Eagle

On another forum I help moderate, the forum owner made it a rule that ANY public discussion of a warning automatically earns a 30-day (I think, maybe it's 60) time-out. There is no reason for anyone to discuss in public their own warnings and/or bans, or warnings or bans imposed on other members. IMHO, gloating because another member got his wrist slapped is just as immature as some of the other on-line antics we have seen here. We don't allow flaming other members. Why would anyone think that publicly rubbing someone's nose in the fact he earned a time-out might be a good thing to do? This all boils down to the fact that we are a large group of people, and we do NOT all know everyone personally or well enough to assume that we can insult another member on-line and that everyone will "know" we were "just kidding." I've said it before -- if a new member sees insults flying, they have no way of knowing that the insulter and the insultee are best buddies, so they get the impression insulting other members is okay. It's not. This site has a private message system. That's what it's for: personal messages that really should be private.

No IMHO, high mileage oil is a scam that some of the oil companies use to charge more for what is essentially the same product. Whatever type and brand of oil you choose, do NOT use a straight weight (30, or any other) in an MJ. The factory spec was 10W30 or 10W40 for most climates. You want the thinner viscosity (the first number) for getting early oil flow to the critical areas on cold starts. You want the higher viscosity (the second number) to maintain a good oil film when the engine reaches operating temperature. For my '88 MJ at about 125,000 miles, I run Castrol Syntec full synthetic 10W40. For the '88 XJ at 280,000+ miles, I'm running Castrol Syntec 20W50. I switched the XJ over to synthetic at 175,000 miles. I bought the MJ used with 99,000 on the odometer and started using synthetic in it when I bought it.

That was the early XJ Wagoners, the ones with the same 6x9 headlights as the XJ Cherokees. The later ones with the quad headlights had the horizontal grille. I liked the early one better.

Right as rain. I made E-2 out of Basic, which very few managed to do. So I went on to AIT (Advanced Individual Training) as an E-2 instead of an E-1 ... big deal, I was still a "trainee." Then I made PFC (E-3) out of AIT, which even fewer managed to do (since if you didn't make E-2 out of Basic you couldn't possibly make E-3 out of AIT). So after AIT I was no longer a "trainee," I was now [cue drumroll] a Private First Class. Which is another way of saying low man on the totem pole just about anywhere in the U.S. Army. Especially at a guided missile artillery unit, where anybody who was anybody was at least an E-4, and we had a freakin' COOK who was a Staff Sergeant (E-6) after only two years in service. Don't get me wrong. It's not all bad ... but it may feel that way at times during Basic. Just keep in mind that's it's all a head game. Don't let them get inside your head, and you'll be fine.

Correction - You are going in as a "trainee," and don't ever forget it (not that they'll let you). You may become a mechanic after basic training, but in basic everyone is the same ... in the eyes of the training cadre (at least, according to what they allow you to see as their attitude) ALL you trainees are lower than whale [excrement] on the bottom of the ocean, and probably not smart enough to tie your shoes if they had Velcro laces. Don't let it get to you. It's all part of the game. Think of it as a fraternity hazing on steroids and you'll survive.

Pretty sure it was ten. Who has a picture of an 84-86 XJ or MJ grille?

I hear you, Pat, but completely removing one wiring harness, putting in a completely different wiring harness, and THEN making up a home-brew connector to make the front half talk to the back half sounds a lot like "rewiring" to me. And it also sounds like a helluva lotta work if all you really need is to bolt an automatic tranny up to the existing engine, install the free-standing TCU, and drive it.

Putting the engine and transmission in is the easy part. Obviously, it's a direct swap. The issue is that the HO engine uses a totally different computer, injection system, and ignition system. To do the swap and be able to gain all the increases of the HO, you'll have to rewire the entire engine compartment, and many people think once you go that far it's better to rewire the entire chassis. If you aren't good at and don't enjoy wiring, trying to convert a Renix to HO is probably not a good idea. If there's nothing wrong with your engine, the HO really doesn't put out that much more horsepower than the Renix, and hardly any more torque. But it raises the torque peak from 2400 RPM to 4000 RPM. That's a trade-off that never made any sense to me for an off-road truck. Why don't you just swap in an automatic tranny?

But it's better than for it to have gone to the great junkyard in the sky ...

If you are using the accessories from the 2.8 rather than converting the electronics, you'll use the distributor from the 2.8L.

:agree: The stock carb on the 2.8L isn't even heavy enough to be useful as an anchor, and unless you spend more than it's worth in carb cleaner you can't use it as a paperweight. I don't know what it's good for.

The 2.8L is a GM engine that Jeep purchased from GM. The bell housing is the small GM bolt pattern, which is why the 3.4L GM engine swap is a slam dunk -- it's the same block. Use the manifolds and external brackets and such from the 2.8L and you should be good to go. The only thing to watch out for is the the 2.8L was not a well-designed engine (duh!). GM got it to balance by using an eccentric weight on the flywheel/flexplate to compensate for the fact that the engine was not balanced interbnally. By the time the 3.4L came out, they had figured that out and the 3.4L does not use the eccentric weight. So you'll need to have the flywheel or flex plate neutral balanced.

Well, yes ... sort of. And also no. Aren't you aware that after Chrysler (later to become DaimlerChrysler) bought Jeep from AMC but did NOT buy Hummer and AM General, AM General (and Hummer) was acquired by Generous Motors. Whereupon DaimlerChrysler tried to claim (in a lawsuit, IIRC) that Hummer could not produce vehicles with seven vertical slots in the grille because that was a "trademark" of Jeep. Which totally ignored the reality that over the years Jeep produced innumerable vehicles with grilles having other than seven vertical slots. The XJ and MJ are only one (?) example. The XJ/MJ grille was ten slots from 1984 through 1987. In 1988 it went to eight slots, and it didn't revert to seven until the 1997 facelift. How about the grille on that Honcho that's in another thread right now? Or the horizontal grille in the early XJ Wagoneers? So, to reiterate ... yes I was kidding except that I wasn't.Sort of. In a manner of speaking. Somewhat.

It must be built on an MJ chassis -- the grille has ten slots, not seven. [slight dig at DaimlerChrysler's idiocy over the 7-slot grille being a "trademark" of Jeep]

Oh, Lord ... I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO want that Honcho!

But that's not the way the rules of this site are structured. In addition, aside from anyone being offended, personal messages directed to and intended for one or two other members should be sent by PM, not posted in the open forums. Ben might insult Darren and Darren knows (or thinks he knows) that it's just kidding (or not) ... but several hundred other members who don't know either of them see posts like that and start to assume that it's okay on this site to insult other members. It isn't. This isn't Pirates of the Rubicon, this isn't even what NAXJA has devolved into, and I am eternally grateful for that. A little discretion and politeness won't kill anyone.

It is a bolt on. The header is a bolt-on, but the upper-outer corners are more rounded and don't match the sort of beveled profile of the early fenders. If you replace the fenders at the same time, that's not an issue. To imply that you can bolt on the header to the original fenders is misleading. It can be done, but it requires some preparation. Basically, you fill in the hollow spaces in the back of the upper-outer corners of the header with bondo. Then you bolt on the header and shave the corners to match the profile of the fenders. There's also a bit of work involved in mating the new style side marker lights to the older wiring harness. I think anyone considering what can/should be done to an MJ in the context of this thread needs to first sit back and define the distinction between "upgrade" (make it better) and "change" (make it different). There are a LOT of things you can change using bolt-on or near-bolt-on parts, but in many cases (such as the header, for example) they don't add any functionality, they don't work any different or better than the old parts, so they aren't "upgrades." If the goal is to make the vehicle more comfortable, more serviceable, and/or more convenient, it's important to zero in on the changes that actually accomplish one or more of those goals, and not waste money on stuff that's "different" but not "better."

I agree completely. Driving (spot) lights are much easier than fog lights. Just do it as CW proposes. You can do the same with fog lights, using a tap off the low beams for the trigger, but then you don't have the option of running fogs with just parking lights. That's why doing a "proper" setup for fogs gets a bit more complicated.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all, and may each of you and your families have something for which to give thanks.

That's for 1986 thru 1990. The 91 and 92 have the ECU next to the air intake box on the inside of the left front fender.

Not so fast, Mate. I currently have here an 86, an 87, two 88s and an 89. None of them have a factory foglight switch. The red '88 now has the switch, because I took the panel out of an XJ in a junkyard and installed it in the MJ, but I use it to control an aftermarket dome light.

Keep in mind that, by Federal and most state law, driving (spot) lights can be on ONLY when the high beams are on, and they MUST go off when you switch to low beams. However you choose to modify your wiring, be sure there is an interface to the high beams so the driving lights are on only with high beams. And be sure you use a relay or you'll fry the switch in the dashboard very quickly.

You can run up to 31x10.50-15 tires on stock Jeep rims with no lift. The cheapest way to lift is to go for a 2" budget boost. Use 2" (or 1-3/4", depending on source) spacers in the front, and get a Rancho full-length AAL in the rear. Hellcreek (on this forum) may have a similar AAL and, if they do, I would encourage getting it from them. Don't try to go higher than 2" on the cheap, or you'll just create problems. Personally, if I were going to run 30s I would not lift it at all.

Or off the road ... Just sayin'. I mean ... it IS a Jeep.

If you don't have a grinder, you could probably do the same job with a hacksaw and flat file. Thimk -- you must know someone who has a bench grinder.