Eagle

The heater core is probably blocked.

Because a T5 and an AX5 are both 5-speeds, but an AX4 is a 4-speed. JeepCo, what's the VIN on that 2.8L 4-speed? I'm not doubting that it came to you that way, but since I know what could and could not be ordered from the factory back then, I don't think it was factory.

HESCO has an adapter to run the CPS off the front of the engine. It's designed for converting a carbureted 4.2L to EFI but there's no reason it can't be used to run an odd tranny behind a 4.0L.

Rusty uses the cheapest Chinese TRE he can lay his hands on, that's why they break. To get the truck back on the road, just buy a replacement TRE from an auto parts store and stick it in there. Does the driveway have an approach angle? Were you turning in when it broke, or going straight? It's quite possible to flex out a suspension turning into a steep driveway. The TRE shouldn't break ... but with cheap Chinese parts, anything is possible (except good performance). When you install a new one, be sure to check the tapered hole in the frame bracket. If there's any crud in the hole, it can prevent seating the TRE in the bracket, and that could be one reason for not being able to tighten the castle nut far enough to insert the cotter pin. FWIW, I would never drive a vehicle w/o the cotter pin. Loc-tite is good stuff, but I'm not brave enough to use it as a replacement for a mechanical safety like a cotter pin.

Everything I'm seeing about this is wrong. First, the TRE broke where it goes into the track bar. A loose castle nut canNOT cause that. But having the TRE bind up because you flexed it beyond its range of motion. How much lift do you have and were you flexing it out when it broke? What's this about having to put on three or four more turns to line up the castle nut with the hole? A castle nut has six slots. If the hole is already visible, the most you should need to turn it as about 1/12 of a revolution.

x 10! A friend of mine lost his MJ that way. He knew the injectors were leaking, so he drove it to the dealership to buy the o-rings. When he walked out of the parts department, the truck was in flames.

Your system is working in reverse. The front (larger) hose is the crankcase intake hose. The small hose off the back of the valve cover is supposed to be the suction hose. When this gets clogged, there's no vacuum being pulled so the crankcase gets pressurized by blow-by and pushes oil out the inlet ... and into the air cleaner box. You need to replace the rear line, but there is a baffle inside the valve cover that is probably clogged, too, so the right way to do it is to remove the valve cover and clean out the inside -- and the baffle -- when you install the new hose.

I'm going to guess a 231 with a disconnect front axle and a vacuum leak.

I was looking at having my XJ shipped out to Moab for the annual NAXJA event a couple of years ago and the best price I got was $600 -- each way. I'm sure with rising fuel costs it would be closer to $1000 by now. I didn't do it, so I can't provide any experience, positive or negative.

The little lever to release the key is used only on the manual transmissions. On the XJs with automatic (and the MJs with floor shift) that function is handled by putting the floor shifter into Park. Finding a column with no key is not a reason to run away. If you got it with a key, most likely it would only have ONE key, and the key would be so badly worn that you could never get a good copy made from it anyway. Pep Boys and the other parts houses sell replacement lock cylinders for about $10 (maybe a bit more now, I bought mine a few years ago) and it's a fairly easy job to install. Much easier with the column out of the vehicle.

The axles can be used -- the front directly, and the rear by relocating the spring perches (although the rear is provbably a Dana 35, there's a possibility it could be a Chrysler 8.25). The engine, tranny and transfer case can all go into an MJ. If you transplant the newer engine as-is, you would have to rewire at least your engine compartment for the newer HO computer, but you can also just adapt the intake manifold to accept the Renix throttle body, use the Renix distributor, and run the HO engine as a Renix.

Either it's getting bad data from some sensor, or it only runs "right" in open loop mode. If it only ran well for the first few miles after a cold start I'd say it was the latter. If it reverts to good every time you start, well JeepcoMJ is correct, the Renix system doesn't "learn" and store anything -- every start begins from the default ECU program. So, some way, somehow it sounds like there's a sensor that isn't sending the right data to the ECU. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security because various sensors have been replaced. There are defective sensors. I just changed out the CPS in my '88 MJ, and after replacing it the truck still won't start. It;s supposed to be putting out 0.5 to 0.8 volts a/c when cranking. It's producing 0.23 volts. I gave up, had it flat-bedded to the dealership, and a week leter they can't figure it out. Don't give up, but try to double-check everything. Have you found the link someone posted recently to an article on how to test ALL the sensors in the Renix system? In your situation, I'd say it is definitely recommended reading. Ah -- found it: http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Eng ... ostics.htm

Before you replace the voltmeter in the dash, check the voltage at the battery with a multimeter. The dash gauges are notoriously inaccurate. The one in my '88 XJ reads about 11 volts, but even when the dealership checked it with their scanner it was actually putting out (IIRC) 13.4 volts -- which is just about right.

The battery trick doesn't work on Renix models, either. (That's 86-90 for the 2.5L and 87-90 for the 4.0L). Every start is a "clean boot."

What about the oxygen sensor? I don't know too much about the Renix injection system (remember, folks, the early TBI was a Renix system, too). Is it possible that under normal cruise it isn't reading the exhaust correctly? I don't know if flooring the peddle overrides the O2 sensor to give a richer mix for maximum power, but it's possible. How does it respond when you FIRST fire it up on a cold day? On a cold start, instead of a choke the ECU operates in "open loop mode," ignores most sensor input, and provides a pre-mapped, extra-rich mixture for warm-up. In my '88 XJ 4.0L, the switch to "closed loop mode" takes place about 2 miles down the road after pulling out of my driveway. I have to back up and turn around before heading up the driveway, so figure about 5 minutes (approximately) in open loop mode. Try your MJ that way. Start it first thing in the morning, get on the road immediately, and see if it's running any different in the first couple of minutes. On cold days, I can literally feel the switch take place. The location happens to be a level stretch with a 35 MPH speed limit. I'll be cruising along in 4th gear, right at the speed limit, and I can feel the engine do a little stutter, bump, and then it smooths right out again.

But this is a 2.5L 4-speed, which means it has 3.45 gears rather than the 4.10 gearing used on 2.5s with a 5-speed. I own two of these. The 2.5L mated to 3.54 gears IS "fall on its face slow."

You do not have to buy a new valve cover.

I bought a new radiator for my 88 XJ this spring. I bought it from a professional radiator shop and they charged me (IIRC) $150. You can get about the same price from the chain places, but I prefer going local on a radiator because if it leaks, he can fix it. So this shop you went to wanted $320 for a radiator that probably costs them maybe $100 -- that's a rather steep markup.

Happy Thanksgiving, all you Comanche dudes and dudettes.

That quotation might make more sense if "morale" were spelled correctly. :cheers:

You have it backwards, Mate. Higher octane retards the burn. Knock is caused by premature (or too rapid) detonation, and that's what higher octane helps control. So you want to take a fuel that's already got a higher octane than any commercially available gasoline (more like aviation gas), and then add an octane booster? You'll end up with a fuel that won't burn unless you hit it with a nuke.

:???: Tax? You're in New York. Clayton is in Connecticut. RE is ... somewhere other than New York. WHAT tax is "included"? There's no tax unless the vendor has a physical presence (meaning a store, office or warehouse) in your state.

I guess I have heard that, but I never remember it because I know the newer ones have a 6-lug pattern. IF the old ones have a 5x4-1/2" circle, and IF the exle is a usable width, then you would need to check the spline count and shaft diameter. Remember, the XJ 8.25 axles were 27-spline with the same shaft diameter as a Dana 35 up through 1996. I believe the beefier 29-spline version showed up in the 1997 XJs. The older ones are hardly worth the effort of welding on new spring perches. The housing and tubes are stronger than a Dana 35 but the shafts aren't, plus they are c-clip axles and the D35 through 1988-1/2 was not a c-clip.

Bad guess. :redX: The AW4 is an overdrive tranny, and one of the selector positions covers overdrive. (On the floor shifts it's the 'D' selection with a circle around it -- I don't know what it's marked on the column shifts.) The power-comfort switch basically just changes the shift points. The power setting is easier on the tranny and is the way they came hard-wired after 1990, when Jeep eliminated the switch. To lock out overdrive, move the selector lever to the '3' position.

I have seen some home-made long arms. I won't go on the same trail with them. BAAAAAD ju-ju. I also live right down the road from Clayton's Off-Road, one of the originators of XJ/MJ long arm kits. I have been in his shop and seen how the kits are fabricated. Keep in mind that Clayton himself is, by profession, an industrial engineer. The kits are NOT easy to make, and doing them right requires engineering skills as well as fabrication skills -- I don't know if you are a professional engineer or not, but if not I suggest that for the sake of your wife and kids you leave the engineering to the engineers and not try to booty fab your own.