Disturbed

I plated my frame with 1/8" steel in the area. Made patterns out of card board, transfered onto the steel and cut with a grinder and jigsaw. My frame was fine but while I had the gas tank out I wanted to head off any problems. The grinder and jigsaw isnt the fastest but it works. It really sucked cutting like that because I knew I would have a CNC plasma table sitting in my shop soon, that was months ago, and the CNC table is now here, but it still isnt set up.

That is a killer setup....when the new expansion tank cracks, which I know it will, this is what I will be doing and skipping the open system swap. Thanks for the information.

Thanks you everyone for your input. It got really bad this morning and what I though was a leaking hose is a crack in the tank near the hose nipple. I had to leave the truck at home and drive my ZJ. I just ordered the plastic tank from Quadratec. They are in Pennsylvania and I should have it tomorrow. I would have probably sprung for the Aluminum tank but I need to tomorrow and I am planning on swapping in an open system. If that doesnt happen next time I need a tank I will get the aluminum one, that thing is sweet. Thanks again for everyone help.

OK so if this bottle is the weak link in the system and is more than likely the problem what can be done to address it. Since it was suggested that I look at ebay for a tank it would seem to me that they are no longer available new. Has anyone come up with a better replacement? Or do most people just swap to an open system? This is the route I am planning on going when I have more time, right now I just need to fix this or keep adding water.

OK I have been driving my MJ for a little over two months and everything is fine up until recently. The truck is leaking coolant when it is hot at the resevior. It seems to be leaking where the hose goes in the side of the tank. I have tried tightening the hose clamp and that doesnt seem to help. The truck is not running hot, always stays right below 210. After 22 years it could just be that the hose is deteriorated and needs to be replaced. I looked at it quickly this morning as I was leaving fo work and it looks like it will been to be purchased as a until because there it a t in the hose that has crimp fittings. Guess it would help to let you all know this is a closed cooling system in an 88MJ. Beofre I go out and buy the hose and spend the time changing it out I am wondering it anyone has any other idea as to what I might be or is it just a leaking hose. I am assuming that this system must vent pressure some how, could it be the vent is stuck and it is building too much pressure? Assuming there is a vent on the tank where is it? Is it in the cap like on an open system or somewhere else. I don't have time to be messing with this right now so I want to be sure I get it right the first time. Can anyone help?

I drove a Jeep every day for most of my life. Daily drove my first YJ from the time I was 16 until I was 22. Then for a year I drove a Ranger but that got old, so I picked up an XJ with a deisel engine in it, traded that up to 1995 Grand Cherokee Orvis. The I started having to communte almost 100 miles a daily, ran the Grand Cherokee for a couple of years but that got VERY expensive. So I switch vehicles with my wife, she drove the Grand and I drove her Neon, when the gas prices went WAY up we got her a Civic to drive, but kept the Grand. Last summer my commute went to 26 miles a day and I took the opportunity to dump the Neon and go back to a Jeep. Since I little truck can be handy I opted for the MJ. I hope I can Keep the MJ on the road for another 20 years, my son is 10 months old and I keep telling him he gets the MJ when he can drive. Why not replace both calipers? Because I have a stash of Jeep parts and in that stash was ONE caliper. It was actually off of a YJ and the only reason I replaced it was because the bleeder screw was frozen up and I couldn't bleed the brakes. I did check the other caliper and it was find, not frozen up or leaking.

OK three months after my last update it is finally on the road. This took WAY longer than I was expecting BUT I am happy with the results. I pulled it out of the shop Thursday and have put almost 300 miles on it since then. Here is the breif run down of what I did to get this truck on the road. Plated the Unifram (not sure what to call it) on the drivers side since the gas tank was out. Plaing runs from about 10" before the "frame" starts at the back of the cab and 14" back the frame, 24" over all. Inside, outside and under the frame. Also boxed in the cab mounts both inside and outside. All done with 1/8" steel, painted and undecoated. Replaced the leaking fuel tank, fuel pump prefilter, and all of the rubber fuel lines. Also replaced the fuel filter and the rubber lines for that. New rear hard brake line from the proportioning valve to the rear. Moved the rear flex line frame mount to in front for the cross member. Master cylinder replaced with an E350 Ford van master cylinder, proportioing valve is from a Jeep YJ, load sensing valve has been removed. Replaced rear wheel cylinders and rear ebrake cables. Replaced one front caliper due to a frozen bleed screw. Brakes work very well now. 1998 XJ clutch master and slave cylinder. For the master cylinder mount I used a hole saw and cut the center of the 1998 mount out of the plate, the part that is formed for the master cylinder to slip through and twist into. Made a plate to fit the stock mounting holes and welded studed to it. Removed the bracket from the inside of the firewall and drilled the studs out so the new plate I made could be bolted in. Replace two large sections of the drive floor, passenger floor was in good shape. Cleaned the foot wells up, bed lined them and reinstalled the carpeting. Replaced alot of the broken and missing hardware from the interior trim, still have more to do there. Also properly installed the shifter into the transmission and fix the shifter console which had broken mounts. Freed up and lubed the seat slider for the bench seat, I think I will actually keep the bench seat, I kind of like it. Cut out the rusting metal under the battery and made a replacement panel. Replaced trashed battery tray with one from a 1996 XJ. Painted and undercoated replacement panel. Cleaned up and re undercoated both front wheel wells and replaced the plastic liners with rubber one from a 1996 XJ with new push clips. Also re undercoated along the frame rails and floors. Pulled both the front flares and ditched the rusted mounting plates, replaced all of that hardware. There is no rust under the fender flares, yes. Removed the chrome step bars due to the fact that they were not for an MJ and the where held in place a self tapper screws. Fixed all broken and rotted vacum lines under the hook. New air cleaner. Removed all of the AC lines and hardware, except for the condenser, if I am going to take the time to rip that out I want an open cooling system to install while I have it apart. The lines were all cut and crimped shut so there was no use saving them or keeping them intacted. AC compresor is still there, will eventually be converter to OBA New window seals in the doors, lubed up the window regualtors but the DS gas a stripped section and needs to be replaced. Fixed the wiring issue with the front turn signal and added an electric flasher for the turnn signals. Got radio working again. Fixed the fuse issue for the gauges and dash lights, fuses werent blow just loose. There are still a million little things to attend too but it is road worthy and safe and I am sure I missed some of the things I did. It was inspected Thursday. I will get back to the little stuff later but I need to move on to some other stuff. I will try to get some pictures resized and posted up in the next few days. I bought this truck for $1300, have probably another $300-$400 into it, I am pleased with it, all of the work was worth the effort. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions in this and other threads. It feels good to be driving a Jeep with a 5 speed as a daily driver again, I drove a little automatic cars with the engine in the wrong way for too long.

No, I never figured out what was wrong. I don't like fixes like this, the no fix fix, because if it comes up again I don't know what to do to fix it except what I did before. But since it is now working I can't really diagnos the problem. I can't wait to drive this truck. I bought it the weekend before Thanksgiving (yep, November 2009) and what I was told was wrong with it should have taken a few weekends to fix. Needless to say most of what I had to do not mentioned by the PO. The good news is I am now very confident that the truck is in good shape. The only thing that I am not 100% sure about is the Renix EFI. But I have a 4.0 with Mopar EFI on it, an ECU, and a wiring harness sitting in my shop with no real plans for it, so if the Renix becomes too much of a hassle I will just do a little swapping.

The truck is running but I can't tell you what was wrong with it. I pulled the flexible lines coming out of the tank and got no fuel. Pulled the pump and submersed it a buckets of gas, put 12volts to the pump, it ran but I got no fuel. Reversed the polarity, again it ran but I got no fuel. Removed the strainer, now I got fuel, reinstalled the strainer, now I am getting fuel. The strainer is new so it is not gummed up. Put the pump back in the tank, cycled the key, now I have fuel pressure on the fuel pressure gauge. Cranked it over, and it fired right up. 39 psi at the rail which is right since the vacum line is broken that provides vacum to the pressure regulator. Wish I knew what was wrong but at least it is running. :dunno: I have to fix the vacum line, torque the lug nuts, tighten the rear DS bolts, fix a bad ground in the front turn signal, and empty out the bed. I should be able to it inspected and be driving it by the weekend. I hope to be able to drive it to the RC Rocs comp at Rausch Creek on Saturday. Look for the blue short bed that is lifted 4" on 31s. Thanks for everyone help. Now that this project is done I can get my CNC Plasma table set up and start cutting parts. If you are going to be at Rausch on Saturday look me up. I will probably be hanging out with Randy Wood from Adventurous 4x4. He will have a tent set up there. My name is Kris.

I actual did mention that some of the parts were new, I didn't go into quite everything BUT I really don't have much faith in new parts anymore, I have had more than my share of parts new out of the box that were bad from parts stores, so I have quit thinking just because itis new it is good. If I remember correctly the spade terminals were different enough in size that I could have put the big connector on the small terminal but not the other way around. I had the lines marked but then ended up changing out the flex lines so maybe I mixed up the tags I had on the lines when I put the new lines on. Hopefully I can put the thing back up on the rack today and see what is going on.

The tank is new, the gas is new, the strainer is new, the flexible lines from the tank are new, and the fuel filter is new. I put worm clamps on all the lines inside the tank when I put it back together. I will pull the line on the fuel filter tomorrow, that was my plan, and see what happens. All things considered I am hoping I was a moron and hooked the lines up backwards.

Maybe, this truck was apart for months, I thought I hooked everything back up correctly but I could be wrong. I can answer this question by doing the same test I mentioned above.

Yes the pump was removed from the sender. The terminals were spade terminals and they were different sizes so there is no way, that I know off, that I could have switched them. I guess I can verify this if I pull the rubber line off the fuel pump at the tank and see if I am geeting fuel there.

Also forgot to mention that the fuel strainer on the fuel pump is new.

OK I have been working on this truck for the past five months, finally took it off the lift, I put it up on the lift the week before Thanksgiving. Tried to start it and it won't start. I didnt have alot of time to do trouble shooting but here is where I stand. It isnt getting fuel. The fuel tank, fuel lines and fuel filter are new. The pump isn't new but was functioning fine when I pull the truck into the shop. I can hear the fuel pump run. If I turn the key on and off a few times you can hear it get to the point where it sounds like the fuel system is primed (pump doesnt run as long). There is 5 gallons of fuel in the tank so I know it isnt just out. I hooked up a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail at the pressure port and there is no pressure. Just before I called it quits I did notice that the vacum line going to the fuel pressur regulator (on the end of the fuel rail) is broken. Would this cause a no fuel issue? I tried cranking while pressing the purge button on my fuel gauge and got no fuel. I am going to pull a line off the fuel pump to see if it is pulling fuel from the tank, but I think it is because of the way it reacts when priming the fuel system. Does anone have any ideas? I really want this truck driving by the end of the weekend. Thanks for any help.

Yes those are the ones and I have the carpeted rear panel. What purpose do they serve? It almost seems like the trim panel should sit in them, but then the panel is way too high, the clips on the panel do not come close to lining up with the slots in the B pillar trim. If I can get this figured out the only other thing that I have issue with is the trim piece down by the e-brake and hood release. I remember that being difficult to pull out so I am guessing I just meed to find the righ way to finess it back in. I stopped yesterday and picked trim screws, the little stamped steel nuts, and some of the push in fasteners to replace the ones that are broken or missing from the previous owners.

Yes I know the jack handle braket, it does protrude through the back panel, but it is about half way up the wall, the brackets I am referring to are at the bottom of the wall behind the seat. Door trim, then the b-pillar, that helps, thanks alot.

OK I finally got my floor cleaned up and patched up and now I am trying to put everything back together, it has been months since I pulled the carpet and trim pieces and I can't remember a few things, specifically am having issue with the trim panel behind the seat on the back wall of the cab. There are 2 metal brackets that have me confused. One in the middle and one on the passenger side, what are these? First thought was for the trim panel to sit in but then it is way to high. Also looks like the previous owner pulled the interior before and there are alot of screws missing. Does the trim that goes along the bottom of the door opening need to be installed before the B pillar trim. I did not need to remove the b pillar trim to remove these trim pieces but it looks like there were some screws missing. If anyone can tell me where to find a manual online or has pictures that would be great. This is the downside to taking so long on a project, you don't remember how the "easy" stuff goes back together and when the PO has done a poor job of putting it back together it isnt any easier. Can Anyone Help?

Wow I didnt realize that it has been almost a month since I updated this, well, up until this past weekend I really had nothing to report. I took Friday off work and almost got the frame plating done. I did a little write up on my local club website, I still don't have pictues figured out here. Here is the link to the other site, you do not need to be a member to view it, just pop over and check it out. http://www.jeepsrus.org/megabbs/forums/ ... s=5#M15348 I made some changes to my plans from what I had posted before but it turned out very well if I do say so myself. I can tell my welding is out of practice, it doesnt look as good as I would like, or course alot of this was out of position. I should have this all finished up by the end of this coming weekend. What do you think?

With the holidays here time to work on this is slow but here is where I stand. I started running new brake lines to the rear. While I was under there I got to looking at a way to strengthen the frame from where it transitions from the unibody to the frame rails. This seems to me to be the weakest part of the frame and where the first issues will start in the future. Its the low spot in the frame where any water inside the frame will collect and where the rear spring solid mount is. While the tank is out I decided to address this. I am going to plate the frame on both sides and the bottom. Once the two sides are welded in I am going to cut a hole in the bottom of the frame and clean out all the junk and when I plate over the bottom I will leave a drain hole. Last night a created a pattern for the sides of the frame. It will run from 6" in front of the unibody mount (not sure what else to call it) all the way back to the end of the spring mount. Obviously there is a fairly large notch out of it going around the unibody mount. Once the side plate is in I will be boxing around those. I cut the first side plate out last night. I needs a little fitting yet but looks great. I fish mouthed both ends and will drill some 1" holes in it for plug welding. I really need this truck on the road so I will probably only be tackling this side for now since the tank is out. The other side I can do once the truck is back on the road. Once I have everything fit up I will post some pictures.

Decided not to pull the bed, I just have too much stuff to do. One of the previous owner did some undercoating and the fram is actually in great shape. One place that was no undercoated was the frame along side the gas tank, because they couldnt get to it. I did clean that second of the frame very well with a wire wheel, wire brush, and sand paper, then a painted two coats of Rustoleum Hammer finish paint onto it. Looks real good. I will start the brake line work on Tuesday night.

I just bought a new tank, about $150 to my door. If you are going through pumps that fast the $150 investment seems like the smart move. The tank came bare steel so I am wondering if I should paint the outside of the tank before I install it? Any input?

That is what I am thinking, do it right, I plan on keeping this truck for the long haul. As for the MJ being broke in half, I have read about that and have something in mind, looked at it the other night, it won't be a simple as I first though but I can still make it work. I know the floor needs some work, that is on the list.

I do need to take some pictures but I am not starting another build right now, that is why I hesitate to pull the frame. I have enough "builds" going right now. Build#1 - Rock Crawler -> Rock Racing conversion (in progress) More up travel, more cooling, more fuel storage Build #2 - 88YJ frame off rebuild/build (in progress) 44s, 35s, TF999, TBI4.2 Build #3 - 15ft ModV Jon Boat redo (not started, but needed to be done soonest) - interior redo w/aluminum rather than the plywood the PO used and more seats for the kids Build #4 - Horizontal metal cutting bandsaw -> vertical metal cutting bandsaw conversion (in progress) Build #5 - tubing bender build (still in design phase) Need to get moving on this because I need this for some of the other builds. I need anyother project like I need another hole in the head, but it makes sense to me, I am this far, why not take care of it while now. Of course this line of thinking is what turned "honey I am going to make sure your YJ is ready for inspection" into a frame off rebuild. If I do pull the bed whatis the best course of action. Throw the MJ on my trailer, haul it to the carwash and pressure wash the frame, and then??? . Maybe brush paint with rustoleum and then spray with undercoating? I do not want to get into the POR15 coating right now.

Got the gas tank out last night, actually went very well, had absolutely nothing fight me, which is odd for anything I work on. New tank arrived yesterday so it can go back in whenever I am ready. Was underneath looking at everything and it seems like it would be pretty easy to pull the bed at this point, now do I pull the bed and clean up the frame or not? 2 bolts for the exhaust, 2 bolts for the ebrake bracket, 8 bolts for the bed and unhook the wiring harness. It seems so easy and worth while to pull the bed and clean everything up real good, then paint the frame. Problem is time is not readily available and it will add a few days worth of work. I need to be driving this thing in a few weeks, driving my ZJ daily is killing me for gas. I won't be able to get back to this until the weekend at the earliest so I have some time to thing about it. Any suggestions?