Eagle

The drivers side floor was completely gone on my '88. I found that some of the steel patch panels in the hardware aisle at Lowe's were the perfect width to fit in there. Lowe's offers (or did at the time) two thicknesses of panels. I think it was 24 ga and 20 ga. I chose the heavier. Harder to bend, but easier to weld. I was blessed that the father of one of my friends in NAXJA is a professional welder, and in compensation for some help and parts I had given his son he welded the panels in for free. Still good several years later, but the leak is still there and I have to be sure to dry off the floor after a rain. Sure would be nive to be able to put a carpet in, but not until I find the leak.

????? You said you put in an '89 axle, right? So don't go looking for 90+ rotors. You said the rotors wouldn't go over the hub? Something's wrong, because even the wrong rotors will go on the hubs. The difference is in the thickness and height of the center "hat" section. Put the wrong year rotors on, and they won't be centered in your calipers, resulting in bound-up brakes. We know this to be true, because more than one person in NAXJA has managed to put the wrong rotors on. Double-check what's happening before you spend money.

Correct. Swamper -- Is this the '86 MJ listed in your signature? Which engine does it have, the 2.5L 4-cylinder (which is throttle body injected) or the 2.8L V6 (which is carbureted, with a POS of a carburetor)? You may have more than one problem, or you may just not be describing the symptoms very well. It would help to know what engine/tranny combination we're dealing with. It would also help to know how it died -- you mentioned bringing gas out -- did you run out of gas while you were playing around out there?

Put a jumper around your neutral safety switch and see if the problem goes away.

You will need new carrier and pinion bearings, a new pinion seal, and while it's apart you should replace the axle bearings and seals on both sides. 4.10 is a good ratio if you won't go beyond 31" tires, but it's not enough gear for 33s. I put 3.73s into my red '88 MJ ... because I already had them. I had chosen that ratio because I thought it was the ideal for the XJ running stock tires or maybe 30x9.50s. When I got the MJ, I used what I had. The overall final drive ratio with 31x10.50s and 3.73 gears worked out to exactly the same as stock tires and 3.55 gears. So going to 4.10s with 31" tires is only a very small increment. 4.10s and 31s is a good compromise setup for street use and mild trail use. The crawl ratio isn't as low as I'd like, but it's quite livable. Move up to 33" tires, and you're back to the functional equivalent of stock tires and gears, except you're trying to spin a MUCH heavier hunk or rubber. If 33s are on your radar, I'd suggest 4.56 gears.

My ex-wife had a Reneault Le Car back in 1980. We bought it for the gas mileage, and because it was cheap. The gas mileage wasn't great (around 30 MPG highway), and we quickly found out why it was cheap. It was possibly the worst car I ever drove. She loved it, though. The Honda 1300FE we bought in 1982 got 40 MPG highway, rode better, drove better, and was big enough for me to fit behind the steering wheel. It's a puzzler to me that, if Honda was able to make a civilized car 26 years ago that got 40 MPG with a gasoline engine, why aren't they making cars now that get 50 or 60 MPG? The only answer has to be -- because they don't want to.

This is why I won't advertise the MJs I need to sell anywhere but here. I've seen what idiots do to irreplaceable vehicles. Most of the reason I buy these excess MJs is just to keep them away from twits who use 'em up and throw 'em away like Kleenex. Went through the same thing years ago when I was in the Javelin/AMX Sports Car Club. We had one member who seemed to total out another classic, 2-seat AMX about every six weeks. He was lucky there were laws against intentional homicide, because he was on the list. The sad part was, he was a nice guy when sober. Unfortunately, the times when he was sober were few and far between ...

CW, the hole is definitely smaller than 1/2". In fact, it's hardly a "hole" at all, you have to look a bit to even see it on the outside, and it's virtually invisible on the inside. I was in Pep Boys while they dismounted it for me. That's where I bought the truck patch kit I just got, but it doesn't have any spike in the center of the patch. I didn't see anything like that. BTW -- Pep Boys used to sell inner tubes, but today I couldn't find any and the drone I asked said "Not since I've been working here." Did they stop selling them? If so, where can I buy a tube for a 30x9.50R15?

The starter is not part of the ignition system. A bad ignition module won't cause it to not turn over. You need to test to find out if you are getting power to the starter solenoid when you turn the key. If not, your problem is the ignition switch, or the neutral safety switch. Since you already had a problem with that, I would begin there. Try hot-wiring past the NSS and then see if the starter will turn over.

There are three parts required to replace the entire CCV system. They are available through NAPA for a lot less than Jeep dealer prices.

My brother found an almost new 30x9.50 Michelin tire on a Jeep alloy rim at his town's transfer station, so he snagged it and gave it to me. The rim is in good shape, and I can certainly use that. The tire looks to have virtually no wear on it, but there's a puncture in the sidewall. I had Pep Boys dismount it for me today and I'll check it out under some bright light tomorrow. So far, it appears to be more of a puncture than a slice. I know it's illegal for a shop to put a patch on a sidewall, but that's just what I'm thinking of doing. I wouldn't use it as a highway tire, but it might be suitable for a spare. I bought a truck tire patch that has a 2-ply, cord-reinforced patch. What are my chances of that holding -- or should I apply the patch and then find an inner tube for a belt-and-suspenders repair?

AFAIK the short block is the same for all years. The 2.5L was changed from a Renix-based system to a Mopar injection/ignition in 1991, just like the 4.0L, but I don't they made any significant changes to the block.

"I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal, The A-Team

Keep in mind that you aren't certain this was the problem. Thanks to the guy at the tranny shop talking you into yanking the distributor, you now don't know if the distributor is installed correctly or not. Before you start grinding on the locator tab, I suggest using the information in this tech bulletin to see if you can get the distributor reinstalled correctly and see if it aligns correctly with the notch. If so, there's no need to remove the locator tab. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

It may clear, but not "just fine." With factory Jeep rims, 31x10.50-15s rub the inside shoulder against the inner wheel well on even non-aggressive trail rides. The Exploder axle may clear with stock tires if you ONLY use it on pavement and both rear wheels always move up and down together, but get it even slightly crossed up and you have an interference fit. I'm not saying don't do the 8.8 swap -- but if you're going to do it, be sure you understand the limitations and compromises that come with the narrower track width.

The Alldata article should just confirm what I already posted. The actual factory TSB had a line art picture of the cap with the "window" cut in the side, but the procedure is the same. The key is to use the timing marks on the front cover to ensure that the crank is at exactly TDC -- and, of course, to be certain you're on the compression stroke and not the exhaust stroke.

What do you mean by "fit"? Physically, the 4.0L engine is the same block right up to the end of Cherokee production in 2001, and another year or two in the Wrangler. But if you want to just drop in another engine and keep your existing computer and wiring -- 1990 was the last year for the Renix injection/ignition system that's in your '88. Chrysler switched over to a completely different, ODB-I compliant system in 1991 that ran through 1996. 1997 was a sort of hybrid, mostly ODB-II compliant system, and then in 1998 they brought in a totally different system in the Cherokee that was used up until the end.

Gracias, Chico

You need to revise your signature, then, if you're still working on the lift. It's no fair claiming future mods in your sig. Heck, if we get to claim mods that are still laying around the garage or the basement, Pete would run out of bandwidth on my list of "Someday maybe I'll get to almost installing these" type mods.

You're certain you were at TDC on the compression stroke, and not the exhaust stroke? There was a TSB out on a timing correction for the Renix 4.0L engines. Apparently some of them must have had either a bad drive gear or the gear on some aftermarket camshafts was out of spec, causing the timing to be slightly off. The fix was to grind the locating ears off the distributor so it could be manually adjusted. Then it was set so that the rotor was NOT pointed exactly at the #1 contact in the cap, but slightly after it. If anyone has access to Alldata, we're looking for TSB #18-53-88. I remember that setting it involved taking an old distributor cap and cutting away the side around the #1 terminal. Then you use a feeler gauge to check the clearance between the tip of the rotor and the #1 contact on the cap. The clearance is supposed to be 0.020 when the #1 pistol is EXACTLY set at TDC. The rotor is supposed to be on the "departing" side of the #1 contact in the cap. In other words, there should be a gap of 0.020" between the cap contact and the trailing tip of the rotor contact. Be sure the #1 piston is at exactly TDC when you check this, and be sure #1 is on the compression stroke, not the exhaust stroke. Believe it or not, the 4.0L engines still have a set of timing marks on the front cover, and the harmonic balancer still has an index line. Use that to set #1 at exactly TDC, don't rely on eye-balling it.

If you disassemble the tee and run from that to the rear hose, you end up with not one but TWO connected lines running the full length of the chassis. Either one could rust through, so you're doubling the probability of losing your rear brakes. The original poster lives in the rust belt. MJ brake hard lines very often rust out and fail just in the vicinity of the fuel tank. Since he wants to eliminate the height sensing proportioning valve anyway, it makes much better sense to replace both rusty old hard lines with one new line and not drive around wondering when your right foot is going to go to the floor at a stop light.

The timing is not adjustable. Just exactly how did this genius determine that the timing was wrong? One tooth on the distributor drive gear is a bit more than "a hair."

^^^ I was also going to suggest pieces cut from Cherokee doors. They should be easy to find. If you need a long piece, look for a 2-door XJ, they had longer doors.

^^^ He said it much better than I could have. The bottom line is -- until you are 18 years of age, your parents are legally responsible for you and your actions. Their house = their rules. You have already had four suspensions THIS year? The school year is only 2/3 finished. You have to really work to get four suspensions in less than one school year. To you, the punishment may sound extreme. To me, who somehow managed to make it through four years of high school without a single detention, let alone suspension, it sounds to me like you don't have much respect for rules, and perhaps your parents think you need some help in coming to grips with that. I agree that many rules in high school are stupid. When you get out of school, you'll find that many of the laws in society are stupid. But they are the laws, and we break them at our own risk. Those who continually try to justify breaking laws because the laws are stupid usually end up with prison records and a lot less cash in their pockets than they might otherwise have. All actions have consequences. I think your parents are trying to teach you that.

Something like a Lock Rite is the cheapest way to lock a Dana 35, but that isn't a limited slip -- it's a locker. If you want a limited slip, the cheapest way is to buy a Dana Trac-Lok unit and install it. I haven't priced them for awhile, but I think they run about $225 to $250. If you're not changing gear ratios, you won't have to reset the pinion depth, so all you need to worry about is matching the ring gear backlash. The idea of the Exploder 8.8 is a good one, if you can buy it for the right price out of a junkyard. Keep in mind, though, that the 8,8 doesn't work with stock Jeep tires and wheels. The Exploder axle is slightly narrower than the MJ axle, so you need to run rims with less backspacing, or spacers (which are expensive) to keep the tires away from the inner fenders. Unless you plan to beat on it, I'd go with the Trac-Lok. I'm sure that's a minority view, however.