gogmorgo

^^^ Came in to say basically this. I spent about six months in the back end of a chain parts store a few years ago. I never worked the counter, just did inventory, deliveries, etc. The counter staff were all part-time employees. Under labour codes, the benefits required to be allocated to full-time employees meant they wouldn't pay anyone full time. Everyone was staffed on 25-hour weeks. You can't retain employees when you do that. Because I was more useful than most of their highschool student/dropout staff they scheduled me for the max hours they could and then "called me in" to fill out my hours to full-time, which they did for a couple other employees, but there was constant pressure coming down the chain to quit that. Plus the barely-above-minimum wage they paid their few legit full-time staff members meant they weren't exactly hiring rockstars. But the turnover wasn't terrible. I quit about three years ago, and when I popped in there last summer they still had about 50% of the same faces. As far as having knowledgeable staff behind the counter, I don't mind having people who know diddly. They usually realize pretty quick that I know more than they do about what I need. The really good guys aren't awful either, cause they understand what I'm trying to do. It's the people somewhere in the middle who know enough to build some sort of mental picture of what I want but not enough to realize that I actually know what I'm doing and what I need, and they're the ones who cause problems. In defense of the counter person, and you won't necessarily realize it until you've spent some time in a parts store, but the typical customer who comes in doesn't really know what they need. Frequently you'll get people who'll say something like "my car needs a battery" and when prompted for year/make/model, respond with "um... it's blue?". People who come in like that generally go away with what they're looking for, and are happy with the service they got, although we definitely had employees with zero patience for that, but generally they didn't last too long. Roughly 50% of the people who act like they know more than the counter person and refuse to acknowledge what the counter person had to say will get upset and eventually go off with whatever they think they need, and then we'll see them back several times in worse and worse moods later in the shift, or the next day, because we sold them the wrong thing which was somehow our fault. And probably 80% of all the customers who got irritable or impolite with any of the staff fell into that demographic. The rest of the irritable customers generally were of the type who didn't really seem to know what they needed, and then couldn't or wouldn't give any info to help us figure it out, so it was pretty tough to sell them something. Basically what it comes down to is that parts stores don't fix cars, they sell parts. If you come in and identify what part you need, you're golden. If you're polite to the staff, generally you'll get good service. If you know what you need but don't have part numbers, the store has a system to find them, but as with any computer system it'll only bring you results for what you tell it to look for, and sometimes it'll ask for info that seems ridiculous, and while frequently it doesn't matter, often enough it will be a meaningful difference, whether it seems like it should have a bearing on abything or not. The counter person isn't going to be a trained mechanic, they're just going to be trained in operating that system. With experience a person will learn from customers more about various nuances by seeing what parts come back if they sell someone a part off the "wrong" option when the customer claims it won't matter, etc. But they also learn that when the customer gets impatient with them and insists the computer system is wrong, more often than not you don't actually know what you're doing and will bring back whatever you leave with, more often than not in a condition where it clearly can't be returned. If you behave in a way that sticks you in that demographic of customer, which could be anything from being in a poor mood to refusing to talk to certain members of staff, to insisting one of the most knowledgeable staff members is wrong, and I'll point out that you don't necessarily know who that person is. I frequently will go to the less experienced seeming person behind the counter. Treat them with respect, and you'll usually get treated the same way. All the store asks of their employees is to be competent in looking up parts for OEM applications, so that's all you can expect from them.

The price of what would now be a 32-year-old loaf of compost aside, or what a truck was worth 15 years ago, this is exactly what I did less than a month ago, and I'm exactly nowhere closer to having a driver. I had entertained the idea of catching a ride and just driving it home, but a quick reality check had me renting a UHaul, as suggested. And had I not, there's no way in hell I would've made it out of Calgary with it, let alone the rest of the way home over 200-some miles of steep mountain roads. (I'd also suggest looking into borrowing a truck to do the towing, UHaul box trucks are kinda pricey to rent and feed gas into. Use UHaul's online rental estimator to make sure they'll let you tow with the truck. Trailer is better than a dolly for unknown suspension or tires that have been sitting.) But yeah. After fixing the obvious issues, and say I get the engine rebuilt/swapped, I still have the sketchy as hell brakes to address, the windshield is cracked, I haven't really had it running enough to make sure all the electrical works... etc etc etc. And this one's been sitting in a suburban driveway, not out in a field, and for supposedly only since winter, not for a number of years. As romantic as the prospect of getting it running and hitting the road, the reality of working on it away from home base makes things difficult. Inexperience with the platform and wrenching in general is going to make it even more difficult. And the worse reality, getting stuck somewhere in between without a safe temporary storage solution or somewhere you can fix a problem, and especially a need to urgently be somewhere else, will get expensive in a hurry. If you do go for it, plan to either have all the serious kinks out before hitting the road (this will generally need a couple weeks, even I wouldn't be foolhardy enough to try it over a weekend that would also include 2000 miles round-trip) or else plan on trailering it. It's also not just you and the truck to be concerned about. If you experience a catastrophic failure of some kind, brakes, steering, suspension, etc., that results in a loss of control, you're jeopardizing the safety of all other road users too.

Looks okay in a hat. I need to find a better storage solution for this cargo ship.

I'll add my bit. Three weeks or so ago I picked up a second MJ. For how solid the body was, it seemed to be a steal. Seller said it ran ok but had an overheating problem. I looked at it in person and it was in as good shape as anticipate. I quickly diagnosed the overheating issue as almost no coolant and a radiator so corroded I could shove my fingers through in. No bigs, it sounded okay, could maybe use a tuneup. Between running around dealing with UHaul, etc (nothing ever seems simple there), it was about a 900 mile trip all told, 500 miles empty, 200 miles empty trailer, 200 miles loaded trailer. Although that comes down to my complete $#!&show luck with UHaul so far. I put a new rad, water pump, and tstat in it, all new ignition parts. Drove it to the gas station six blocks away and it was boiling over before I was even halfway. It didn't make it all the way back. I pulled the dipstick and what dripped off was more like the colour and consistency of almond milk than oil. Head gasket must be bad. I check compression, and I get 65, 90, 100, 25 psi. I pull the head to change the gasket, and find not only a bad gasket but also a hole in piston #4. With parts and the tow home I'm now into this thing double what I paid, and I can't drive it without either swapping out or rebuilding the engine. So as others are saying, I'd say it's worth looking into, but there's no guarantee it's going to be a quick and easy fix, so don't go into it expecting it to be. On the flip side, a few years back I picked up an XJ for the same price, drove it 45 minutes home to my parents', and pretty much abandonned it in their driveway for a couple years, until this winter when I plugged the block heater in for a couple hours, put a new battery in it, then drove it about 300 miles to pick up a trailer and load it up with my parts horde, and then hit the highway for a further 1000 mile jaunt with the ~3000lb trailer. All of this below -30°F, plus whatever the hell the wind was at across the Canadian prairies. I did have to change the alternator along the way, but that was it, and in hindsight it may only have been burnt out because of poor battery terminals. So the moral is you don't really know what you're dealing with until you start dealing with it. I say go for it. But if you can get the owner to let you try to get it running before you buy it, that's even better. It will definitely be a learning experience, but learning is a great thing. Almost everything you'd need to know is available on this site, and definitely don't be afraid to ask for help if you can't find an answer yourself. There are a bunch of people on here who know way more about your truck already than most people would probably want to, and they're pretty good about sharing that info, so long as you pay attention to what they're telling you.

I'm with you on that one. Mac OSs have had effectively the same interface since they first came out in like, 84. There's just a ton more features now. For the most part you can just ignore what you don't understand, and out of the box it'll be the same as what you were used to. Windows on the other hand... I'm not convinced you should have to shut off all the new "features" just to make the thing useful. But really it comes down to what you're used to. This thread will get locked if we keep derailing it, so Imma stop. I ain't got nothing to contribute to help out with Eagle's problem anyhow.

Another thread for those looking. Link actually working, as of this posting.

Even at 27 I struggle with unfamiliar operating systems. We run 7 at work. I briefly had 8 installed in dual-boot on my iMac, but that was years ago. Recently I was confronted with 10 on school computers and it threw me for a pretty hard loop. It's part of why I have a Mac. The changes between versions of OSX aren't anywhere near as radical as they've been between versions of Windows. Plus it's just a more intuitive interface in general.

I'm also not a fan of having to access my own info through the cloud. Data is $$$, and cell service is non-existant anywhere I'd end up while needing to access it. Reasonable speed Internet connection is also not a guarantee, anywhere. If I was a professional relying on some documents, I would have my own copy of the documents. You really can't run a business when you have to ask to borrow the tools you need every time you need to use them, whether or not there's a guarantee you can actually get through to the person who has them and get the borrowing done in a timely fashion. Cloud backup is one thing, but I would rather carry around 500lbs of paper manuals than rely on the cloud to consult them. I totally get what Eagle wants. I just don't have any familiarity with android systems at all so I really can't help.

I was going to say that, but haven't looked up prices. I also would've offered to go check my own ZJ's links but it's got a 2" lift from the last owner so I have no idea if they'd be stock or not. I'm also 350 miles away from my MJs and XJ or else I could've looked at those too...

Ooooooold thread. When end put the ZJ sway bar on my MJ, I just used a minty set of XJ end links from the same yard. They've been on there about 20,000 miles with no issues. I don't really remember why not, but the ZJ links didn't look like they'd fit. That or they weren't in very good shape... or else the minty XJ ones were just almost new. It was a few years ago now.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/sudbury/jeep-comanche-project/1379954588 It's a 90 4.0/ax15/2wd longbed with a d44 in the back. Looks like a hell of a deal on a very clean truck for Ontario... at least it does from 3500km away.

Obviously magnets just loose their stick that far north. Too much interference from the north magnetic pole. https://goo.gl/maps/ktMYDW9Ti9U2 But in all seriousness, go wander around Street View in any northern city, and find me a rusted out vehicle. You won't. As to those southern climates you call "north" being warm? Well we got our first frost up here last week...

X2 on minimal structural rust. Dirty's seen what's left of my rocker panels, on the 330,000-mile '91. And I've got wheelwell bubbles in the bedsides too. But I suspect in my case it's less the road salt and more the sheer amount of gravel pounding mine's done. That super-fine dust gets everywhere, absorbs moisture, and plugs drain holes. Like Dirty mentioned, salt's not all that effective when it gets cold. Plus the cold slows down the rusting reaction. There's so much ancient equipment up North in great shape, because it's preserved so well most of the year, and sunlight doesn't hit so directly. Even with a warmer climate like your "north-East", or "rust belt", whatever you want to call it, I still find myself preferring driving on ice to the nasty salty slush you get when you add salt to fresh snow. Ice is a much more predictable surface, and sand works great for added traction. The windshield - and paint-eating crushed rock chunks maybe not so much.

Look for an XJ Cherokee bumper. The front ends's the same.

I wanna say there was a Winnebago with the same diesel engine. LeSharo? Maybe? I really know nothing. But I remember reading posts about people having luck sourcing some parts at RV dealers. Possibly online from Europe too if you have part numbers. I can't imagine a timing belt changing between applications of the same engine. But like I said I don't know much about the diesel. They're pretty seriously rare, as I'm sure you know.

Yeah, that'll likely be the way to go, I just don't really have a good place to do that just now. Pulling the head really made me aware of how much $#!& falls out of trees, dust blowing down the street, etc. Not sure I really want that if I'm pulling the engine so far apart.

Yeah I guess that's sorta my fault... I'm on my third province since joining the club.

It would be if they weren't 2000km away! Its pretty crazy to me because there was always a couple in MB. But in AB? Diddley. And there's what, five times the population here?

Yeah no worries, I totally understand. So far not much is showing up even semi-locally. I posted up in a couple groups but the responses mostly have been people making fun of me for wanting to stick with the 2.5. Haven't seen anything on kijiji/Craigslist, or car-part.com either. I'm sure something will surface soon enough.

What's the chance of getting it to Chicago area for late October? Not that I'd be hugely excited about hauling it all the way from there to Los Angeles then 30 hours back up the left coast, but it's an option I'll consider if I can't figure something out before then. But I'm sure I will. I'm curious which would've happened first though, the hole in the gasket, or the hole in the piston right next to it? I've buttoned it all back up for now just so I don't loose anything.

Well I've slapped it back together for the time being. I had it about 95% of the way apart but decided to check compression before pulling the head right off. The results were not so good. 65 95 100 25 yes, 25 on cylinder #4. This won't surprise you because you've seen the photos. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that. The head and block seem to mostly be okay. The only bad looking spot in the gasket was next to the bad spot in piston #4, although it didn't seem like there was much in the way of sealant on the front driver's side head bolt, which apparently goes through oil and coolant passages. The intake valve on cylinder #1 doesn't seem to be completely closed, which I think is why there's poor compression there. I suspect my test results are also skewed low by the fact I'm using a Sun compression gauge my grandpa gave me, which I'm pretty sure he had when he was an apprentice mechanic back in the 60's, and he told me he bought all his tools used. Mostly I just wanted to try out the gauge. Pretty cool it still works. Some day I'll have to compare it to something a little more modern to see how accurate it is. Not that modern is better, just less... Old? I don't know what I'll do with the MJ yet, poor little guy. Although I do notice that I have a decent running 4-banger in a vehicle I can't currently drive, that looks like it would fit quite nicely in the MJ's engine bay... but that might just be the whiskey talking...

Well this may have just become moot.

Thanks guys. I'm guessing the front driver's side becomes a stud as well? It seems kinda funny to me that it's a bolt while the others on that side are studs. I've also read about that one needing sealant because it goes through a coolant passage? I'm definitely onboard with getting the head surfaced, I'm just not sure if there's a machine shop within 200 miles that will do that for me, but I should know tomorrow. One of the guys I work with has a pretty good handle on that sort of thing (journeyman heavy duty mechanic) so I'll be picking his brain tomorrow for sure. Thats fresh oil and distilled water. It ran for maybe 15 minutes since the last change. The oil I dumped out of it didn't seem to have much if any coolant in it... but then neither did the cooling system.

Well I decided I wanted to know. I've got it all the way apart except for the pushrods and head bolts, then decided my mind was in the wrong place to find out how bad it truly is tonight. Also I'm starving so there's that. And it's getting dark. I also don't much care for the idea of leaving it outside overnight without the head on it. There's a gasket coming tomorrow, possibly new bolts as well. So far it hasn't fought me much at all though. It's like it wants this to happen. I'm still back and forth but I'm optimistic right now. Just not fooling myself about anything.

So I didn't think I would get to this right away, but I can't stand not knowing. I'm looking at changing the head gasket in a '91 2.5L. Total milkshake in the oil after ten minutes driving at most. Yeah, that bad. Considering I have zero knowledge of the engine's history, I'm kinda anticipating finding worse than just a bad head gasket, but I've got to start somewhere. I've got a gasket set on the way, but none of my usual parts sources have listings for a bolt set, and given the lack of history and known problems, I'm not excited about reusing them. One of the parts guys we use at work has a set coming for a "2.5L '96 Wrangler", whatever that is, which seems to be the way to go per some brief research, 2.5L TJ. I haven't really been able to find too much though. Some people are also saying to just take the 4.0 bolt set and not use all of them, but there were length differences between them and the TJ set, according to my parts guy at least. Anyone been here before?