Eagle

Not really crazy. Perfectly predictable, in fact. The Renix system uses a knock sensor, so the engine can run at the maximum degree of ignition advance possible at all times. The knock sensor listens for "ping" and retards the timing only when necessary. Chrysler wanted to save a buck per vehicle, so they eliminated the knock sensor. They obviously didn't want 9and couldn't have) a bunch of XJs and MJs blowing the tops out of the pistons on a regular basis, so they engineered the ignition advance curve to always be sufficiently retarded that it will never ping. Which is fine ... except that it means the system can therefore NEVER operate at optimum advance, which is what delivers maximum fuel economy. Newer is not always better. Sometimes newer is just ... not as old.

The sliding rear window was a LOT more common than buckets. If possible, buy the window and both sets of seats. Remember, the seats themselves, not only the pedestals, are different from XJs. You can mount XJ buckets on MJ seat pedestals, but if the XJ buckets have the "rocking chair" feature they will sit much too high in the MJ. And if they're from a 4-door, they won't tip forward. The best bucket for an MK is from an MJ. Even if the upholstery and padding are shot, the frames are unique, and you can put XJ uphostery onto the MJ frames.

Are you using new hoses, or junkyard take-offs?

The end portion of the window riser cable (the "snake") is stripped. You need a replacement mechanism

Definitely need pics. I've replaced multiple alternators in various XJs and MJs, and in the old days I've torn down and rebuilt alternators myself ... and I don't have any idea WTF your post is talking about. The photos do not show what has to be loosened or changed.

The Auto Zone link makes you reselect the vehicle, but does take you to the part. Unfortuntately, the photo shows a sender with a pigtail, so it may well be the wrong part. NAPA Online has it. You have to search for "Temperature Sender," not "sensor." The one for the gauge is Echlin #ECH TS6053

Short answer is ... I don't think so. The '86 MJ (and 84 - 86 XJ) used an NP 228 or 229 transfer case for Selec-Trac. It's a completely different animal than the NP/NVG 242 used from 1987 to the end of both vehicles. I have the '86 factory service manual. It mentions the vacuum motor, in describing how the transfer case functions, but there is NOT A SINGLE WORD about it in the tear-down and reassemble part of the manual.

Did you remove the spark plugs? Did you squirt a LOT of PB Blaster into the cylinders a day or two before you tried to turn it?

JoAnn Fabrics ( a chain of sewing, fabric and crafts stores, at least regional if not national) has both headliner material and the correct adhesive. I've also seen headliner kits at Pep Boys, but the fabric from JoAnn Fabrics is at least 50% heavier.

That's not the correct procedure. Correct procedure is as BORDENCOMANCHE spelled it out. "Pumping" the peddle is not necessary, and is actually counter-productive because it introduces air bubbles into the brake fluid. Since the purpose of bleeding the system is to remove air, this is not a good thing. You don't press the peddle down and then open the bleeder. As BORDENCOMANCHE noted, the underneath guy opens the bleeder, then the inside guy depresses the peddle. Peddle is held down until the bleeder is closed, then the peddle is allowed to return, and the process is repeated. The peddle should be depressed moderately slowly, at a uniform speed. The inside guy should not "stomp" on the peddle and try to floor it in an instant.

Define what you mean by "crappy." The clutch hose I blew was in my '88 Cherokee. IIRC, it blew in 2002 (might have been 2003), so the vehicle was at that time at least 14 years old and had well over 200,000 miles on it. It was my fault -- I had replaced the clutch, master and slave a year or two previous (at 204,000 miles), but didn't think to replace the hose. Yes, you can do as you suggest. You could do the same thing for the flex hoses serving the front and rear brakes. Same type of hose. Do you consider those to be "crappy," too, simply because they are flex hoses rather than a coiled metal tube all the way?

Clutch fork? He has a 1989 4.0L. The slave cylinder is internal and there is no fork.

Man-eating catfish? REALLY?

If you are doing it exactly as you wrote, that is not correct. The correct procedure is for the wrench man to open the bleeder, then the peddle man SLOWLY depresses the pedal. When the peddle hits bottom, it is held there until the wrench man closes the bleeder, and only then is the peddle released. Once the peddle has come back up, it can be pumped once or twice (again, SLOWLY) with the bleeder closed, the peddle is then brought back to the top, and the sequence is repeated.

Billy the Exterminator If I called for a professional pest remover and some dude with spiky hair and a Goth costume showed up, I'd either shoot him on the spot or call the cops. "Gnarly, Dude!"

Sadly, it probably is the slave, but there are a couple of things to verify first. 1) How are you bleeding the clutch? I've seen people (including some who REALLY should know better) try to bleed the clutch by pumping the peddle madly while the bleeder is open. All this does is foam up the fluid. It's a two man job, and it requires patience to do it by the book. 2) There is a third component that can cause loss of pressure, and that's the line/hose assembly between the master and slave. I had one blow out at a toll booth in the Massachusetts Turnpike when I was 100 miles from home. That was a looooooong drive with no clutch. Both ends are metal, but the middle portion is rubber, like a brake flex hose, and it can crack. The good news is that you can crawl under the vehicle and look for wetness pretty easily.

DON'T DO IT! I know Pete means well, but I own multiple XJs as well as multiple MJs. I can assure you that a great many XJ owners take the O-ring and spring out of the XJ proportioning valve, which makes it work just like the MJ distribution block ... because the rear brakes on XJs with the OEM proportioning valve suck. It will NOT accomplish the one thing you would want it to do ... prevent rear wheel lockup in a panic stop.

$122 ?? For that plus $75 you could convert the rig to an open cooling system with a new radiator and never worry about a "pressure bottle" again. But with that surge tank you have all the benefits of the open system, none of the headaches of figuring out how to control the auxiliary fan, and you DON'T spend that $75. Why spend $75 you don't have to on a conversion that accomplishes nothing? The newer radiators are exactly the same size and they don't cool any better than the "closed" system radiators.

If the goal is just to get the truck started and drive it out, I think I'd drop a few bucks on a junkyard carb for a 2.8L, fire it up, and drive it home. Plenty of time to figure out the next step after the hulk is home.

Too nice to part out.

Also my MJ is a 4.0 and the XJ the cluster came from was a 4.0. So I thought the tach would work correctly. It should. How do you know it's off? How much is it off? At idle it reads below zero. That doesn't sound like "off" ... that sounds like "broken." Even if it came from a 4-cylinder donor, it would show a reading at idle, but instead or 650 (or so) RPM it would be indicating 975 (or so) RPM. You could try taking the tach out of the cluster and adjusting the potentiometer on the back, but I'm not optimistic that it'll have enough adjustment to fix this. If you can get it to read accurately at idle, be sure to cross-check at around 2000 RPM, because it may be off there, as well.

Also my MJ is a 4.0 and the XJ the cluster came from was a 4.0. So I thought the tach would work correctly. It should. How do you know it's off? How much is it off?

Moroso offers a couple of aluminum surge tanks. Two sizes, two styles of filler neck (two stamped, two machined). Nice units, and that's what I run. More recently, someone came out with an aluminum flat surge tank that is specifically made to replace the plastic XJ/MJ tank. It has been written up here multiple times and a search should get you a link to it. If it had been available when I did mine I would have chosen it over the Moroso, but the Moroso is a few bucks cheaper. At this point, I have three of the Moroso tanks so I don't need the other one.

The fuel pump ballast resistor is on the inner driver's fender, between the air box and the sheet metal. It's a white-ish ceramic thingie with a fairly heavy wire stuck on each end. Jumper the two wires together and see if it makes a difference.

There seems to a lot of stuff on The History Channel that has nothing to do with History. I occasionally watch Pawn Stars, but that's about it.