Eagle

Are you comparing an '87 6-cylinder to an '88 6-cylinder, or are you comparing one 4-cylinder to another 6-cylinder? The 6-cylinder radiator is significantly wider than the 4-cylinder radiator, and the mounts are completely different.

The swap to an open system makes sense only IF you know the radiator needs to be replaced anyway, AND you are prepared to deal with the fact the new radiator probably won't have a place to screw in the sensor for the auxiliary fan. I prefer replacing the plastic coolant bottle with a Moroso surge tank. It's all aluminum and uses a standard radiator cap, so you get all the benefots of the "open" system and none of the headaches associated with converting.

What was your experience ragarding clearance at the firewall? I've seen some people say they had to do a "little bit" of reshaping with a hammer, others have said they had to cut out and reform the firewall ... and then there are those (mostly who have apparently never compared the two years) who steadfastly maintain that the early and late firewalls are identical. Did yours need any "gentle persuasion"?

If the 4-banger is 1987 or newer, it's a bolt-in swap, albeit an ambitious one. The '84 thru '86 XJs and '86 MJ engine compartment was different, the entire front clip around the radiator and the radiator supports was different, and it is widely reported that the firewall is also different. If the MJ is '87 or newer, it's all set up to accept an in-line 6. But you have to swap everything including the complete engine room wiring harness. And if the XJ isn't the same generation as the 4-banger, you may have to swap the dashboard (gauges) and do some interior rewiring as well. (The '87 thru '90 were the AMC "Renix" injection system, from '91 on they used a Chrysler system. Even the polarity on the gauses (and sensors) changed in 1991.

The Cherokee uses single-contact bulbs for the turn signals (the amber portion of the housing) and double terminal bulbs for the brake & tail lights (the red portion of the housing). The brake-tail lights on the MJ are all double terminal. You should be able to use the brake light sockets from an XJ, or you can buy brand new replacement sockets from a parts place for about 5 bucks.

I do pretty much the same. My original contemporary (sort of) Jeep was the '88 XJ. I ran that on dinosaur juice for the first 175,000 miles of its life and changed the oil and filter every 2500 miles. When I finally changed to synth, my brother (who was at that time a service manager at a BMW dealership) told me the new BMWs were coming from the factory with synth, and a 15,000 mile oil change interval. I figured if they could go 15,000 ... I could go 5000. I don't do the 2500 mile filter swap, though. I just do the oil and filter at 5000 miles.

Those should fit.

They are 4x6 plates. Yes they are 4X6 plates. But what Eagle is saying is the 4X6 he has is not really a "speaker" size. Its mearly a smaller round speaker put on a plate for fill a 4X6 opening and CALLED a 4x6 speaker... CW Yep, that's what I was trying to say. Dunno why they did that, but it had to be more expensive than an off-the-shelf 4x6 speaker so I's guess there is a spatial constraint involved. Probably affects only purists like me who hate to cut metal in a vehicle.

Yeah, but your truck is lifted. Not 100% sure, but I think the lift allows the "up" wheel to swing farther in because of the arc before it gets to where flares and sheet metal are in the path of travel. I don't have the 31s on any more but I really doubt that at stock height they would have cleared with the rims pushing them 1-1/2" farther outboard than stock rims. The reduced backspacing is a blessing in the rear, though. On the Jeep rims, a 31x10.50 sidewall rides frighteningly close to the leaf springs.

The rear speakers for an MJ aren't really 4x6. I had one somewhere that I can't find at the moment. It's an odd critter. It's actually a round speaker mounted off-center on a rectangular plate. The plate itself may actually measure 4x6 but the speaker is, IIRC, either a 3-1/2" or 4" round cone. Dunno if a standard, oblong 4x6 would go in there or not. I'm inclined to think probably not, or else Jeep would have used standard speakers instead of this odd-ball thingie. Of course, once you're willing to start cutting you can pretty much make anything "fit." I'm not so hooked on big sound in a vehicle that I'm willing to cut metal just to fit a larger speaker.

As for tires, on stock Jeep rims you can run 235/75-15s with no problems. I run 30x9.50s on my '87 with just a tiny bit of rubbing of the tire on the lower control arms when the steering wheel is turned all the way to one side. On my '88 I have run 31x10.50s after I took out the lift. They fit just fine in the back but are a bit much in front. They do fit, but they rub the LCAs when turning and just look "too big" in the wheel opening. IMHO, I think the 30x9.50s are an excellent choice, or 235/75s. If you look at tire specs, there's not a lot of difference between a 235/75 and a 30x9.50. I would not recommend that Exploder rims. The stock Jeep rims allow even 31x10.50s to "stuff" inside the sheet metal when the suspension compresses. The reduced backspacing of the Ford rims means the tires WILL hit the flares and sheet metal.

I went to Wal-Mart and bought an inexpensive, universal dome light for mine. There's an inner channel running along the back of the roof above the rear window, so I just drilled two holes and mounted it there. I was in too much of a rush to think through what I was doing, so I just wired it to a spare toggle switch in the panel to the right of the steering wheel. (I don't think MJs typically had any switches on the right -- I got the panel out of an XJ in a u-pull yard.) I ran one wire from the switch to the light, and now I have plenty of light on demand. But ... if I had been using my head, I would have run a constant hot to the light and then grounded it both through the toggle switch and through the door post switches, so it would come on when I open the doors. I may get to that if the spring thaw ever arrives.

Obviously. :cheers:

Bleeding the XJ (and MJ) clutch is difficult enough that the factory clutch kits for the newer years include a complete (external) slave, master and hydraulic line, all preassembled, filled, and bled. You just install it and drive it. Which suggests that perhaps an idea would be to disconnect both ends of the hydraulic line and force feed it fluid until it's filled, then connect it again. If you could also force feed the slave while the flex hose is disconnected from it, it might help "prime the pump." When the hydraulic line blew on my XJ, I had no problem bleeding the system after replacing the hose. If this thing absolutely can't be bled, I keep thinking the master cylinder isn't working.

Yeah, Jeep used an external from 84 thru 86, then they switched over to the infernal slave. This dual thread thing is getting confusing. I'm going to close this one. Please continue the clutch discussion on gavin8or's other thread.

Mate, your post took me three times longer to read than if you had written it in standard English. This is an Internet forum, not a cell phone with a character limit on text messages. Please do yourself a favour and quit using text message shorthand where it isn't needed or wanted. It makes life SOOOOO much easier. Thank you.

It depends what your definition of "remove" is. "Remove" is not synonymous with "replace." The hydraulic slave cylinder/release bearing assembly bolts to the bell housing. The bell housing comes off the engine with the tranny, so you can say that the slave cylinder is "removed" to replace the clutch. However, that doesn't mean that they then did the logical thing and put in a new slave cylinder while they had things opened up. IMHO it would take a total moron to get it apart and NOT replace the slave cylinder ... but there are a few morons out there, and anything is possible. The other possibility, since as already noted the "works for a few days if you pour in fluid" sounds a lot like a leak, is that the master cylinder is bad and they didn't replace that.

Bleeding these things is a nuisance. I would strongly recommend using a Mighty-Vac, which is a little hand-held vacuum pump that pulls the fluid through from the bottom rather than trying to push it down from the master cylinder. It can be done the conventional way, though. As others have noted, it is critical to not just try to pump the peddle furiously. Press down, have helper underneath close valve, then let up. Put pressure on pedal, helper opens valve peddle goes down, helper closes valve. Let peddle up. Two strokes is about all you get before you have to refill the master ... it doesn't hold much. Let it run dry even once and you introduce a big air bubble and you have to start over.

Yeah, he says they are both 4.0L but he also says both are throttle body injected and one is a 4-speed -- neither of those was was ever available on the 4.0L so something is messed up. I don't think anyone makes a 4-liter, 4-cylinder engine, and I know Jeep never did. The Comanche/Cherokee 4-cylinder is 2.5 liters and that's the ONLY 4-cylinder engine that was ever offered in those models. It is NOT a 4.0L 4-cylinder. Why would you put an old clutch into a vehicle that has a new clutch in it? The problem with the '92 isn't the clutch, it's that the numbwits who did the job didn't know how to bleed the hydraulics. It can be difficult, but it can be done. Take the '92, bleed the clutch, and drive it like you stole it.

We have a similar ordinance. The zoning enforcement officer knows that I used to be chairman of the zoning commission and that I know what else the same regulation prohibits: any outdoor storage of boats, campers and trailers, and any parking at home of commercial trucks (such as a plumber's or electrician's van, for example). And he also knows that if I get a letter, I'll spend the next two weeks cruiding town with a camera. I have a word processor. I can generate a LOT of complaint letters in a short time, making him VERY busy and a lot of residents VERY unhappy. We have a tacit agreement that it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. I keep them as well screened as I can and I try not to irritate my immediate neighbors. So far (knock on wood) it hasn't become a problem.

I'm a manual tranny guy for longer than most of you have been alive, and I wheel both the MJ and the XJ with 5-speeds. With that as background, if I were building a dedicated off-road XJ or MJ, especially if the wheeling might involve any amount of rock crawling, I would definitely go with the automatic. Rock crawling with a 5-speed is VERY hard on everything in the drive train.

Also be sure you get the correct oil filter. The 1990 was the last year they used the filter with the metric thread. The newer filter will go on, but it may leak or it may actually blow off.

Oh, poop. I was under the impression that the Paragon folks actually owned the land. I didn't realize they just lease it. That area seems to be growing, so it's not a surprise the owners would want to go for a bigger/better deal if they can get one. Always remember the second rule of real estate: "If you like the view, buy it." (The first rule, of course, is: "The three most important things in real estate are location, location, and location.")

catalytic converter

The rotor would move because it isn't bolted down to the hub. Why would you need to pull the tire to check for slop? Just curious. Well, I confess I completely forgot that most folks aren't as anal as I am about originality and have probably long since discarded the OEM retainer clips that hold the rotors to the hubs. Sorry. Yes, just wiggling the tire will show if there's movement, but with the tire and rim mounted you can't see if the play is in the unit bearing or the ball joints unless you have a helper. With the wheel and tire out of the way, you can see what's moving and how much.