Green Mesa XJ

Well the 2.8 had a crap intake, combined with crap carburetor with restrictive exhaust and damn stupid emissions and miles of vacuum tubes. Compounding those problems was gm sold the worst of what they had on hand to AMC. 1985 gm upgraded the 2.8 cylinder heads, slightly more power stayed in use until the last 3.4 rwd in 1995. Also redesigned the block with rubber rear main seal and bigger oil journals better bearing size. But the 1986 Jeep got 1985 blocks and 1984 cylinder heads. Maybe some got the newer mid-year block, but most I've seen had old number cylinder heads so didn't get the upgraded HP GM boasted about. That's an awful lot to overcome out of the box. If I look at a 86 with a 2.8 my minds already making a list of upgrades and parts to swap. 4.0 is a legendary engine hard to compare to that. Adding it to a 86 mj or XJ is doable but not simple. All that said I don't absolutely hate the 2.8, I've got to have close to 300k on mine, it is under powered but never quit. Gotten through everything I put it through off road, sucked getting to speed on the highway, or going up a steep hill especially at high altitude, fine for city driving. Maybe because it has a 5 speed it's been more livable to me. I would tell anyone starting out with a 2.8, if you plan on keeping it a 2.8 swap out the carburetor as a first step, if you plan on keeping the jeep you should probably upgrade the engine to a 3.4 as a start and do the fuel system upgrades. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

http://comancheclub.com/topic/3253-the-legendary-28-to-40-swap-help-needed/ Here is one thread, plenty of others out there Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Quite a few have done it. You'll need a lot of parts from a donor jeep because the engine bay is smaller 84-86, 87 the bay was stretched to fit the 4.0 and all kinds of thing were rearranged like hood latch. Then their is the wiring and computers. You'll really need a good donor vehicle to get everything. The easiest solution is probably dropping a 3.4 v6 out of a 93-95 Camaro, essentially it's a 2.8 bored out to 3.4. Next would be to upgrade the fuel system to edelbrock intakes and Holley four barrel or as a few have done get the wiring harness and computers with the camaro engine and run the fuel injection and intake. But The 4.0 swap can be done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I dunno about fitment but my experience with these kind of aftermarket assemblies is they work, can work well at that, but the fuel gauge will be way off. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Carburetor only makes sense if the rest of the system is FUBAR. Usually carbs add more problems than they solve. Just in my experience. TBI and injection are normally more reliable. I'd try to fix the renix system, if it's completely ruined then I'd try to adapt it to carburetor, so much of the system is tied up in computer control it'd be a pain to separate it all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Did a quick search for universal condensers that size came close but nothing exact. Maybe a call to a ac parts company or a parts supplier with detailed enough books can find it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

When I replaced a condenser on a 91 XJ the dimension were slightly different but it all bolted right up. If the original is a odd ball dealer add on or generic aftermarket, I would just go back with new hoses to match the new condenser as long as the rest of the hardware mates up. if it was wrecked in the front early on in it life is a possibility a body shop threw it together. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Awesome! Does the new relay affect the front blinkers at all? on our 91 XJ the front turn signal and park light had a fit with rear turn led and park lamp/brake light led. Regular bulbs up front, led in the rear, turn signal with parking lights off were fine, parking lights on turn signals wouldn't function and the turn signal indicators were faintly glowing when the parking lights got power.New flasher relay made the difference, now it all works like it should. Although she said one day one of the turn signals were not responding but it only happened once. The 91 has bad grounds with the front park lights, occasionally the turn signal indicator would ground out to the instrument cluster some times lighting up the right indicator, so the front harness is a bit of a mess and is some of our problems. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Put some led lights in the Cherokee taillights from Wal-mart, took a new flasher relay for them to work. The old relay freaked out when park lights were on or turn signals were on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I know the newer slave can be adapted to work with the 80s master. They sell flexible line and adapters to do this. I'd rather update the assembly, master and slave. But I thought the firewall opening was wrong, if a 80s XJ can use a 94-96 clutch that would be great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Wait. The 94 up is a better slave cylinder? What about the master? Can I use a newer mopar slave, line, and master assembly? Reason I ask is i am going to convert my 1985 XJ the ax5 to ax15, I have the proper Dakota bellhousing, I thought the firewall mounts or clutch pedal were not compatible. I've seen NOS prebled mopar master and slave around. I tried rebuilding the old 84-86 clutch slave and master before. Problem I had was the original parts were too worn for the seals work. Tried a junk yard to rebuild those but it was a mixed result. Ended up buying what I've got now which is after market of dubious quality. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm the same way with shipping crap back. Unless it's Amazon, they'll send the ups truck to pick it up. I've got stuff from Rock that was mislabeled, not high dollar items so I figure the cost vs my aggravation multiplied by my natural entropy equals stuck on a shelf. Napa online has two clutch kits by LUK One is 9 1/8" # NCF 1101020 The other in 9 11/16 #NCF 1101010 Not sure which is right, the online wouldn't let me enter transmission type. Even then their books are way the hell better than most computers, just get a counterman to look it up. But their v2.8 clutch kit looked kind of right. The pilot bearing was definitely correct, most kits include the bearings for a 4.2 or 4.0. cause it's jeep 6 cylinder who'd put a crappy chevy motor in their? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

App messed up the last post.. sorry. Anyway. Trouble is these early XJ/MJ are not catalogued correctly, the 87 up tend to bleed in to the listing. Even the jeep parts catalogue is confused about those years. It never gets fixed because well it was amc and probably a lot of other now defunct companies who made these catalogues initially. Also not that many people are working on these jeeps. Napa or another parts dealer with feed back from transmission shops would have a better chance of being correct the first try. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

If you replace the master replace the slave as well, on paper it should be fine to replace one or the other when they fail in real life I've found new problems when only one of them get replaced. I had a Centric parts master and slave that have done ok, not really sold on that brand there may be better. I may have tried Bendix once, not sure. The OE is probably Aisin, well they look similar to Toyota truck and cars. Far as clutch kits goes I would not bother the rock auto, vato zone, or the other run of the mill discount parts houses. Rock isnt bad but you have to be able to discern what is correct and incorrect, same for Amazon. Through experience I leaned the 84-86 clutches are a Hodgepodge of parts. Half of the kit I bought for my 85 was correct, the shop I had do the job orders another kit and used parts both and still had to match up I think the pilot bearing. Napa may have a better catalogue but be prepared to have to go back and swap it out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Had to google that car as well. Seems to be a lot of love out there for that car. IMHO Styling was ahead of the curve for 1963. Looks maneuverable. Must have been a blast to drive. Was 10:1 compression aggressive for 63? I seem to recall quite a few v8 of the 60s had pretty high ratios. When they dropped the compression in the gas crunch 70s the power dropped but the fuel consumption stayed about the same. Also why the American sports car of the 80s sucked, the German and Japanese cars managed their power better. American v8 did stupid things like spark control computers The old watercooled VW were not too hard to set the points on, it just didn't seem to hold the tune for long. Could always tell with that car the vaguest mood changes and knew what it needed. Running right it was a zippy fun car. I think my dad must have had a Duster right before they adopted the electronic ignition, remember him complaining about the points in the distributor and taking it to a shop to be tuned. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

If it's got the 88 wiring and injection then it's a renix system, there are a few experts here who can help trouble shoot the renix no start. You could swap another 2003 2.5 engine in, but unless the current engine is bad you would still be stuck with no start. Probably would be bad to get a few pictures of the engine bay so the folks here can identify what you've got. If it were me I'd test for spark, being lazy I'd probably try a little starter fluid and see if i tries to start, if it does then you've got a fuel problem, it if does nothing then it's a spark issue. That is where trouble shooting the renix system comes in, if you MJ still has it. Could be as simple as a crank position sensor that bolts in the transmission bellhousing. It shouldn't be mechanical timing unless there has been a catastrophic failure of some sort like the chain breaking, which would not be common. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

interesting, I didn't know when the USA auto makers adopted electronic ignition, they were late adopting it compared to Europe (maybe Japan?) who started in the 1960s. Although I had a 1980 VW Rabbit with points. Awful, PITA to tune. If it got splashed the car was dead on he side of the road. Was so glad the crappy V6 XJ had common a gm module. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

For a used 4.0 HO motor it's between $200 to 500, ranging from a upull it or Craig's list to junk yards, usually 140k on the engine at a minimum. Just on average. Not sure what the renix era go for I assume about the same. Although you can use a HO engine too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

This may be what the MJ tail light harness looks like, Different from the xj but I'd bet the problem is some where in there. Either a bad ground at a socket or a bad wire somewhere Swamp rat @ the commence club had this post from 2013 about the MJ tail light wiring Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oh, what does the tail light harness look like? Each side should have a separate harness that clips/plugs in the main body harness. I'm explaining it badly, right and left tail light bulb sockets should be on a harness that plugs in to the main body harness. At least that's how it is for XJ I assume MJ had something similar. If it does I'd try disconnecting each side one at a time and see what happens, and/or inspect the wires from the last point to the Taillights to see if there is a bad wire. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

It seems like it would be a ground problem or a melted/melting headlight switch plug. When mine tried to melt down it did all kinds of weird things. Unless it's a renix 87-88-89? (I can't see signatures with the details in this app) maybe it's the c101 connector issue. Other than this, I'm not sure if bad bulbs/sockets can cause flickering. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Did the headlight switch harness and plug look good? Not melted? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Didn't see that wire at first on my phone. Don't see that wire and bolt on my old 85 XJ. On my 90 s XJ I can't check that spot easily. With that bolt it looks kind of OEM but I don't remember off hand there being a factory ground there and I've been through several dash harnesses finding the right one for my old XJ. If there's no corresponding ground on the dash harness then it is a previous owners addition I almost wonder the way it's burned out if it wasn't attached to the blower motor or something . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The kick panel is the radio antenna And I think the plug the power takes to the dome light. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

From what my searches show The gearing ration of you axels my suck going from manual (3.07?) to auto (normally 3.55) Stuff to swap crossmember, drives shafts, flexplate, shifter, throttle body brackets, kick down cable, cable that works the shifter lockout, brake pedal, Depending on the year I'm not sure if the ecu/pcm cares what transmission. No good write up that I can find. Edit: maybe this link will help http://www.stu-offroad.com/engine/aw-4/aw-4-1.htm Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro