terrawombat

haha - look how small the 'F' keys got on the keyboard :)

I've tried, I really have, but I just can't bring myself to enjoy this MJ. I thought I used to like this one: But the proportions are just all wrong and it's entirely too long. I'm with kro10000 on this one, it looks too much like the old Ford crew cab longbeds that just look off to me. If the bed and wheelbase were shorter, I think it would look a lot better. Something like this:

I just poked and prodded FedEx as to my RockAuto order. That's all it took as it suddenly has found its way back onto a truck and is en route to my house. Guess I should have done that the minute I saw that it spent more than 24 hours in one of their sorting facilities... Anyway, should have a Wix tomorrow and I'll do a full oil and lube on it and report back. Should have the replacement gauge senders Wednesday or Thursday. Gotta love RockAuto...plus I get free magnets with every purchase!

Believe me - I will. I've done my research on these filters and I know they're crap. My father insists on using them on all of his vehicles despite the information I provide him. Only reason that the FRAM is still on is because my RockAuto order with 10 Wix filters got lost in transit.

Here is what I did this weekend: 1) Hooked mechanical oil pressure gauge up. On a hot engine, I'm getting about 12 psi at idle and around 40 psi at cruising speed. I'm not thrilled with the idle oil pressure, but I'm going to first change to a higher quality filter (there is currently a Fram on it) and some decent oil. My Dad used the cheapest of the cheap when he did oil changes on this thing. 2) Grounded out the coolant temperature and oil pressure sending wires. I should have wrote this last night as I already forgot which way the needles pegged when I put the wires to ground, but I do remember that both gauges were consistent and pegged the same way. There was a very brief period of time where I saw the oil pressure gauge operating and it seemed to be fairly accurate with what my mechanical gauge was showing. After I jiggled the cluster and seated it in it's place, the gauge went back to it's old self reading a static pressure with no changes as the engine speed increased or decreased. The cleaned the coolant temperature sender wire and pinched it a bit because it was sitting kind of loose on the sensor. That gave some life to the gauge, but it's reading around 120-130 degrees. I know the engine is much warmer than that using my infrared temperature sensor. I've ordered a new oil pressure and coolant temperature sender. If they're not the problem - well, then I have a couple of spares :)

Thanks - they are my top three favorite Jeep rim along with the Ravine style and the five-spokes that came on the '00 and '01 XJ Limited. I do like the Moabs, but I see too many lifted XJ's with those on around here. I try to be different ;) Thanks for sharing the pics, Rob and Pete!

I've been putting a lot of work into my MJ Pioneer to get it road worthy again so it'll go through inspection and it's nearly there. This is the first time in years where I have had more than two fully operable vehicles. I decided to celebrate by getting my functioning Jeeps in a row and taking some pictures, but then it started to rain and my YJ doesn't have a top on it at the moment so my photo session was cut short. I know there are some people on here with way more Jeeps than I. Anyone got any good groups shots?

Who does these appraisals? Where do you take the vehicle to get appraised? This all sounds like extra work that I certainly don't want to do. When I purchase a vehicle for less than book value, I really don't feel the need to justify why the seller chose to sell it to me that cheap. Our motor vehicle agency's always hand me forms and say, 'just fill this out.' The word in that phrase that pisses me off is 'just.' These forms usually require that the previous owner of the vehicle get involved. In most cases, the PO was doing me a huge favor by selling me the vehicle so cheap...now I have to back and bug him/her to do some additional work on top of cutting me a break. I feel like it's rude and then I feel obligated to provide them with a little something extra to compensate them for their time. And speaking of time, what about my own time? Motor vehicle agency's aren't open when I'm NOT working so I usually have to burn paid time off to do all of these extra work that I shouldn't have had to do from the get go. Ok, I'm done venting...for now.

I'm not so sure that altering the ECU/ECM programming is going to lower the necessary octane level your vehicle requires as I'm pretty sure it's based on the compression ratio of the engine and that's entirely mechanical. You can wire in a piggyback computers such as a GReddy E-manage, SAFC-II, or similar and adjust airflow and timing signals to run a more conservative tune. I've done that on a 3000GT VR-4 I own, but I was aiming for more power, so the HIGHER the octane the better in my case...

I'd like to know your reasoning behind honing the cylinders and installing new piston rings. Are you having compression problems? What is your compression on each cylinder? Do you attribute your increased oil usage to it being burned in the engine because of out of spec. ring gaps? You might be doing too much work by honing out the cylinders and installing new rings. I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely convinced they were a problem. If your engine is burning a lot of oil, I'd look at the cylinder head - specifically the valve stem seals and valve guide clearances. You'll probably benefit a lot more by getting the head reworked (multi-angle valve job, repair and loose valve guides, new valve stem seals) than you would by replacing the piston rings.

Agreed. In my opinion, the best late-model XJ year. Also has the aluminum rims, is black, low mileage for a 4.0L, bunch of new components, and a good price. Could probably get this thing for $2500, but I've already got an arsenal of Jeeps and don't have room for more. I sometimes look for cheap heeps on CL for parts or to fix up and sell.

http://reading.craigslist.org/cto/1786079247.html I love this guy and everything he stands for. I'm currently going through the exact same situation with a '99XJ I bought last year. Got it from a friend for free after she got into a fender bender and I even did the good deed of telling the government I paid $500 for it and paid them some taxes. A month later, I got a letter in the mail saying I owe them $230 more dollars because I paid waayyyyy under book value. Friend was on vacation for two weeks so she couldn't sign the paperwork verifying the amount was correct, so I just sent them a document from a body shop that estimated the repairs of the XJ to be around $1500. They haven't bothered me since but I have a funny feeling it's not over. I sold that XJ to my girlfriend's mother for $1500 - way under book value. I was prepared this time and already had a signed and notarized bill of sale that I handed over to her with the title.

Youtube comments always get a LoL out of me. I love how Youtube commenters take things so completely out of context. There were at least two mentions of AIDs...LOL

When I disconnect the oil pressure sender wire, I noticed that the gauge pegged to the right. I didn't try it with the coolant temperature sender. I will try this when I get home from work. Still need to figure out the fuel gauge....it's just completely dead.

Yes, some of the connectors are a little scratched up - probably from me constantly removing and reinserting the connector. I looked all over for spots where it may be torn or there is a discontinuity in the circuit and couldn't see any. I suppose I could check with a multimeter, too.

Carefully pulled the prongs out in hopes for better contact with the cluster. Tach and volt meter still work and I thought I was getting a little life out of the oil pressure gauge, but was wrong. It seems to stay around the 0-10 psi mark and makes very minimal movements with changes in engine speed. I doubt my oil pressure is that bad as the engine runs pretty smooth with no knocking. I have a mechanical oil pressure gauge I can use to check, but I need to dig it out. I also swapped in the right coolant temperature sensor and I'm still not getting a reading on the gauge. Fuel gauge isn't doing anything, either. The fuel gauge on the original cluster worked and the oil pressure and coolant temperature sender were both confirmed working before I swapped them into this truck. I'm thinking the cluster is no good... Oh, I also checked ground connections and cleaned them up...no change.

Could be a partially dead cluster as the tach works and I have seen the volt meter work. I will carefully bend the tabs out for better contact and report back! Thanks!

Bought these a couple months ago: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=22122 Been putting my '88 Pioneer back together and put these in in place of my idiot light cluster, but used my old speedometer/odometer so mileage was correct. Also swapped the clear lens since the one I got had paint all over it. Installed the gauges and started the truck - tach works. Speedometer works. Oil pressure, volt meter, and fuel gauge do not work. I don't expect the coolant gauge to work because I have not yet installed the proper coolant temp sender, but I HAVE installed the right oil pressure sender. Pulled the cluster back out and reseated the two wiring harness connectors a half dozen times or so. At one point, I think I got the volt meter to work and the oil pressure gauge was giving me a reading, albeit very low and there was no pressure increase with throttle increase. With the exception of the tach (and maybe the voltmeter) the gauges seem completely dead. Seems odd that all of the smaller gauges are being very iffy. Is there a ground somewhere I'm missing? Anyone have any suggestions? Is the '89 XJ cluster simply not compatible in my '88 MJ?

If it were 4WD, pretty sure it would have the 4x4 badge directly underneath of the black vents behind the doors - at least I think it would. Any 4WD MJ I've owned has had the badge. I would say let it sit and up on Craigslist for a while and the guy may come down in price. Too far of a drive for me to get one in such lousy shape and I've got my eye on a local one that is slowly coming down in price ;)

That frame is freakjeeped

http://binghamton.craigslist.org/cto/1773008239.html E-mailed the guy asking for pictures, mileage, and condition. The thing is rough - lots of rust and even the FRONT fender wells have cancer. 175,000 miles, 4.0L, Auto - looks to be 2WD.

Between my '91 YJ and my new Pup, I haven't had too much time to mess with this truck. Last weekend, I decided that I was sick of looking at the 1 acre of brush in my backyard and I wanted to get rid of it. Borrowed my parents brush hog and went to town. End result - there is a TON of cleanup to do and I don't have a working pickup to haul all of the stuff out of there. This motivated me to get back to the '88 Pioneer and get the floors done. After a solid few hours of work, I got the rest of the patch panels welded in, seam sealed, and painted the entire floor with Valspar Tractor & Implement paint (on sale at Tractor Supply right now!). I brushed it all on and it levels pretty smooth. Best part about this stuff is that it also comes in a spray can so I can do touch up work if I need to. Going to pick up some bucket seats out of an XJ right now and if the paint is dry I should hopefully have them in tonight (fingers crossed).

When Chrysler shut down a bunch of their dealerships a while back, the local Jeep one down the street from my work was selling this same sign. It was in good shape, lights worked, and they wanted 100 bucks for it. Other than it being cool, I didn't know what to do with it. I shoulda snatched it up and stored it for when I own a house with a big garage...would have looked cool in there.

Well, my new pup is home. A one year old siberian husky named Zeke. He's beautiful - one of the best husky specimens I have ever landed eyes on and I'm not just saying that because he's mine. He really is an amazing specimen - striking blue eyes, great coloring on the face, and an amazing coat. He's a bit on the large size for a husky and I don't think he would qualify as a show dog because of his size. Not that I care anyways since I don't plan on showing him. Been keeping a very watchful eye on him as I do not want him to escape. He was very curious of his new surroundings and wanted to take off after every bunny and squirrel he saw. He is not yet neutered and is displaying signs of dominance - going to be taking him to the vet ASAP to get his cojones loped off, but I want to make sure he's comfortable in his new home and happy before I take him to the evil vet. He seems to be adjusting extremely well to his new home and after a 30 minute romp-around with my room mates dog in my parents fenced in crop area, he is wasting no time getting adjusted. The exchange between myself and the previous owner was extremely heart-wrenching. She was in tears the whole time and her three young children were balling their eyes out too. I really felt like the bad guy in the situation and I really didn't know how to make it any better for anyone other than to assure them Zeke was going to a loving home. The previous owner really rushed the whole process because she just couldn't stand to see him leave and it was so hard for her to say goodbye that she just wanted it to be over ASAP. She also got rid of her other pup, a Yorkie, while I was there. I felt so bad for her, but told her I will be providing her with constant updates on Zeke's well being. Although, in the mad rush, she forgot to give me his antibiotics that he needs for the porcupine attack. I will be trying to find a source to get those tomorrow, but it's going to be real tough with the Memorial Day holiday. The PO is over 3 hours from me and I don't know if I can do another 6 hour round trip again, tomorrow.

Sorry I didn't get the pictures I promised. Been busy with this: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23734