Eagle

What a great team we are. Looks like we now have it narrowed down to ... everything! :cheers:

I don't trust platinum plugs. I've heard too many stories of the tip breaking off and taking the top out of a piston. I use nothing but plain-Jane NGKs.

How are the u-joints in the rear drive shaft? Disengaging the clutch would remove any loading from the drive shaft ...

For an '88, I believe you need a cluster out of a mid-87 or newer XJ, up through '90. As noted above, in '91 Chrysler went over to the electronic speedo. You can also use the '84-early '87 clusters, but you'll need to replace your speedo cable with one for that year XJ. For the tach adjustment, it's a potentiometer not a switch, and there is no position for 8 cylinders. My friend put an '89 6-cylinder cluster into an '84 4-cylinder XJ. The '89 cluster has the potentiometer -- the early ones do not, so if you get an early cluster it will need to be from a 4-cylinder to match your vehicle and generate the correct reading. For the potentiometer, what my friend in Greece reported was that the pot (that's short for "potentiometer") was adjusted all the way to one extreme. To calibrate it to the 4-cyl he found that it required turning it all the way to the opposite extreme. I would use an idle tachometer to verify, if you have access to one. In my friend's case he was changing just because he preferred the style of the newer cluster, so he was able to connect both and compare the tach readings.

Lies. All lies. Or wishful thinking. And before someone asks -- old Dakota taillights don't fit, either, although they look similar from a distance.

Older S-10 caps fit. There's a thread on here about a month or so old that tells exactly what years. Found it -- look for the post by Pathkiller: http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/view ... highlight=

I've done the '88 XJ once and the '88 MJ twice. The MJ took about a half hour each time. The XJ took an hour. The XJ still has the splash shield in place, so I had to work from above.

:redX: The 2WD 2.5L MJs had 3.55 gears if they were 4-speeds.

Did I understand you to say that you had the distributor out? If so, are you CERTAIN you replaced it correctly? Just because you have spark at #1 cylinder doesn't mean you have spark at #1 when you need it. Remember, this is a 4-stroke engine. The crankshaft goes around twice for each ONE revolution of the distributor. If you put the distributor in 180 degrees out of phase, you'll be firing #1 when the piston is up on the exhast stroke rather than when it's on the compression stroke. When you mention backfiring with the starting fluid, that to me sounds like a hint that the plugs are firing when there's an exhast valve open. Which ain't supposed to happen.

Call your state department of motor vehicles and ask them if a known emissions RECALL (not a tech bulletin, which is only advisory) can "expire."

Actually, the rear only needs the spring perches. The shock mounts are built into the stock spring plates on the MJ.

Wrenching on old XJs is considered therapeutic ...

That seems to work for the US Postal Service. Theirs are nicely wedge-shaped, though, and they have high-tech solid handles.

Agreed. Why bust your knuckles when the dealership will do it for you?

You find a friend who is a decent welder. Then you get a hardened, "heavy pattern" washer of the correct size (I believe it's 10mm but hopefully someone will either confirm that or correct me) and you have your welder friend weld it to the face of the track bar bracket. That's what I did. It's been there for 10,000 miles, 8 years, and numerous off-road excursions. The washer I used came from a Jeeper buddy who is a VW technician in his secret identity. It came out of some suspension kit they use in the shop that often results in a few parts left over. Don't Rusty's arms accept stock bushings? They'll last a LOT longer than polyurethane, because they flex more.

Since it's New Years and you're probably either drunk or hung over, I'll let this slide. In the future, please try to be a little more genteel in your use of language. I am not now, and never have been, a German fighter plane.

:eek: Why would you even consider trashing the FRAME to adapt it to a pair of wasted control arms? That's a pretty backwards approach. The idea is to modify the cheapest, easiest to replace part, not the part that can never be replaced. If you have stock control arms, the bushings are replaceable, and even new stock control arms aren't that expensive from Crown Automotive or Quadratec. If you have aftermarket control arms, must either use stock bushings or rebuildable Johnny joints. IMHO you should fix what's broken, not mess with the frame of the vehicle to avoid buying a $20 part.

Yepp. Probably not.

Happy New Year to all of you and your familiies.

Early 1950s Hudsons with drum brakes on all four wheels stopped shorter than any 4-wheel disk street sedan on the market today -- with no power brakes. Yes, disc brakes dissipate heat better, and for racing that's a concern. For normal street driving and for trail use that's not a consideration.

Semantics. In order for me to consider something an "upgrade" it has to be significantly better than what it replaces, not just different. I grew up working on modified stock cars that would lock up all four big, fat racing tires being driven by full-race 427 Chevy engines -- using drum brakes with no power boosters. You're going to have to work very hard to convince me that disc brakes are inherently "better" than drum brakes. If you think they're better and you want to go through the hassles of making the conversion, be my guest. Personally, I just don't see any point to it.

I know I'm in a minority, but I would replace the seals and buy a pair of brake drums. You're not running NASCAR, there's no need for disc brakes in an MJ.

Extremely rare. Jeep only offered the 5-speed in the Grand for the 1993 model year. They discontinued it because they didn't sell very many.

You got the labels right. I don't have any other MJ junction blocks to cut open, but I did slice an XJ combo valve. I wanted to see how it works. Even after cutting it open and studying it, I still don't understand how it provides any proportioning. I *WAS* going to replace the MJ junction block with an XJ combo valve. Now that I have looked inside the XJ unit, I have given up that notion. I'll stick with the MJ junction block and bypass the rear proportioning valve. I can deal with excess brakes in the rear much better thah I can deal with no brakes in the rear.

I hope you realize that the 3" lift is not going to do anything to correct that rubbing on the LCAs. I had a 4" lift on the '88 MJ and the 31s rubbed on the LCAs. That was one of the reasons I decided the lift provided zero advantages, compared to several disadvantages.