ghetdjc320

What radiator are you running? What water pump? Have the engine and radiator been flushed? Has the heater core been flushed? What fans are your using?

A stand alone tube and fin will overheat your tranny. You need some sort of active cooling that will work at lower speeds. The stock tranny cooler is located on the cool side of the radiator so the idea that it will see the same temps as the engine is incorrect. The radiator acts more as a thermal “regulator”. The external cooler is only needed when the tranny itself is under additional load and generating more heat than normal (towing, crawling etc). The external cooler will only help the radiator “regulator” which is a far more effective active cooling system. A stand alone tube and fin cooler will not sufficiently cool your tranny. Keep in mind that the tranny is still getting a lot of heat transferred directly from the engine since they are bolted together. Plus, being an auto tranny, generates a lot of heat on its own, heat that requires more active cooling than only using a tube and fin setup. Stable temps are the key here. And the factory knew what they are doing. Not that it can’t be upgraded, but ditching the radiator setup for only a tube and fin “cooler” is not an upgrade.

Run it like the factory did (first through the radiator and then through an external cooler) and it will work great. Monitor your trans fluid temps for a while to verify the cooler is working well. One must keep in mind that just because your temp gauge is showing 210 does not mean that your tranny fluid is also running 210. That would only be the case if your radiator was non functional. The tranny cooler is connected to the “cool” side of the radiator where coolant temps should be well below 210 before reentering the block. The external cooler is only meant to drop the temps an extra few degrees. This was a well thought out design from the factory. If your engine cooling systems is in good working order and you use a factory style or similar external tranny cooler, the system will be in optimal operating temp range in pretty much all conditions.

The trans “cooler” in the radiator helps warm up the tranny fluid on cold days. Since it never gets below 80 here I bypassed it and just ran a moroso stand alone tranny cooler. The tranny needs to really keep a nice steady temperature ideally in about the 160* range. The stock radiator keeps it a bit on the hot side. There are pros and cons to both and heat does kill the aw4. Keeping the radiator cooler plus an external cooler and a gauge that monitors the trans fluid temps would be great all around for most places that see all 4 seasons.

A warm engine typically has higher compression numbers due to the differences in the coefficient between the cylinder walls and the piston and rings material. With those plugs, I’d be looking more into a cylinder head issue though. Pull the head and see what it all looks like then go from there.

Yikes that plug looks terrible! What cylinder is that from? Do they all look that way?

Manifold can be found at any auto parts place or rock auto amongst others. Dorman 674-170 for the renix setup with the heating port and 674-196 for the HO model without the port Pilot bushing is the 5th one listed here for your application: https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/pilot-bushings/amc-ax15/

I don’t have a pic of it right offhand. Perhaps try searching for XJ manual window regulator and you should find some pics of the complete unit.

The 97 ax15 will fit but will need a pilot bearing for the renix flywheel. The exhaust manifold was redesigned the last few years of the 4.0 and a flex coupler was added which reduces the stress cracks that were very common. There is a doorman part number available for the manifold. Welding it won’t fix it for very long. And the cheap aftermarket headers tend to have the same problems with cracking. I’d go with the updated flex coupler design manifold unless you want to drop some coin on a good aftermarket header. Also, make sure all your exhaust hangers and mounting points are secure so it doesn’t add any undue stress on the manifold.

Placeholder for aftermarket engine control and tuning information.

@eaglescout526

I believe the synergy tie rod connects lower in the drag link and therefore needs the matching drag link. The bigger consideration here is tire size and intended use as has been mentioned.

What is it that is hitting your speaker? The glass or the coil cable? The coil cable should be in a sheath and clip that holds it along the bottom of the door with the end of it facing the back edge of the door.

HP axles are also a stronger design for front axles since they apply their power to the correct side of the ring gear teeth.

Guess it depends on your plans for it. If you plan on keeping it or selling it to a Jeeper than an HP 30 would be a better swap. If it’s to just sell to someone who wants a 4wd truck then yes, the lp will swap in just fine. Just my $.02

Pinion depth looks a touch too deep but you have an pretty even pattern on the power and coast side of the ring teeth. Should be fine. You could shim the carrier over to loosen the backlash slightly.

I’d just put that tj front axle for sale. It’s a low pinion axle and the MJ has a better front axle. You could swap over the axles shafts though from the TJ to the MJ.

That’s it

Only issues I’ve come across with LED’s is the flasher modules which can just be swapped to an led flasher. You can also get an led resistor to simulate the load of an incandescent bulb if needed. I prefer the original look of traditional bulbs but I did add led bulbs to the backup lights.

That’s a nice linkage setup. Been running that for a few months now and it’s a much better shift feel and response. You’ll just need to get the actual floor shifter now. eBay if you can’t grab one at the local yard.

That’s fit looks nice. How is the vertical height of the seat base compared to stock?

Just noticed that the OP never received a response. In general, XJ seat floor brackets are slightly different to MJ brackets because there is an extra floor brace that is not present on an XJ floor pan. This brace raises one of the mounting points for the MJ seats be they bench or bucket. The center console from a 97+ XJ will fit but requires a different rear mounting bracket. It is a nice design and has more functional cup holders and is more durable overall. Note that a 97+ XJ console will leave about a 2-3” gap where it meets the older style dash. @Dzimm I believe is working on some sort of filler plate for that. The door panel I couldn’t tell you for sure but it’s worth noting that there is slight interference with the 97+ xj door panels and the 96- glove box and dash area. It fits but a whole 97+ interior swap looks much cleaner than just doing the door panels.

Checkout my post and @jdog’s.

Azzy Design works make new gauge faces. I can’t ever get them to respond to me for anything custom though. Their stock stuff is ok but custom would be nice

There are two compressing tabs one top and one bottom. Remove the dash bezel and then the switch base. You can press on the tabs and pop it out the front. You may be able to pop it out the front without removing the panels but it’s also quite possible you will brake or damage something in the process.