Eagle

Motion is correct. That's from an EARLY 4-cylinder, which has a narrower air box than the 4.0L. That bottle will NOT fir a 4.0L unless you have removed the stock air box and are running a cone intake.

It's a misconception to think that a lower temperature thermostat will make an overheating vehicle magically run cool. The purpose of the thermostat is to keep the temperature UP, not down. Assuming a stock 195-degree thermostat, if your radiator is not capable of keeping the temperature down to 195 degrees, there is no reason to think it would be capable of keeping the temperature down to 180 degrees. The bottom line is, when it's time for a radiator, it's time for a radiator ... anything else is a Band-Aid.

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. If it were up to me, I'd go looking for one of the original, stretched 2-door Unlimiteds from the first year they were offered, when they still had the 4.0L engine. Either that, or graft the back of an MJ to the frint of a 4-door XJ. But that's a lot of work if you're taking care of a rug rat.

Sounds a bit like what's been happening with mine recently. Something is getting "heat soaked," and doesn't like to run hot. Possibilities include the ignition module, the coil (which mounts on top of the ignition module), and maybe the fuel pump ballast resistor. Most folks tell me the ballast resistor isn't a candidate, that they either work or they don't work, but the symptomes with mine when it dies are like running out of gas. Problem is, since I started carrying a jumper wire for the next time as a test ... it hasn't happened. With yours, next time it dies check your fuel rail to see if you have fuel pressure. If not, jumper the two wires on the ballast resistor and see if it'll run. If that doesn't work, look at the coil and ignition module.

Okay, it's after the end of the business day on Monday. Have we been notified? Did "we" officially win?

That's absolute crap Eagle. How can you generalize like that - it's not like you. It's not a generalization. It's a flat statement, based on my experience owning both types of XJ. You said it yourself. The overwhelming consensus on NAXJA when I was active there was that the Renix vehicles got better gas mileage than the HOs. In my own mini-fleet, the very best mileage the HOs have produced has been around 21 MPG. When it was new, the '88 got mid-20s highway and had a high of 28 MPG, heavily loaded, on a trip from Connecticut to Vermont. This is true. But who's to say this isn't good depending on what you rig is used for? Personally I'd rather have a higher peak power band for max efficiency AND the resulting better gas mileage. Having the peak torque and HP readings at lower RPMs is only good for tractors and/or off-road purposes. The ratio of on-road vs. off-road on 99% of our MJs is probably 10 to 1, if that. Who wants to peak out at 2300 RPM or so cruising down the interstate? Peak efficiency comes from operating the engine at the torque peak. The torque peak on the original HO engine was 3,950 RPM, and they later dropped it to 3,000 RPM in 1996, with the change to ODB-II. By contrast, the '87 had a torque peak at 2,000 RPM and the '88 - '90 had a torque peak at 2,400 RPM. Considering that at legal highway speeds the 5-speed with stock gears cruises at less than 2,000 RPM and an automatic on stock tires only turns 2260 RPM at 70 MPH, there's no justification using your efficiency argument for raising the torque peak in the HO engines. This is why the Renix engines typically produce better gas mileage -- they are operating near their torque peak at highway speeds.

I'll be very interested to see what they use for a final count. It's now 1:07 a.m. on Monday and the voting mechanism is still functioning. SHEESH!

Congratulations ... I guess. What a messed up contest. Setting it up to allow "stacking" the voting is dumb enough, but then to allow the voting to continue after the cut-off? What a bunch of maroons (to borrow a pjrase from Bugs Bunny).

Are you looking for a fender, or a bumper? Any place selling Certi-Fit body parts can sell you a fender. Try Quadratec, Keystone, or Sherman. Rusty's and Custom 4x4 (a.k.a. C4x4) have front tow hook kits that fairly closely replicate the old factory tow hook setup. In fact, if you search hard enough I believe Keystone also offers the brackets, and you can use any hook. The C4x4 kit is a good start. Motion Off-Road may also have something. However, if you're also thinking "winch," rather than spend money on tow hook brackets it would make better sense to just invest in a good winch bumper that also includes mounting points for either tow hooks or (better) D-rings.

UM, if I may.... Get a 1991 Comanche or newer. That way you get away from the Renix motor. The renix is a GREAT motor, but the 91+ 4.0L is just a weeee bit better! I absolutely disagree. The Renix is easier to work on and they get better gas mileage. The HO puts out a few more horsepower, but the torque peak is MUCH higher in the RPM band. The Renix engines drive like a Jeep/truck engine should. The HO engines drive like "car" engines. (Which, of course, is what DaimlerChrysler wanted.)

My Pioneer had a bench. The buckets were optional. And the 10-spoke turbine wheels were the "standard option" alloy wheels. I think the Eliminators came with an alloy rim featuring circular punchouts. Not the "Gambler" rim, but something similar.

I'm watching it, and I'll start throwing votes at Steph if the other team puts on a surge. Meanwhile, I'd still like to push Cynthia Davidson ahead of the complainer (Kelly Homavitch), so if anyone has a couple of votes to spare, throw 'em at Cynthia.

You could tell him my reliability story. At the end of 1998, my '88 XJ was (IIRC) around 175,000 miles and I was concerned about reliability, so I bought a new 1999 Grand Cherokee. Once it arrived, I put the XJ up for sale at what I felt was a decent, fair price. Nobody even called to look at it or make a counter offer. Not even after I reduced the price twice. Meanwhile, the new "reliable" Grand Cherokee was spending more time in the shop than it was in my garage. At one point the factory flew in a special trouble-shooter, who spent an entire WEEK at the dealership doing things to my Grand Cherokee. And every single thing he touched was worse when he finished than it had been before he started. Finally, at about 14,000 miles, the Grand Cherokee simply died, right in the middle of a state road. I had it towed to the dealership, where they determined that they knew what was wrong with it, but they couldn't fix it because the part wasn't in the supply chain yet for the '99 models. At that point, Chrysler bought the Grand back from me to stop me from going lemon law with it. I replaced it with a 2000 XJ, which my wife drives. I still have the original '88 XJ (the one I was worried about when I bought the Grand, remember). It is now at 275,000 miles, still gets better gas mileage than the 2000, and doesn't burn any oil. The head has never been off it. I replaced the clutch at 200,000 miles, and every three years or so I replace the exhaust from the cat back. That's it. Regular oil changes, and it runs like the Energizer bunny. IMHO there is no vehicle available that is more reliable than a 1988 Jeep Cherokee. If your father is concerned about reliability, he should be begging you NOT to sell that XJ.

Yeah, but look how much paint you saved by not having doors ... :D

Using a sprayer, you would probably need 5 to 6 quarts. A number of years ago a friend of a friend (an unemployed professional body man) painted my full-size Cherokee. He didn't do the roof -- only from the beltline down. He used a full gallon of urethane. I had Colorado Red mixed up in the large size spray cans when I repleced the fenders on the '88. I used 2-1/2 cans (the size of the Duplicolor truck paint cans) to do two front fenders.

You don't need a torch. You don't have to remove the rivet. Take out the bolts through the top of the clamps, and there's enough room to fit an additional leaf into the pack. If you have to, you can take a rat-tail file and elongate the holes in the vertical legs of the clamps just a bit. Oops -- just looked closer at your photo. My springs are different from yours. What I would do is un-bend the tops of those clamps so the sides are just vertical. Built the AAL into the pack, then drill through the tops of the clamps and run a through bolt from one side to the other.

You don't want to use an AAL that's so short it fits between the stck leaf clamps. It will have to be VERY stiff, and it's going to concentrate a lot of stress in the other leaves right at the tips of the AAL. It's a VERY poor solution. I don't mind doing AALs, but the only way to go is full-length AAL (IMHO) BTW, this sounds tech-ish, so I'm moving it to Tech

Check your state laws/MV regulations before doing a turn-down. In Connecticut, I don't think they are legal (although that may not apply to pickups, I don't remember for certain).

Freeze plugs are fine...I'm opening up the block drains to drian the coolant so I can change the head gasket. That's what I thought. Some of the previous responses seemed to be talking about freeze plugs. I've pulled the block drains with the engine in the vehicle. Never tried to pull the temp sender in the block. I think the FSM meant to remove the sender in the head. Just be careful it doesn't snap off ... although since you'll have the head off anyway, you would have access to drilling out the stub.

He'll fit right in in Noo Yawk.

That's why I like the J.C. Whitney stuff. You can buy a 25-foot roll for a lot less than a set of Bushwhackers, and have plenty left over for replacements if you trash one offroad. It won't look quite as nice as the Bushwhackers (now THERE's an understatement!), but "functional" and "cheap" are the twin mantras of all true Jeepers.

HOLD ON! What, exactly, are you looking to remove? Are you removing the freeze plugs, or the threaded block drains that you're supposed to open when draining and refilling the coolant?

I have a roll of the standard width stuff, but I took off the 31x10.50 tires so I don't need to install it. I goofed -- I bought the style that needs a flat lip inside the wheel arch, and the kid who sold me the MJ cut rear wheel openings back so far there is no metal there I could fold back to make a lip. I should have bought the style for surface mounting. It's good, heavy rubber. I don't know how long it would stay flexible once exposed to U.V. in the sun, but it's pretty solid stuff.

It wouldn't be necessary for making the engine run, but the 2.5L has a 1-piece rear main seal, which means you have to pull the tranny and flywheel to replace it. If you're pulling the tranny to replace the flywheel, it would probably be a good idea to pull a preemptive strike and do the seal while you have access to it.

May not be "better" but a lot cheaper is those rolls of rubber fender extender stuff that J. C. Whitney sells. http://www.jcwhitney.com/EASY-TO-TRIM-R ... _10101.jcw It's cheap, and it's flexible. What's not to like? If you have wide tires that stick out, get the heavy-duty, 3" type.