Eagle

The guy who used to run a Jeep & off-road shop down the road (he's now doing heavy equipment repair ... better money because the customers pay their bills ;) ) told me there's a special anaerobic sealant for that. I think I recall seeing confirmation in a FSM awhile ago. Plain old RTV may work but I don't think it's the right stuff.

This is a question with no answer. Look at a parts book. The ZJ was available with averything from a 6-cylinder engine with standard (soft) suspension to a 5.9L V8 with optional off-road suspension. Unless you know which ZJ springs you're dealing with, the question cannot be answered.

Yes

3.73 is good for 30" tires 4.10 is good for 31" tires 4.56 is good for 32" and 33" tires You might be surprised to know that 31" tires with 3.73 gears is actually the exact same overall ratio as stock tires with 3.54 gears.

You can, but it's not a good idea. Old steel brake lines may be rusty, and when you try to straighten out the neds to lower the end they often crack at the bend. On an MJ the original rubber brake hoses are probably overdue for replacement anyway, so it's preferable to do it the right way and just buy longer hoses.

The factory limited slip for the D35, D44, and Chrysler 8.25 was the Dana Trac-Lok. It's a clutch-type limited slip, and if you find one in a junkyard you should assume that it will need to be rebuilt, so factor that into the cost of a junkyard axle. For an old MJ with 2WD, I think I'd just throw in a lunchbox locker and drive it 'til it breaks. The Dana 35 is fine for street use unless you abuse it (although it does sorta sound like you're planning to abuse it).

The old ones were supposed to use 10W30 or 10W40 (both were listed in the FSM). The newer ones are supposed to use 5W30 How's your oil pressure? If you're getting 40 psi or better at highway speed with the 10W30, it's okay. Personally, on a high mileage engine I would be using 10W40 or a wider range synthetic. In my '88 XJ I'm at 265,000 miles and I run Castrol 5W50 in the winter, 20W50 in the summer. And you shouldn't be running a 4.0L above 3,500 RPM a lot. Especially not an '88. The torque peak is WELL below that. You're just beating up the engine for no purpose. I doubt that mine ever goes above 3,500 RPM. My normal shift point is 2,200 RPM.

That would be correct. The knock sensor goes into a dry hole in a boss just above the oil pan flange. So you killed your computer's temp sensor. As I wrote, it should still run, but it'll most likely always be in open loop mode, meaning it won't know when the engine has warmed up so it will constantly run according to the pre-mapped fuel curve (i.e. rich) that's used for warming up. I don't think it'll hurt the engine, but it sure won't do wonderful things for your fuel mileage. I don't think that sensor interchanges with the one for the gauges in the head, due to a vastly different ohm range. So you are wise to bite the bullet and go to a dealer. The parts chains may not even be aware that the Renix era XJs and MJs have two (different) temp sensors.

NAXJA is an interesting critter. I should know -- I'm a charter member, and a lifetime member. And I haven't visited the forum for probably at least six months. I am and will be forever grateful to Pete for getting this forum started, because it gave me a haven when I threw in the towel at NAXJA. The thing is, the club promotes itself and its forum as "family oriented." I don't know if the rules have been changed since my term as a Director and moderator ended, but when I was a moderator the rules were rather clear about both language and flaming. But when I had the audacity to moderate some posts by one of the favored sons, the then-president shut off my moderating privileges with no discussion, no vote of the board of directors, and no notice. At 10:00 a.m. one day I was a moderator, at 3:00 p.m. that day I wasn't. All because I enforced a written rule. When NAXJA was young and small, it was a good group with which to be associated, and the members tried to help one another. Recently, the forum has become a rather unpleasant experience. I am still friends with most of the same NAXJA members I made early one. The curious thing is that, except for one or two others who are also lifetime members ... none of them are NAXJA members any more. Let us hope this forum never sinks to the same depths.

UH-OH indeed. That is the temperature sensor that sends data to the ECU. Without that, your ECU will be running in open-loop ("warm-up") mode all the time. It'll run ... but it'll be using a pre-set fuel map that's richer than optimum and your fuel economy will suffer. Either that, or you just cut the wires off the knock sensor. Both are located on the driver's side of the block.

Paulsaw -- why are you hung up on an '86 steering box? The XJ/MJ steering box didn't change (except for ratio and spool valve settings) from 1984 right to the end of the XJ in 2001. You can buy one out of any XJ or MJ and use it.

Deep cycle batteries are designed to be fully discharged before charging. I don't know if they have any memory effect, like a Ni-Cad, but maybe. More to the point ... once they get really discharged, how much time do they need to bring 'em back to a full charge? Maybe overnight isn't long enough.

Speaking of bell housings ... does anyone have a line on the bell housing for mounting an AW-4 to a 2.5L? I need one, big time.

Methinks you might have been thinking of Thor or Odin.

Trouble is, that tests for flow but not pressure. It would have been better to test it while it was in the vehicle.

www.car-part.com

It occurred to me after I had posted that the XJ lower mounts are set up the same way. I guess run it that way and see how it works. If it becomes a problem, you'll have an idea where to start trouble-shooting.

It's an economical solution, but less than ideal because the shock is oriented 90-degrees from the way it should be. As your axle moves up and down (or as the chassis moves up and down relative to the axle),, the axle swings through an arc, which is going to impart that same arc to the lower half of your shocks. For small changes the shock bushings may handle it, but for larger displacements, I sort of expect you're going to be bending a lot of shock plunger rods with that setup.

CW, since you mentioned angle braces I assume you have the RE drop brackets rather than the Trailmaster ones. My MJ had the Trailmaster, and one of the little things we discovered when I removed them was that, although the stock suspension mounting bolts (UCAs and LCAs) are metric, the holes Trailmaster put in their brackets were sized for SAE bolts. That explained why there was always some creaking and banging going on, even though I never had the bolts loosen up. Is that also true for the RE brackets? (SAE holes for metric bolts, that is.)

Heavy, man, really heavy. Like in, wow, that's deep. Is that sort of like, "It ain't over 'til it's over"? Just joshin' you, CW. :cheers: Out of idle curiosity, what's the going price on real XJ and MJ Dana 44 axles these days?

Fill plug is on the side of the case, I think (although I'm guessing, since I have the Peugeot tranny in most of my heaps). If you are asking what to run in the AX-15 for lube, it's 80W90 gear oil but be sure you get it rated as GL-3. Most of what you find is GL-5. The GL-5 has more sulpher, and the sulpher eats the brass (bronze?) synchronizer rings.

The other problem is that the WJ doesn't use a 5 on 4-1/2" lug bolt spacing -- the WJs were 5 on 5". Whether this is a complete WJ axle or just the WJ brakes retrofitted to an XJ (or brand X) D44, the lug pattern won't work with your MJ rims and won't match your front hubs. I agree with CJ -- keep looking.

The photo of the fuse panel is too small to see much of anything. That wire in the second photo is not a fusible link -- it's a fuse holder. A fusible link is a piece of wire that's "sacrificial" -- it melts when the circuit is overloaded, then you have to replace the wire. Dumb idea, IMHO, and I would never replace a fuse with a fusible link. What you show would work, but I hate gerry-rigging stuff when it can be repaired properly. I would either clean up the terminals in the fuse panel or just replace the fuse panel.

John, I notice that you have a 5-speed. A common problem with the manual trannies in the XJs and MJs is that, if the clutch master cylinder leaks, the fluid runs back along the operating rod, drips onto the fuse panel, and corrodes everything. It really makes quite a mess. That may be what happened to yours. If so, you're probably going to be in the market for a replacement fuse panel, and maybe some rewiring. It has been suggested that this is a good reason to use silicone brake fluid in the clutch system. The stuff is expensive but the clutch doesn't use much, and the silicone won't corrode the electrical contacts if it drips onto them. I didn't know that - I run silicone in my clutch because I run it in the brakes and I have it.

Worse. It isn't clear from the ad if the brakes are from a 2000 WJ or the entire axle. If it's the entire axle, it has a very weak aluminum housing and none of the internals interchange with a standard iron D44. Also, he says it is set up for an XJ, which means the perches are not spaced correctly for an MJ. I would not bid without verifying what vehicle the axle itself came out of.