mjeff87

I've forgotten about that blasted ground strap more than once, LOL. And forgot to disco a CPS once also....good tips Shelby.

My 87 2.5 did not have AC and the alternator sat exactly where the one in that pic is. You will most likely need a shorter belt, should be the size of a 2.5 without AC. See the upper radiator hose in that pic (is that yours?).....it's molded like that to fit around the AC compressor.

AW4's were 21 spline up to around 1990-ish.

A/C compressor bracket will need to be unbolted.....couple of those bolts can be a PITA and require a moderate amount of swearing and assortment of 15mm implements to get at. Also head bolt #11 gets permatex/pipe dope and is only torqued to 100lb/ft. edit: and the obligatory warning that the head bolts can only be reused once (and should be paint-marked on the heads if so). I usually just replace them for what they are worth. Not really the place to be cheaping out. edit, edit: a 96 might have head bolts with the long heads on them and 12 point. You'll need a deep well 12 socket, and might have to drill out the center of it to fit over the stud portion on top. I have a special socket I made on my drill press for just such use.

Just an FYI, those CPS bolts are shouldered and provide very specific spacing on the sensor tip in regards to the flywheel. I wouldn't just replace one with a "regular" bolt.....find the one inside the BH and use it. There should be an inspection plate bolted to the bottom half of the trans (for an AX15 at least, I've never dealt with the other 5 speed variant called a BA10/5). You can't remove the plate without pulling the trans, but you can unbolt it and pry it away from the trans a little bit. That combined with pulling the starter should get you access to the missing critter. Odds are that it is sitting up against the plate on the inside, at the bottom. Good luck. Jeff

Ayup. My (older, and only) brother was born on Ft. Patterson, NJ. :USAflag:

Remove the old one with a pair of channel locks, the jaws have just enough of an offset if held at the right angle to drive the pin out the top with the bottom jaw while placing the upper jaw on the pin housing. Installation is reverse of removal. Easy peasy. Jeff

yer killin me Don....first the Bud Lite, and now ripping on OK (I was born in Lawton <<Comanche County, ahem.......>>, Ft. Sill actually) :cheers: to your daughter. Jeff

You may have your plumbing mixed up with the new XJ valve....the FRONT output line on the MJ valve feeds the rear circuit, not the line on the bottom of the valve. That bottom line is supposed to be an "emergency" circuit that activates in the event the MJ valve fails. When you ran the new line to the rear, which line did you replace?

#3 injector has a tan wire, #4 is yellow, #5 is white and #6 is brown. All have a black ground wire with them.

I've got my old 2WD beam axle sitting in a barn up in southwestern PA......you can have it if you are local to it. Jeff

The original 2.5 in my old MJ was swapped into a buddy's MJ when I did my 4.0 conversion. It had about 200K on it then, and as far as I know it's still chugging along (buddy sold his MJ a couple years ago). Only thing I ever did to it internally is replace the timing chain tensioner and timing set. Timing set was good, just the tensioner wore out. Jeff

I vote in..... and a comment on those Laredo's you are contemplating....I had a set of them on a longbed S10 (with a Vortec V6) back in the day. The most absolute worst tire I ever had on a pickup in the rain (and snow, if that's a concern to you). I'd never recommend them. YMMV. Jeff

The TCU harness is integrated into the one piece of the main harness. I'm sure you could unwrap it and pull the separate wires out of it. When I swapped the 4.0 into my MJ I used a one-piece harness (no C101) out of an automatic 89 MJ (mine was an 87, 2.5, manual). That did two things for me, 1) it eliminated the C101 and 2) since the auto/TCU/NSS wiring was already there would make it very easy to swap in an AW4 down the road. Unfortunately, I ended up selling the MJ (and the AW4 I had acquired for it) before I did the swap. I did have to jump the NSS wiring and figure out the reverse light wiring on the auto harness, but wasn't too hard to figure out. I just left the extra TPS connector hanging beside the TB, didn't cause any issues). I had to swap in the 89 ECU also. Jeff

That dealership is about 10 minutes from me..... :yes: I take my KJ there for service (recalls, auto tranny service) Jeff

LOL.....yeah, I got it fixed. I just sold it this past fall Don, not a couple of years ago. Now on the hunt for another one to build (a bit differently this time). Jeff

Cooking time/temp--- you want a slow burning fire no more than 200 degrees, and you want to cook the belly to 150 degrees. I use a temp probe to be sure…..you don’t want to go much over 150, otherwise you will be roasting the meat in the belly and rendering the fat out. Not good. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found I’ve got a hot spot in my smoker, and had to rotate the belly a couple of times to cook it evenly. Unfortunately, one end of it got a little over-smoked (but still tasty). I need to fab up a baffle plate to even out the heat. Image Not Found Let the belly rest for an hour or so, then refrigerate it. I let mine go overnight in the fridge before slicing. End result is porky/smoky/fatty bacon goodness J Image Not Found Image Not Found

I finally scored a nice fresh pork belly from a butchershop up in PA over the holiday and made me some homemade bacon. Here's the rundown if y'all want to try it yourself. OK, here’s the whole process. Start with one fresh pork belly (this one is about 7 lbs). Set it on a rack over a pan and season liberally with your choice of seasonings plus curing salt. I used maple sugar, cracked black pepper and some pork butt seasoning: Image Not Found Image Not Found Wrap up the belly and refrigerate. The whole curing process takes about 6 days, so don’t be in too much of a hurry. Every other day, pull it out and flip it, pouring off any juices that accumulate in the drip pan: Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found After 6 days, pull the belly back out, rinse it off and pat it dry. Return it to the fridge to air dry (do not cover it) overnight. This process makes the smoke adhere and penetrate the skin/meat better than if you put it on the smoker wet. Image Not Found The next morning, pull it out and let it come up to room temp while you prepare the smoker. I used a combo of KBB and lump hardwood charcoal and applewood chunks that I soaked in water for about 2 hours. The KBB was used to get the smoke going, then I switched over to the hardwood lump…..it burns much hotter so be careful of temps if you use it. Image Not Found Image Not Found

The screw types on the face of the speedometer indicate the type of clip on the end of the cable where it plugs into the back of the gauge.....there are two styles. Earlier style has a metal sleeve that is held by a small metal "tang" on the back of the cluster, later style has a plastic end that you squeeze to remove from the end of the speedo.

I *think* I still have a spare filler neck in my pile 'o parts down in the shed......how soon do you need it? I'll check when I get home from work in a couple of hours and if I still have it I can ship it to you on your dime (should only cost a few bucks). Wouldn't be able to ship it for a week or so, though. Jeff

Don't worry about the girlfriend....Jody will take care of her. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll take care of your MJ too, LOL. j/k.....good luck. Jeff

Dillithium......:cheers: and on the same topic, you need 4.0 motor mounts as well. 2.5 ones look the same, but are not. You'll also need a new throttle cable and most likely a gas pedal from a 4.0L MJ/XJ too. It's the little things on the 2.5/4.0 swap that kill you.....you don't think about them until you run into an old part that doesn't play well with the new stuff, and it's late at night, the junkyard is closed. :fs1:

Agree on everything except the welding of the motor mount brackets.....no welding, those bolt to the framerails. 2.5 brackets look almost identical to 4.0 ones, but trust me they are different. You'll need the 4.0 brackets, and can reuse the 2.5 mounting hardware, but will have to align them with different holes in the rails.

^^^^and, coming from a KJ owner here, the upper tri-link blows. It severely limits articulation and the ball joint craps out on a regular basis (I have to change mine now as a matter of fact). Jeff

a good read.... http://www.warriorlodge.com/blogs/news/16298760-a-french-soldiers-view-of-us-soldiers-in-Afghanistan