mjeff87

I don't want to tip the apple cart here, and I certainly don't recommend you remove any smog equipment if you have to pass a visual inspection, but I ditched all the vacuum crap on mine (well, almost all of it). The only vac lines I'm running are for the MAP, vac canister (relocated), fuel pressure regulator, brake booster and CCV. It runs fine.... Jeff Image Not Found

MJ, is mounted in the stock jack location behind the driver seat....I figger I can be out of the seat and can access it in a couple seconds. If my junk is on. Fire, I'm gonna be out of it anyway. TJ, I carry one beside the driver seat. Tried mounting it on the roll cage behind the seat but it was too clumsy to get to with the high back buckets.

3/8 x 16 Been there, done that.....several times ;) Jeff

Don't underestimate the powers of a zip tie Don.....I've got both my O2 and CPS tied to the axle vent tubing to keep them away from the header. Ghetto? Yes. Does it work tho? Yes :)

Both trannies have a midplate. The AX5 midplate is cast iron, the AX15 is aluminum. OP, you have an AX5. But if you are junkyard hopping or see a trans outside the vehicle, a quick check of the midplate with a magnet will tell you which one it is. Jeff

It's not the pump itself that is discontinued, it's the sending unit/assembly that the pump fits into.

And then they changed it back.....my '01 TJ has a 2.5, and the front plug is buried behind the compressor. I can barely get the spark plug socket on it with my fingertips, then I slide a short extension with a universal on it and unthread it. Have to take everything back off in reverse order then grab the plug tip with a pair of needlenose and fish it out. Absolutely absurd setup, considering they could have made the A/C bracket a bit wider and moved the pump over a little (a damn 1/2" would do it....) Jeff

yup....use a magnet on the midplate. If it sticks, it's an AX5, if not it's an AX15 Jeff

X2 on channel locks.....hold them upside down and put the bottom jaw (which really is the "top" jaw) on the bottom of the pin. Put the other jaw on the metal piece that the pin fits in and squeeze. The pin will pop up, but not the whole way out. Use needle nose to remove completely. Install is reverse of removal, sans the needle nose.

X whatever on the O2 sensor......had the same problem on mine at about the same mileage. Disconnected the sensor after trying everything else under the sun to fix it with no change, and the stumble went away. Like yours mine happened about 5-10 minutes into driving it and then it ran fine. Try unplugging it and running it for a day and see what happens.

Don, slip a small screwdriver or similar object between the top of the vent and the dashpad in the center about 1/2" and press downward while gently pulling the top of the vent forward. Once you see the pin/pivot thingy that attaches it you'll understand how it works. There's a pin/pivot at the top and bottom. Be careful, with age they become pretty brittle. Jeff

E12..... Jeff

I did the 4.0 swap on my '87, and ^^^^ is 100% correct. You do need to swap the frame horn engine brackets, the holes are already there in the framerails to accept them. You also need 4.0 motor mounts (the 2.5 ones look the same, but they are not and won't work.) The 4.0 radiator bolts straight into the header panel, but you need the two upper rubber mounts, don't forget to snag them also. I used an '89 wiring harness/ECU that came from an automatic MJ, everything plugged in 100%. If I ever decide to switch to an automatic at some point, all I have to add is the tranny and a TV cable, all the wiring and TCU is already there for me :) Jeff

spectacular head gasket fail......siamese blowout between #2 and #3. Surprisingly the head looks ok, but I'm gonna take it to a shop tomorrow to have it checked and reuse it if it's ok. The fail point was exactly where the crack in my exhaust manifold is, I imagine it was getting worse over the last couple of months and just finally decided to let go yesterday. Ooops.... Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found you can't tell from the crappy pic I took, but there's about 3/4" of coolant in each of those 2 middle cylinders....I bet I'da hydrolocked the damn engine if I tried to start it after I parked it last nite.

yeah....barely made it home from work last night. It's either a blown headgasket or a cracked head (my money is on a crack). Tearing into it tonight to diagnose and begin repair. Merry Christmas to me......

swapped a new plug in at lunch here at work, here's the old plug (less than 10K on them). I don't see a problem with it: Image Not Found Image Not Found

My TJ has started acting funny the last couple of days, after a trail ride on Saturday. On cold-starts only, it misses like crazy for about 20 seconds, then smoothes out to a nice normal idle. Drives fine afterward until I park it for an hour or so and restart it. Same miss again for about 10 seconds, then normal. Garaged it last night and did the usual PMCS on it (pulled/checked plugs, cap/rotor, wires, cleaned TB and IAC, checked all vaccuum lines and electrical connections, checked manifold for vac leaks). Found some carbon on the posts in the cap, cleaned and reinstalled, other than that everything looked fine. Coolant in overflow smells a bit like fuel to me (weird), oil is fine. Same problem starting up this morning and it threw a CEL finally on the way to work. At this point, I'm thinking one of 2 things.....sticking injector on #2, dribbling fuel into cylinder while off or a bad lifter on #2 that is slow to pump up on startup. What is weird is that the miss goes away quickly and it runs fine otherwise. I don't hear any tapping that would be associated with a collapsed lifter, and the exhaust does have a strong fuel smell while it's stumbling. Any ideas? I might pick up an injector on the way home and swap #2 out tonight and see what happens, but I don't like throwing $$ at something without knowing the problem. Jeff *edit* P0302 code is for a #2 misfire....

mine is mounted where the ashtray was. I ran the antenna wire thru the firewall via the speedometer cable grommet, down the firewall and back along the framerail to the rear bumper. Firestick is mounted on the bumper. Jeff

try some WD-40 on a rag

Sorry for the short notice, but I just got a wild hair up my arse and decided to throw a party at the house this Sunday. The weather is supposed to be bee-utiful and I feel like smoking a brisket. I've got a bunch of local jeepers coming over, plus a few neighbors and the butcher that is selling me the brisket too (he's really cool). I'll make up a huge bowl of 'slaw and have a pot of beans, and all the Bud Lights you can have.....if you want anything else bring it with ya :) 3519 Rossington Blvd Chester, VA 23831 Plan on eats early afternoon, around 2-3:00. Anyone who can make it is gladly invited. Jeff

older pic of my MJ, but I run a "brace" between the framerails under the radiator support. I found it on an XJ in the 'yard years ago....I think it's an OEM towbar bracket. It's basically a thick piece of angle iron with 1-3/4" square receivers at either end. It bolts into the towhook bolts. Doesn't really brace the steering box per se, but it does tighten up the front framerails: Image Not Found Also, when I swapped in the 4.0L and had an empty engine bay, I added an RE trackbar brace: Image Not Found Image Not Found

Not to discourage you Eagle, but..... I generally like wrenching on my MJ (as opposed to the wretched TJ), and I've done lots to it since I got it way back in '98. Changing out the axle end UCA bushings a couple summers ago in my driveway was probably the most PITA thing to date. I've heard lots of folks say it's easy-peasy, the old ones just "fall right out". Yeah, about that.....not all of them do. I broke one HF press in the process, had to return it and get an exchange, and my driverside one is to this day still about 1/8" from fully seated. Hopefully yours aren't that hard to get out/in, but I would commit a day to the job JIC you run into difficulties.

#11 head bolt (front-most one on the driverside of the head) passes thru a water jacket. It requires sealant on the threads, and has a lower torque value than the rest of the bolts. Jeff

bottom of the steering column under the dash, follow the ribbon wire to a black box that it plugs into. Unplug ribbon wire going into each side of the box and plug them into each other.

Still adjusting to the new forum, thought all was going well until a couple of days ago. When I click the "view new content" link all I get is a message saying sorry, no new content found.....when before it used to bring up all the new posts since my last visit. I tried clicking all of the filter links on the left side ("since my last visit", "within the last 24 hrs", etc.....) but still keeps coming up blank. Whaddid I do??? Jeff