onlyinajeep726

This is my suggestion also. On a side note, does this mean that we need to hold off on that engine swap since you can't drive it here at the moment?

No, it's still way over full.

That's what I was thinking also. But, should just drain and refill, or actually try to flush it? Also, would draining the torque converter be necessary?

Anyone? :help:

Alright guys, this is about an XJ but you guys are far more helpful than some of the other Jeep forums I'm on, so I'll ask here. It's my buddy's 1996 XJ, 4.0L, AW4 with about 277k miles on the old girl. Him and I did a coolant flush a few weeks ago (as it was very needed). We filled her back up with fresh coolant and water mix and after a few days he noticed a coolant leak coming from the front, driver's side. Come to find out that it was leaking coolant around where the transmission line goes in (the top line, closest to the filler neck). Anyway, we went on to install his new headlight housings and Putco harness, so we had the battery disconnected while doing this of course. After we got it all back together, we took it out driving to run errands. The Jeep started shifting funny intermittently about 10 minutes into the drive but since we had the battery disconnected for so long, I figured the PCM was just re-learning the best shift points and I disregarded it.... Well, long story short, the shifting got exceptionally worse, so much so, that we got stuck at a light because it wouldn't pull. I shifted from 1-2, 3, D all manually and it got moving somewhat, but with noticeable hesitation. After that, it just started slipping so bad that we pulled over. I checked the fluid and it was very over the full mark. Fluid color was dark and clearish, but not ruby red. No noticeable burnt smell and no frothy/foamy mess. Just very, very over full and the viscosity seemed thinner than standard Dex/Merc. My suspicion is that antifreeze got into the transmission via that aforementioned leak. Does this seem like a viable theory, and if so, what would be the best method of recourse to get my buddy rolling again? Oh, just an added bit of info... we dog legged it back to his parent's house from the point where we pulled over, which was around 6-7 miles. I hope we didn't further damage anything, but we really didn't have much of a choice at the point.

Wish I had the dough.

My best guess is the tail gate was swapped. I didn't take a good look at the leaf packs.

Strolling through the parking lot of my local hardware store, I spotted this short-bed MJ in the parking lot. It's a dark purple Pioneer 4x4. Not sure of the year (the VIN was covered by some paper, so I couldn't get it). It's a Metric Ton with an immaculate back bumper lol. Was a 4.0L/5-speed with bucket seats. I didn't have any cards on me, so I wrote down the site on an old oil filter box and my username. If it's anyone here or you're just now joining, hi!

Did you use the 4.0 frame side bracket ? ^This. I had to swap the DS mount from my donor.

Mystery Machine, need I say more? (Yes I realize this is the van version, but same idea...)

:agree:

Keep it Jeep... lol. I may be biased, though hehe. :yes:

I am no welder either, and at this point, I would not trust my welds to hold together anything crucial or safety wise, the only thing I welded on my '86 was two plates to the front cross member to give the bottom of the radiator somewhere to anchor and a couple spot welds to secure some nuts for the top radiator support (see my build thread and below). The rest was cutting and "reforming" (aka the BFH smashing lol). Final product:

Going through all the work to put in the 4.3, you might as well put in the V8. The problem with the V8 will be the cooling issues as the MJ nose is very narrow, thus proper air flow may be hard to achieve. It's been done, but it's costly. Custom motor mounts, Chebby transmission, etc. The reason I chose to do the 4.0 swap was because 1.) it was about as easy as it gets since it I had a donor XJ, and 2.) Being my first swap and having no prior welding experience, I wanted to stick to a mostly bolt on affair. You could stand in front of my truck, with the hood raised, and it's hardly noticeable that the 4.0 wasn't original to the truck. Custom, but not too flashy. And honestly, Chebby engines don't belong in AMC stuff, just how I feel. If you're going to do a V8 swap, put yourself a nice AMC 360 or even a 401 in it. That would be sexy. :drool:

Yep... you're gonna need a BFH... lol. Not to worry, though. It can be done. Just don't smash it in so much that you bust your HVAC box under the cab...

It is hard to see with the engine in the way lol. Check this out for a comparison. Edit: Here, I highlighted the difference... see below. I chose to smash mine in with the BFH of Thor...

First, let me welcome you to the club! Second, from the best I can tell, your firewall is not notched in the correct spot for clean and clear fitment of a 4.0. But, do not fear as all hope is not lost. Since you're already very familiar with Jeeps, I don't feel the need to go too in depth here, however, if you should need any assistance/advice, feel free to PM. I've been through a 4.0 swap with my '86. It's well worth the effort IMO, especially over the 2.8 (that seems you were lucky enough to not have to hassle with lol). Feel free to look through my build thread in my signature and here's a thread I made long ago that compiles some useful links on the subject. http://comancheclub.com/topic/39539-links-for-25l-to-40l-swap/

Could you be so kind as to send me that list, good sir?

Sadly, this $700 constraint is no longer relative. Like Alexia's $575 lift, many of the prices of the noted parts have went up exponentially. I just did a quick list of stuff to do a SOA rear + front lift and I am closer to $1,000... That's not even including tires, either... :fs1:

Am I to assume that pinion/driveshaft angle is so bad due to it being at full droop? :crossfingers:

I'd like to see how this one ended... I can only imagine the landing was a catastrophe.

Ah... now I have some options lol. :brows:

Hate to rehash an old thread, but I found this through a Google search (saved me from making another thread). This is great info! I'm ready to hit up LKQ and find me an Exploder axle for my MJ. . :MJ 1: .

This got in depth real quick! But this is good info for sure. I'm sure it's a ways out for me till I get the MJ lifted and equipped with larger tires, but I'm glad I am able to depend on y'all for answers. Thanks a ton, guys!

That is actually going to be a distinct possibility. I'm looking for a Ford 8.8 from an '95+ Exploder to get rid of the D35 I currently have. At that time, I will be doing the SOA rear.