terrawombat

What was the symptoms you were having that caused you to swap the regulator? I swapped the pump tonight and the same problem persists. Symptoms were Jeep would take an unusually long time to fire after initial cranking. The problem could be mitigated by cycling the key on/off a few times to let the fuel pressure build up prior to starting the vehicle. After it fired up it ran perfect.

I may have found it. 1987 Comanche Laredo 4x4 with what appears to be the Metric Tonne package. I'm still trying to gather details on it as the seller is quite unresponsive, but if this thing has factory power windows I won't have any choice but to buy it! Might not be a diesel MJ or hunter green, but a Laredo, in my opinion, is the best, most rare MJ to own.

It's possible. The Animal Control office in this area is rather finicky. They used to be their own entity that was pretty poorly funded with only two employees and was run out of the county human society. They have since been absorbed by the county sheriffs office and received a considerable bump in their budget - they're up to 6 employees now and are driving around in brand new Ford F250's with a kennel house attachment in the bed. They've also gotten a lot more serious about the job, too. A co-worker of mine had a similar incident as mine where his pooch did some pretty significant damage to another neighborhood dog and he said Animal Control was at his house within the hour to quarantine his pup and write him up a fine for failure to have his dog properly leashed when outside. He said his neighbor threatened to sue unless he paid for the vet bill, which amounted to $600. He initially agreed to pay it until that the owner of the dog took the liberty of getting his pooch a full round of annual shots. After some back and forth arguing he eventually just paid the bill in full to avoid the potential legal trouble. And here I thought dogs would be easier than children....

I'm not sure I could ever get used to that...

So one day down. No phone calls to either myself or my girlfriend's mother (owner of the attacking dog). Still at work so there may have been a visit from Animal Control that I don't know about. Perhaps a note was left - I'll find out tonight.

I'll gladly pay their vet bill. Last thing I want to see is another canine go down with an injury because of my negligence. If that's all that comes out of this, I'll consider myself incredibly lucky. However, judging by the attitude of the woman yesterday she's out seeking vengeance - not just for what happened yesterday, but for the handful of other attacks (not my dogs) that her pup received. It sounded as if those other attacks went completely unreported because she may not have known who the stray dogs belonged to, but this time around she had someone to take it out on. Just don't want to see any pups hurt over this. They're dogs, after all, it's in their nature to act in self-defense if they feel threatened. I screwed up and I know it - I should be the one paying the consequences. Don't want to end up like one of those news stories where the dog is put down for owner negligence.

On Wednesday night I let my Siberian Husky & German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix out to go to the bathroom before bed time - pretty standard operating procedure...except as soon as my husky went out the door, something to the left caught his attention and he b-lined it to the corner of my fenced yard...Shepherd was following close behind. I saw that he reached down to grab something on the ground, but I couldn't see what it was in the darkness. I've seen him do this to small animals through the past 6 years of his life - scoop them up off the ground and then violently shake them until the neck breaks. Except this time, he dropped whatever it was in his mouth - that's when I knew something was wrong. The second sign was the pungent odor that followed. Yep - he found himself a skunk in my yard. The skunk scurried off under my fence and my dogs proceeded to roll around in the grass where the skunk oils were deposited. Still don't understand a canine's fascination for rolling in foul-smelling substances. Tried some of the internet tricks with the concoction of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda & dish soap. It helped on the Shepherd (short hair), not so much on the husky (long hair). This is the second time the husky has gotten hit with a skunk...last time took about 5 weeks for the odor to completely go away. Oh well, so my house stinks for a bit...ordered up automatic lysol sprayers for every room to keep it under control. Second incident happened this morning. Had my girlfriend's mother's dog for the weekend since she was down at the beach on vacation. She's got a hyperactive husky/lab mix and she keeps the thing in tip top shape so he always wants to run...and run forever. Let all the dogs out this morning to go to the bathroom, but had the husky/lab by the collar since I hook him on a chain when he's outside since he has a history of scaling my 4.5 foot fence and running off. When I got him outside, he saw a squirrel and nearly twisted my wrist off to get it. My wrist twisted in such a way I had to let go or else I would have injured myself. In hindsight, I should have taken the wrist injury. As he went racing from tree to tree to find the squirrel he also noticed a man walking his dog on the road outside of the fence. After a running start and a 5 foot leap he was over the fence and on his way to man & dog. The husky/lab ran straight toward the dog and when he got close a fight ensued. By the time I got out to the scene the man had beaten the husky/lab off with a nightstick (more on that later) and had kicked him into a ditch on the side of the road. Completely unphased the husky/lab took off with me (in only my underwear) chasing after him. He darted off in a hedgerow and eventually into the neighbors soy bean patch. I gave up the chase for the time being and turned back to get some shoes (and clothes) on. As I turn around I notice that my Siberian saw I left the gate open in the mass hysteria that just ensued and he decided to let himself out...and ran straight towards the man and his dog. The man raised his nightstick again and started yelling those stereotypical words that people think have some sort of effect on dogs, such as "YAW" or "GIT." Well, in this case, it seemed to work. I think it was more the raised nightstick more than anything, but my husky just looked at him and then ran off in a different direction. As I passed by the man, I apologized for all that just happened and asked him if his dog was okay. He responded with, "Let's hope so." Clearly he was not pleased with me, but I had two dogs on the loose that ran off in different directions. His dog was still upright, wagging its tail and I didn't see any signs of lacerations. Got in my car and started driving around town to find the husky. He's easier to catch. Once you have a car and open the door, he'll hop right in - he doesn't care who you are. While looking for the husky I saw the man and his dog again at a neighbors house pointing and staring at me. Giving me the "That's the guy, that's the guy!" look. Still didn't have time for him - had two dogs to find. Found husky - he jumped in car as planned. husky/lab still nowhere to be found. Approximately 15 minutes later the husky/lab returned back home on his own. Got all the dogs back in the house, secured opened gate, scolded the two that ran away and was going to wait to feed them so as not to confuse them with a reward - they were being punished. Went to get some shoes on to go find man and his dog and see if everything was okay and apologize again. Didn't need to go anywhere, it seems. Dogs started barking after several slams on my front door. Angry, irate woman standing on my front porch. Put 2 and 2 together and expect the worst. She demands my name and names of my dogs - I give them to her. Tell her the owner (Girlfriend's mother) of the husky/lab that attacked her dog. Tell her I was just on my way to see if her dog & husband were both okay, but had to make sure both of my dogs were safe. She screams at me, "Make sure YOUR dogs are safe?! What about mine?!?" I explain that my dogs were on the loose and could be hit by a car and killed, god forbid, and that they were my first priority after I saw her husband and dog walk off seemingly okay. I ask if her dog is okay. She says she doesn't know, but there are bite marks on her and she'll be taking her to the vet tomorrow AM and that I should expect a bill. I say, "OK we'll deal with that when the time comes." She proceeds to tell me that her dog has been attacked several times by other dogs in town (in my head I'm starting to see a trend with a common denominator, but I keep my mouth shut). I apologize again for what transpired and she says, "Sorry isn't going to cut it." I tell her I'm at a loss for words then and I don't know what to do. She tells me to expect a visit from Animal Control tomorrow. She says this isn't the first time there have been complaints about my house and dog attacks. I ask her to elaborate since I wasn't aware of anything. She claims other town residents have told her to avoid my house because of dog attacks at my house. Still have no idea what she's talking about and I'm not aware of any reported incidents? She tells me her husband is a retired police officer and carries the nightstick with him often and that he can also carry a gun and he can use it if things get out of control. My exact words, "That's pretty excessive." She responds with, "Well, you never know what might happen." She again reminds me that I will be getting a visit from Animal Control and leaves. Don't really know what to expect with this one. It wasn't a dog vs human attack so I don't think my homeowners will cover anything if it gets to that level. Not really sure what happens with a dog vs. dog. Maybe a quarantine? Fine? Thing I'm worried about is she is going to make up some bogus story about how MY husky attacked her dog - not the case at all. Once he saw the raised arm of the man, he wanted nothing to do with him and darted off in another direction. Funny thing is this woman WASN'T EVEN THERE! Anything she knew about the incident was second-hand from her husband. Found it kind of funny the husband didn't come visit me himself and let his wife do the dirty work. Maybe he didn't even care because the whole incident wasn't really anything to write home about. Two dogs get in a 10 second quarrel and then it's over. Another dog approaches his and then runs away instead. But I suppose I was the straw that broke the camels back with this woman. Perhaps the other 3 attacks she spoke about got her riled up and then this one just set her over the edge. She was shaking profusely and could barely string together a coherent sentence. When I tried to level and reason with her, it was met with more yelling and illogical statements. To be honest, this woman kind of frightened me because of her unstable mental state. Guess we'll see what happens in the coming days. Animal Control is closed on weekends, but I have no doubt she either left a message on their emergency voicemail or will be calling them first thing tomorrow morning. I've got work so I won't be home...thinking I'll deadbolt all the doors just in case.

Except he's asking about a fuel pump for a 1997XJ. On the XJ's you absolutely have to remove the tank unless you cut an access hole in the rear trunk floor.

Bosch and Walbro are replacement pumps I have used in the past with success. Walbro's are generally very loud (hence their Whinebro nickname), but are a good, cheap pump. I can only name one brand that I would likely not buy again, unless it was the absolute only option and I needed it ASAP - Airtex. After install the vehicle (98 Chevy Blazer) started and ran fine, but it took a lot longer to start up and was loosing pressure after the vehicle was shut down - faulty pressure regulator. The fuel pressure regulator on that unit was installed directly on top of the pump assembly - much like your 97XJ fuel pump assembly is configured. I searched online for this issue and found a few people that had complained about the regulator on Airtex pumps being bad right out of the box. My advice to you would be to test the pump prior to re-installing the fuel tank back into it's location. See if the vehicle fires right up on the first or second crank. If not, the pressure regulator might be bad and for such a simple item to swap out, Chryco certainly put it in a terrible service location. I just did a pressure regulator install on my 01XJ last year and it was about a 1.5 hour job to remove/support the fuel tank just to do a 2 minute regulator swap.

Going to be getting "Historic" plates for my 92MJ next week. Vehicles need to be 20+ years old and it gets you exempt from MDs strict emissions/safety inspections. Still need to pay for two-year registration, but the cost is cut from $135 to $51. The rules for a historic vehicle are as follows: Where I live it's pretty common for daily drivers to be tagged historic. Don't think I've ever seen or heard of anyone getting pulled over for it, but I suppose if the 5-0 decided they needed some revenue, they could enforce the law...

Don't have a write-up and I honestly don't remember exactly how I did it, but I may be doing it again real soon as I'm looking for a pair of buckets to replace my old worn out bench in my 92 MJ. At the very least the pictures show you how far the seats tilt forward.

I've done it with a pair of seats out of a 1999 4-door XJ. Looking around to see if I have any pictures.

Yes, yes they do. My '88 Pioneer is a column-shift auto and for the longest time it had a hose clamp installed to keep it in place. Eventually that fell off and the rubber shift knob disappeared too...never to be seen again.

Best one I have at the moment and it looks like I was sadly mistaken. No Virgin Mary, just full grown Jesus:

I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass. Besides, I still have the original shift knob from my Mazda B2200, complete with a photograph of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this. That "flat" section on the top of the shifter just feels very unnatural to me - it just doesn't seem like it fits my hand at all. Now, the CJ/YJ replica I just installed feels perfect - perhaps because I learned to drive stick on my 89YJ way back in the day, I'm not really sure. But I do know that when I installed that CJ/YJ knob and took the ole MJ out for a spin around the neighborhood, it felt a bit nostalgic...

Appreciate it - thanks for the info. How about you, Rob? Lover of all things OEM - what shift knob do you use in your MJs (or MJ - I think only your diesel is a manual, si?)

It was a Baltimore Craigslist ad and I'm sure the author wasn't thinking about other states when he created it. As dybamx mentioned, Maryland is one of the worst states in this country when it comes to owning a vehicle, especially if you purchase one in the 5-19 year range. It's only solace is it's low "Historic" tag rule of only 20 years. It's very common to see Historic vehicles being used as daily drivers and they don't fall under the strict safety/emissions inspections rules that a vehicle under 20 years of age does.

^ Not OEM by any stretch of the imagination, but I very much don't mind that. Mind if you share where you got that from?

I did that on the original shift handle that came with the truck (stock Mopar) and it lasted for about 3-4 months, but eventually came apart again. It was also obvious that the PO did the same epoxy "fix." Bought a new OEM shift knob and it lasted about a year until the plastic cracked and it popped off - did the epoxy treatment again. Lasted another few months before that came off. Since I'm a glutton for punishment I bought yet ANOTHER OEM shift knob and the plastic broke...again (see picture in original post). Decided no more epoxy treatment. The failure method looks like it's due to heat. Every time the plastic in my OEM knob has broken, it has been in the summer. I'm guessing the constant heat up/cool down is causing the two dissimilar materials to expand and contract at different rates until the plastic fails from fatigue. Or I could just be thinking about it too much :yes:

I'd be very tempted to slam through the gears with that shift knob/handle....

No thanks - this isn't a drag MJ :yes:

I've been through 2 (3 if you count the original) OEM shiftknobs in my '92MJ and they all suffer from the same problem - they're a crappy design. There is an aluminum insert that is pressed into plastic and then covered with the rubber shiftknob material. The plastic eventually cracks and the pressed metal insert slides right out: I'm not particularly hard on these shift knobs - I switch gears like a grandma in an effort to preserve my rebuilt AX-15 for as long as possible, but these knobs continue to fail. I remembered back to my YJ-driving days and the "leather" shift knobs that were installed on those vehicles. They seemed to last and were a much better construction than the crap that came with the MJ/XJ. I thought I had one, but I couldn't find it in my Jeep spare parts bin. I bought a cheap replica on fleabay and it arrived today, but I fear it will suffer from the same fate as it's constructed identical to the knob that just broke and is now in my trash bin. On the bright side, it looks a whole lot better: What does everyone else use? I'd like to stick with Mopar OEM because I think most aftermarket shift knobs look extremely tacky and I'm trying to keep this truck as close to OEM as possible. I think I might just bite the bullet and pony up the $$ for a genuine "leather" shift knob out of a CJ/YJ.

70% of my vehicles are equipped with a manual transmission. I don't necessarily prefer manuals it just kind of ended up that way. Both styles of transmission have their place. On my incredibly boring highway commute to work I prefer an auto. Just about any other time I'm driving I like swinging the shifter around. I will notch a tally under the manual transmission column for an event that has happened to me twice now on my '92MJ with AX-15. The first event happened when the clutch slave cylinder fitting popped out of its socket and all of the clutch fluid instantly drained from my system. No more clutch and I'm 10 miles away from home. No problem - turn vehicle off, place in first, start engine with MJ lurching forward as the engine finally starts up (must have looked interesting from a bystanders prospective), rev-match shift the entire way home. Second time happened just this past week where the slave cylinder finally gave up the ghost, this time 20 miles away from home. Same procedure as above. So, even when something fails on a manual transmission you can still get yourself home!

Love your truck. I'm amazed at how clean it is for a northern truck. I've got a 2004 Ram 2500 diesel crewcab and I'm about to take it off the road to fix a lot of the issues that have crept up over the past year and a half of ownership, which includes A LOT of rust repair. The rockers and bed wheel wells need some serious attention. I've contemplated selling the truck for the past few months, but right when I think I want to put it up for sale I find a use for it that my MJ simply can't handle.