AZJeff

Yep, that drill and chisel method is what I use as well. And air hammer (air chisel, in this case) are a Godsend for this kind of stuff.

That part you state in bold is something I have never encountered, and I have been working on cars since about 1970. I wonder if that was that just a Canadian thing (?)

In additon to the hydraulic arbor press, the OP will need some sleeves to press against the outside edge of the currently installed bushings. Pressing against rubber doesn't do very much, even at 13+ tons of pressure. It MUST be exerted on the outside sleeve of the old (and then the new) bushing.

Agreed. The connector in front of the radiator is NOT a vacuum connector. It's an electrical connector.

Good brake fluid is clear, with a slight tinge of a yellowish color, but certainly NOT green or brown (or any other weird color.) It seems that your brake system is contaminated with something besides plain brake fluid. Since your plan is to remove the master cylinder from the booster, you might want to consider making the plunge to put a new master cylinder on the vehicle while you are at it. They are not that expensive, and with a new one, you know the start of the system is not contaminated. As far as getting the fittings loose from the MC, if the car lived it's life in AZ, a "flare nut wrench" will keep the chances of rounding the hex shape on the nuts to a minimum. If that STILL seems to be likely, then I vote for heat from a propane torch next, to break up the rust between the nut and the steel line. The area around the MC has lots of room, so the chances of burning your MJ to the ground are slim, as long as you use some thought before waving the torch over anything and everything. (I have used the torch method to loosen fittings on cars that lived in corrosion central, better known as N. Illinois, when I lived there years ago.) Once you have the new MC installed, and begin the bleeding process, if the fluid fails to run clean after a significant amount of fluid has been pumped through the system (1 quart or more), then maybe it's time to consider replacing wheel cylinders and calipers as needed. Funky brake fluid will attack and damage all the parts of the system, especially anything with rubber seals that slide. Sorry.....

Yeah, taking bushings out of ANYTHING can be fun if you don't have a large arbor press and, more importantly, the right size bushings to press on the sleeve of the rubber bushing assembly. On an MJ/XJ, unless you have a lifted vehicle, I recommend replacement control arms. They can be had pretty inexpensively (under $20 each), and beat the hell out of burning out the rubber as Cruiser was demonstrating in the photo above. The only area where you will have to use brute force is the upper control arm FOREWARD bushing, which is pressed into the axle housing, and is not part of the control arm (unfortunately). If you have access to an air chisel, that job isn't too bad. Otherwise, a hand chisel, a pair of Vice-Grips to hold the chisel, and a machinist's mallet are the next best approach. (I am not real fond of burning out those bushings in the axle under the car, because of the proximity to things that don't like flames.) As far as the leaf spring bushings go, you need to make sure that your springs are original Jeep parts, first. On my MJ, some previous owner had switched them out for some aftermarket springs, and none of the OEM replacement bushings had the correct outside diameter to press into the spring properly. I ordered bushings from several sources, all of which would not fit right, until I gave up. I wound up taking the spring apart, and taking the main leaf to a truck spring shop where they matched up and installed some bushings using their press. Then I put in new centering pins and new inter-leaf plastic anti-friction pads and reassembled the spring packs. If your springs are OEM, it would still be easier for you to find someone with a large arbor press to remove/install the new bushings rather than burn and beat the old ones out (and beat the new ones in.)

Agreed, and to elaborate on the response before the one from Pete, I will say, from personal experience, that a cracked head or head gasket won't manifest itself as water the the tailpipe. The pressures from the combustion process will drive exhaust gases INTO the cooling system, not the other way around. My first clue to a cracked head (yes, one from a 2000XJ with the infamous "0331" head casting) was funny looking oil. The exhaust looked perfectly normal.

If I was buying the stuff, I would go with Wagner pads from Rock Auto (semi-metallic) for $25. For rotors, don't bother with cross drilled and slotted stuff for a small 4WD truck. Unless you drive like you are on the Baja, you won't get them hot enough to notice any benefit. Again, from Rock Auto, Raybestos can be had for $29 each, but there are other comparable brands (Centric, Bendix, etc.) for similar prices. I would stay away from auto parts stores "house" brands like Autozone's Duralast stuff. They tend to be mediocre quality at premium prices.

As long as you catch the balancer before it rubs a hole through the timing chain cover, you will be OK. The actual Vibration Dampner (aka Harmonic Balancer) can be had for anywhere from $30 to $60, depending on brand and source. I bought a Dorman when I redid mine, and it was $60, but I see Rock Auto has an ATP brand for $40. Both are decent brands.

Yeah, I did some searching on the NAXJA site, and it appears that once I plugged the SKIM reader in and tried to start the Jeep, I "programmed" the PCM to search for a valid SKIM key (which I do not have). The ONLY solution is to have the PCM reprogrammed to NOT search for a SKIM key. So now I get to send my PCM to a computer place to have them program the PCM to NOT look for the SKIM key. That was a $145 mistake. I have already gone out and taken the connector for the SKIM reader and put a piece of heat shrink tubing over the plug, so it won't be reconnected again and repeat this mistake.

I know this is a topic that does not pertain to factory OEM MJ's, but my vehicle has been modified to have the instrument cluster and PCM from a 2000 XJ, and I need the advice of an expert on this later type of XJ. The steering column in my MJ came from a 2000XJ, and it has the "SKIM" security feature as part of the ignition switch. For as long as I have owned the vehicle, the SKIM reader that surrounds the key lock inside the column has been disconnected. (This is good, because I do NOT have the custom programmed keys needed to "talk" to the SKIM reader.) This means the SKIM reader doesn't talk to the PCM, and is thus the security feature is inoperative and my MJ behaves like a "regular" 2000XJ. So here is my problem: I accidentally plugged the SKIM reader back into the wiring harness in the steering column while doing some dash work. When I finished the dash project, I attempted to start the vehicle. It started and ran for about 3 seconds, and then shuts off. I realized my mistake, and disconnected the SKIM, but I think I have created a problem. Every time I try to start it, the same thing happens where it starts and runs for 3 seconds, and then dies. Disconnecting the battery did no good. I think what has happened is that I have "taught" the PCM that a SKIM module is active the Jeep, and so it is looking for the custom keys. Short of having the dealer use a "DRB Scanner" on the vehicle to retrain the PCM that it doesn't need to "see" a SKIM, what other ways can I defeat this goofy security feature?

For some mysterious reason, the senders on the MJ/XJ vehicles with actual oil pressure guages are kinda flakey, and don't seem to be very robust. There are countless stories of guys confirming pressure via a mechanical guage and finding it was actually within normal spec. Once the sender was replaced, all became well again. I am not saying your issue is "for certain" the sender, but starting with a mechanical guage confirmation is always a good first step.

Cruiser is correct. It's damned near impossible to reach the bolts with a normal sized torque wrench. In addition, the torque level, if you really want to measure it, is in INCH-POUNDS. Most DIY guys don't have inch-lb. torque wrenches. After working on cars for 50+ years, I have a highly calibrated wrist just like Cruiser has, and that works fine for things like valve covers and oil pans.

Doing as you suggested, there is a real good chance you will kink/crack the tubes where you are bending them, or, worse yet, crack the solder joints where the tubes join the heater core end tanks inside the heater box. The tubes on the cores are surprisingly stiff. They are not dead soft copper by any stretch.

That vent hose should be secured up onto the crossmember over the axle with a zip tie or the like. It's positioned that way to keep water from getting into the tube when going through puddles (small creeks?) and the like.

When I put bearings in my MJ early in the summer, I found the mains were 0.001 undersized from the factory, and the only replacements I could get were Mopar branded. None of the other big makers seemed to list that undersize. The local dealer didn't have any, and said they were on national backorder. However, Summit Racing had them in stock. The rods were standard size, and I got Clevite's from Rock Auto. I don't remember seeing anything on Rock Auto about the "X" marking indicating an undersize from the factory for the rods. Then again, mine did not have those markings, so I wasn't searching out the meaning of such.

"Most" water pumps don't make any unusual noise before they fail. (The one in my MJ was the exception, in that it made an irregular screeching sound because some of the balls in the ball bearings in the shaft were disintegrating.) The most SURE way to diagnose a bad water pump is to look for weeping out of the hole on the bottom side of the "nose' of the water pump housing, where it sticks out to support the pump shaft at the pulley end. Crawl under there with a flashlight when it's running and do a visual exam.

The coolant has a nasty habit of sneakily running down the inside of the firewall, and then soaking into the jute matting that is under the carpet as a sound deadener/insulation. You don't normally see it on an floor mats because of this. When heater cores leak enough to keep refilling the cooling system, they are to the point where the heater box has enough coolant dispersed in it that the smell is hard to miss, because all the air passing through the box is passing over a coolant film. (Unless you actually have just pure water in your cooling system, in which case it evaporates and leaves no trace inside the heater box) If you are seeing a steady loss of engine coolant and regularly needing to top the system off, it's probably something more significant than a leaky heater core. This is expecially true because you stated you have checked for the usual leaks like hoses and radiator and find no puddles under the engine. One last thing you can do besides the compression test is to climb under the Jeep and look up at the weep hole in the bottom of the water pump. It should be dry, and have no evidence of a track of dried coolant that has run out the hole in times past. If you do it with a hot engine, while it's running, that is a further method for checking for a leak there.

Compression tests are done with the engine intact. All you need is tools to remove the spark plugs, and a compression tester. The compression tester can be "rented" from places like Autozone, where if you return the tool after you use it, you get a refund. Here is a good video from a respected guy on YouTube on how to do a compression test: How To Do a Compression Test

Those are good old-fashion connectors made by Molex. The ears that attach them to the panel are molded onto the connector body. The photo below shows a typical example. the ears fold back parallel to the connector body and the wedge shaped part passes through the hole in the bracket to snap into place. carefully squeezing the wedges with a pair of pliers with a large jaw spacing will force the ears inward and also push the connector back out of the bracket. A second set of pliers pulling on the BODY of the connector on the back side helps. Make sure the connector and bracket are free of crud and dirt, as they are much easier to get out in that condition. Brake cleaner works fine and won’t hurt the nylon connector body.

What the heck are those tracks of brown crud on the solder side of the board? They almost look like carbon tracks from arcing, but the photos are not real detailed. That's kinda disappointing on a "reman'd" assembly.

EMPLOYMENT TIME FOR ME: I have NODS (Night Vision), and a suitable long range "intervention tool". You pay room and board, and I guard your vehicle(s) at night as needed.

I would agree. Among MJ's, a 1986 is a bit more "collectable" than otehr years (except maybe a 1992). Keeping the drivetrain original might be more attractive to someone who wants a bit of Jeep history. I am thinking (hoping) someone who is savvy enough to be looking for an early MJ would be mechanically inclined enough to drive a stick. Then again, I am an old guy, and learned to drive in the late 1960's on a stick.

I will elaborate on what Eagle said about oil pressures. The 4.0 engine has "official factory approved" oil pressures of 13psi minimum at idle, and above 1600 rpm, it should be between 37 and 75psi. These numbers are, of course, with factory recommended 10w30 oil and with a hot (fully warmed up) engine. I think the reason the pressure range is so wide when measured at 1600+ rpm is because, in my experience, there is a pretty broad range of oil pressures reported by various owners with the 4.0 For example, on my MJ, the hot idle oil pressure is about 23psi, which is well above factory minimums. However, that same engine, when it gets fully hot (and I mean REAL hot here in Phoenix) only puts out about 42psi at 1600 rpm, which is at the low end of recommended. Another factor to consider, and this is just my personal opinion, and not backed up by any data, is that the 4.0 isn't an engine that is extremely demanding of high oil pressures to function as expected. in other words, as long as your engine is making steady oil pressure, the engine is fine with a pretty broad range of oil pressure values.

A shaft that wobbles is going to do bad things to that carbon "button" in the top of the dist. cap. The carbon button is chosen because it is strong in compression (the rotor spring pushing up on the button), and the carbon is conductive. However, the carbon is NOT designed to deal with "scrubbing" forces that would happen with a side to side motion of the dist. shaft.