DenLevi

Billy, the 4.0l engine is built like a brick sh@t house, and is tough to kill, many can easily go over 200k with proper oil changes and maintenance. As the other guys said , Oil in the air cleaner could mean the engine is worn and the rings are allowing excess blow-by and this is more likely in neglected high mileage engines above 150k miles. But it is also very common for these engines to have a defective pcv system, a plugged CCV vacuum line which is the small vacuum line that comes from the intake manifold to the top, rear of the valve cover. The larger hose that connects to the top front/center of the valve cover to the intake air filter is the return hose to recover any unburned fuel gasses in the pcv system. If the vacuum line is not doing its job, and is not creating a vacuum to flow the gasses through the system, the pressure builds inside the engine and it blows the gas out the larger hose, often including engine oil into the air cleaner. The ccv vacuum line can be plugged at the intake by carbon deposits, and can be cleaned using a wire. The hose should also be checked, I found a piece of silicon inside mine that stopped the flow. Motor oil, I use 10-30 motor oil in my 4.0l'trs and 258's, the brand is not very important. I have been using Wally Worlds " Super Tec" oil for a few years now and have been happy with it. Any oil you use that meets the API certification recommended by the manufacturer of your vehicle will basically work the same.Change it regularly , 3-4k with a decent filter and you should be good. I have also been using Fram filters for years with 0 problems, although some will say they are bad filters. I use the Wally World filters as well, which are actually well made and cheap. But you are free to spend as much as you want on any filter if it makes you feel better, or gives you peace of mind. Point is, I have not had any issues using these products in many years and on many different vehicles, foreign and domestic. Spark plugs , I have been using AC Delco, bosch and autolites for years with little to no issues, the standard plugs work well for these engines. Personally I don't like champion plugs, had way to many problems with the few I did buy. Including having three blown centers, and I mean the center of the plug literally blows out, come apart while driving! Not only myself but my Bros truck with chumpions! Anyway maybe I have been unlucky with them but I will never buy another chumpion plug. Also, avoid using the platinum plugs with the 4.0l's they tend to foul easily. Surface rust, can be stopped by either sanding out the rust and refinishing the surface with paint or using a rust stop jelly that can be purchased at any auto parts store. I have a set of 235's on my stock Comanche, same size as a 30" tire, don't think you are going to shoehorn anything larger without rubbing.

Luke, keep a close eye on the tranny, if you have the pukejoe, (peugeot BA10) it could be the input shaft/bearing. I had the same thing go out in mine. If thats the case don't waste money rebuilding it, just find a good AX5.

I went through very similar problems with my Dodge Dakota a few years ago. Replaced just about everything there was to, water pump, therm,hoses etc: except the Radiator. Turns out the PO must have put some tap water in the coolant which eventually led to plugging of most of the cores in the Rad. It looked fine on the outside, and everything was clean but the radiator was basically toast. Once I replaced it everything was back to normal. I would try that next.

Just changed my dried up and cracked window wipes on my 88, but used wipes from a 97+ door. you have to cut the wipes down to fit in the older door opening. I think they are better quality,and fit perfectly on the steel lip.

Think your problem is as simple as your wire guage size is to small for the fan, it's pulling more amps than the wire can handle. Just get larger guage wire and rewire the fan.

I was going to go that route, but decided to just swap fenders too. Here is the latest pics from my 88 with fresh ss paint. Still needs cut and polish, but its getting there.

Sure, it still needs paint but this is why I did mine, it looks like a hella sexah beast, and I'm sure I now get an additional 135hp as well as 40mpg now! :eek:

No, I had the big fuel gauge on the left, speedo on the right cluster with idiot lights. Just like this one , (pic taken from another thread.) This is what I have now. Strange it works fine with my truck without changing the senders? Honestly I'm not sure why but all my gauges are reading correctly. Perhaps the PO had replaced the sensors at one point with the variable ones. Sheesh I guess its true.... every once in a blue moon something actually goes right?

It is an easy swap. I must have had a unique situation with my truck though. I did not have to swap out the temperature or oil pressure sending units at all, everything works perfectly and reads just like my old gauges did. EDIT

you can mount the 97+ grill, but would have to fab it in a bit to fit the mounts. The 97+ front bumper will work, but you will have to get the 97+ mount brackets too. The bumper ends are different and wraparound the front fenders, you would either need to trim the fenders or trim the bumper caps to make it fit.

I think it looks great, wonder how he got he 97+ tail lights to fit? Do you know this guy? I am still working on mine, good to see he was able to make the rear flares work.

I feel your pain, you just have to be smart about it. If you are going to commit to buying something from a seller always make phone contact first, never just rely on email and also get a name and give yours to make it more personal. Once you agree upon a price then set a time and location if you cannot go to a legitimate address, but as someone else said make it a very public place to lesson any chances of funny business or robbery. I like Wendy's parking lots. Never agree to meet in an obscure remote location. Sometimes when I was not real sure about a sellers credibility I would tell them I want to check out the item first and if I like it then I will go get the funds shortly after. Another way to discourage robbery. I always demand the seller bring a cell phone if I have to drive a distance so I can keep tabs on his ETA or get a hold of him if he is late. No one wants to sit around waiting for someone who doesnt plan to show for any givin reason and waste gas these days. I bought my Comanche from a CL seller, no problems whatsoever, even got a $60 discount off the asking price of $500 because his son took out the radio. I didnt even ask for it. I have found a lot of great things from CL, and screaming deals like my 99 TJ for $750, yes that was $750 US dollars, had a blown engine, :brows: but was at the right place at the right time and the guy who was selling it was a stand up man of his word because he had many offers after I spoke with him over 2k sight unseen! So it is not so bad. I also have had my share of bad deals. Mainly when I throw up some things to sell, I will sometimes get no less that 20 emails from people who are very interested and want now, so I send them my phone number never to hear back from any of them. :roll: Why even bother if you never intended to buy? Like anything CL has its scammers, and good and bad, just use it wisely. Mountainrider, I see you have a 73 Opel GT, I had a yellow 73 myself years ago, loved that little car, the headlights were a bit shaky and didnt want to always turn over but it was a clean California car. Wow wish I still had that, they are so rare these days here in Colorado.

don't have any with my Comanche yet, but this is one my wife took with my duaghter and I, out for an early spring "snow wheeling" trip in our TJ. [/img]

Good Beer Superwade, it reminds me that I only live minutes away from both Fat Tire Brewery and the Anheiser Bush mega factory here in Northern Colorado, and never been on the tours.:nuts: I really need to get on that... :cheers:

Missed this, but how are your sourcing these 2500 parts?

If that is the vacuum line I think your talking about, I don't think its a good idea to plug it. It is part of the PCV sytem and needs to have a vacuum in order to circulate exhaust gases back into your engine via the air cleaner. If you plug the system you will end up sucking engine oil into your air cleaner and it will leak all over everything under the hood. I had that problem with my 88, turns out the small vacuum line from the intake was plugged with silicon and once it was fixed it worked fine.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the rear bumpers for mid 80s-early 90's dodge Dakotas should bolt right on a Comanche. Just look for after market bumpers for those trucks.

Yes, back to topic please. :chillin: I am wondering, did any of you who have already swapped in these injectors have to change the electrical connectors or anything else for that matter? Is it a direct bolt and plug? What part numbers have you used, my truck is an 88 with the 4.0L. Thanks!

I did this last month with my 88 comanche. It was relatively easy. I found a cherokee at my local pick and pull JY, just removed all the parts for the cruise including the control turn signal and pedal interrupt switch at the brake. It should work for yours, make sure you get the vac canister from the cruise donor as well since this is where it will draw vacuum, you shouldnt need to change your actuator at all. I think it took me all of two hours to install and is factory.

My 88 requires a Torx t-45 for the caliper bolts and a 14mm-9/16 for the brake line connecting bolt.

First mod for me was to install a stereo, then change the cluster to tac, then cruise control, bedliner, and alum wrangler wheels and tires.

I'm working on this swap myself. I have the header panel, bezels turn signals, front bumper and end caps and grill. I purchased the items from our local Certifit in Denver. The header panel is not as sturdy as the OEM fiberglass, but it will suffice, and seems to fit just fine. I have yet to get the fenders but will eventually swap those too. The center rad support bracket has four mounting holes for the front fascia/header panel with the same pattern as the original, but the 97+ has different sized mounting holes, larger than the 96-. These would normally accept a tapped threaded stud, but the Certifit part has no hardware, and I did not feel like waiting on DC to order overpriced parts, so I fabbed my own solution. In order to make my new header panel fit I had to run a 7/16x14 tap into each hole, 6 total, and thread them to secure a short bolt that will mount the header panel to the front top support bracket. You have to be carefull not to overtighten the bolts since it is plastic. These worked very well, and cost all of a total $1.95 for the six 7/16 x 14 bolts from my local NAPA. The other issue you have with a new Certifit header panel is you need to purchase all the screws and nylon inserts to attach the grill and bezels. I found a mixed assortment at my Napa and Autozone parts store so it shouldnt be hard to locate them. Think you need a total of 14. Since I am going to have to wait to get the two 97+ front fenders I could not yet secure the sides of the header panel as they should be, the 96- fenders have a different mounting pattern to secure he header panel so they will not work properly. But I did fab two steel tabs to attach the bottom of the header to the front rad support base. These were simply 1/8"x 1" steel strip cut to two pieces , holes drilled for two screws each then attached to bottom of the header panel and the rad support, this has stabilized the header panel securely and it does not move or rattle at all. For now this will suffice , until I can get the fenders and do it up correctly. I also have a new 97+ bumper, end caps and mounting brackets so it will look more consistent, the old license plate bracket bolts right up to the new bumper, but the end caps will not be workable until the new fenders are installed. Unless someone wants to sawzall the fenders, but I chose to be patient and wait. Here is my progress so far. All said at this time my cost has been about $170 for these parts + or - $10 and taxes. If you chose to get your header panel from a local JY you will usually save the extra time and small hardware problems since most will have these already attached. An example was I found a good used OEM panel at a local JY here for $100 without headlight hardware, so it might be worth spending a bit more just to save the hassle if your inclined. My next project will be the two front fenders to 97+, then finish prepping and new paint.

I'm going this route with my 88 Comanche. :brows: I will try and document the process and post pics after I start and as I go along, there was another thread that followed the procedure but all the pics are gone , so it is a disappointment. The ideal situation for me would be to find a wrecked 97+ that I can salvage everything off, including the interior, which I would also want to swap over and update to 97+. So to answer your question, Yes you would need the two front fenders, the front panel , grill and headlight bezel/doors. Also the marker lights and front turn signal lights. I am not sure how the front flares will go yet, might just swap those too, this also means I might have to change the front bumper and end caps to an 97+ so they match. This of course would mean the rear flares will not, they are more squared off than the 97+. I wonder if the rear flares from a Cherokee would swap onto the Comanche? Anyone have any experience or knowledge in that?

Yes, swapped out the entire bumper and end caps to my 88 comanche, from an 89 JY Cherokee.