75sv1

Might check the distributor pickup sensor. Tom

Well, I worked on the Cherokee a bit more. I left the NSS alone. I just jumper wired it. The signal to the ECM comes from a relay in the PDC(fuse box). I did get a Lisle spark plug wire checker. I jumped the battery from my MB 240D. I am getting spark from the coil, but not to the plugs. I changed the cap and rotor. I bought Echlin brand from NAPA. It had the brass inserts. THe cap was about $10, but the rotor was $12. Still, fairly good price. Still, no luck. So, I changed the plugs with some I had laying around, Bosch Platimuns from the '95 motor. Also, I put on the Moroso Blue wires I had. I don't know if the Moroso wires are to thich or what. I didn't get a spark reading with the Lisle. I changed the coil wire back to the red Mopar one. Still, not running. I think the ignition coil pickup is bad. I haven't had time to check it. I did start to pull the interior out of the Comanche. I never put back in the carpet from years ago. I was and still am getting water in there. Anyways, I pulled both wire harnesses, Bench seat, dash, OK the complete interior. I did get a '98 MT ECM for $60 and a '98 MT wiring harness for $100, both prices are shipped. There is a bit more rust in the floor boards than I thought there would be. I think I'll try to just patch it up. The passanger side is OK, and just needs spots of rust taken care of. The dirves side has a few holes towards the rear. The front of it looks bad, but no holes. I'll probably pull the stiffening doubler plates, and then go from there. Tom

Wayne, Here's the pictures: Tom

Sorry, I didn't get this till Monday morning. I did get most of the wiring pulled. I'll call sometime today. Tom

Might state weather you have a bench seat or bucket seats. I do have a bench seat in burgandy. Tom

Mine is Non-AC too. I'll have to pull the harness and check to make sure it is in good condition. Everything worked about 5 years ago. I had tranny problems and decided to swap out trans, then wiring and fianally doing a '98 Cherokee swap. I am thinking $70 shipped. I will be in DC on the 22nd. I am thinking $50 for the harness, and $20 shipping. Tom

A/C or no A/C? Also would an '88 wiring harness work? Are you needing both engine wiring harnes and dash? Tom

I went over the FSM. It looks like the jumping of the NSS should work. I think the ECM recieves a 5V input from one of the relays or such from the starter or starter selonoid. I did buy a Lisle spark plug wire tester at Sears, $12 and US made. It didn't show any spark from the distributor or coil. I need to check the coil and wires to the coil for voltage. I might buy a code reader, a cheap one. I did buy a 98 Manual ECM and a '98 MT engine wiring harness. About $60 shipped on the ECM and $100 shipped on whe wiring. Both good deals. I still want to get the XJ running before I part it out. I will probably put the '95 wiring harnesses and EMC I have in the classified this week. Tom

IronMan does make an adjustable shackle for the XJ. I think he will do custom lengths. Tom

Just a few comments, the thermostat housing spacer is for the use of a valve cover spacer, that is needed if you use MOPAR roller rockers. See a "Comanche Named Sue". I think there was a write up on Cherokee America on this type of radiator swap, also I think MADXJ. There was a link on the CA site to someone who wired up the tempswitch for the fan and stuff. If you don't find it, I might have a hard copy of it. I'd have to search though. I have heard the late model '97+ radiators have a better heat tranfer than the earlier radiators. I don't know that for a fact though. I did buy a 3 row DSG raditor myself. I do like the Mr. Gasket/Robert Shaw Hi-Flow thermostats. I would caution the use of the 180 F thermostats in cold weather. It might not let your temps get hot enough. I think they and the 160 F were mainly for the early Fuel Injected cars and drag racing. For a run or two, the computer would notice a cooler motor and dump in more fuel. A bit better ET time. In cold weather your oil might not warm up enough to cook of the water. Not good for dino oil. Now for the closed-loop radiator system. Even though I am converting to an open system on my Comanche, my Ford Contour uses a closed system. I lot of newer cars do. Also, older Mercedes Benzs had it back in the early 80's. I hope/plan to convert my 240d to a closed loop system like the 300D's or 300TD's. Good write up though. Tom

Might look at the MadXJ site for some brake swaps: http://www.madxj.com/ Tom

Also, the NV3550 is swapable. I think on the AX-15 you will need the trans cross mount from a latter MJ or XJ with the AX-15. Tom

Is that just the block, or is it a 'Short block", ie pistons, crank etc. I wouldn't mess with just the block. Tom

I think your was a Renix. I did a search on Car-Part.com It looked like $350 for an engine. The HOs were about the same. You also might do a search for axles on it. 4:10 axles usually cost a bunch though. Tom

I'd at least pull the head and pan. See what damage has been done if any. Then I'd do the routine as described about and pour PB Rustbaster, transmission oil or something else. I'd look for over heated bearings, broked camshaft, broken piston, piston rings etc. You might get lucky. As others have said, these motors aren't bringing a hole lot of late. That depends on the year needed and milage of course. Tom

There are basically the same upgrades as the latter XJs. You might have to look a bit. Headers are available. Also, you can have your Renix Throttle body bored out. There was a guy in FL that did this. I did see him selling bored out TBs for latter ones recently. Upgraded wires. I think I used a Moroso Blue Max universall kit. I didn't find an upgrade for the coil though. I'd also say Ford 5.0L injectors. It would also depend on what year MY you have, ie Renix or HO. Tom

ya i know how to i was just trying to see, 24 gallons is correct. i thought i saw someone got like 600 on a tank, it musta been a four banger....and mines everything you say except a high output, thats the white one. :thumbsup: thanks for being a normal person and helping me out too :thumbsup: his method is wrong. you need to divide by the gallons the fill up takes. and it must be a full fill up...not half full, not 3/4 full, 100% full tank. if you usually top off, you must do that every tank you try to figure out your mileage on...only way to be accurate. 4.0/auto with highway driving should net you around 19-21mpg easily if it's running right. I've gotten 24mpg. you also can't base how good your mileage is by how many miles you went...asking "is 335 miles on my tank good" is pointless....it will differ between comanches depending on what gas tank size you had...there was no single "standard" gas tank size on a comanche. there were several, and the options of which one you have also vary between longbed and shortbed. so, figure YOUR mileage by taking miles on tank divided by gallons at full fuel-up. Uh, I think you need to reread my post 100% before you say I am wrong. I said drive till you have 1/4 of a tank. I don't want the guy running out of gas. I said fill it up. Most places I have lived, that equates to 'filling up 100%'. So record the miles driven. Then didivde by the gallons replaced. Now, I don't know if a 4 cly. gets much better milage in the Comanche or Cherokee. I think it got maybe 2 more MPG on the Wranglers. Sometimes 4 cyl. are put into vehicles that weigh a bit to much for them. Tom

I can remeber if the gas tank holds 17 or 23 gal. I think 23 gal. So, I divided 335/23 and it was 14 miles per gallon. Now a few things. First yours is an auto, they usually get 2-3 mpg less than a manual. Next yours is an HO. I think they get a bit less than a Renix. Next it depends on what type of driving, city, country, highway. Also, lifts and big tires cut into your mpg. Especially if you don't regear. Also, those hills in PA cost you mileage. There is a benifit to live in a (semi)flatland state line IN. That's besides the taxes. If city for your vehicle, that would probably be fairly good. If it is all highway miles, then it probably should be 18 to 20 mpg. I'd do what the others have told you. Fill tank, set trip odometer to '000'. Drive to 1/4 tank. Fill up. Record gallons needed to fill up. Record miles on trip Odo. Divide miles by gallons = mpg. Keep a recorod of several tankfuls. Tom

'so theres noone to make sure peoples cars r safe every year? There must b alot of accidents due to brakes,tires, etc...you know, the minor stuff that old ladys and lazy people never check' No noone left the state, so there is no one here to check the cars. :D We relie on the Darwin Principal. Less taxes. People die sooner or latter. If they don't care about themselves, life short anyways. Actually, when I first got here in the early 90's, there were some pretty pitaful cars running around. I actually brought out a '78 Honda Civic that probabaly wouldn't have passed PA inspection to much longer. But jobs have come out here, so people can aford new or better cars. Still, a few clunkers around. I look at one of the High School parking lots. There cars are way better than what I remember in HS in PA. Actually, they are better than what I see at work, or what I drive. PA is a good state. I wish IN had the trout streams. It all comes down to how much services you want and what you are willing to pay for them, ie taxes. Tom

that is stupid crazy....taxable value...pfffft...pa only has inspection , emissions and tags...like $120 total IN has no yearly inspections. Also, it is kind of relative. I have lived in PA a few times. Property taxes for housing is at least double in PA than IN. Also, I had to pay an occupation tax. I was paying like $300/yr. since I put down machinist. I was only making $7/hr back then. People making more were paying less. Tom

I've been in two states that taxed the vehilce on its valve, or at least purchase value. Then it depreciated over the years. In both states, OK and IN, after a certian time you paid a flat rate. So, I was apying less for my '75 Bricklin than other cars worth less. I think I paid $24 per year. In IN I was paying about $12, then $12 or so for registration. They've up the fees though. You are allowed to take that off of Fed taxes if you itemize. I think my '00 Contour SVT was $200 in '03. It's down to about $50 now. New vehilces are like $400 or more. Tom

It depends if you are looking at something that would be production or what I would want. There is a bit of difference. Now for production, and what I would want to is a larger door size. The 2 door from the Cherokee would be nice. I like the 4.0L. I don't think it would make production. If it did (say like GM's I-5), then it would be a cross flow head. That would also get rid of the cross over pipe. I think that chokes off some HP. So, for production an I-4, an I-5, I-6 or V6, possibly a small V-8. I like the Ecco boost concept of Ford. Also, a 4cyl diesel. Cummins of course, but smaller than the B4T. There are 7 different 4 cyl diesels in Cummins line up. It would sit higher. I like the dimensions of the Ford Ranger. The Comanches need to sit a bit higher like the newer trucks in this class. I used a Ranger Splash a few months ago. I was surprised at the room in its cab. Keep the 6 ft bed and 7.5 ft bed. I like the Ford 8.8 axel and disk brakes. I do like the Jeep 2500 front end. I have an NV3550 in mine, so one of those or the 6-speed. Of course for production it would need an auto. The present one does good. I'd also put in an auto trany cooler and a P/S cooler. An oil cooler too. Hey, my MB 240D has one. The front axles a Dana 44, but more like the one in the Waggy. Maybe without the lock outs. I'd also like a Dana 300 transfer case with 4:1 gears. Maybe a Klune gear reduction, too. The mirrors off the latter Cherokees and the power doors. Also, the stereo system setup. I think the build I am doing will come close. Just not the streatched cab or the diesel engine. Tom

I'm still battleing to get it started. The NSS was/is defective. I did a continuity test with a volt meter. I jump the wires on #7 and #8. The plugs for the latter Cherokees are different than the earlier ones. I did get the motor to turn over from the key. It still would start though. There was no spark from the plug wires, also none from the coil. I didn't do the correct test for the wires to the coil yet. I do have a coil for a'95, but I think '97-99 used the same coil. There are some other test to do form the FSM. I have to make up a wiring harness of sorts with a capacitor. Part of what might be the problem is that from waht I read in the FSM, I have a '97 FSM, the ECM receives an electrical signal from the NSS. I don't know if by jumping the NSS, that it is getting this signal or not. I tired to pull the NSS off. I think it is rusted on there. I did spray on some PB Rustbaster. Then I tired to pry and loosen the threaded collet clamp. I broke one off. It still didn't budge. I sprayed some more PB rustblaster last night. I'll do that for a few more days. I'll also put some heat to the shaft that it holds onto. Sometimes that pops the rust loose. Then clean the NSS and try again. I did get the Mitsu shifter. It looks good. I'll have to see how it fits in the space etc. I might have some other ideas on how to adapt it. Tom

Well, Welcome to the Tribe. I did post on your thread over on the other forum. First, any Dana 30 from an XJ or MJ or possibly a ZJ or TJ, (that Cherokee, Comanche, Grand Cherokee or Wrangler) should be a direct swap. I think your present gear ratios should be 3:55. I would check though. There should be a metal tag on your rear end housing. Now you mention a lift. I'm not an expert in this area. I am doing a lift to mine. Basically, how high of a lift depends on the size of tire you want to put on. Ltes say a 31 inch tire. Then probably at least a 3 inch lift. If you went up to a 33 inch tire then you'd probably want at least a 4.5" to 5" lift. Then when you put on those larger tires, you need to regear your front and rear axels. What grears you want to go with will depend on size of tires and weather auto or manual transmission. An auto needs a bit lower gearing than a manual trans. I'm not much up on auto trans myself. So you'll probably need to search a bit further for exact gearing. There is one of the Lift companies that has a gearing matrix for tire size and auto or manual. Lets say you went with 31". With a manual, you'd need a 3:77 for a daily driver. A 4:10 for all around, and good wheeling or off road, and a 4:30 or lower for a more dedicated off road machine. For an Auto, then 4:10 for a mainly street machine (mainly for gas mileage), 4:65 for a good wheeling machine. My neighbor wheels a Grand Cherokke with a V-8 and probably 33" to 35" with 3:73s for gears. Also, 31" tires are probably minimal for running offroad. So, in your project, if you take steeps to get it running and 4wd, then lift it, then tires and gears, you would have spent money on regearing it. If you planned your setup, you could save that money. I don't know how big of tires or lift you want. So, you might have to regear anyways. There is a big difference in price between a Dana 30 with 3:55 ($150) or one with 4:10s ($400) found in 4 cly. OK, now the lift options. Basically the front of the Comanche is the same as the Cherokee. So springs, trackbars etc are the same. The rear springs are different. You have three options: AAL (add a leaf), New springs ($300 for a pair) or SOA (spring Over axel). AAL are fairly cheap, and some like them other don't. New springs you have the option of 3 icnh and 4.5 inches of lift. Obviously cost is a factor. Look at Hells Creek Suspension. The Comanche is Spring Under Axel (SUA). The Cherokee is Spring Over Axel (SOA). By converting from SUA to SOA, you will net around 5 to 6 inches of lift in the rear. It is fairly cheap to do. I think there are complete lift kits for this around $500. I hope this helps and I'm not misguiding you any. Now onto engines. I think on the other forum you did rebuild lawn mower engines. Its a good start and you should be able to rebuild a 4.0L. I rebuilt car motors first and then a lawn mower motor. So go figure. I would get a Factory Service Manual (FSM). You will need and engine hoist and an engine stand. Get and engine stand with four (4) wheels. The I-6 is a bit longer and mine wanted to tip over very easy on a 3 wheel engine stand. I'd pull both motor and transmission together. I just think it is easier and saves time in the long run. I'd also pull the radiator, front header too. It makes getting out the engine a lot easier, not having to hoist it up in the air as much. Tom

Also, what Ford rear disk brakes are you going with? I'd look into the disk brakes off of a Ford Exploerer etc. Ford also sold them through Ford Motorsports. They will/should fit Ford 9 rear ends with the large bearing. So, then you should be able to use the brake hose setup from the Ford 8.8 that is a common swap into XJ,MJ and ZJs. Tom