aftermarket stuff that isn't in any way an upgrade. What makes you think you need to "upgrade" anything?

It's an original, retractable underhood light. It mounts on the passenger side of the hood, back near the hinge.

Please take the measurements I asked for and report what you get. Measure from the center of the wheel cap/center hole straight up to the lower edge of the fender flares. Front and rear.

Look more closely. Whoever did the "modification" (i.e. butcher job) didn't tap anything -- he drilled all the way through. The other three bolts already have nuts on them. All the OP needs to do is buy a pair of the u-bolts discussed in that video and install them.

The yoke doesn't look wasted to me. The top of the hole for the bolt that dropped out has the inner portion of the wall broken out, but with the stock parts that area isn't even threaded, and the wall may have been blown out when it was drilled for the odd-ball, non-factory bolts that we see in the photo. I would just buy a pair of the u-bolts recommended in the video and reassemble it. In addition to the lock washers, use blue Loctite on the threads.