Rad_Comanche

Ohhhh, that is a good point. The jaws might have trouble with those. You know what? I already have the crimper, and I need to put new terminals in my fuse box anyway. I will buy some terminals and find out if they play nice together.

Those terminals have the same crimping ends as the pins I used in my Deutsche DT connector. I used the crimper linked below, which has multiple gauge sizes, and two different size "seal" crimp holes to crimp the larger wings that hole the terminal to the insulation. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081381N72

Thank you! I did look the name up before deciding on it, and I saw it was also the name of a local tribe, but there is a lot more attached to it I did not know about. Not gonna lie, that was part of the appeal for me as well. There was another 86 2.5 manual for sale about 100 miles north of this one. It was 4x4 too, but was also an ugly brown color, and had the basic cluster. In hindsight, it was probably the better truck, but I have no regrets. Made some more progress tonight. I rented a steering wheel puller from Autozone after work, then got to it. https://i.imgur.com/LrshuVe.gifv You can see how absolutely filthy it is in there. The orange gunk where the stalk activates the high beams looks like old gum. I tried messing with that piece, but it is definitely broken, requiring me to dig deeper into the column. Unfortunately, right after I took that video was when my phone shut off from the cold, so I decided to call it a night. Hopefully I can make some more progress tomorrow. On another note, I was expecting the torx screw for the ignition cylinder to be missing, yet there it is. Perhaps I will order a new cylinder then, if I cannot get it to stay with a screw. Also, if anyone has the hazard knob and spring, I would love to get one. The original was missing when I bought it, unfortunately. I know it is a rare part, but I might as well try.

Thanks for sticking that video in a post Pete; I was trying to do that on mobile, but it seems to be a desktop only feature. Maybe if I try it on my phone via the actual website instead of the app. I finally have an update. We had some lovely negative temperatures in Illinois the last few weeks that kept me out of the garage, sadly. Last Saturday was in the 20s though, which was warm enough for me to work. I'm my last post, I said I was going to snip off the headlight harness connectors and solder the wires together. A few days later, I was showing an electrical savvy friend of mine the truck, and he turned me on to Deutsche DT connectors. All I needed to do was depin the old connectors, cut the old pins off, strip the end, crimp the new terminals on, and assemble the new connector. You can see my results below. Strangely enough, DT connectors do not come in 10 pin for whatever reason, so I opted for 12 pin, in case I add any other fun bits, or hook up my fog lights and need extra pins. After 35 years, that old connector really was falling apart, so this was a nice piece to add. They weather resistant as well! The only wire I could not put in properly was the red one, which is power for the fogs if I read the electrical diagram correctly. The gauge was thicker than all the others; too thick to properly sit in the connector, and you can see the crimp did not get all of the copper either. A problem for another time. So after all that, I should have low beams again, right? Nope. No low beams, only high. After stewing for a bit, I asked a Facebook Comanche group the dumb question of how the headlight switch actually works. My stupidity was rewarded with sudden clarity in the form of about ten answers in about five minutes; the headlight switch does not control the high beams at all, but the wiper stalk does. You know, like on virtually every vehicle. I told you it was a stupid question. So I have come to the realization my high beams are jammed on, and my stalk will not deactivate them due to being stuck/broken. I vaguely recall trying to use the stalk to turn them off back in Arizona, but when it did not click or make any kind of movement, I thought that was just how it was designed. Whoops. I tried unsticking it after reading about people in similar situations on here, to no avail. Looks like I need a new cam, at the least. However, I have several things that need fixing located in the column: Wiper delay does not function Wiper switch also smokes when using the stalk Hazard lights make noise, but cause all exterior lights to blink Horn does not work Ignition cylinder needs to be bolted in High beam activation stuck I know that some of these items can be bad grounds, so those will need to be checked as well. But it seems I cannot put off pulling the wheel any longer. After browsing RockAuto a bit, it looks like the entire multifunction assembly is listed as the wiper/washer switch, minus the electrical connectors for the other functions of course. I should only need the electrical bits for the wipers, unless the hazards switch electricals need to be replaced too. That is tied in with the main signals anyway. Sadly, the ACDelco unit is out of stock everywhere until next month, so I may have to settle for another brand. That is just me being picky at this point though. After that, I should finally have low beams, allowing me to drive the truck on a regular basis. Other than that, I have a few cans of Fluid Film waiting to go on the underside. Just waiting for a day to wash her down before I do. For the top, I will clean her as best as I can before applying a couple coats of Collinite 845 to protect the rest of the faded paint and exposed metal. I think that will do it for this update. Oh yeah, I decided on a name for the truck: Papago. Same name as that beer I got in Arizona, and the design is distinctly 80s as well, so I thought it fit.

I would not have it any other way! Well, it is a little later than I wanted, but I made a video for folks to view. I find it easier to get my thoughts across this way. I am not trying to make a channel to follow or anything, just make it easier to get this stuff to you folks, and faster as well. I tend to go into too much detail. Please feel free to ask any questions or provide feedback here. I am more likely to look for comments and respond here than on YouTube. I touched on a few things in this video, but I did not want to go on too long, and there is a lot more to go over. There will be more to come. https://youtu.be/EXB2NUGiA0A

Man, I really need to stop procrastinating making posts. Makes it that much harder to type out what has all happened since the last one! The short version is the truck made the 1100 mile trip home without any of what I would call major problems. The longer version is not too dramatic honestly. The first day heading back was mostly uneventful. My road trip partner and I made it to Emporia, Kansas before we finally stopped for the night. At the beginning, I twice had tail lights only partially working. When I took them apart, I found the sockets for the bulbs to be filled with something that had the color and consistency of peanut butter. It looked like it was used to seal the connectors at one point, then began leaking into the socket itself over the years. I can show you pictures at a later time. Cleaning the gunk out got me fully functional rear lights, aside from one bulb. One out of six was okay with me. Most of the trip was spent keeping the truck on the road and figuring out fuel mileage. The shocks are bouncy as hell, and the steering has at least six inches of play in it, so going along any bumpy road at 60+ was always fun. Despite not wanting to risk the tank going empty (incorrect fuel gauge reading), I still managed to get about 20 MPG. She definitely runs rich at times though. Eventually, night fell, and the cold came with it. Armed with only high beams and the suggestion of heat coming from the blower stuck in defrost, we pressed on... until another turn signal light went out, this time in front. After cleaning out more gunk, rust, replacing that bulb, I went to test it, only to find I had no turn signals at all now. I had also lost my radio, heater, and wipers. In the middle of nowhere and behind schedule, we soldiered on. I had brought clothes for the cold, so it was not all that bad. After asking a question about my loss of accessories in a Comanche Facebook group, I got one answer: the ignition switch. Having never heard of this before, I was skeptical, but damn if they were not on the money. As luck would have it, Emporia, Kansas happened to have an Autozone with the exact switch I needed; I only started looking when we got to that town. We found a hotel for the night and waited for Autozone to open. I grabbed my part the next day and began the work of replacing it, thanks to articles I found here of course. Having small hands, it was not that bad of a task. The new switch went right in, except for a blue tab that was locking switch in whatever position it was in. That came out, likely broken now, and after putting everything back together, everything worked again! Well, except for the wipers, but I later figured out I forgot to plug them back in, lol. Aside from that, I have to be careful with the key now; that blue tab that locked the switch up completely also prevents the switch from engaging the starter continuously while the truck is running. I just have to make sure I bring the key back to the running position. With that, we were on our way again. It was an all right journey, even though it was wet in areas and I had no wipers. The real fun came in Iowa; fog. For about 300 miles, we drove through constant fog, in the dark no less. Thankfully I had my friend there, because having only high beams would have been a bad time. We eventually made it home at about 2:30am Monday. We were exhausted and frustrated, but home. I celebrated with an Arizona beer I had bought back in October and subsequently left behind called Orange Blossom, then passed out to go to work that day. In the next post, I will update y'all on the things I have discovered since bringing the truck home, and have actual pictures for you. Also toying with the idea of making a video instead; might make things easier to show/explain, and it might cut down on the time between posts. Let me know if that is something you would like to see.

Hello again! Sorry for the roughly three month disappearance. I have been waiting for my friend to finish the truck, so I did not feel like I had much content to provide to the thread right away, aside from the occasional parts purchase. I will address all of that when I get home. For now, I just got my truck back in Amarillo yesterday, and I begin my journey back to Illinois today. Hopefully things will be a lot smoother this time.

In the likely event I cannot get keys cut, the next step would be a locksmith. I just made a purchase that would make either all the better, whenever I get the truck back. Details when I get a package in the mail.

I guess I will be looking behind the bumper then! With the door locks, I agree on them being in need of cleaning. I was more referring to taking my VIN to a dealer and hoping they could cut a key for me, as I do not have the original for the doors. That is an interesting fact about these clusters. I will definitely give it a good cleaning. I also remembered the trip meter is jammed up, so I need to take that apart and fix it too.

I have been reading and rereading your comments for the past couple of days when I have a break at work. I will definitely be investing in Fluid Film when I do finally get the truck home. As for the interior, the previous owner (Cactus Comanche on here) told me he used POR15 on the interior to prevent any future rust. Looking at your comments about that particular product and others like it, I will be looking under the carpet to make sure nothing looks out of place. I said I wanted to make my next post about problems and plans for this truck, so let me see if I can remember them all! No interior lights. I plan on getting the eBay ones everyone loves. No A/C. It needs lines to the condenser and such. It is not a priority right now. Vents. Air does not flow out of all of them. Likely I need to buy some ducting and redo it. Cluster. All gauges needs to be checked for accuracy and if they are working. Coolant gauge bounces when the truck gets power and starts, but nothing else. Fuel gauge is inaccurate. Speedometer is slow on the uptake. Tachometer sits at 2k RPM when the truck is off, but seems to work okay when in use. Not sure about 1500 RPM idle though. The oil pressure and voltage gauges may be working fine, but I may as well test them too. Headlights. Low beams do not seem to function. Could be the bulbs, switch, etc. Washer nozzles. I can hear the pump going, and the tank has juice. Nothing comes out though. Could be a clogged line, or something else. Intermittent wipers. I did not have to use them much, but I did not notice that part working. Further ddiagnosis required. Window seals. Pretty sure they are original. Garbage. You can hear air coming through them while driving. May either replace them or do the full size window upgrade. Undecided for now. Window handle. Driver side handle rubs against the door card. One or the other could be installed incorrectly. Diagnosis required. Windshield. Obviously cracked and needing replacement. I am told I can get a 97+ windshield with the tint on top and the rubber molding instead of the chrome stuff, and it will fit just fine. Seems like the best option. Rear sliding window. Two thirds of it is there. The actual sliding part is plastic, and does not move. So I need to source that from somewhere. Ignition cylinder. It is not bolted into the column, so it comes right out. Lovely security feature, but I want a real one. The key is also a GM key, so I need to source some original parts or something akin to original. Door locks. Due to not having the original key, the door locks do not work either. You cannot even get the lock switches inside to move. I am hoping I can get something from the dealer and kill two birds with one stone. We will see. Rubber components. All around the truck, rubber is cracking and worn due to age and Arizona/New Mexico heat. I need to replace these pieces. Sound. The speakers kind of exist. I am not too worried about audio when this truck needs functionality fixes first. I will get to it eventually. Power. The previous owner mentioned that the battery does not drain, because nothing is pulling power while the truck sits. I am realizing this is actually a problem. The clock on the stereo resets every time. The truck is shut off. The clock does not work. This could be the cause of some of my other underlying problems. Definitely need to invest in a multimeter. Fog lights. They are off of a different Jeep, and are not wired. I need to wire them up, and find a set for the top of the roll bar as well. I am sure there is more I am forgetting, but that is all I can remember at the moment. I will add more over time I am sure. What are my plans for it? I plan to keep it relatively stock, with some tasteful additions that make it more functional. I want to keep the look it rolled off the factory floor with, while keeping it as a functional daily. I would like to make this the equivalent of a metric ton package in the back, since I can see my needing to haul things. I am also considering adding four wheel drive, due to living in Illinois. I do not plan on much off roading or rock crawling. I also plan to keep the 2.5 and make it better. I am no stranger to four cylinder engines, coming from a Honda background. They appeal to me, and less weight in the front is always an added bonus. I may decide to upgrade to proper fuel injection as well, depending on the upgrades I do. It may even be easier to swap in a newer 2.5 from a Wrangler or Cherokee. Time will tell. The interior is pretty nice already. The previous owner redid the headliner, the bench seat is in excellent shape, and the carpet is nice too. I was originally thinking of doing bucket seats, but the idea of keeping the bench is growing on me. We will see. Sorry for another long update. I have not heard anything about my truck since I left it with my friend in Amarillo. He has his own stuff going on, so I will hear back eventually. Feel free to ask any questions you have. I will try to answer them as best as I can.

I will definitely be looking at both of these things when I see it again. I drove it maybe once at night during this trip.

It is a TBI, but for some reason I thought that was still a carb of some kind with that, having never encountered it before. Glad to see there is another liver of the 2.5L. I have been a Honda owner all of my life, so four cylinders are what I know. This one has impressed me so far with the pep it has, aside from going up the Rocky Mountains, lol. Down the line I definitely want to give it some more pep. I figure has less weight and more room to work in the the bay is a bonus. It is stupid easy to access everything in this engine bay. I can definitely look at those. I was thinking of doing POR15 on the underside, but I am open to suggestions like yours. I will take a look at them. From the research I did, and what my butt says, it definitely has 4.10 gears in it. I thought they only came with a Dana 35 or 44 in the rear though, so now I am excited to see what is back there next time I see it in person. I have been suspicious of it having limited slip as well, but the jury is out for now.

I will definitely look for it when the truck is back in my hands, thank you for the tip! Incidentally, thank you for that link to a relay harness in your signature. I have noticed that I may only have high beams on my truck, unless it never came with them. I only have running lights on one setting and I believe high beams on another. Blue indicator comes on in the cluster too.

I will try to keep this story from being too long, but I tend to go into a lot of detail, so I apologize. About a month ago, I decided that I was ready to own a Comanche. I did some searching and put some feelers out to find ome. I was not picky, other than I wanted it to be as close to stock as possible, with as little rust as possible. There were a few prospects, but I ultimately decided on the one you see here. The previous owner is an enthusiast to say the least. He has several projects on his hands, and owns one of the Street Comanches. Sent me a ton of photos that showed the body was really in good shape, just used like a truck should be. We agreed on how things would work; he would do some maintenance to make the truck as ready for the trip as he could, then I would fly down and drive it home. I also purchased some new 235/75-15 Michelin Defenders to mount on a set of turbines I purchased from him, and I would have them mounted and aligned when I got there. I flew down on October 2nd to claim my prize. When I finally saw it, I still did not register in my head that it was mine. It definitely needed some work, as I would come to find out over time, but I had to get going. I loaded up my stuff and headed off to my appointments. Got the tires mounted no problem. Went off to have it aligned... and that was where the problems began. The drag link tie rod end and pitman arm end were worn and needed replacement. The steering box also has a leak, but not bad. I sourced the pitman arm end from Autozone, and the PO gave me a whole drag link with the tie rod end on it. I collected both of those parts, and as I tried to leave the previous owner's house for the second time... it would not start. We could smell fuel, but we did not see much of anything leaking. Let it sit for a while, nothing. Finally, he mentioned it was carbureted, and I remembered a trick I saw to get a vapor locked engine going. Tried that, started right up, and away I went. Unfortunately, by the time I got back to the alignment shop, they did not have enough time to replace my parts and align the truck that day. No big deal, I set aside four days to bring it home. Go back outside to go to a motel... no start. The previous trick I used was not working either. I could see a little fuel leaking down the front of the carb though. Eventually, I got it going and to the hotel for the night, hoping that maybe sitting overnight would cool it off or something. No dice, same thing next day. Handily, insurance towed it for free back to the alignment shop, which does other work too. After opening it up, they discovered the carb was flooded due to our favorite thing: bad O-rings. They cleaned the carb, aired the engine out, cleaned the plugs, put on new O-rings, and it was good to go again. Same with the steering parts and alignment. I also went to pick up a fire extinguisher from a friend in case the situation above happened on my trip and caught fire. By the time I was done with that, I decided to wait until the next morning to leave. It was smooth sailing the next day. Got through the mountains around Phoenix, through Payson, and all the way to Gallup. I stopped at an Autozone there because the voltage gauge was reading 12 volts, and bouncing a little with the turn signals on. Figured I would check the battery and alternator. Battery tested okay, but the alternator would not test. At that point, I decided to replace the alternator there, as they had one that should have worked if I swapped the pulleys from the old one (serpentine pulley) to new one (vbelt pulley), and clocked it properly. This did not go well. The old alternator basically split in half by the time I took it off the truck. Of the four screws that were supposed to hold it together, two had fallen out somewhere else already, and the other two fell out when I removed it from the truck. We tried to swap the pulleys, but they were on too tight. It was getting late at that point, so I decided to have a shop swap them in the morning. I reassembled the old alternator with the two remaining screws, installed everything again, started up the truck... and it ran like garbage. At this point, some context should be provided. The was a random knocking noise that sounded like a heat shield or something. It goes away when the RPMs would go up, and it did not sound like it was in time with the engine. Multiple people dismissed it as such, the previous owner included. That knocking was still present when this all happened. It was clearly not running on all cylinders, and down on power. Fed up, I gathered my stuff and putted to my hotel for the night, planning to have a shop look at it again. Get it into a shop the next day. Half an hour later, all is revealed; that knocking noise is still present without the serpentine belt attached. It is coming from the front of the engine, possibly the timing chain area. One idea is the timing chain is loose and it jumped enough to run like garbage. It would also explain the knocking noise, which sounded hollow. On top of that, the water pump pulley was loose, so that may have gone at some point. And the alternator? The refurbished one from Autozone was garbage, as the mechanic found out when he took it apart to clock it. The one I took out of the truck was never supposed to be in there in the first place, but someone made it work. You can imagine how I was feeling by this time. Luckily, a friend in Amarillo saved my @$$ by coming to get me the next day and tow the truck and I back to his place. So what is next? I am flying back home, as I do not have anymore time off of work. My friend is going to take a look at it over the next week or two, see what it needs, and we will go from there. Hopefully it can be repaired without too much trouble, and I can fly back down and bring it home soon. In my next post, I will list out the stuff that needs to be fixed, and some of my plans for it.

Oh man, I love stuff like this. Having a little trouble figuring out what everything is exactly, even after looking at the sales code stuff. I love finding out all of the little details though. Hopefully I learn a lot more. That is the look the previous owner was going for, and I intend to achieve that. I actually have turbines on it now, the white steelies are spares for the time being.

Well shucks. I mean, the truck is not in Illinois yet. But I do not have much of a choice for transportation this year. I will do my best to keep it clean though. I am not experienced in identifying axles, but I do not believe so after doing a search. The AMC 20 cover looks different than what I have. It is tmhard to tell in the photo, but the 3-6 o'clock area is punched in and has a drain/fill hole.

Hello there! My name is Stephen, and I picked up a 1986 Comanche X in Phoenix last week. 2.5L, five speed, 2WD, long bed. If you want the fine details, head to my registry topic here. I actually have another account on here, BebopComanche, but I lost the email account it belonged to. I was not very active anyway, as I was only dreaming of owning a Comanche in those days. However, I did have the wonderful opportunity to drive Automan's '86 2.1 diesel back then, and I think that pretty much set me on the path to where I am now. Just took me a long while to get there. I flew into Phoenix with the intention of picking this truck up, getting a couple things fixed, and driving it the 1800 miles home to Illinois. Safe to say, things did not go according to plan. To be fair, it did make it 300 miles to Gallup, NM before it gave up the ghost. It is a long story I will get to later. For now, have some photos, and know that my plans are to use it as a daily, after I degrease, undercoat, and clear it to prevent Illinois from turning into dust. That is, after I find out what is wrong and get it home.

1986 Jeep Comanche (X trim I believe) 2.5L AX5 5 Speed 2WD Longbed. Has an OEM rollbar, but I do not believe it came with it stock. Same with the fog lights, they are from a Wagoneer/Grand Cherokee. The drivers door tag is faded away to almost nothing, so I could not read it. Interior is red cloth with a bench seat. Also has a full gauge cluster and sliding rear window... at least most of one. Exterior is white with some lovely stripes down the sides. It is in the process of heading to Illinois from Arizona. It kind of works, but it is a solid chassis.