Wild Comanche

Thanks for the additional input. I found I don't have a floorboard problem. Seems in good shape. And the a/c drain tube is clear. I have a CJ-5 that years ago I insulated the underside of the hood with some of that duct insulation to try and hold more engine heat in the engine compartment. The engine couldn't warm up enough in cold weather after an intake manifold and exhaust header modification. With the Offenhauser intake and aftermarket headers they were no longer connected, hence no heat transfer from exhaust to intake. Anyway the duct insulation helped to a certain extent. I think I used some type of adhesive on the duct insulation. It is still on there today, and that has been about 30 years ago. And two years ago I installed a 205 degree F thermostat and that worked out real well. A much smoother running engine and slightly better mileage. I had always run a 195 degree F thermostat, but the engine always seemed it wasn't warm enough. Back to the problem at hand; I was thinking of using some sort of insulation. But hadn't found a particular product. A spray insulation, if it wasn't too thick of a layer, sounds like it might be the trick. And it would be permanent. And a warmer cab in the winter and cooler in the summer. I am not familiar with Lizard Skin. I will check it out. That will be a summer project as I don't have a heated shop.

The condensation problem is only present in temps below freezing, but worse the colder it is. I haven't pulled the carpet up to look at the floor. I could do that. The water droplets come from under the headliner. The heater core is sound. The condensation only happens after starting up and warming the cab up. After 30 to 40 minutes with the heater fan on high and the heat turned up to max ; then the moisture is gone. Haven't checked the a/c drain tube. I could check that too. The Dri-Z-Air I put in the rig seems to help some. I guess they are suppose to keep the humidity down to 50%. This maybe is something I will have to live with.....................Thanks...............

Vehicle is parked outside in the cold. I drove it w/o the headliner for a year or so before the repaired headliner was installed. W/o the headliner installed in the winter the underside of the roof would be covered with water droplets, until the heater dried it out. Condensation from differences in temperature between the outside cold and inside hot. No, there are no leaks around the windshield. Just had a new windshield installed 6 months ago. The rust on the underside of the roof was very slight. The steel is sound. The water inside is coming from condensation. Thanks........

I have a 1989 4x4 Comanche. I have got most of the bugs worked out to date, but there is a condensation problem in cold temperatures that I haven't noticed in any other vehicle that I have owned. I live in eastern Washington state. So we are talking lows in the 10 to 15 degree F range. I had the headliner replaced about 6 months ago. It is a recovered original unit. When the vehicle starts to warm up inside is when I notice heavy condensation forming under the headliner. It actually runs out from under the headliner and drips on the seat. After about 40 minutes with the heater on high the moisture will disappear. When I had the headliner removed I noticed some rust on the inside of the roof. I sanded it down and applied some primer to the steel. I finally got tired of the wet conditions and put a "Dri-Z-Air" on the floor to help with the situation. See how that works. Just wondering if there might be a permanent fix to solve this problem. Maybe some type of thick paint on insulation for the inside of the roof. Or a plastic moisture barrier like is used on the doors of most vehicles. The rebuilt headliner probably isn't as tight to the roof as the original.

I called the guy that rebuilt the transmission and explained the problem with the engine starting in gear and his only suggestion was that someone must have run a wire between the ignition switch and the starter solenoid. I checked that and didn't find any new wiring other than factory. So then after not finding any wiring modifications, I was going to unplug the NSS electrical connector and see if the engine would still start. But got side tracked when I took a look at the starter relay switch. It looked like the original unit. That would make it 29 years old. I bought a new SMP #SR123 and installed it. That was the problem. Now it only starts in park and neutral. Back-up lights work in reverse only. And I didn't have to readjust the NSS position. I didn't take the original relay apart, but something was definitely amiss. Thanks for all the input.

After cleaning all the old crusty black grease from the original NSS and re-lubing the unit, I installed it and low and behold it performs exactly like the aftermarket unit. I can start the engine in P,R,N and Drive. The back-up lights work in reverse. Any adjustment of the NSS position makes no difference as to the backup lights operation, they work in any position. And likewise for the ability to start the engine in P,R,N and Drive, they work in any position. All the gear selector positions work as they should. 1-2 position, 3 position, 3 spds. & overdrive, and reverse. The transmission has been rebuilt. I wonder if the linkage from the transmission to the gear shift lever is set up correctly? It is a puzzlement.................

Thanks for the replies. The unit I purchased is a "Toledo Driveline" part # D97991A A340. It wasn't the most expensive NSS on the market. You would think I'd learn after buying a wheel barrow full of aftermarket parts made in China that proved to be faulty. I wish I had tried to start the engine in gear before removing the old unit. As I would know if this peculiar situation existed before I switched the NSS. It doesn't really bother me that it starts in gear, as long as it will still start in neutral and that the back-up lights keep working and it lasts w/o going belly up. But then if it is wired wrong inside, it may not last long. Just thought it was a bit strange that it started in gear also. I don't even know why I tried to start the engine in gear. I think I will rebuild the original NSS and reinstall it and see what happens. At least I know I have a decent starter and battery. The engine started in gear almost as easily as in neutral. Hey, thanks for the input guys and have a good one..............................

I have a 1989 Jeep Comanche 4x4 with the 4-speed automatic transmission. The back-up lights were not always working when the gear shift lever was put in reverse. I bought a new neutral safety switch and installed it. After installing I checked for the back-up light operation and they were now working in reverse only. Engine started in park and neutral. But the engine starts in reverse and drive also. So I tried adjusting the switch. I tried the switch in three different positions. All the way one way, all the way in the opposite direction and halfway between the two. The problem with the engine starting in reverse and drive didn't change. And the normal operation for starting in park and neutral didn't change. And the back-up lights in reverse only didn't change. It is like the adjustment doesn't affect the operation at all. I though a neutral safety switch prevents a vehicle from being started in gear. Any ideas? Thanks...........

Thanks for that tip. I have an aftermarket air intake/filter setup. Relocating the IAT sensor could be done. In the cold of winter it would seem that the sensor would be picking up cold temps most of the time. I wonder how that would work out?

Thanks for the info.. I appreciate it. This Jeep has a modified engine but I'm still using the factory stock injectors. It runs rich when cold, 10.5 to 11 A/F ratio, but when it is warmed up it varies between 13.8 to 14.3 A/F ratio. Those readings are from an AEM wideband A/F gauge. Can't really figure out why with all the modifications it isn't running leaner. I think those stock EV 1 injectors are only rated about 19.5 lbs./hr. @ 43 p.s.i. I have some EV 6 22 lbs./hr. @ 43 p.s.i. injectors, but haven't installed them yet. I installed an inexpensive b50k potentiometer on the reference wire on the MAP sensor and it leans the A/F ratio. Any leaner than the low 16's and the engine begins to stumble. Anywhere around the high 14's to the mid 15's it runs smooth. I realize the simple potentiometer I have installed now is not a permanent fixture, just wanted to experiment and see what happens.

Just wondered if anyone has tried using a "Split Second ARC 1" MAP adjuster on their Renix 4.0l Jeep? Thanks.

Swaged the two cables together. Ended up with just a slight amount of slack. Test drove and worked fine. Thanks for the advice..............

Thanks for the tips. I will give it a whirl.

Hello, I have a 1989 Jeep Comanche 4.0l that has the newer 1999 intake manifold and 1996 throttle body. It has factory cruise control. The eye piece on the end of the 1989 cruise control cable does not fit the round stud where it will be secured. I have the latter type plastic snap end that will adapt to the round stud. I was thinking of using a swage connector to connect the two cables together. With the throttle closed, should there be a certain amount of slack in the cruise control cable or should it be fairly taught with the cable connected to the throttle? I may only get one try at getting the swage in the correct spot. Thanks.

It has been a while, but the transmission probem has been fixed. I couldn't locate one of the newer H.O. throttle valve cams anywhere for sale. Ended up taking one out of a junkyard '93 AW4. The guy that rebuilt the transmission tore the transmission down and found that a pin that held in a pressure plug had come out. He said it was dumping 50% of the pumps pressure into the pan. He guarantees his work, so did the second rebuild for free. He said he has never encountered that problem before. Kept the '89 AW4 and it works fine now. Rebuilt engine and rebuilt tranny seem to perform well. Thanks for all the input.

Thanks for the advice. I checked out the Cam Package #4637026 availability and it was discontinued in 2/09. So as you said "hornbrod" it would be a long shot locating one of them. I checked your link to "NAXJA" - alot of good info. there. Thanks, "gogmorgo". Since getting a correct cam for the AW4 just about entails picking up a used 1991 to 1994 transmission I can see your suggestion of using one instead of the 1989 AW4. Should be some of that year model 4x4 AW4's in wrecking yards somewhere. Looks like one difference in the different AW4's is the overdrive gear ratio. And changing the output gear with the 23 splines back to 21 splines so it will mesh with the transfer case. And then I could keep the original transfer case.

Well even after adjusting the transmission throttle cable the condition persists. Not shifting into 1st gear at idle speed. And when cruising at 25 or 30 mph coming out of gear when rpms drop below 1100. The transmission builder thinks the pressure pump got too hot with a low fluid level or the forward clutch pack got really worn. So there just isn't enough pressure being created by the pump. And the reason it works in reverse is because it has a booster pump for reverse gear. Either way not great news. The throttle cable coming from the transmission is not the stock 1989 cable as a newer throttle body (1996) is installed. He was wondering if the cam on the transmission would need to be changed with the different throttle cable as it might not be compatible with the newer throttle body as versus the old Renix throttle body. Something I never thought of in the mix of the conversion. The good news is that the engine runs really strong and smooth, but you can't go anywhere w/o a transmission.

Yes it is the AW4 tranny. Thanks for the adjustment tip. I hope that is the problem...........

Thanks for the info.. The problem with the engine stumbling and missing has been solved. When the engine was rebuilt I bought a set of new Ford XF2E-C4B 4-hole injectors. To use them with the old EV1 connectors on the wiring harness I bought a set of adapters to go from EV1 to EV6. Well these adapters were the kind that the male to female connectors were not one piece but separated with two wires. They must have been poor quality as they were not making a solid connection all the time. So now the engine runs like it should. It was missing because it wasn't getting fuel. Since this is the first time since it was rebuilt that I could actually drive the vehicle I have discovered something with the rebuilt auto 4-spd tranny. The guy that rebuilt it builds trannys up for drag racing, every day drivers and in between. I asked him to build it so it would last a while. When it is put into drive, it is necessary to rev the engine up to 1100 rpms to get it to engage into first gear. Even after it shifts into 3rd gear and speed gets to 25 to 30 mph if the rpms drop below 1100 it goes back into neutral. With reverse this problem doesn't exist. And it engages like a factory transmission. I don't know if this is a good thing? Might be a little hard on u-joints. And just the driveabilty overall. Any ideas? The tranny's fluid level is up to where it should be. Thanks for all the feedback.................

Thanks for the comebacks. The distributor has been indexed. When I say the acceleration is not good, I mean parked in neutral. It stumbles and misses. It has the 1999 intake and a 60mm bored throttle body. So the intake system is far from stock 1989 Renix. 22lb. @ 39 p.s.i. injectors. Exhaust headers with a low restriction muffler. Fuel pressure at the rail of 39 p.s.i.. My old original engine with 267,000 miles could run circles around this new one. The grounds have been checked. It almost seems like a timing problem. It's a head scratcher.

This is an update on an old post of April, 29, 2016. I have an '89 Comanche. It has a completely rebuilt '92 block and head. The original Renix system is still being used. In the last thread the question of flywheel compatibility has been addressed and answered. The engine does have the old Renix flywheel. It idles good, but won't accelerate good. On the rebuild, an RV camshaft was installed. So it no longer has the original camshaft grind. Could this be a problem with the old Renix computer system? Could it be that the Renix computer can't pick up on the different timing on when valves are opening and closing? Any input on this subject will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the input in the past.

Thanks for all the input. And comments. After this much time scratching my head, it's almost entertaining. This project has definitely went over budget. In both money and time. But you have to love it or what's the point. As to the fuel pressure at the rail, It was checked when the engine was installed and it is close to 39 psi. As to indexing the distributor, it can be rechecked and verified. As I think back I believe the engine builder scraped the old 1989 engine, as it disappeared out of the bed of my truck where it had been sitting for a while. The engine had 267,000 miles on it and had seen better days. The crankshaft bearing surfaces had severe ridges in them and it was impossible to get a new rear main seal to stop oil leaking. And a rod bearing was starting to knock. I ended up putting 2 quarts of "Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer" in the last oil change but it was headed for the graveyard by then. I later thought he should have saved the 1989 engine for later reference or examination. Obviously hind sight is usually right on the money. Thanks again.....................

The throttle body is off a 1996 jeep. It is spotless and was bored to 60mm. The guy that rebuilt the throttle body did a nice job. All of the sensors are "Renix" system sensors and some but not all are new. The throttle cable (s) have been changed from the 1989 year as they wouldn't work with the 1996 throttle body. The list of replaced ignition parts and sensors : New distributor, new coil, new ignition wires, remanufactured cpu, new ignition control module, new TBS sensor (dual plug for auto tranny) and a new MAP sensor. All the grounds have been checked at least twice. The distributor is installed correctly. The engine was rebuilt by M & S Engine Works in Sandpoint, Idaho. He has been in business a long time and does a really professional job. It was balanced and blueprinted. As he does this to every engine rebuild. He has rebuilt hundreds of engines in his shop. I spent hundreds of hours on the internet researching this very conversion before deciding to go ahead. Even after trying to cover every base of a conversion like this it seems that the "flywheel snafu" was something overlooked. I will know next week if the later flywheel (1991 and on ) is actually installed on this engine. I looked at the two flywheels on the internet and the windows are completely different. The jeep is in a mechanics shop presently and I haven't taken possession of it as I didn't want to void any warranty on the rebuild. I will know next week on the flywheel issue. Thanks for the advice. This is a great website....................

The throttle response issue is when it is parked. Trying to actually drive the vehicle is next to impossible.

Thanks for that info.. Well it does run, but not that you could consider it driveable in the least. I have been trying to figure this problem out for about 6 weeks.