Pete M

Mine's just plain missing. :(

Went into one of the local parts stores for a rear brake line from a mid 90s Dakota. I explained that I was looking for a line that was longer than my stock MJ one and the Dakota one should fit the bill. He looks it up but says they don't have one in stock. Then he says that they have a spool of the rubber line and I should be able to make my own. Puzzled, I ask "really?", but before my brain could figure out what he was talking about, he corrects himself and says, "oh wait, that's vacuum line." :nuts:

When the computer doesn't get the right signals from the CPS, the truck stops running or is very hard to start in the first place (lots of cranking).

yeah, they're good alright... until they blow up or seize up. :D

The t-case in an 85 XJ will likely be a 207 (part time) or a 229 (or 228 or whatever the heck the allwheel drive case was back then). It's also possible that the trans is a T-4. Either way it should be swappable. Is the oil level in your current trans topped off?

Blow-by isn't really a problem at idle, it rears it's ugly head when the cylinder pressures are greatest.

Sorta. That trans always gave me problems when the oil level got low (slow leak out the back), but that was the only time it ever got "stuck" in a gear. Usually it was just noisy or got difficult to shift.

The Fram filters have a history of internal failuress that cause a sudden loss in oil pressure. I had it happen to me on my way to The Badlands offroad park a couple years back. Lost all pressure at idle and had to do the "dance of the pedals" to keep the rpms up at all times during the entire trip. I thought it was a bad pump and found that the pressure came back slightly after I swapped in some thicker oil (in the parts store parking lot), but I didn't learn about the filter until I got back home. Sure enough, a new filter solved it. Oh, and 210* is technically the normal operating temp for the 4.0L, what I should of said is that 220 is fairly common and not a huge deal. Anything approaching 230 should be looked into. But even then, there are Jeeps out there that have perpetually hot engines where the owner insists that it still runs just fine. The 4.0L is just so friggin' bulletproof that sometimes it's hard to tell what constitutes a legitimate concern. :D My 88's engine has twice survived 0 oil pressure (that fram filter and then later on when the rear main blew wide open and drained it almost dry), various overheating episodes (that one time on the dunes the needle was pegged all the way over and coolant was spewing out of the radiator), a water pump whose impeller disintegrated and spread tiny aluminum bits throughout the cooling system (I think I've flushed them all out), at least 5 different owners, and years of my abusive right foot. :D And I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Someday I'll replace it with a stroker 4.7, but in the mean time, it's still alive and kickin'. :D

The stock bumpstop tower (not including the screw-on part at the bottom) is only 5" long and spacers taller than 2" can bring the top of the coil spring too close to the bottom of the tower for my personal preference. I'm not too terribly familiar with the ACOS setup. If my tires were still rubbing the fenders, I'd get longer bumpstops rather than add lift. But then it depends on precisely where the rubbing is occurring and what axles/rims/controlarms you had.

I've only got one left from the initial batch, but it's easy to order more. :D I'll let you know when they arrive.

Right now the RockyRoad website is selling an incomplete kit. When they finally get a complete kit together that actually addresses all the issues that arise with 5/6 inches of lift, then I'll gladly retract all my statements. In the meantime, they are currently comparing a 3" AAL kit to their 5" SOA kit. That kind of advertising is simply not on the up and up. And to point out that an AAL kit apparently has a poor ride quality while they are selling a 5" (or even a 6"!!) kit with STOCK arms is just plain wrong. Oh, and a 3" coil spacer is really really wrong.

Specifically what temp? 220 is perfectly normal for a 4.0L. Does it have an electric fan? What condition is the radiator in? What grade oil do you use? You wouldn't happen to have a Fram filter would you? I'm no mechanic, so I haven't a clue about floating valves. Is this something that could be caused by gunk build up under the valve cover? Maybe a good cleaning is in order?

My old Peugeot once got stuck in second. We coasted to the side of the road to fiddle with it. Ended up succeeding by kicking it, hard. While I don't necessarily suggest that, it did work for us. But then we were 2 hours from home and looking at getting a tow anyway, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to be a little extra aggressive with it. :D I might not have done the same thing if it was in my driveway.

That is so very very true. Gives me one more reason to love mine. :D That tire aint goin' ANYWHERE! :thumbsup:

Be aware that, at least on my truck, the oil that comes out the top is some of the nastiest oil I've ever seen. Not good for anything. :(

Use this opportunity to grab shafts that use the larger 297 U-joints and swap in both sides. http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical/te ... dSeals.htm

It still tells me that they don't know what they're doing. And I personally find that to be suspect. What else might be wrong with the kit that I haven't noticed yet?

And 86 TBI 2.5Ls were Renix too, right?

Don't sink money into a Dana 35 EVER! Go find yourself an MJ/XJ Dana 44 or an Explorer 8.8 and sink your mnoney into something that will last. Axle-wrap is a term used to describe when leaf springs bend due to torque applied to the axle. Essentially, the axle will try to rotate the opposite way that the tires do. What you seem to be experiencing would probably be better termed as binding in the driveline like you said. 2.5L + 4 speed stick = 3.55 gears and the trans is an AX-4 or the rarer T-4 2.5L + 5 speed stick = 4.10 gears and the trans is an AX-5 or the rarer T-5 2.5L + 4speed auto = 4.56 gears and the trans is an AW-4 2.5L + 3speed auto = ??? gears and the trans is a 999 or 904 or something like that. It only happened in 86 MJ and 84-86 XJs. I would go with junkyard 4.10 axles if money is tight, but if you've got the money to get gears changed, then 4.56 minimum.

Some of us who started with 2wd trucks don't have a light at all and somehow we still manage. :teehee:

Not the easiest to do (and way-less-than-applicable to most trucks out there), but using the tire mount as a tie in to increase the strength of the rollbar and the rear bumper is one of my favorite mods I've done to my 88. :D Wait a minute, didn't we cover this a few weeks ago? :hmm: Curse this feeble brain of mine! :teehee: Run a quick search and you might find what you're looking for.

Is it a 2.5L? Jeep on! --Pete

We're still not sure if the lousy stickers were applied at the factory or at the dealership (as a promotion). For the record, my 88 was an "Olympic" and I hated it. It had this ghastly ugly gold decal stripe running down the side of a dark red truck. :thwak:

I had to upgrade to the gallon jug. :D The smaller containers just filled too quickly. It's less of a problem now since that truck doesn't see freeway travels under it's own power, but on the trip out to Moab, I was spewing out oil at an alarming rate. And no, I didn't pour the black nasty oil back in the truck. I had spare oil with me.

So does this mean you finally relieved that poor Dakota from hauling duties? :D