gogmorgo

The brake lights (on the back of the truck) shouldn't be coming on with the parking brake. The brake warning light on the dash should only come on with the brake pedal if there's a problem with the brakes... you shouldn't see it once the brakes are properly bled.

Good to hear!

Think I did see a couple Krown cans there. I ran out of rye so I need to go back anyhow. If not I have to make a shopping trip into the city on Thursday, so I might be able to find something at a better HH.

I used a few feet of extensions to get to mine when they were in the truck, but I also had the whole trans out, so likely the engine was tilted back for better access. I've also seen people recommend pulling the shifter and going through that hole, but I couldn't get that to work for me, my selection of extensions at the time either put me too long or too short.

Nope, didn't see it there. I asked about dielectric grease and the lady hadn't heard of it. I wasn't very optimistic about a number.

That's the stock size, so far as I can tell. The mechanic who put mine back in used 2" long bolts, with a flat washer and a lock washer. I'm not 100% certain on the thread size, although they look like 3/8-16. There's a reasonable chance they were helicoiled, though, so I can't guarantee they weren't drilled deeper. But they held tight for ten months and 4,000 miles until I swapped my flexplate, and then a couple months and maybe another 1000 miles or so until I changed out my motor. How tight are you torquing them? One of mine was actually a bit distorted, looked like it got stretched a little. I'm pretty sure I put them back in to about spec.

If locktight didn't help, you're right, probably a lock washer won't either. If they're the original bolts, see if you can replace them with new. If they're not original, make sure they're the right bolts, and not too long and bottoming out in the block. If they are just backing themselves out, there's a vibration causing it. This may be one of the lesser symptoms of whatever is causing that, so it nay be pretty important to solve it beyond just putting the bolts back in. Again, are you motor mounts in good shape and the two larger bellhousing bolts still tight?

Lock washers under the bolts? Make sure the other two bolts are tight as well. Also the torque converter to flexplate bolts. I had those bolts come loose, only I didn't catch it until it was too late. All but one had either come out completely or sheared off. The resulting engine-trans misalignment wrecked the flexplate and I'm pretty confident it also contributed to the main and thrust bearing problems that lead to me replacing the whole motor. You might also want to check your motor and trans mounts. Mine were bad, although that might be unrelated on a 300,000 mile truck.

The automatic low-beams you're talking about are called Daytime Running Lights. It's an option in the US, but legally required in Canada and other jurisdictions. The modules do go bad sometimes, but I'd worry about your other problems first.

I've seen people just drop a loose pump with wires and hose attached into a gas can. I agree though, I'd much rather leave that deadly contraption in the bed and risk it walking away over breathing fumes all day... That's also ignoring the whole live wires in a gas can issue. Again, not something I'd want in the cab with me. Or anywhere, really.

Use the flywheel for whatever year your CPS and/or ECU is. The difference is how it reads the windows on the flywheel. '91 and '96 may be the same since they're both HO's, but I don't actually know. The CPS part numbers are different, but it may just be the wiring connector.

From the sounds of it, your misfiring seems to coincide with humid, rainy weather. Usually that indicates worn ignition components. Hopefully your new cap, rotor & wires do the trick.

I like Cheromanche better. :thumbsup:

What do you mean by tweaking? Auto zone is listing that one for both XJ's and MJ's, so my guess is it's just an XJ sender.

I had a parts-store branded battery in my MJ still from the PO. I just replaced it a month ago because one of the terminals was coming out of it. Manufacturing date on it was 2006, and it still tested good, despite having sat outside last year in my truck all winter, completely dead. Pretty sure the only reason the terminal was coming out is because the PO's solution to a loose clamp, instead of tightening the bolt, was to smash the terminal with the tire iron until it started working. Bit of a piss-off, really, replacing a still-good, kinda pricier part, just because the last guy was an idiot.

:popcorn: I like where this is going. :rock on:

Not sure what you mean. I agree, they shouldn't be calling it a Comanche because it isn't one, but all the body lines look like they match what they would on an MJ. It just looks weird because the bed is so much shorter and there's no gap between the cab and bed.

It's a cable, yes. I've never had it happen myself, but I've seen more than a few people say their cable has slipped off at one end or the other. The vent selection door is vacuum-controlled. If it looses vacuum, it defaults to the defrost vents. My first advice on poor heat is making sure the cooling system's in good shape. Good thermostat, good flow through the heater core, etc.

I won't by any means profess to be an expert. I certainly do not have years of experience in the field, but I was an FSAE suspension design lead, so I do at least know a little. 1. Tire deflection is what camber settings are all about. There is a perfect camber number, which is where the contact patch deflects back to where it has the best grip. Yes, that perfect number is a variable dependent on lateral load, and it of course will vary with tire choice, vehicle weight, roll stiffness, etc. This is beside the point, but if you set up your IFS properly, you can maintain the camber through the wheel's travel, or if you're really good, to match the roll angle and (negative) camber gain to maintain your deflected contact patch. Again, that's IFS and beside the point, but your wheels don't need to lean if you don't want them to. But back to solid axles, I'll agree with you to the point that you won't really notice that small a change in camber on any vehicle until you're at the vehicle's limit of grip, and even slightly positive you'll still have a limit of grip high enough that you shouldn't come close to finding it on public roads, but it does happen. I'll also agree with you that it's not going to be a huge change even at the limit, but it would still be a change in the wrong direction. I like my limit to be higher, and think my MJ's steering is already a little too light. 2. I agree. The pads will wear in. But if you need to make a panic stop before they've done that, you could overheat and damage something, but it's still not something most people would notice and it'll take a perfect storm to cause a serious problem. Murphy's law has left a bad taste in my mouth many times in the past. But I still don't think it's all that severe a problem, just something someone considering the product should acknowledge (and probably dismiss) before choosing it. 3. You're 100% right on that. My bad. It was a bit of an afterthought between "I wonder if you can flip them upside-down for negative camber" (yeah, I only thought about that for a few seconds) and "I wonder if they make them for negative camber" and I obviously didn't think it through. Like I said, I'm not an expert! :thumbsup: Beyond that, I've been trying (not very hard) to find a way to adjust camber less permanently than with ball joints without the intensity of going to independent suspension. The SCCA Jeeps accomplished this on a 2wd solid beam simply by bending the axle, but that's not really an option for a 4x4. Going back to point #1, yes they did it with a solid axle, and yes the negative camber was beneficial, because again it's about tire deflection. I wouldn't mind eventually playing with my camber a bit. I recognize I'll never be able to get the same kind of performance from a 4000lb Jeep that we had in our 400lb FSAE car, but that doesn't mean I can't try to make it better. ;)

You mean replacing the constant velocty (CV) jont? Which is already just two matched u-joints? Sounds like more trouble than it's worth to me. What would you be accomplishing? Correct me if I'm wrong, but to do it, not only would you need a longer driveshaft, you'd also need to change your pinion angle so it matches the front T-case angle, instead of just being pointed right at it, which means relocating your control-arm mounts on the axle to correct the caster... and probably relocate the body-side control arm mounts and play with control-arm lengths to keep the pinion angle reasonably constant through the range of axle travel. To do it properly, that is. I imagine on a strictly off-road vehicle you could get away with less.

Personally I'd give up a bit of self-centering to prevent the loss of cornering grip that will come with positive camber, but to each their own I guess. :dunno: I'm also a little leery about changing the pad/rotor alignment. but I guess they'd wear in after a bit. If you spun them 120°, they'd do something interesting to your KPI... you'd be adjusting both caster and camber at the same time.

Well this would explain why it feels like there's something gently pulling me towards the ditch when I'm passing. Never would have guessed that.

I don't have a garage right now, so all my tools except the large and really heavy ones are distributed between my two rides. Same for my recover gear. Extra fluids as well. I also have some basic survival gear, including warm clothing, high-energy food, and several fire-starting methods, in a backpack that goes into whatever vehicle I'm driving at the time.

Automatics also have a neutral safety switch. Do a search for jeep aw4 NSS. They don't seal out the dirt so well and eventually get too much crap in them and quit working. A new one's a couple hundred dollars, cleaning it out takes a half-hour, most of which is spent removing and installing it. However, if the NSS was bad, you would get absolutely nothing from the starter. If the solenoid's making noise, the starter trigger wiring (including NSS) isn't the issue. Are your main battery cables in good shape, i.e. not corroded? Check the bolt where the negative cable goes to the engine block. There are three terminals on the starter solenoid, two big, one small. It grounds through the mounting point. The small one is the trigger wire. When properly grounded with no positives hooked up, putting power to it triggers the solenoid, which engages the starter gear and connects the two large terminals. With no power anywhere else (but still grounded), putting power to one of the larger terminals, one won't do anything and the other will spin the starter motor. The positive battery cable should be hooked up to the one that does nothing. With the positive hooked up that way, putting power to the trigger (small) terminal will trigger the solenoid, engaging the drive gear and sending power to the motor, cranking over the engine. This is basically the bench testing procedure. It can be done just as easily in the truck, bench testing means testing on the work bench, i.e. not in the truck. The only difference is you have to listen for the engine cranking to know it's working instead of watching the drive gear engaging and spinning. Just if you do it in the truck, make sure the truck is in park or otherwise won't start moving, especially if there's someone underneath.

I'm no expert on the Renix. Haven't messed with one yet. #1. See above, but I wouldn't expect that unplugging something essential to your engine running and have it not run is a valid way to diagnose it as not working. #2. Vacuum leaks can cause high idle and running like $#!& (if it's in the line for the map sensor) but I can't see them causing a no-start. #3. The AMC 2.5l also went into '90's Dakotas, but I can't guarantee it's the same. A lot of 2.5 and 4.0 parts are the same, but I don't know about those ones. #4. The horn button works by effectively shorting the wire against the steering column. There could be a problem with the multi-function (i.e turn signal) switch or it's wires which is where the horn button gets power. Likely it's rubbing on the rod which actuates the ignition switch. The ignition switch itself is at the base of the column, so I doubt the problem is with the wiring between the two. Just to be clear, the horn was only sounding while the key was briefly in the start position? #5. The radio wiring is separate from the gauges, although there are a couple other things on the circuit, cigar lighter and blower motor maybe? Can't remember and don't have the wiring manual with me. There should be a fuse in the panel marked "radio". Check it. Can't say how or why, but it was blown in both my MJ and parts XJ when I got them. It fixed the radio in both. Hasn't blown in four years in the MJ, the XJ's dash and fuse panel are now sitting in my basement. Hope some of that helps. I'm mostly responding cause no one else has yet.