Eagle

The axle disconnect is vacuum actuated, so you can use a vacuum switch like that to control it. But you have to look for an 86 or earlier with Select-Trac, and that may not be easy to find. A Posi-Lock used a cable like a throttle or choke cable and converts the disconnect to mechanical operation. Both methods work ... take your pick.

Well, you have to remember that the Marines don't need as many non-combat related skills as other branches. For building stuff, they have the Seabees (Navy). For medics, they have corpsmen (Navy). Where the motto of the engineering battalion in my area of operations in Vietnam was "The difficult we do overnight; the impossible takes a bit longer" ... the motto of the USMC is "When it absolutely positively must be destroyed immediately." Seabees and engineers build things (and occasionally blow them up). Marines just ... break things. Seriously, I think the Marines would also welcome a mature individual with a good educational background. I don't know what MOS they could offer him, but I think they'd welcome him. If he's not totally turned off by the Marines, I think he should find a different recruiting station and chat them up. However, unless he's given up all interest in architecture, I think the Navy Seabees or the Army Engineers would be a better fit for him.

The AW4 was used in the Grand Cherokee only in the 1993 model year. It is possible that you have a torque converter that doesn't match your transmission. On another note, getting back to basics, are you certain the torque converter is actually bolted to the flex plate? I ask this only because I happen to ... ahem ... know a certain person (who shall forever remain unnamed) who replaced a flex plate. A friend came over one night to help put everything back together. Once everything was snugged up, they (yeah, "they") started the engine, put the tranny in gear .. and the rear wheels didn't move. After exhausting all possible problems, the ... unnamed person ... asked his friend if he had tightened the bolts holding the torque converter to the flex plate. "No, I thought you did that." Oops.

I'm not really sure what you think you have in mind, but that console in your photo does not show a Cherokee/Comanche with a 242 transfer case. That's an old 84-86 model with a 228/229 -- the 2/4 switch is a vacuum switch, not a mechanical lever. It has been used as an axle disconnect control, but a Posi-Lock is a mechanical device, not vacuum actuated.

Thanks for trying, guys. Dang ... the word isn't even in the Oxford English-Spanish dictionary. If it isn't in there, it MUST be specialized. Anybody else? IIRC the van is around 2002. If the part has something to do with steering, and a generic translation is "rod," my best guess is tie rod end. The Chrysler mini-vans have rack & pinion steering, so it can't be a drag link or something like that. But the gal said it's available only through Chrysler. Are mini-van tie rod ends proprietary? Oh, oh. Sway bar? Now THAT would be proprietary.

Spanish to English. My wife's friend in Chile needs a part for a Chrysler mini-van, but she only knows the name of the part in Spanish, and all my wife knows is that it has "something to do with the steering." The word is "vieletas." Chrysler mini-vans in the 90s were already using rackety pinion steering, were they not? So I'm guessing it's either a rack & pinion unit, or a tie rod end. But the gal in Chile insists it is available only from Chrysler, so that's making me think it must be a steering box. Anybody fluent in automotive Espanol?

Yikes! The case is aluminum. I don't think a torch is a good idea.

Clean = Not Dirty :cheers:

Sounds to me like a VERY good price.

It means that your oil filter was clogged up with gunk and resisting the flow of oil, resulting in high pressure.

:agree:

So pull a spark plug, and (using some insulated pliers) hold the electrode or base against the block somewhere and have your helper crank the engine over. There should be a nice, fat spark at the sparkplug electrode. Did I mention to use insulated pliers? USE INSULATED PLIERS.

Blue smoke from the tailpipe when you let off the gas usually suggests valve seals/guides. When you close the throttle, the engine is sucking hard and making a lot of vacuum, so it'll try to pull in anything it can from anywhere it can. There's oil in the rocker arm chamber, so if it sucks air around the valve stems, it sucks oil with it.

Ideally you'd be checking at the #1 cylinder, but either way -- it's a 4-stroke engine. Each piston comes up twice for each cycle, once for compression (and firing) and then again for exhaust. Did you have the distributor out? Are you sure the piston wasn't at TDC on the exhaust stroke when the distributor was pointing at it? Are you certain you have the wires in the correct order? I've messed tat up a few times. 1-5-3-6-2-4 I believe is the correct order.

Ayuh. That'll do 'er.

The headlight switch incorporates a built-in circuit breaker. When it goes bad, the headlights create enough draw to trip the breaker. As soon as things cool off, the lights come back on ... until the circuit breaker overheats again. How long will the lights stay on if you just turn on the parking lights? Is the interval shorter using the high beams than it is with the low beams? (High beams draw more current, so if the breaker is weak they'll overheat and trip it faster than the low beams.)

I think Islam is the largest religion in the world even if you DO include those Christians. Without a doubt, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. However, that's a topic for a different discussion, which also doesn't belong on a Jeep forum.

"Mutually exclusive" means if it is one, it cannot be the other. The one excludes the other, and the other excludes the one. If Christianity and Creationism are mutually exclusive, then if you are a Christian you cannot be a creationist, and if you are a creationist you cannot be a Christian. Not sure, but I don't think that's what you meant.

That is the focus, but OCS is mentioned ... briefly. I thought it was of interest in this discussion because it talks about the need for the military (all branches) to bring in more qualified officers, and an attitude like that recruiter's superior has ain't gonna get the job done. In general, if the military is ramping up, there should be an OCS slot available in one of the services.

I thought the woman and the tow truck might be amusing, but SHEESH! I'm on a DSL connection and that thing was taking forevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvver to load. Life's too short.

A forum lives or dies by its capacity for staying on-topic and relevant as well as not irritating significant portions of its membership.

I just found this in the on-line news: http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?froms ... h=ne&ch=ne I really REALLY think your friend should report the incident to the people I suggested above. Chances are, that unnamed superior has a track record that will show up loud and clear if anyone starts looking at it. That attitude is not acceptable.

Yep. "OCS" = Officer Candidate School. The way it works is (at least, the way it worked when I enlisted), he enlists as an enlisted soldier, and goes through normal Basic Training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) as an enlisted man. Following AIT he will be assigned to an OCS unit. When I was in, OCS for the Corps of Engineers was at Fort Belvoir, VA. That lasts six months (unless they've changed the protocol ... which is very possible, considering how long ago I enlisted). If he survives Basic, AIT and OCS, upon completion of OCS his original enlistment is terminated, he is commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and he starts over with a new commitment as a commissioned officer. I don't think any of the services offer direct commissions any more (other than chaplains and doctors), so regardless of whether he's looking at the Army, the Navy, Uncle Sam's Mountain Climbers or the Air Farce, the basic setup will most likely be about the same. http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armytrng/a/ocs.htm http://www.army.com/enlist/officers06.html http://www.goarmy.com/ocs/

But there isn't free exchange of ideas. I am an ordained, Christian minister. I attended a church-affiliated college and my undergraduate roommate became an Episcopal priest. Other classmates became ordained in a number of other (generally Protestant) denominations. Needless to say, I have strong opinions about the topic. I also recognize that other people have their own strong opinions, which may not agree with mine. Since, ultimately, none of us will ever know the truth until (possibly) after we have died, there is no point in arguing it. I refuse to proselytize, on this topic or any other. But it is VERY difficult when I encounter discussions in which a person holding one view does not simply state his view and leave it, but attempts to persuade others that his view is THE correct view, to shut up and back off. There have been such posts in our "civil, adult" discussion. Out of respect for Pete's decision to let the thread run, I have not responded, nor will I. In fact, I no longer monitor the thread, because I know that if I refute some of the prosletyzing posts, somebody will get their knickers in a twist. So I shut up and stay out of it. That is NOT a free exchange of ideas. There is an old saying, "Don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer." It's one thing to ask a loaded question. Having done so, it is (IMHO) unfair to then engage anyone espousing an opinion different from yours in an attempt to convince them they are wrong. If the thread in question were to be a free exchange of everyone's view on the topic, each person should have posted ONCE to state their view ... and then stayed out of it so other people would feel free to state their own views without worrying if they'd be attacked. There is a reason why religion is usually a topic not to be discussed outside of the immediate family or your own church group.

Your friend should report that immediately to his Representative in Washington, then the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and then the Secretary of Defense. He should then go across the street and talk to the U.S. Army about enlisting for OCS as an Engineer. With a degree in architecture, they should fall all over themselves to sign him up. He should also look at the Navy Seabees.