Eagle

Illumination has nothing to do with the sender. What year is the "new" cluster out of? The early ("Type 1") clusters, which this appears to be, did not return the gauges to zero when the ignition was shut off -- they stayed wherever they were at that moment. Try turning the ignition off. Take the wire off the sending unit and connect it to a good ground using a jumper cable (or a helper). Then turn on the key and see what the gauge says. Repeat with the wire unplugged and not touching anything. Report results.

Also check the O2 sensor, but I'd look first at the TPS.

Does the TBI have a throttle position sensor? I imagine it must -- I'd start by checking that. What happens if you leave it in neutral and try to rev the engine?

In other words, he doesn't want to sell it.

Doesn't work for the 61-amp models. The early XJs and MJs use Delco internally-regulated alternators. Those came in two frame sizes. I don't remember where the cutoff was, but the 61 and 74 amp alternators are definitely the smaller frame. I needed an alternator for my '87 MJ 4.0L. I took it to the local rebuilder guru, who initially assured me that he could upgrade it to 125 amps or something like that. When I went to pick it up he announced that he wasn't able to upgrade it because my old one was the small frame, and to get the upgrade would require a large frame. If you want to keep things simple, get the 74-amp from the parts store. You can buy a larger one by looking up alternators for 4.0L XJs with a/c, but then you may run into having to modify brackets.

Carburetors are easy to tune and easy to replace. I would say, "Go for it," but $1200 is a ridiculous price for an '84 XJ. $500 would be my absolute top.

^^^ This. There are some people who feel the CAD housing mount for the upper control arm is sturdier than the sheet metal bracket they used on the non-CAD axles. I don't disagree. I'm not going to swap an older CAD axle into my 2000 XJ, but the MJs and the old XJ are just going to have the CAD locked in the engaged position, and go forward from there. The problem with keeping a working CAD is that it's not a question of "if" it will fail, at's a question of "when" it will fail. And it always fails when you need it. Been there, done that.

There's leather, and then there's leather ... and then there's leather. It used to be when we saw something that was made of leather we could expect that it was made from a section of the hide from a cow, bull, horse, or sheep. Then they came along with "bonded leather." That's essentially the leather equivalent of particle board -- they take all the leather scraps and dust left over from making things out of real leather, grind it into a powder, mix it up in some sort of glue, and make sheets of so-called "bonded leather." Some of it isn't too bad, some of it is truly awful. And then there's stuff that's made of ( and I've seen ads that literally say this) "genuine imitation leather." Is that generic Naugahyde, or is that bonded leather? I don't have a clue. But bonded leather gets to be sold as leather, and it doesn't even have to be declared as "bonded" leather. It has leather products in it, so it's good to go as far as the FTC is concerned (insofar as I have been able to determine).

When the problem with sulpher-bearing additives in GL-4 and GL-5 gear oils eating the synchros in the AX-5 and AX-5 transmissions became known, the factory recommendation changed to 10W30 motor oil. The parts guys at my dealership showed me the notification, many years ago.

Nope. Sounds like a solid plan. I have a TrueTrac in the Dana 35 under my red '88 MJ and I think it's "the bee's knees" (whatever that was supposed to mean). One other point: in your opening post you wrote that you don't have the height sensing valve "for this axle." The height sensing valve is mounted to the frame and it isn't axle-specific. Since you're converting to disc brakes, you should probably look into making the connecting rod for the height sensing valve adjustable, and that will allow you to dial in your rear brake bias with the discs.

M.R. 277 is a factory-published compilation of I.S. [Information Service] Notes in a book that's the same dimensions as the FSM, but it's only 5/8" (16mm) thick.

Yes, I can. But it doesn't come from the FSM, it comes from M.R. 277 for the Comanche, I.S. Notes. Specifically, it's in I.S. 14E, which addresses spring identification and selection. For front ride height: For rear ride height: Stuck into my copy of M.R. 277 I also have a single photocopied page with the comparable information for the XJ, but I don't remember where I found it. For the XJ, there is no distinction between 2WD and 4WD. The front dimension is 6 3/4" (17 cm). The rear dimension is 6" (15cm). Both are plus-or-minus 1/2 inch.

Reading comprehension is everything. Back to remedial reading 101

Factory rear spring U-bolts were 12mm for the XJ and 14mm for the MJ. 14mm is roughly 9/16"

Except that the Cherokee rear drive shaft is too short, so you'll have to either have a driveshaft made, or have a driveshaft modified.

Excellent. Thanks for the update.

What about putting it in the freezer overnight? Or heating it in the oven to maybe 200 or 250 degrees and then trying the pliers.

They won't swap. The AX-15 is a larger, beefier transmission. As has been mentioned, the difference wouldn't be worth the effort anyway. If mnkyboy's ratios are correct, you'd go from 3,000 RPM to 2,788 RPM. But ... you shouldn't be turning 3,000 RPM at 65 MPH. If you're on 225/75-15 tires, at 65 MPH you should be turning 2,756 RPM with 4.10 gears. Even if you're on 205/75-15 tires the RPMs would only be 2,869. As for changing the axle gearing, 4.56 would be going the wrong way. That would increase your RPM. If anything, you should be looking at 3.73 gearing. That would put your RPM at 65 MPH (with 225/75-15 tires) at 2,507 RPM. But don't be intimidated by 3,000 RPM. You have to remember that the 2.5L Jeep engine is derived from the old AMC 199/232/258 cubic inch engine that was first introduced in a Rambler in 1964. I grew up in an AMC family. In those days, overdrive was an expensive option that nobody bought. The standard gearing on the 3-speed AMC cars (and later on the 4-speeds, since they were still 1:1 for top gear -- no overdrive) worked out to 24 MPH per 1,000 RPM. That meant 2,500 RPM was 60 MPH, and 3,000 RPM was 72 MPH. We cruised them at 70 MPH all the time, and the engines lasted forever. My brother's 1972 Gremlin with the 232 was well beyond 300,000 miles when he finally lost touch with it.

Look again. The slider activates the light by pushing up on the plunger in the bottom of that plastic insert (the switch) on top of the distribution block. The slider only activates the light -- it does not obstruct either the front or the rear circuit. Here's how it looks with the slider moved as it would be following a failure of the front brake circuit. When it moves back, it also opens the rear brake bypass circuit to provide full braking to the rear, bypassing the height-sensing valve. As you can see, the normal fluid path for the rear brakes is in through the front/upper port, and out through the nose port. There is nothing in the distribution block that can possibly obstruct the flow to the rear brakes. Soak it down with brake cleaner, then see if you can grab the plunger with a pair of needlenose pliers and twist it out. Even if you can't get the plunger out, though, you can use a fine drill bit to ream out the passages for the rear brakes. Turn the drill by hand, using pliers -- you just want to ream out any of the white powdery stuff, you don't want to be drilling the holes any deeper.

What valve inside do you think is interfering with flow to the rear axle? The MJ distribution block is ONLY a distribution block. It doesn't do any proportioning. If you're getting flow to the rear height-sensing valve -- it's open and functioning. If you're not getting rear braking, maybe the height-sensing valve isn't adjusted properly.

Not necessarily. Some of the diff housings on the CAD axles aren't machined to accept a seal on the right hand side of the housing.

The CAD front axle won't be an issue behind a 2.5L. My '88 XJ and '88 MJ (both with the original CAD front axles) have both been wheeled at Paragon, and the XJ has seen other trails around New England as well as fire roads and Forest Service trails in New Mexico. Just shift the CAD into the engaged position and lock it there.

I know you think you didn't overfill it, but I think you overfilled it. Gasoline expands quite a bit as it heats up, and the MJ fuel system is sealed to prevent the escape of vapors into the atmosphere. The fact that gasoline exploded out of the filler when you removed the cap shows that you system isn't leaking. Do you stop filling the first time the nozzle shuts off, or to you "top off" after the auto-stop? When you filled up, was it at night? I see you're in Chandler, AZ. I used to have relatives in Chandler and the Phoenix area, and I've worked on projects in Tucson. I have some idea how hot it can get there mid-day, and what a difference there can be from nighttime temperatures to mid-day temperatures.

Check the firing sequence. You changed the distributor. I did an engine swap once and crossed two spark plug wires. Dumb, but I did it, and it made the difference.

I need: A transfer case shift gate for an NP-242 (Select-Trac) shifter, to fit a Renix-era XJ (and MJ) The overhead light module for a 2000 XJ Sport withOUT the full-length overhead console