coolwind57

Well, I found that my alternator is toast too. Popped in a new battery and dropped my old alternator. Crazy thing is this: I found an AC Delco 100 Ampere alternator for $78 NEW on Amazon. The local parts stores were nearly double that price. Just have to wait a couple days to get it in, but I couldn't justify paying 50-60 bucks more than I had to...and they're typically all rebuilds. Anyhow, as I dropped my old alternator, I pulled the "exciter" plug near the bottom and found that bare wire had been up against the frame. Wow. That may had caused some issues. If you're having electrical issues boys, then it may be worth a look up under the nose of your truck for a quick wire inspection.

Yea man I was laughing all the way home in total disbelief that it was actually working. ha

I did a wiper write up a couple years ago. You may consider doing some or all of it:

The last two times i drove it, I noticed that my 89 4.0 wasn't running as well as it should. Hardly noticeable but I thought I could hear it cutting out or something. So, coming home from work the other day, i noticed that the cutting out was now becoming very apparent. It was quite cold and windy and while in town traffic, I thought I'd better pull over and investigate before getting on the expressway and navigating this huge hill two exits before my off ramp. I found that i had a coolant leak from one of my heater hoses. It was dripping on the distributor. I tightened the clamp, stopped the leak and proceeded to the on-ramp to the expressway thinking that any moisture would probably dry up and I'd make it home ok, just 8-9 miles away. About half way up that huge hill, I had to pull over. I was losing power and having these HUGE backfires. Backfires like I'd never heard before. The engine would idle fine, but would go ballistic upon acceleration. I popped the hood and found a screwdriver to pop the distributor cap. I was thinking I'd maybe find moisture in there that was causing the issue. What I found was quite disturbing. The thin metal strip that serves as the contact for the rotor button was completely dislodged from its plastic rotor button assembly and just sitting on top of it. The area smelled like burnt electrical/plastic. The arc-shaped piece of the metal strip that rotates and engages each of the 6 spark plug contacts was completely burnt away. I can't believe it even ran in this condition, let alone idle quite well. Searching my truck, i found a tube of superglue gel and a roll of PTFE pipe tape. This was my only available option during my frantic search for a quick fix. Not so optimistic that i'd work, I thought I'd try to get it home as I was only about 4-miles from home. I glued and taped that rotor contact back on and damn if it didn't work like a charm. I could not believe I was back on the highway and running full speed. Darn truck pretty much ran like normal. I was expecting any time that the PTFE and glue would fail, but I made it home with zero issues. Here's a pic of my repair. Notice that an area of plastic of the rotor is burnt away and missing. The cap seemed ok inside, although coated with a burnt film. I've replace both and all appears to be ok now. I assume that coolant leak caused this, although I really didn't see any evidence of coolant in my distributor. Anyone ever had anything like this happen?

Just to clarify in the photo, I'm needing one of the two missing hook retainers that hold that end of the visor.

Anyone got one of these laying around? I broke mine a few years ago, epoxyed it, but now its beyond saving. Color is not important to me. Thanks, fellas

These are excellent tools, especially for aircraft mechanics. I have one with a chisel tip (great for rivet removal) and a pin point. Mine are fine-quality, American made.

$3.99 in Southern Indiana. Went up from $3.79 in one day.

The thing I like about the open system is that I simply understand it better and therefore can troubleshoot problems easier. Seems much more resilient in my opinion. When I converted mine, I kept the original renix radiator (no fill port) and bought a in-line filler neck and installed it on my upper radiator hose. Dumped my problematic pressurized tank and replaced with a junkyard XJ overfill bottle. Doing the in-line water fill neck route, I didn't have to buy a new radiator for the conversion and saved a lot of money that I didn't necessarily have at the time. Also, I didn't have to fool with a T-stat housing/sensor swap and mod that I think is involved. This might be a desirable option for you if you're tight on funds and your radiator is in fact still good. Good luck on getting this all behind you.

Pulled the distro cap and cleaned well. Removed deposits from electrical contacts, which I was sure to be the problem. There was certainly buildup. My cap is a napa copper, so a cleaning and not replacement was in order. I got to all intake bolts on the top side and only a couple on the bottom before giving up. Only an exhaust-only bolt seemed looser than expected. None of this solved the problem. Last night I pulled the plugs. They all looked the same, none being oily or burned. Replaced with new NGKs. Popped in an air filter. BAM! Looks like this took care of my problem. Runs smoothly upon startup now. I recall cruiser54 saying that plugs should be changed every 30k and I suppose that was all that was needed to fix this issue. Thanks to everyone for participating in my post. Funny thing: After getting it all fixed and was swelling in pride, I turned my headlights on to check on alignment. As I switched to brights, I lost them. Neither low/high come on now. Perfect. I love my MJ, but she keeps me on my toes ALWAYS. haha More troubleshooting after work tonight. It never ends!

I did swap out to another IAC after cleaning it all. No changes. Sometimes I do get ticking for a minute or two, as if a lifter is temporarily dry but it goes away promptly. I've been experiencing this for years though. Intake bolts are SO HARD to get to. I attempted the other night, but ran out of time. Took out the breather box and still cursed and hollered like a crazed lunitic. I'll take another shot at it maybe tonight or tomorrow. MAP to throttle is good, and it's all new hoses and elbows about a year ago. I disconnected at MAP and engine promptly died. I'll pick up some new plugs on the way home after work as soon as I remember what Copper plugs I used. I think I went with something different that what Jeep recommeded back in 1989. They're probably 2-3 years old I'll see how each of my old plugs look as I pull them. Anything else come to mind, fellas?

This issue showed up a few weeks ago. Engine runs really quite rough after start, but after a minute or two smooths out and purrs like a kitten. Yesterday, this rough idle (sounds kinda like its not firing on all cylinders) lasted considerably longer and took about 2-3 miles of driving before it cleared up. I hadn't had the chance to look into it yet, but this morning and at lunch today I'm getting the same thing. Runs rough for 2-3 miles before taming out and running well. I do feel a loss of power during the time it is running like hell. What's my first check? Idle Air Control Valve coking? intake leak, maybe? What would you guys do with this symptom. My copper plugs are probably a bit over a year old. Taylor Thundervolt 8.2mm in 2018. You know, I think it would be nice if we had list of symptoms and troubleshooting guide maybe on a sticky. Would be nice for members to quickly search and find solutions and tricks to problems like this as they creep up. Just a thought, Pete. Would help with redundancy in answering member's questions too.

I kept the early Renix closed style radiator and went with an upper hose aluminum filler neck. Pulled a recovery bottle from an junkyard XJ (and along with my bumper-mounted vacuum bottle), located it on the right-side firewall. There's a small temp sensor or water neck hurdle up front when converting from closed to open system--I can't recall off the top of my head without going out in the parking lot and looking, but anyway I avoided having to deal with that by retaining the early closed radiator. Save a lot of money too. To each his own, but I thought I'd share my method of converting. I've had no issues with my system.

Done that already, Cruiser. Very happy with the results. Highly recommended. Good Lord, I hate the thought of pulling my dash again to trace those vac lines. Sounds like that's in order it seems. Was hoping for a simpler troubleshooting strategy.

Update: Well got it all back together and running now. I pulled Evap Core, and did a complete delete of my AC system. I really didn't use it much even when it did blow cold air and I really like the simplicity of working on my engine now anyway. Tons of room now. Blowing HUGE heat now, but I have lost ability to toggle between cabin zones--it's just blowing up the defrost vents. I checked my vacuum hose running out the firewall into the vacuum ball. I've got vacuum there. I checked for vacuum inside the cab at the controller. There's the group of vacuum lines that forms into a single rubbery port that plugs in the back of the controller. I'm not detecting vacuum there. Shouldn't I? I was quite sure I had plugged everything back in as I reinstalled the box into the cab. Yet its still pushing air to the default defrost vents. Does this jump out to anyone? I checked the individual ports that's neares the gas pedal. They're plugged in they're appropriate diaphram. I manually (mechanically) moved the diverters by hand and air does move, but I have zero input from the controller itself. Any particular thing I'm overlooking that I need to check with this symptom?

Want the ultra-reliability of the Glock, but want to move up from that Renix-era MJ/XJ boxy Glock-like look? i did, with my daily carry FN Herstal FNS-9. Rugged, reliable utilitarian function like my MJ 4x4 but with a sexy 2021 model Jeep Comanche body.

By the way, I was able to bypass the NSS for a few days until my new one came it. I just cut and modded the harness which is found under the hood. I still have the old modified pigtail plug just in case mine goes out again in another 30-40 years. I can snap a pic of it if this ends up being your problem....again, providing yours is an automatic trans.

Same issue several Months ago. Turned out that on my auto MJ, it was the Neutral Safety Switch (NSS). Replaced and all good. Good luck, Sir.

Great analogy. Funny

Along with pulling and rebuilding my air box with new heater core, I swapped out my cracked red dash to a black one that I had picked up a couple Months ago. Got it all back together last night. Looks smashing. So, anyone have any luck with interior vinyl paints? I did a search and saw SEM products but GOOD LORD they're expensive. Anyone have any luck with the less expensive plastic-bonding paints that you see in Home Depot and Walmart these days? Only thing I don't have black interior piece replacements for are my door panels and I kinda worry about paint adhering to them well because the vinyl is so pliable.

So below is what I currently have going on. With the compressor removed and a shorter belt installed in the way that you have yours, the fan will be rotating in the wrong direction. I'd be interested in seeing a pic of your setup, especially of your waterpump-mounted fan. I'd also like to know what belt you're running.

I purchased an AC delete pulley from jdog. I I'll need my existing mount to install it in place of the compressor but I appreciate the offer.

I'm not tracking you here. Are you saying that yours came from the factory without a compressor? If that's the case, then yours has a factory AC delete bracket with pulley. If someone removed your compressor, then I'd like to know if they were able to route a shorter belt without adding a factory AC delete bracket.

I don't suppose anyone's been successful in pulling compressor and just simply adding a shorter belt? Sounds too easy..ha!

I'll set you a PM.