Dzimm

Ok so I'm in a pickle. I need to rebuild the engine in the XJ. It gets god awful gas mileage, runs super rich, I know the exhaust valve is bad in cylinder 3, and misfires. It still runs and drives but needs help before winter since it's my winter driver. I'm trying to decide what all to do and could use advice from guys who have done an at home rebuild. I want to avoid taking it to a shop at all costs, I'd rather sell it as is than pay for shop labor and such. Id also rather do a rebuild than engine swap because I want to learn to rebuild plus Id rather not chance a junkyard motor without rebuild. Buying full rebuilt motor isnt going to happen either. I know the head needs rebuilt or replaced but know nothing about the bottom end. Question for the head, should I rebuild the entire head, just replace what needs replaced, or buy a reman? I'm leaning reman because I can't check for cracks at home and it would be way less work for me. Plus do you have to have the surface machines before reinstall of old head? If I rebuild the bottom end I'd go the dingleball route. If doing that do I just ream the ridge and hone then drop in the stock replacement pistons and rings? I've seen this done on Roadkill but not sure if that's the "approved" dingleball process. I've got the rebuild book on the 4.0 and I've done a bunch of reading and watching videos but everything talks about the proper way of doing machine work. Basically what's the "proper" at home dingleball route for a stock rebuild? Or do I do some upgrades in the process but still keep it budget friendly.. What's your guys thoughts and experience? PS I suppose this could have gone it tech, not really sure why I did pub.

Then I'd start by pulling the starter and run the starter outside the truck to make sure it isn't the problem, then check for clearance issues in the flexplate area. Could be a number of things rubbing on stuff. Last resort, pull trans and try install again.

Did it have two clicks when it went together and did the trans slide up to the motor easily? Did you have to use the bellhousing bolts to suck the trans up? Only way to know is take it all apart again. By wiring harness do you mean computers and all? Reason I ask is that the flexplate is different in the HO and it has to have the correct one for the cps or it won't run.

Did you have the engine and trans pulled apart at all? Almost sounds like your torque converter isn't aligned properly. Also did you do a full HO swap or just drivetrain?

I'm wondering if it didn't tweak the whole inner fender. I'd take the fender off and inspect everything then make adjustments to it.

Type "red hot chili peppers" into Pandora. Best Pandora station ever.

Absolutely agree

I've got 2 short beds, a 97+ swap 4x4 auto and a 92 2wd 5-speed. I like the size of the short bed and proportionally looks better, the long beds just don't look right to me. That being said, long beds would be nice for hauling. I have hauled some 10' fence posts with my trucks and it worked fine but the long bed would have been better for that. All other objects seem to fit well, I have more issue with width than length. Everything tends to be about 1" wider than the space between the wheel wells. As to trans, I love both the auto and stick. The auto is nice because I can just drive and not worry about it, especially off-road. The stick is nice to have some fun, especially since I'm building a street (race) truck. For lots of hauling you'd want an auto but it's really your preference. Idk how anybody can live without a 4x4 vehicle, let alone without a 4x4 truck. I use it for nearly all of my hauling, especially yard waste and garbage the city won't take out to the farm to burn, getting firewood or dirt, ECT. All of which requires me driving offroad out there into areas I wouldn't even try to take a 2wd. The 2wd is nice for daily driving, especially with the 5-speed, because I average 20-21mpg all highway driving. My 4x4 auto gets about 17mpg. It all ultimately comes down to your preference and what you will use it for. Just list out your wants and needs in the truck and that should help you decide what to get. Either way you'll be happy and probably want another one.

Not sure on where to get new replacements but I got my rust free cab corners and rockers from a member who was parting a truck out. Maybe keep an eye out for that.

We should all plan a mass CC member trip to Chrysler and demand to see the Thunderchief. But seriously it's cool they brought it out. Would love to go up there and see all the Jeeps.

Is the whole front end crooked? Did you hit the snow bank with the front end?

Got my throttle body today as well and am very pleased. Definitely recommend MeanLemons for cables and TBs.

I drove my 98 XJ for a couple years without the TCU with no issues. There are also shifter kits to convert it to manually sifted and there are plenty of people who have done it long term with success, even the autocross turbo XJ uses manually selected gears for races and I never heard they had issues. I don't think I've ever read about an AW4 having problems because of it at all. I had the same concerns as you when I first disconnected my TCU but after researching it, I found strong evidence it had no effect on it.

Got the flares completely installed. Used fender washers to grip as much of the flare as I could. The truck is looking really good now. With finer detail work on the bedsides and fresh paint it will look like a new truck. 62mm throttle body showed up today from Meanlemons. Got it installed and it makes a big difference in throttle response. I used to have to give it a little gas from a stop or it would bog but now I can just let the clutch out and it starts rolling fine. I launched it a few times and it definitely gets up and goes faster from a stop. Can't wait to get the rear end changed to something I'm not scared of breaking and smaller tires to really make a difference.

It is sequential and you do not have 2nd if you just disconnect the trans computer and just drive it. If you got an aftermarket shifter or rigged up relays for an electronic shifter to control the solenoids you can shift into any gear you wanted.

I would avoid driving an MJ on a bad day regardless but that's just me. A donor with a manual will be more difficult to find. You may just need to find a 4x4 manual trans separate from the parts XJ. The donor XJ doesn't necessarily need to be decent. It can be wrecked, rusted out, not running, ECT. The cheaper you can get it the better as long as it has what you need on it.

It's not as difficult as is sounds, just time consuming. Like gogmorgo said though, do pieces at a time if you have to. Find a donor XJ and pull everything you'll need, front axle, transmission, front dirveshaft, shifter, linkages, ECT. The real hangup will be a rear driveshaft. You can either find one from a 4x4 MJ with the same engine, trans, and bed length. You could also have one modified, or have one made from scratch. I had the rear shaft modified and the front one rebuilt for my 97+ truck and it took about a week and a half before I got them back so keep that in mind. As far as doing it with basic tools, I realized anything can be done on these trucks with basic tools. I did a full 97+ swap with an angle grinder and a simple socket set. Borrowed a welder for my rear axle swap and had to buy an electric impact to swap a flexplate but otherwise it was all hand tools. Don't be afraid of this swap, do your research and you'll know pretty well what you are doing going into it. Finding a 4x4 MJ would potentially be easier but how often do they come up for sale in your area for a decent price? As for the AC swap, whatever donor XJ you get, just pull everything from it and you'll be good. It's a much more involved process though as you'll have to pull the dash to get at the hvac box. Find a cheap XJ with the goodies you want and buy it to steal the parts from for both the 4x4 conversion and the AC.

It was stripped almost immediately when it hit the yard. All the street MJ parts went to members here.

I hate body work. My arm is dead from all the sanding. It's not perfect but good enough for now. It's done up to 120 grit currently and needs a little more filler in a few spots but it can wait until I paint the whole truck. After 1st round of filler 2nd layer of filler Painted I went to Menards and got fender washers for the flares, but I wasn't paying attention and got 3/16" instead of 1/4" and I'm using 1/4"-20 bolts. going back tomorrow to get the correct size so I can finish the flare install. I also grabbed a couple different red paints as well, neither were close, didn't see any of the color recommendations from you guys there so I tried random ones. At this point I might as well have spent the money on color matched paint. Some other random pictures. This bedside sucked to fill and sand. Looks a million times better now though.

I'd go to the dealer and call the manager out. You're very unlikely to get anything from it but it may teach them a bit of a lesson as well.

Did the passenger side today. Had to cut about 18" of the inner rocker out due to rust. I'm going to leave it open for now and keep an eye on it. Since this is a street truck, it shouldn't get a ton of junk in the crevices, plus with it open I can clean it out easier. The door was a little more eaten up on this side. Cleaned up what I could and will fill the hole with body filler. That file grinder I got worked well for reaching the tight areas and actually ate through welds fairly quickly. Definitely not as good as the pneumatic version but for someone without an air compressor, I'd recommend it. Went ahead and cleaned the bedside up in prep for body filler tomorrow. I got done early enough so I changed the door locks that showed up today as well. Found the driver's side had been attached with JB weld instead of the proper clip because they broke the tabs on the lock cylinder. I swear everything on this truck was cobbled together by POs. Had to break it loose with a flathead. Luckily I kept all the spare parts from my blue truck because I needed one of those plastic rod holders things and one of the clips for the cylinder. The new lock cylinders came with the plastic covered triangle shaped keys. I've got too many of these style keys already so I cut the plastic to differentiate from the ignition key. Top is the modified door key, bottom is the ignition key. I also "repaired" the broken window crank. The knob was missing when I bought it and it was incredibly hard to crank without it. I just wedged the hex on a 1/4-20 bolt into the back of the crank and put a few nuts on it for a handle. Works just as good as the original.

Hey that's progress.

So you definitely need to get that cat replaced. If it starves of fuel it will fall on its face. Given its acting exactly as it did when you had too much pressure I'm guessing your main issue is the cat but the fuel is definitely not helping.

Potentially but it needs sorted regardless. Test the rail pressure to see exactly where you are at and then adjust from there. If it turns out not to be there then move on to the cat.

You need to test the fuel rail pressure. The stock 91-95 regulator should hold the rail at 39psi. You would need an adjustable regulator to get 49psi.