Eagle

Did they all have sentry key? I hadn't even considered that. I HATE keys with chips in them. Jeep's key is a relative bargain compared to many, but it's still $59 for the key. (When my brother worked in a BMW dealership he told me their "smart" keys cost over $200. YIKES!)

I've been running DOT 5 silicone for at least 20 years in my brakes, and in the clutch of my '88 XJ since I replaced the clutch in 2000. No problems at all, and IMHO it's the only way to go.

But he has the '96. Jim, if you want to play with a cam while you're swapping things around, I have a NIB factory Stage II cam kit. I was going to put it in my '88 MJ 2.5L, but now that I have a wife who doesn't drive standard and a daughter coming along who I'm sure also won't drive standard, I've decided to convert the MJ to a 4.0L automatic so we can all drive it (and I won't go broke buying clutches). Lemme know if'n yer interested.

It was my understanding that all TJ UNLIMITEDS came with the D44 rear axle.

I paid $500 for one several years ago and I considered myself lucky to get it.

The JK Unlimited is the one I hate. I'm only interested in the original, 2-door TJ Unlimited with the 4.0L engine. Only three years, eh? No wonder I don't see many of them around.

Okay, then that's what I have to be on the lookout for. I loved the original Wrangler Unlimited, and I can't stand the current, 4-door version.

What were the first and last years for the original, 2-door Wrangler Unlimited? Were the Unlimiteds still considered to be TJs, or did the Unlimited have its own code?

I would swap the wiring and update the '86 to '96 specs. First, the MPFI version gives you more horsepower and a bit more torque. Second, a '96 update gets you OBD-II, and since driving the 2000 XJs I'm coming to appreciate OBD-II quite a lot.

If the starter makes the engine turn over ("crank") when you turn the key, obviously the starter is NOT the problem. Beyond that, there are three things needed for an internal combustion engine to run: fuel, air, and gas. Air is a given, inless there's a mouse house between your throttle body and the intake ports. You say you have checked for gas, but do you know the injectors are squirting? have you tried the old tried-and-true method of simply pouring some gas directly through the throttle body and then trying to start it? If you have spark, it would pretty much HAVE to start if you do that.

Cut? Why cut them off? They just unscrew.

I don't see how the TPS could kill the tachometer, and I also don't see how changing the TPS could lower your RPMs. Especially with a manual transmission, your RPMs are directly related to gear ratio, tire size, and road speed. The TPS has NOTHING to do with it. It CANNOT affect your RPMs at any given road speed.

Not to mention getting the wrong idea about poor Uncle Jack!

Gravel shield. They all had that ... unless they had the factory skid plate.

Don't buy it. First, it is NOT good for a daily driver. Second, you can be almost guaranteed that whoever installed it butchered something, and you'll have to find it and fix it. If you're very lucky, it might be only one thing and not too expensive. More likely, it'll be a bottomless pit into which you throw money. If you want a daily driver, buy a daily driver. Find one that hasn't been modified.

Your mechanic is an idiot. That hose is ESSENTIAL. That's the vacuum for the crankcase ventilation system. It MUST be connected to a vacuum port on the throttle body or intake manifold. What the [bleep] kind of "mechanic" just goes around lopping off hoses the factory put there "because you don't need it"? Why does he think the factory put it there, because they had nothing better to do with eighteen inches of small diameter tubing?

Looking on car-part.com for Connecticut, I see several of the newer vintage, but most are listed as being from Grand Cherokees. I suppose the transfer case itself is the same, but since it would be bolted behind a different tranny I don't know if the input shaft is correct, and I wouldn't be able to get the shift gate and part-time/full-time bezel. And they're all well north of $200. It's too cold and snowy here now to be swapping anything right now. This is looking like a Spring project, so there's no rush, but if you stumble across one that has all the ancillary bits and pieces, I'm interested.

The rotors are calipers are different from yours, and yours won't fit the '93 axle. Be sure the front axle includes both the rotors and the calipers.

Took my wife out for dinner this evening through the blizzard, so it was 4WD all the way to the restaurant and all the way home. We were in the 2001 XJ, which has a 231 transfer case. Her 2000 XJ has a 242, and she was actively interested (which surprised me) in the difference. She knows with hers she can just stick it in full-time and forget it. The notion of having to shift out if you hit dry pavement (which was not an issue tonight) was foreign to her. I really would like to convert this XJ to a 242 so our daughter can drive it when she gets her license, and I'd like it to be as operationally similar to Mom's as possible. (Also so it can be the back-up vehicle for Mom.) I have a complete 88 or 89 XJ engine, AW-4 and 242 transfer case, but I know that transfer case won't bolt up to the 2001 tranny because of the input shaft spline mismatch. So ... What about swapping over the whole enchilada? Will the 88/89 AW-4 go into a 2001 XJ and work correctly, or are there controller issues? I have an 87 TCU and an 89 TCU, but I believe I had read that the 2001 uses an integrated PCM rather than the separate TCU of the earlier years. Has anyone dealt with this before?

I used a drill press. It's much easier to locate the holes accurately, and to get them straight. The original studs are 5mm. I replaced with 6mm, and I drilled holes that were slightly undersize so I could tap the holes and have the new ones screw in. That's why it was important for the holes to be straight. If you're just going to tack weld or J-B Weld maybe that's not as critical.

Mechanical speedo doesn't matter. The 93 will have a different spline count on the transfer case input shaft, so you can't swap over just the transfer case, you will have to swap the transmission and the transfer case together. But the 93 transfer case will work fine with the mechanical speedo cable. You'll have to retain the CPS from the 90, because the 93 Chrysler CPS doesn't work the same. You'll also need to retain the original 90 flex plate. The 93 transfer case doesn't have a vacuum port to control the front axle disconnect, but you'll be using the 93 front axle from the donor vehicle so that's a match-up. It should work.

Which one, Renault Deux Chevaux?

Pick-n-pull yards aren't legal in Connecticut but I've been to big ones in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Same price for whatever part (taillight, bumper, grille, etc.), regardless of what vehicle it comes off. The one in PA even has a printed price sheet -- I use his prices as my prices in the rare event I have a spare of something when somebody urgently needs it.

I'm sneakin' up on 69 years old, I've gone through four or maybe five chain saws, and I don't think I've ever seen a hickory tree.

There are few things more manlier than cooking on/in cast iron. And there are NO synthetic coatings that are as reliably non-stick as properly-seasoned cast iron cookware.