dkmcgowan

Pretty sure it's not right, must be from a TJ? It shifts well, doesn't hit anything like the dash in any gears, etc... I keep reading different things about shifters, like if it's a TJ transmission I cannot put an xj/mj shifter on it? Also, some say on ax15 you can press down on shifter and rotate and it will come out and I can replace it. Others say you have to pull out console and unbolt the 4 bolts from transmission? 4wd I pulled from an xj myself in a pull a part, so it should be correct. Not sure on which years on any of this if that makes a huge difference. My comanche is an 89. I plan to try another pull a part today, the one today had no manual in it.

I got an AX15 from a friend, he runs a shop and does lots of work on jeeps. He says it was from an XJ for sure. We installed and swapped the Aw4 with his AX15. The car is driving pretty good and shifting great, it feels really nice. I just feel like the shifter is a little too tall. I use to have an XJ manual a long time ago and feel like it was a little different. Does this have the wrong shifter on it? If so, can you replace the shifter without dropping the transmission? Just remove the inside cover plate maybe and replace it? He swears it's all from an XJ though, but he's been through a lot of jeeps since he removed this, it's been in the shop for about a year.

So I believe we found the culprit for sure. I took the old CPS off today and look and see. I installed a new one and routed it over to the passenger side like it's supposed to. When I rebuilt the head and replaced the transmission I lost the little clip things, so I used some zip ties and I think I got it out of the way of the exhaust manifold.

Thanks for the suggestions. So I went to check cps sensor. When I installed ax15, it wasn't clipped on head like before, it was just hanging there coming up closer to brake booster. The line was melted in one spot. So my theory is when I pulled brake booster out and pushed master cylinder towards intake to remove spacer, I must have shifted the cps wire and I think it hit the exhaust manifold and burned a little, probably shorted out temporarily. So the story all fits. I'm heading to dealer to pick up new oem cps sensor.

It could be ign, I did have to change some stuff to swap from auto to manual... when it happened I had ballast resistor removed and wires together with a piece of metal, I've since crimped new connectors and reinstalled ballast resistor. So far it hasn't happened again. I will try the clutch if it happens again, at first I thought it was a transmission problem, why I can get gears to see what I would do, it switched gears when I down shifted and then did it again in the next gear. How would clutch problem drop rpm quickly and let them go back up?

So far only when driving. There is a complete loss in power, you are acclersting and then all of a sudden nothing for 1 second, rpm drop, then all back to normal all in 1 second. It's possible it was bumps, I could try to find some bumpy road to test this further. It could be like the key was off for a second, but it doesn't die. It was night time and all lights and everything stayed on.

So I just did a bunch of work on the 89 Comanche... It was running and driving without issue. I rebuilt the head, cleaned the engine bay, replaced the distributor, converted from AW4 auto to AX15 manual, upgraded to newer style brake booster... It ran and drove great... I did still have an idle issue, so I also threw in a random 90 auto ECU and the idle issue was resolved. I didn't do many test drives after the ECU switch, but did idle it awhile. So I have took 2 drive with it, each about 30 minutes, all worked great. I then took it out to a friends shop, we removed the master cylinder and brake booster again to remove the spacer to raise my brake pedal height, hooked everything back up, idled and ran fine, done... Then when driving home I was in 5th gear and all of a sudden it was a complete dead spot as if engine was doing nothing but still running, then it was back, then again, it's only like 1 second. I down shifted, it was still there, then it went away. It came back 2 more times randomly on the way home, one time I pulled over and let it idle, it idled fine. The next time I was coming to a stop light, it was idling fine. I started to pay attention more and when it happens, my RPM needle drops to zero and instantly goes back to where it was, so the RPM's are gone completely. It then stopped and didn't do it again. I took the washer reservoir back and my overflow tank I had added near air box and checked all the wires. This is just because it was the area I was working in. I removed the one relay on that area and cleaned it up and made sure it was seated correctly. I shifted some wires around to ensure they were not under tension. I had my two fuel pump wires spadded together, so I also crimped nice new connectors on them and installed my ballast resistor again. I took two more drives tonight and all worked fine. But I'm worried and don't trust the car right now. What would cause that behavior, a random dead spot and complete RPM drop, but recovering within 1 second and keep going, and the engine not dying? I just ordered another ECU that is for a manual, I know my old ECU was causing idle issues and maybe the new ECU caused it to do this? My guess would either be complete electrical failure somewhere, so maybe related to the new distributor installed, fuel issue (there wasn't one before, new fuel pump, new lines, new rail, new regulator, new filter), or the ECU. Thoughts?

Not all of them are off... If you are in need of a tune up, you can easily cut your old distributor cap and see where you stand, or how far off it is... When I checked mine it was spot on based on the write ups where it should be, so I cannot speak to how the adjustment helps because I didn't have to make it.

I will use simple green for sure next time... Should I get some simple green and a scrub brush and go back over everything? I also remember in the past cleaning some old carbs and the aluminum sometimes coming out stained and oxidized a little and I would just oil them up and they would come back to life, anyone every put a thin coat of oil on the valve cover, intake and other various parts? Does that sound crazy?

I don't have cruise, which is why it wasn't connected to anything. I also could have sworn I detected some voltage on that wire at some point when I stuck it to ground and it arc'ed a little on me, but nothing is really showing up on the volt meter now with the key on. I guess I must have just hit something else or something.

So I cleaned the engine bay with purple power... All the grease is gone and the engine bay is actually very clean now, but it had major issues with the aluminum and now that it dried there is white residue everywhere, all over everything... I plan to try and scrub it this weekend, I'm sure I can clean up all the hoses, plastic parts, and engine area, but I assume the aluminum is stained for good?

My hood light is hooked up. It's this kind of connector, it's a female connector, this is an example of the type of male connector that would plug into it.

This is an 89 Comanche, originally was an auto... This is a single black wire connector on the passenger side firewall coming out of the wiring harness. I'm talking about the black connector right above the spark plug wire.

So I'm an idiot... I cut the wrong wire... So I will remove my home made wire and do it correctly. So I found the correct wire tucked into the harness, did a continuity test, all worked fine. What I cut and soldered my new wire onto was the connector below. It has a little voltage on it. I will solder and connect it back up. Does anyone know what this wire is for below? My car did not have it connected.

I went and checked again, the spacer was there. I pulled the master cylinder back and to the side, pulled the booster out, and removed the spacer, and installed again. This brought the pedal back up maybe half way to the clutch. So it's better, at least it's not at the same height as the gas pedal. I also checked, the pedal assembly I picked up to convert from auto to manual must have been the older renix style. we had to modify it to work with the old style brake switch and it doesn't look like that picture. We shaved down one side of the circle on the brake rod from booster to make the switch fit. I didn't drill it out and put the bushing in there, just put it on without the bushing, so not sure if that's really bad or not. I also called my friend, he thinks it could have been from a 97, but was pretty sure it was an XJ, I think it was a ZJ. So I'm happier now, but wish it was all the way up. I had read that even if it was a ZJ, if you remove the spacer, it should be the right height, who knows.

I got the booster/cylinder from a friend, said it was 96 XJ, maybe it was a ZJ? I read though those even will work as long as you remove the spacer, which I don't think is there.

I just went and looked and it seems flush against the firewall and all the bolts are sticking into cab about the same amount. Are there some other boosters that just have shorter rods? I also changed out the pedal assembly, so it's a newer style clutch/brake assembly, but the clutch sits where it should.

I will try to unbolt and wiggle it around some, but the top is for sure flush against the firewall and the bolts are all tight. There isn't that much room in those holes, so if all 4 bolts go in, didn't think it could really be lined up wrong. Hope I don't have to pull those lines and bleed this thing again :(

I have some pictures to help out... So first, the 4wd light is working.... This is the bunch of wires coming out on the drivers side firewall, I was probing and I found that the wire connected to the dash 4wd indicator light was black with a red stripe. You will notice that I cut the wire. You will see my red heat shrink material. I cut the wire right on the firewall. Even though I could run a continuity test all the way to the final wire, it wasn't working correct. This black wire with red stripe goes into the harness on the drivers side towards the front of the vehicle, not exactly sure why or what it does along the way, but I cut it here. So the next part is I connected a new black wire, and ran it into the harness along the firewall from the drivers side over to the passenger side. I then connected it to the original connector inside the harness so it comes out right where it use to and looks factory. This is just another shot of the black and red wire being cut and the new black wire I added connected. I didn't run it to the front of the vehicle towards the head lights, but took my new wire straight into the harness, up by the MAP sensor and over to the passengers side of the firewall. You will then see I had 2 wires coming from the NP231 transfer case. I took one of those wires and connected it to a new hole on the firewall for a ground, then the second wire I soldered on the proper connector and connected to the original OEM 4wd light connector (which is connected inside the harness to my new run wire over to the drivers side where I soldered it to the original black and red wire coming out of the firewall on the drivers side). So I know that this newer style electrical 4wd indicator is not what was originally in this 89, this originally had the vacuum stuff. The original wire has now been cut on both ends and is still just sitting inside the harness. Everything is working. I did notice that the line on the passenger side firewall was black and NOT black with a red stripe, so the wire was spliced or changed with something else along the way inside the harness? It originally didn't have enough power on it to light up a test light, but would arc and show it had power when messed with. I did a continuity test from inside the dash to the connector on the passenger side before I modified anything, and it worked, but it had something like 2V on it when checked I am concerned as to why that was happening, or if I was confused somewhere along the way. But... it is working now, but now I'm concerned some wires lost insulation inside the harness and were touching or something. Everything works and engine is running fine... my OCD has me tempted to rip the entire harness apart to understand what was happening, unless someone here has an explanation?

I upgraded the 89 Comanche with a 96 Cherokee XJ booster and master cylinder. The brakes work fine, but the pedal is way too low. It's at the same level as the gas pedal, when it should be at the same level as the clutch pedal. I kept reading on the forum that if I used an 96 XJ booster, it should work fine and the pedal height would be good as long as you used a spacer. I believe I have the then spacer included, but that still makes no sense, because a spacer would make the pedal go even lower??? Here are some pictures. I really want my pedal height to be back, or closer, to where it was before. I also want to avoid the cutting and welding of the brake rod, seems dangerous. Any thoughts?

It's an auto ecu and I just converted to manual, looks like my idle is around 675 maybe, should I track down a good manual ecu for any main reason? I see them on ebay for 60-80, you also mentioned having one, should have taken you up on that test you offered weeks ago.

I will get pictures tomorrow... Essentially a wire comes from the dash indicator lights, out through the connector into the firewall, and then into the engine bay wiring harness. It ran all the way across the fire wall and a small connector shows up on the passenger side fender to hook up the 4wd dash indicator light. Simply touching that connector to ground should just make the dash light show up, simply as that. The issue was that ground connector for the 4wd dash indicator was showing somewhere around a random 2V of power on it. I didn't think it should have any power on it. So trying to ground it would arc of course, since it had power. So I found the wire coming from the cab, through the electrical connector, out into the engine bay through the firewall. I found which wire was the one for the 4wd indicator light and I cut it, right before it went into the harness. I then ran myself a new wire along the engine harness to the passenger side of the engine and connected it to the 4wd indicator switch on the NP231. The result, the 4WD indicator works just as expected, all is good and great and works. I double check the old wire still hanging there that should have been the factory connector for the 4wd indicator light, that is now cut on one end, no more voltage after it was cut. So now the original 4wd wire for indicator light is a dead wire inside my harness. I just have no idea where it got the voltage from inside the harness. It worried me that something is wrong in my harness.

So I put the new head on the engine, put it all back together, and guess what.... The idle is still hunting and surging... At this point I have rebuilt the top end of the motor, replaced every gasket, and every sensor... So I tried a new distributor in case it was the cam sensor, no help... I then had a friend that had a random 90 Cherokee Renix ECU, not sure if it was from an auto or a manual. I plugged it in, and the idle is fine, fixed the problem... It was the ECU after all that. I have tons of new parts on my brand new 4.0 motor now though, so should all last a long time. So the ECU that everyone says is bullet proof and NEVER goes bad, can have problems sometimes at least.

So this works... My 4wd light is working at this point. I did have one weird issue. So it's an 89 2wd MJ, I added the bulb to the dash indicator, and i did a continuity test between the dash light and the wire over on the passenger fender and it was a connection. I verified the ground from the new NP231 switch, all was good right? The line on the passenger fender that should just need to be grounded to make the light show, was showing like 2V of power??? Strange and wrong... We checked inside the dash, all was good, compared to another MJ, all was correct... So I ended up finding the wire right inside the firewall inside the engine bay and I cut the wire, and ran a new wire to the passenger fender, hooked it up to the 4wd switch, and the light works perfect. Now that the wire is cut, there is no longer 2V on that wire. This makes no sense to me... I had the harness apart at one point to fix the ground wires and all the wires looked good, no damage was visible that I could see. Not sure where it was picking up the voltage, now I'm worried I need to take the harness apart or something. All is working now though. Thoughts?

Great pics, thanks! So if you just ground that, the light should come on? So I just need to find which wire makes a ground in the 2 prong connector on the newer t-case when engaged, put a male connector on it, and should all work.