Green Mesa XJ

it is as Ohm says. Like in the video and instructions you’ll feel the air presses out the spark plug opening because the exhaust and intake valves are closed, the compression stroke. Keep an eye on the Piston with a screwdriver or wooden dowel rod for it reaching the highest point in its stroke and you’re at TDC for whatever cylinder you do this on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Ok. I set TDC on the 2.8 I’m building using the methods I posted. With the timing cover just loosely bolted and the harmonic balancer not pressed on this is 0. Here are the marks on the on the timing cover If I can find a distributor cap to show me cylinder 1s location I can tentatively show what that should look like. What is you motor supposed to be set for? How many degrees off according to the sticker on the firewall ? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Looks about right. I’ll look at the marks on the motor I’m building . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

You’ve got to find the compression stroke for cylinder #1. Holding a finger over the spark plug opening or putting paper there until it blows away is one technique. I didn’t watch either video all the way through. I’m not sure how to fake the degrees you need to set it for with standard equipment. Easy enough to set to 0, what does it say on your firewall sticker about timing? First thing is to find where zero TDC cylinder 1 is with that crank pulley and cover, if it’s where 2.8 is maybe take a guess based on the picture of a 2.8 timing mark. There are mechanic tools that can read the pulses from the magnetic CPS gm uses, I don’t know much about them or how to use them in this case. Either way you’ll probably have to readjust it as you try driving it to get it responsive as it should be. There is another trick engine builders use but it won’t work here with no timing marks to go by. Here is another explanation of TDC Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Here are a few links that can help. http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/Archive-000001/HTML/20130314-2-115913.html http://www.s10forum.com/forum/#/topics/422281 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Also at this point you need to decide if you want to go to a distributor with vacuum advance and cut the computer out of the equation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Aw $#!&. Jeep Driver was correct it’s your distributor. There was no reason to remove it it’s far enough out of the way to get the heads off without touching it. Then the guy turned the engine and dropped it back in like it’s a Honda distributor which only goes two ways correct or 180 degrees off. Timing is way the hell off. Not terribly surprised most modern mechanics will have little experience with the old school distributors. You need to do two things, first is find the number one mark on the distributor cap and mark the base so you can see it and take the distributor cap off. second is you need to find out if there is a mark on the crank pulley to indicate where it is, then Mark it a color you can see easily, white or yellow. Next is you need to turn the engine by hand until cylinder #1 is at the top of it stroke, like where it was when you set the valve lash. I believe the first cylinder on the passenger head is number 1. After you have the engine set correctly you need to pull the distributor out the turn it by hand to line up with number one line you marked on its base and drop it back in so it lines up with that mark. You may have to rotate it twice to line the mark up do it’s at the beginning of the TDC and not 180 off. Just look it up for a video or better instructions on finding TDC on these old engine. You could pull the spark plug and use something like a long screwdriver to see when the piston pushes the screw driver up. The two tricky parts are as the distributor gear starts to mesh with the cam it’s going to want to turn slightly out of alignment, you have to practice installing it so it move very little or moves to the correct mark as it’s installed. You can see part of the gear from the cam shaft you need to mesh correctly with. The thing in the center is for turning the oil pump, nothing to do with timing. The second tricky part is your engine needs to be off by a certain number of degrees to run correctly, 12 or 17 degrees off, what I described should take you to 0 degrees if done correctly. Normally you’d just run it loosen the bolt clamping the distributor down and turn it by hand until it’s right. But you don’t have the correct timing cover for this. So it’s got to be seat of the pants adjustments, which I’m not sure how to describe. this is the timing cover the 2.8 should have. This is what the harmonic balancer and timing marks should line up. Beware there can be two marks or more marks on the balancer and you have to be sure you get it correct or it will be 180 degrees off. I’ll see if I can find a video later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

No it’s behind all of that at the back of the motor. They shouldn’t have had to touch it other than the spark plug wires. But honestly I have no idea what has been done, if they touched it for any reason then you’re completely right and he’s got a hell of a time figuring out how to reset it ahead of him. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Not on that motor. It’s push rod, and the cam and crank don’t have to be moved to pop off the heads kind of like the 4.0. Although Getting the valve lash set may be a trick.It’d be good to check timing anyway but he’s got the 95 Camaro timing cover and crank pulley. It has a primitive CPS to time the engine with no timing marks on the cover. I don’t know how to describe to a novice trying to time that with a timing gun. I doubt many of the fundamentals on that engine but going back to basics like I would have done is hard to write instructions for. Probably more my limitations than anything else Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Almost forgot be sure to change that oil! If you had someone working on it with you they probably already did it or recommended it. You don’t want to run that engine with radiator fluid in the oil, it will lead to premature bearing failure. BTW did you get a peak at the pistions? I’m curious what they were marked for, usually more than stock displacement after they bore out the cylinders. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Backfiring ? Sounds like timing, or plug wire order. If you didn’t touch/move the distributor it would be timed where it always was, not the it is correct but you know it at least ran. Plug wires are easy to confuse so I’d start at one and verify it. I can’t recommend the Weber 38 highly enough, it was the biggest improvement to daily drivability. Other thing I’d do is swap the distributor for vacuum advance, getting rid of the computer but your computer may be working correctly and advancing the timing as it should. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend replacing distributor because all the timing marks the 2.8 has are gone and there’s no way for a by the book setup. I could do it and so could a lot of others it’s just hard to describe how to do it by feel. You may have to adjust if the rebuilder set the distributor for 0 degrees at top dead center, but you will not know that until you start trying to drive it. If they were smart ( which I doubt since they f’ed up headgasket torquing ) they would have matched the compression stroke on the 3.4 block to the 2.8, marked the position on the distributor in the 2.8 and dropped it in the 3.4, if they did that everything is good far as timing that distributor for that computer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yeah I know what you mean, if you look up fitment by vehicle it does show 84-85-86 XJ. Honestly I’d try the eBay guy, he’s had it and the edelbrock intakes since early 2004. Make a best offer I’d mention you’re trying to get your mj back on the road see if you can get a little help on the price. Doesn’t hurt to try. Any best offer prices I figure is worth a shot just don’t be so low ball it’s insulting, just haggle a little. Not sure if sitting for 13 years would be an issue, kind of assume not if it was stored correctly. Looks ok from the pictures. BTW if you get a Weber I would not mess with the mixture unless there is a problem. Out of the box worked well at sea level and did ok at 6000-7000 feet altitude city driving. Only problem I had is when I tried adjusting the mixture myself. At the time it was kind of gunky with old gas from sitting at my parents while I was away, screwing with the mixture was unnecessary and a pain to correct. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

That link didn’t work on my phone, should be right from the description. If you get the kit you shouldn’t need the adapter plate. In some pictures of the new kits the adapter plate is already installed, the kit i bought many moons ago didn’t come like this. Keep in mind if you use the air cleaner adapter to keep the factory air cleaner you’ll need to trim to bolt because it’s too tall for MJ&XJ hoods. That guy on ebay with the open box has the Weber air cleaner. Just search k490 jeep it’s the one for $350 OBO + shipping. I don’t know the seller but it looks like it could be legit. Only thing that looks different if the linkage adapter for throttle cable, still looks like it could be correct just different (better, cleaner) from the kit bought in the early 2000s Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Here this is the Amazon part # W0133-1815473-WEB The search k490 jeep brings up a few kits but they are more expensive. Everywhere else should have it was k490 redline or search for s10 2.8 Weber. eBay has the kit lower than $400 but I can’t vouch for the sellers. Edit: one guy on eBay has the kit open box said he never installed for $ 350 OBO Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

That’s the right carburetor, dunno about the mounting plate adapter. The kit for the s10 2.8 is the one I used, K490 by redline , this kit bolts to the factory intake. If you wanted to piece it out just about any Weber 38 DGES or DGVS will do (as I understand it both are electric choke. DGAS I believe is supposed to either mechanical or water choke, but it seems some kits marked DGAS have the electric choke anyway) The adapter plate is 99004.490 is the part number for the varijet to DGB adapter. Carbs unlimited sell them for about $90 + shipping. The air filter adapter is 99010.490 for factory air filter but you can use another type of filter as that kit at Amazon has. The only other carb option I’m aware of you’d need the edelbrock intake and adapter for a Holley 390 4 barrel. AFAIK those are the only two options for the 2.8-3.4 carbureted setup. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I’ve rebuilt my clutch slave and master before, supposed to be a good quality kit but it didn’t work. I figured they were too worn out after 13 years. Haven’t been happy with remain anything for the last 10 years at least. If oem is not available or cost too much I start looking for reviews on any aftermarket parts I’m considering. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Just FYI you might get away with not sending the heads off to be resurfaced, there not like aluminum heads in that respect but it you don’t have the tools or confidence you probably should play it safe with a machine shop. Usually the gaskets on these engines are forgiving of minor variances. Check the push rods are in good shape and make sure it all goes back to the same lifter because of the wear pattern. Setting the valve lash makes me nervous, I still haven’t installed the motor I’ve set them on yet. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Did you notice if there was a heat tab that reacted to the heat? Normally on the cylinder head after rebuild. Are you going to do the disassembly or farm it out? Only reason I’m asking is there are a few tips to doing it. Common sense stuff like making a box with holes to line up the push rods exactly as they come out, I believe there is a tab on the cylinder head between the block where you can pry up to free the head. I would compression test to identify which side is faulty. If your have better peace of mind replacing both sides that’s fine too. Both cylinder heads are the same, no left or right. Cylinder head is the same 1985-1995 gm (casting # 14054884 aka 4884 ) exceptions are 1985 & 86 Jeeps which got 1984 cylinder heads which are lower HP) I used the severe duty head gasket from fel-Pro 512sd, which I believe is only 2.8 & 3.1 v6. I think 3.4 is bored out more and has a slightly different gasket. Not sure if they make a Severe Duty gasket for the 3.4. Speaking of I wonder if whoever rebuilt the 3.4 used the correct head gaskets?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Cool! How much would that cost if more of use were interested to buy one? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I get it. You’ve poured a lot of effort into getting it running to have this issue, it breaks the heart. I had a car in my late teens I save from a junk yard that was prone to BHG. I don’t get why a remanufactured engine has a headgasket problem. It’s a simple engine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I thought you had said it only went down which would make me suspect a coolant leak. Guess it doesn’t matter now You could try retorqueing the head bolts but at this point it’s probably truly blown. Did you hit extreme temperatures? Did you suspect the rebuild? You always thought you had a heat problem from the beginning just wondering why. What you can do is pull the head and put a new gasket in after cleaning it up. By the book is take it to the machine shop but these iron heads don’t warp too bad if you didn’t cook it hard, you can usually do a few thing to check if it’s warped clean it up a slap a HD extrem duty headgasket on it. I’d do a compression test to see which cylinder head is bad. You may have only one head bad, however if it was a faulty rebuild you could have more issues. Problem doing one of these jobs with these engines is the push rod order and setting valve lash. Just a PITA. It’s straight forward otherwise however if you start looking a big repair bill to pay someone do the job it might be cheaper to swap the motor out again with a used engine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The volume of coolant will expand as the engine gets hotter. If volume is not changing during operation something blocking the line. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sounds like someone broke the lock somehow. Some times a screwdriver and hammer were the skeleton keys of the 80’s. I’m not sure what your going to have to do to fix it. Was the lock cylinder assembly what was replaced? Then the internal mechanisms of the new cylinder should be ok. If that’s the case something has got to be broken in the column, good news is it’s all generic gm parts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Unfortunately all the brands in clouding omix-ada and crown are cheap Chinese manufacturers, mopar is the way to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well you’re using 2.8 cooling system. I’d assume you’d need the appropriate cap, however people use different pressure adjust the boiling point. Does the reservoir expansion tank work? If you pull the water pump you’ll need a new gasket, they are paper with a little rtv so they tear when pulled. If you do replace the pump I’d run the belt like the Camaro does just to be 100% sure it’s spinning the correct way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro