Green Mesa XJ

Do we know if the tail light bulbs are good and if those fuses actually are getting power? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I forget which year it was, might be 91 up, but Jeep had power for the brake light draw from a wire that went straight to the battery bypassing a lot of the fuse boxes. The more I think about it it probably was the early HO jeeps. Radio melting the fuse make me think the radio was wired wrong and something that’s supposed to ground has power to it. Although if the fuse was the amp it shouldn’t have melted. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The brake light plug can melt at the brake pedal, I’ve had that problem in my 85 xj. A lot of early dash harness have a issue with the brake light switch plug although the one I sourced from a 1986 xj was in perfect condition. Far as turn signal and parking lights I’ve had a hell of a time sorting out shorts for the turn signals and park lights when I updated them to led front and back, the round relay thingy in the fuse box is what clicks as they operate, a bad one or in my case one that is sensitive to the load on it can cause problems. I swapped out a headlight harness because the turn left signal socket had problems. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Um, 1987-90 should be the same or very similar. 91-94-95 the dash and engine harness bulk head plug are different. I think the headlight harness is the same from 1986 to 1994(-6?) so this could be swapped out. If your dash harness is trashed I’d recommend sourcing another renix era for a complete swap. Far as cutting and splicing, I don’t know. A lot of the plugs are the same on the dash side from 1984 until 1994. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Is the clip on the cluster or on the speedometer cable for your MJ? As far a I know it should be the same got XJ and mj except for the cable design change 1987(?) In a old thread here I posted some pictures of what my old XJ . I’ll see if I can find it later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sorry my app is screwed up and I can’t read what I type past a certain line in my replies. the storm damage is like a 60-80 mile wide tornado went from the coast to Georgia. The equipment company I work for has branches there, we’ve worked crazy hours to send as much help as we can, truck loads of chain saws, generators, clothing, camping supplies food and water, a few have gone there to man the stores so local employees can take care of their families and repair their properties while the business stays open to resupply the area. At the moment the company is losing money on the common supplies like saws and generators just paying truckers to transport the stuff there. Even a month out it’s still very bad in certain areas with a lot of resources being put there to help. If people are thinking of helping out don’t forget about the north part of the state, they are hurting too but don’t get the attention since it’s not shown on tv. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

You got it, I was out west when I bought my first XJ and was constantly in those Mesa, deserts and mountains running around with that Jeep every free moment. The storm damage were I am is nonexistent we got lucky and had the weak side of the storm. I know how frighting the sheer power of these storms are after living through bad cat three-four hurricanes, also helped in the clean up after Katrina in Mississippi, the storm that hit Panama City is much, much worse. It’s like 60 mile wide tornado hit from the coast t Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

BTW newer car with digital clusters do have requirements to match up the mileage most are recorded in the PCM now, most of those have ways of correcting them through the obd II ports with the correct software even if the data is saved in the cluster or another body module. These newer cars are also sensitive to the vin matching between PCM and other computers. Mechanical gauges usually are exempt from trying to match up mileage to discourage tampering (IMO dunno if there’s another more accurate reason) . I do know people who rolled back mileage, lots of ways to do it, my gut instinct is to leave the mileage be, but on a 30 year old Jeep as long as it’s not to defraud somebody I doubt anyone cares much. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

On the odometers it’s illegal to adjust/roll them back, however in my state since it’s so old and had so many miles already most of these old Jeeps are mileage exempt meaning the state no longer logs of mileage at registration usually because it over 100k miles or the last time it was registered mileage wasn’t certified as accurate by the state. I have a car that is pristine one owner car with low mileage that is mileage exempt in our state because the previous owner didn’t make sure mileage was certified by her new state when she moved. In my case the XJ I swapped clusters to get either tach and gauges or just working gauges again are lower mileage than the body the vehicle but FL doesn’t care as long as I don’t misrepresent the Jeep if I sell it, mileage exempt means any new owner should consider it very high mileage. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

What are you trying to fix? That retaining clip is only necessary for the early style (84-87?) Speedometer cables. There’s a metal lip on the cable that catches the clip and holds in places As I recall I updated the cable to the newer style that stays in place without clip on the speedometer, there’s a plastic catch on the end of the cable instead. while using the old style cluster with clip like you have there i just pushed the new cable on. In other words even if the clip on the speedometer I believe you can just push the cable in place as your reinstalling and it should stay there just from the spacing behind the dash and screws holding the cluster in place. Of course this is based on vague memories from 20 years ago. I later updated the cluster to a 88-90 cluster with tach because I couldn’t find a good printed circuit for the 84-87 cluster. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Factory Jeep probably 1984-94 XJ 1986-1992 MJ would work depending on the horn set up you want. But it’s a very common gm column so many other options out there Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Its paint that has to be bought from a John Deere dealer. Current Deere paint is the green and yellow for the lawn tractors, the construction yellow, charcoal, black seen on the bigger construction machines and of course the Hitachi orange (bolt per bolt same as most Deere machines with different paint, kind of like Caterpillar and Mitsubishi) The old paint scheme from the 1920-30’s has what they call classic yellow and green which I think are darker than the current colors. Anyway the guy restoring the 40’s pickup was going to use the classic yellow because it was the right era for the truck and cheaper than automotive paint. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I met somebody who bought some John Deere yellow, it was a 40s pickup and I think it was the classic yellow (1930s). Funny thing is a gallon Deere paint was cheaper than other alternatives. Or so he said Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Same motor but watch the aftermarket brands. TYC I think it was has a cheap motor but lacks power throughout the ranges. Replaced it with a U.S.A. made motor and it is a big difference Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Wait it’s a Laredo? Automatic? That should be a 21 spline I think. The ax15 (manual transmission) were 23 spline, the aw4 behind the 4.0 starting in 1991 are 23 spline Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

You need an np231 with 21 splines, I think that’s going to be 1987 to 1989. Now most 4cyl should be 21 spline as I remember it. But after 1991 they go to electronic speedometers, which is the same case more or less so it can take the cable and gear if you have the setup to swap. I’m going to do this swap with my 85 XJ, np207 is not a bad transfer case, but the speedometer gears and every other part is readily available for the 231. Of course you could rebuild the 1990 231 and put the correct input spline you need. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

LOL. I was just telling the kids about Douglas Adams yesterday. Even put on the movie since they didn’t remember watching the dolphins in the so long and thanks for all the fish opening number when they were younger. I wouldn’t necessarily trust the hydrocarbon test, it only really reacts well to large leaks that vent back into the coolant system. I think the compression test would tell him more. I drove my pos 2.8 engine XJ literally all over place, tens of thousands of miles in a little over a year. First real trip was over a thousand miles To go home for the holidays with no real issues and several trips back and forth from Home to school after that. Only real trouble was the first few days where the heater hose blowing out and the battery dying on a cold night in the mountains. But at that time it was a only a fourteen year old Jeep. I still wouldn’t trust a 32 year old jeep with my life on a thousand mile inaugural journey. At least get it running around town without failure first. Btw I did a ton of maintenance in the first few years as well so that reliability the 2.8 Jeep had wasn’t out of the box it was earned. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

On the road that 2.5 is going feel gutless even running @ 100%. When I got my v6 2.8 XJ it was in a mountain town not being able to keep with traffic up a steep hill was a eye opener. Only good thing is that mj has the manual transmission and probably 4.10 gearing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Eagle is right on. I tell people who are tempted by a car/project to go in expecting the worst case far as expense is concerned to make it a daily driver. I get the excitement and I’d give in too often if the body is solid, but I also go in thinking waterpump, thermostat, radiator, hoses, clutch slave and master, break booster + master cylinder and front and back brakes possibly engine if they cooked the old one. I you go in with this kind of mind set you’ve got a grasp on the work keeping the current owners from using it and what you’ll need to over come. It it were me , I’d offer $500 to tow it away telling them I plan on fixing it and the rest of their asking price is going for parts. But but this may be the car for you and a price you can afford. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Being a 86 it’s s early Renix, could have some electrical gremlins. Nothing that can’t be sorted. Be just keep in mind that being 32 years old and neglected it will need some TLC . Check the hoses and clean the grounds. It’s a good engine but under underpowered. Looks like a 5 speed so that’ll be a ax5, decent transmission in my experience. Radiator is a simple basic design , easy to pull. Might be more difficult to find than it used to be just be sure it a all metal design not the plastic tank Chinese version they are trying to sell now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I don’t know about driving it 1000 miles right off. It’s old and it’s been sitting you are going to have problems of some sort. Is it a 4cyl ? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I dunno. On the 91 up XJ the brake switch has a bigger plug and does 3 functions, brake lights, cruise control, siginsl to lock and unlock torque converter. Not sure about Renix era jeeps. Some google pics look like your switch Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Reminds me of a clutch switch for disabling the starter or disengaging cruise control. Maybe it part of the cruise control? Just a early version with a separate switch for the brake light and another for cruise control? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Probably 1986-1990. 1986 was the first Renix year. I used a 1988 dash harness with a 1986 2.8 v6 engine harness. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Something quick would be a 3.4 v6, essentially a 2.8 v6 the other option for your engine bay. There is a thread here (I believe it is) where somebody has a few gm v6 swaps written up. A small block v8 is not out of the question either. But the v6 3.4 from a 93-95 Camaro will bolt up to you current transmission. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro