Eagle

I thought it might be. Vented crawl spaces aren't too normal this far north. Crawl spaces are a bit of a grey area anyways, seems people have a lot of different ideas on venting. Building codes in the U.S. have required venting for crawl spaces for at least 30 or 40 years.

About 4 or 5 years ago my brother added a 24x24 two-bay garage to his house. As an addition it had only three walls, and it wasn't heated or insulated. He paid about $12,000 ... and got a crappy job, with the building hanging off the foundation on the end. We did the electric ourselves. $30,000 is reasonable. You can probably get a decent job for a bit less than that, even with electric and insulation, but that's a good budget number to be sure you're covered.

I had a '99 WJ with the 4.7. Granted it was the first year of production for the WJ and for the 4.7L V8, but mine lasted 9 months and 14,000 miles. I had already had enough driveline problems that Chrysler was buying it back (to prevent me from going lemon law) and the replacement (a 2000 XJ Classic) was on order, but the WJ finally just died on me 2 miles from home, on the way to the supermarket. The problem on mine was a failed camshaft position sensor. Which, of course, was not available, so I left the thing at the dealership for Chrysler to pick up. A friend of mine has a 2002 WJ 4.7 -- his engine self-destructed. Cost him something like $5,000 to have it repaired -- it was out of warranty when it blew. To be honest, I hated the engine from Day One. It's just not a Jeep or truck engine. It has no low-end torque at all. It doesn't start to come alive until it's over 3,000 or 3,500 RPM ... which is useless in an off-road oriented vehicle with a highway cruise at around 2000 RPM. It would be a great engine in a Charger or something like that. In a Jeep? NAH!

Do I need hog ring pliers to reinstall the seat covers, or are they slip-fit?

I picked up a 2001 Cherokee Sport that's in fair condition. Interior is pretty clean but the original owner must have been a real lard-@$$, because the driver's seat is REALLY sunk down, and this XJ has fewer miles than our 2000. My plan (I think) is to swap the front seat cushions side-to-side. Does anyone know if this is an easy operation, or is it going to be a PITA?

I'm not clear which relay you plan to use and where you plan to unplug the existing harness. If I were going to do what you want to do, I would skip the KC relay, unplug the connector between the radiator temp sensor (driver's side tank) and the fan relay, and just connect the switch to those two wires. Or not even unplug anything. Use Scotch quick taps to splice into the two wires coming off the radiator tank, then you can let it run normally or use the switch to override if/when you feel the need.

I'm not so sure there is much of a difference. Might be 1/2" or so. I have 2wd MJ springs outa my 88 laying next to 4x4 XJ springs out of a 98, and they are VERY close. I'm thinking the 1/2' difference is because the settling of the MJ from the last 24 years. Maybe ... maybe not. Note that when I measured a used standard front coil and a new Up Country front coil, although the Up Country suspension sits 1" higher than standard the Up Country coil was 1/2" shorter. But it was also visibly thicker wire. You can look up the formula for coil springs on the Internet. The point is that free length is not the only factor. The variables in the formula are coil diameter, wire diameter, free length, and number of coils. Change ANY one of those and you have a different spring. The only variable that's usually constant with XJ/MJ/ZJ springs is the coil diameter. The others are all subject to change, so just knowing the free length really doesn't tell you anything.

Do you have the one that fits over the center of the console, or the one that hangs off the passenger side?

Good luck, Mate. High school kids need some good role models. How long does your training take?

That may be in an 88 MJ, but that has a temperature sender in it, which makes it a 91+ housing.

I have no idea why you can't find it or don't remember it. I certainly don't have it -- I never worked at a dealership. I saw it when I had the job done, but that was 22 years ago.

Sorry, but that's incorrect. It wasn't a recall, but there WAS a TSB to cut out the C101 and splice all the wires. It came out in late '89 or '90. The difference between a recall and a TSB, of course, is that the customer gets raped for the TSBs. I had it done on my '88 Cherokee, and it resulted in NONE of the improvements the service manager told me it would generate. So on the Comanches I leave the C101 intact. This is different from the CPS bypass. That was a separate harness that got run through a new hole in the firewall, directly from the CPS connector into the ECU.

Not a silly idea at all. And if you know how to solder, eliminating the plastic is easy -- a copper tee, a couple of very short lengths of copper tubing, an elbow or two, and you're done. A ball valve as a seasonal shut-off can be added anywhere in the hose, or made up as part of the copper 3-way fitting.

Valve "adjustment"? The MJ engines used hydraulic lifters, and the retainers get torqued down on a shoulder. There is nothing to adjust. Does the R&R for the pistons include the price of the new pistons and wrist pins? What do they mean "rods turned and polished"? How do you "turn" a connecting rod? Are you sure this shop has ever seen the inside of an internal combustion engine?

To gravity bleed, you open the bleeder and leave the cap on the reservoir loose so air can get in. It's a PITA doing brakes that way. I'm 99.837 percent certain it won't work for the clutch.

Correct. Both the Pioneer and Chief trim levels included gauges, but the tachometer was an extra-cost option. The gas gauge was a biggie that occupied the space where we expect to see a tachometer.

Nope. Even early '89s had it. It was removed as a mid-year '89 production change.

The problem is -- if it's a factory slider, the glass is NOT flat. It's curved, and that means it needs a factory replacement ... which is not available. I have two factory sliders that have busted glass, and even my friends in the glass business haven't found a source.

He stated that his truck has gauges. There is no need to change senders.

Find your CPS connector and follow the harness from the connector upstream. If it remains a single harness -- all by itself -- directly to the firewall, most likely your truck was upgraded. There was a TSB a number of years ago about the CPS harness being too long and the signal degrading between the sensor and the ECU (which is under the dashboard in the Renix trucks. The fix was a replacement harness that went straight from the CPS connector through the firewall into the ECU.

A couple of years ago I asked when I was at the shop that does my emissions testing. I think their estimate was $600. That was just for labor.

Thanks - I expect to bring the "new" XJ home Thursday or Friday. Then I'll see what I can figure out. Yes, I would prefer to keep it Jeep, but if I can go aftermarket for $30 compared to spending a hundred to be purist ... in today's economy practicality is going to have to win. If this were a NEW XJ, then I'd be more concerned with keeping it all Jeep.

Connecticut has not allowed pick-your-own junkyards for more than 25 years. And I doubt I'd have any luck trying to get a yard to go scrounging through XJs to look for one with the keys (and remote) and the unit. It makes more sense just in the gas I'd waste to buy aftermarket.

Which temperature sensor are you trying to replace? On an '89 there are three: The one in the radiator tank controls the auxiliary fan; the one down low on the driver's side of the block sends data to the ECU; the one on the left rear corner of the head is the one that activates the idiot light or the temp gauge.

The seller said he is not the original owner, but he has two keys and no remotes, so I'm guessing no remote entry. So I think I'll spring for one of JC Whitney's Valiant brand aftermarket units. The question is, which one? If anyone knows much about aftermarket alarms I would appreciate advice. Be advised: Price IS an object. The least expensive one I'm looking at is $29 and the highest I'm considering is (IIRC) $69. This is an eleven year old used car we're talking about -- I don't want (and can't afford) a $200+ all-in-one system that locks the doors, has an alarm, disables the starter, and offers remote start capability. I really just want remote entry, but if a modest system that will do that doesn't cost any more with a basic alarm function, so much the better.