Eagle

Does the new lever already have the wires attached for cruise? If so, you fish the wires down the steering column and plug them into the connector at the base, where the wires from the old one plugged in. If the "new" stalk you got didn't come from a vehicle with cruise control and doesn't already have the wires ... you can't use it.

What factory service manual are you looking at? I have the 1986 MJ FSM open in front of me. The acceptable compression range is 155 to 185 psi, with a maximum variation between cylinders of 30 psi. That doesn't mean you can take the lowest pressure they cite and then subtract another 20 percent to get the minimum. That means your highest doesn't need to be over 185, and your lowest should not be less than 155. Ideally, they'll all be in between those numbers and fairly close to each other. It'll run with less than 155 psi compression. It'll run with a LOT less compression ... but it'll be a weak sister engine.

A 20+ year old vehicle, of course. Comes with the turf.

How to turn back (or forward) the odometer has been discussed here a couple of times. Try a search. Just keep in mind that for every person who has done it successfully, there are probably five who trashed the odometer in the attempt. You cannot wire cruise into a turn signal stalk. The stalk has to come from a vehicle that has cruise, and the stalk will have the wires in it. Then you fish the wires down through the column to the connector at the base. The emissions light is set off by a timer. It's a little box held up under the dash over the driver's knees by velcro. Just unplug it an the light should go out. Keep in mind that it's a reminder to replace the oxygen sensor. The O2 sensor should be replaced every 75,000 miles. If you don't know how many miles are on yours, you should replace it. If it goes bad, it usually results in a rich mix that ruins the catalytic converter ... at which point you have to buy both an O2 sensor AND a catalytic converter.

If you don't know which transmission you have, how do you know that the mount is available in both rubber and polyurethane?

There's a choice?

We were? I'm of Scots/English/French/Swiss descent. Are you of Navajo or Apache descent? Or Anasazi? IMHO this has nothing to do with who was anywhere first. It has to do with, this is here, and that is there. Each country has ONE flag, and that's the flag that should be flown in that country. I would not expect to move to Germany, Japan, Russia, or Argentina and find them flying the American flag. People who move to the United States have no right to expect that any flag other than the American flag will be flown here, and they certainly have no right to be offended when it is. Likewise, there seems to be a growing problem with people from certain cultures moving here and expecting that they get to conduct their lives according to the messed up laws of their old country (I'm referring to things like forcing girls to marry against their wishes, and "honor killings," particularly). If they don't want to live under American law, they shouldn't move to America.

With that axle, just remember that you CANNOT jack up the rear of the vehicle with an axle jack under the pumpkin. If you do, the weight of the vehicle will warp the center section and you'll always have problems. The ZJ and WJ owners manuals don't tell you this. The WJ factory shop manual DID tell me this. I never owned a ZJ so I don't know if it's in the ZJ FSM. Since you're looking at a used axle, check it carefully for straightness, because thete's a strong possibility somebody else has already jacked it up by the pumpkin. To be honest, IMHO the Dana 35 is a better axle than that so-called Dana 44 aluminum piece of detritus.

According to AutoZone on-line, the 9-11/16" is for the 4-speed and the 9-1/8" is for the 5-speed. Considering they are the same transmission, I find that rather questionable. The 1986 MJ FSM says the clutch disc for the 4- and 6-cylinder models is 9.687" -- that's a lot closer to 9-11/16" than it is to 9-1/8".

A friend of mine just replaced the fuel pump in his wife's Suburban for the second time in two years. (Maybe three.) To do it in a Suburban, you have to completely drop the tank. Ugh.

The electrical plug is mounted in what's referred to as the "quill", which is what holds the speedometer drive gear in the transmission. That comes out -- the's a 'C' shaped retainer that's held in by a single bolt. Just use the quill from your old transfer case. Pay attention to orientation. It get's adjusted to different orientations depending on the tooth count of the speedo gear. Make certain it goes into the new t-case the same way it was in the old one.

BTW -- THe loss of vacuum is not normal. When it does that, it means you have a vacuum leak. The usual place is where the vacuum lines run near the battery tray to the vacuum reserve cannister (also known as the blimp or the football) behind the front bumper).

No, the basic control arm mounts are exactly the same. The extra reinforcing for the MJ is formed gusset plates that could be bought separately and added to an XJ. I still have an unused set of them in my basement.

Exactly. Brings back memories -- vacuum wipers at the top of Pike's Peak (14,000 feet) on a foggy day ...

Doesn't look better than the C4x4 to me. The mounting bolts ALL go into the bottom of the frame, and there's nothing extending back along the frame. They say it stands up to side pulls, but the actual mounts for the tow hooks are just flat plate sticking out the front of the assembly. I think a side pull would twist 'em right off.

If you have it set in defrost mode, the flappers are already set to direct air to the defrost vents. You have to test it with the flappers set for either HEAT (feet only) or VENT (front of dash only). The fan is not slowly dying -- the flow of air is gradually being redirected from the foot or dash vents to the defrost vents. The overall flow of air is not being reduced.

First -- what year MJ, and what engine and transmission? Second - What makes you think "there should be a sensor that kicks up the idle when an electrical load is sensed...such as the AC"? The fact some Japanese car you once owned had such a thing, perhaps? Third - I doubt the problem is your fan speed. The HVAC duct controls in the MJ are controlled by vacuum. The default position for the flappers is to send all air to the defrost outlets on the top of the dashboard. When there is a vacuum leak in the system, when the engine is pulling lots of vacuum (such as when coasting), there's plenty to hold the flappers where you have them set. When the engine vacuum drops (such as going up a long upgrade in 5th gear), the flappers shift and the air gets diverted to the defrost. Pay attention to what's happening next time you drive it and I think you may find that, rather than the fan speed dropping, you are noticing a reduction in airflow to your feet or the front of the dash because it's all going to the defrost.

I have had the same idea, but I haven't pursued it, either. All it needs is four feet to hold it to the rain gutter.

Did I say "Take the top shim out"? If the gap between the front edge of the door and the rear edge of the fender is about the same as it was before, and about the same as the door on the driver's side -- leave the upper shim in. If the gap at the upper hinge is much larger than it was before, take the shim out.

Shim(s) between the bottom hinge and the door.

The two outlets on the front metering block (that thingie just below the master cylinder) that go to the rear are to forward two. The one that comes out the "nose" is the one you keep. The one out the forward bottom is the bypass, and that gets blocked off. Go to a good hardware store and buy a 5/8 SAE (fine thread) bolt. The shortest available is 1" -- cut it off to about 3/8" long, put an O-ring around it, put a dab of RTV on the end, and screw it into that front/bottom outlet. Run ONE new line from the "nose" outlet in front directly to the flex hose at the rear axle. Done.

It's October 15 -- two weeks BEFORE Halloween. Yesterday morning I scraped ice off my windshield in the morning. Today it was 32 degrees and snowing when I left work at 4:00 p.m., and the ground was white. I'm into my 7th decade and I can't EVER remember snow actually making on the ground this early in the year. I'm sure the global warming apologists will be along any minute to explain how colder weather than we've ever seen is really a product of global warming. So how is it that when I was a kid we went trick-or-treating in tee shirts, and now the kids need down parkas under their costumes. Idjits.

There are no Cherokees with disc brakes in the rear. Period. You can find GRAND Cherokees with disc brakes in the rear, but the Grand Cherokee "Dana 44" is a special D44 with an aluminum differential housing that's even weaker than a D35 housing, so IMHO swapping in one of those is a downgrade rather than an upgrade. Plus, because the aluminum housing has different dimensions, a lot of parts for a normal D44 won't fit the aluminum version.

Anything can be swapped into anything. Can you be more specific as to what you have in mind?

Is there any smell? Where does the smoke come out? My first guess is that your heater core leaks, and when it's hot you're actually getting steam from heated coolant inside the cabin.