NickyV

Thanks everyone. Glad I started this thread. I feel like I'm aware of just about everything everyone has said in the general sense. I know the rubber stoppers exist. I know they won't change how fast the parking brake releases. I know I can use a single foot on both the brake pedal and the clutch, but I've never been very good at that. I don't make a practice of using the parking brake to do what I'm describing, but every once in a while... Every once in a while I wish I had an e-brake like my old Isuzu Trooper had. That thing had a hand-pull parking brake that was pretty close to the shifter. My research shows me that certain years of the Toyota Hilux also had this style of e-brake. But I guess it's kinda rare in more modern trucks. It was cool though. To engage, you just had to pull back. To disengage, you would twist it, and you could let it out slowly by hand. There are two situations where I'd want to use this: 1) If I was parallel parked on a steep hill with a car right behind me. Here in the Bay Area, there are lots of places where this can happen. 2) One time I was coming out of Death Valley in the MJ. I was on a steep incline and I had to come to a stop. There was a cliff not that far behind me. Truck stalled. Then it stalled again. (I still need to replace the fuel pump because it still will stall when low on fuel and facing uphill). Each time I stalled it, I rolled back a little bit. It was all very nerve-wracking, because this was back when the parking brake didn't work. I ended up getting out of it with help from some friends, large rocks and a heaven-sent team of fully equipped YJs that happened to roll by. Don't know what would have happened without those guys. Anyway... for now, I'm going to cobble together a rubber stopper, and I'll keep thinking about other solutions to this rare (but stressful) predicament that I can sometimes get into. Good thing is, I now have the brake working. And if I'm ever in this situation again, I can tolerate letting the e-brake slam open. I'd rather smash my fingers or ear drums than roll bass-ackwards off a cliff. Lol.

A month or so ago I finally fixed my floor pedal parking brake. I managed to do it without removing the assembly. I had to get innovative with an off-the-shelf spring from the hardware store (I cut it to fit and bent the cut end so it would hook around the pawl… TikTok link below). Now I’m wondering what those of us with working brakes do about how violently it snaps back when disengaging. Most of the time, I just put my foot on it and use that to guide it back up softly. But what if I’m using it to get out of a hairy situation on a hill? I have a manual and I only have two feet! I don’t need to do this very often, but every once in a while I get into a situation where I’m on a steep hill at a dead stop and I can’t really afford to roll back, even a little bit. Since it is rare, I guess it’s fine if the brake pedal disengages like a prize fighter landing a haymaker, but I is there something you all would recommend? Maybe just a thick piece of rubber for it to smack against? Is there a mod I could do that would allow me to release it gradually without the aid of my left foot? I’ve been trying to keep things as stock as possible, but it really makes me wish I had the XJ hand brake. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMnQP25Y/

Yes. The clicking was around on the old pump, too. I have a few updates after working on the truck last night: TL;DR: I think this is due to a combination of factors. Those are: A beat up pulley wheel. A belt that has suffered as a result of a beat-up and poorly adjusted pulley wheel. Engine compartment temperature. I am less sure now that getting the exact right part will make a difference, but I'm still on the hunt for the OEM part. Some Clarification: I keep calling this a "click." But that's it's hard to find the right words. It's definitely not a "squeal." It's not a "groan" or a "sigh." But it honestly might be a "chirp," rather than a "click." The Good News: Whatever we call this noise, I think I have succeeded in getting it so it doesn't make the noise when idling. However... The Neutral News: When I started it up this morning, it was making noise again... until it got warm under the hood. Then it went back to being quiet. So I think temperature is playing a role here. The "Meh" News: Once I get to about 20 on the tachometer, I start to hear belt noise again. This is with the truck in neutral. I'll drive it around this weekend and try to see what it sounds like under load. My Procedure: This might be obvious to the more experienced folks out there. But if you come across this thread, here's what worked for me. I still do not have a belt tension measuring tool (but I'm going to get one), and I definitely don't have a fancy laser guided pulley wheel alignment tool. I discovered that the puller/pusher I rented could fit on the pump without removing it. I used the OEM Tools Pulley Puller/Installer from AutoZone. I loosened the back two bolts and the top pivot-bolt — keeping them just barely loose enough so that the tensioner could be adjusted. I started with the pulley as far back toward the pump/firewall as I felt comfortable (there was maybe a quarter inch or less of the pump's shaft visible between the pump and the back side of the pulley). I'd fire it up, see what it sounded like, and mess with the tension a bit — either tighter or looser. Then I'd shut it off and scoot the pulley wheel forward in tiny increments until I finally got to a spot where it wasn't making the offending noise when idling. What I'll Try Next: I was thinking about trying a deep clean of the belt and pulleys and some belt conditioner spray. But I might just deep clean the pulleys and get a brand new belt and then hit it with some belt conditioner. Thanks for the tip. That makes sense!

That’s an interesting suggestion, @Eagle_SX4! I might give that a try this evening. Although, I don’t think I’d be able to replicate the tension… @eaglescout526, I just changed the pump last weekend. Pump is brand new, pulley wheel is the same and belt is a year old. The clicking is kind of rhythmic. It happens at regular intervals. I need to do some more process of elimination for sure.

I ran the power steering the way it was -- with the clicking -- for about a year. I think the most I've driven the truck in one sitting is about 50 miles at a time. I've probably put 500 miles on it or so. I don't know if that's enough to destroy a belt that's catastrophically misaligned, but I would think so. What I'm saying is that I don't think it is terribly, terribly misaligned. But this is the path I've been chasing to resolve the click. You know... with everything I've learned so far about this truck, I wouldn't be surprised if the culprit ended up being something else or something bone simple. But it's all interesting! It's a journey, you know?

That’s great, @eaglescout526! Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I did NOT realize the alternator pulley has an extra groove. Maybe it’s not critical, but that helps me picture what might be going on. I’m looking forward to seeing your alt pulley so I can compare.

OK… before I go any further. @eaglescout526, are you saying that the issue with these pulley wheels is that it is difficult to press them on far enough? Because based on the way my belt was sitting, I thought I had originally pressed it on too far. So I started backing the pulley wheel off a bit. I did not try going deeper, and I could have gone a bit deeper. Also, @eaglescout526 Thanks, and please do show me what you have. @GonzoTheGreat I do need to get a stethoscope. Keep forgetting to do that. But I am 95% sure it has to do with the power steering. It clicks when it is simply running. I don’t think turning makes much of a difference. But the clicks get more rapid with acceleration. Honestly, it’s like the pulley wheel isn’t quite true or something. Like every rotation there is one spot that catches a little bit. THINGS I STILL NEED TO TRY: 1) Use stethoscope. And/or remove PS entirely, reconnect old flywheel. See if sound persists. 2) Try new belt. I should be able to do 1 & 2 this weekend. 3) See if I can get exact part for PS pulley wheel. 3.5) If I can’t get exact part, source a cleaner pulley wheel smoother grooves. Or… do a better job smoothing it out. Not sure when I can get to these steps. QUESTIONS I STILL HAVE FOR COMMUNITY: A) What is it about the exact power steering pulley wheel part that makes it so critical or at least desirable in the 2.5L engines from the late 80s? B) Eagle Scout noted that there is a specific alternator pulley wheel for 2.5L without AC. He said it “sinks in.” I take it that means toward the cab? If that’s the case, I may have made a mistake when adjusting the pulley wheel, because I was worried it was already too far back. P.S. - Sorry, as always, for the super long posts. :-/

Hey @eaglescout526! I thought I might hear from you. Still no AC. One of these days, I swear… I’ve got most of the components now. I’m attaching a pic of my alternator pulley. Belt is off currently because I wanted to get a good look at my PS pulley.

UPDATE: My power steering pump is still noisy, but now it only makes noise when the engine is cold. Once it gets warm the noise mostly goes away. I still want to get to the point where it doesn't make any annoying clicks or chirps, but patience is a virtue and all that. I fixed it by going real slow and experimenting with different belt tightness and pushing the pulley wheel forward and back by millimeters at a time, until I found a spot that was pretty good. --- --- --- ORIGINAL POST: Sorry to post a new thread on this so soon , but I wanted to try to get a conversation going about the power steering pulley wheel on late-80s Comanches with 2.5L engines. My issue is minor but annoying. The power steering pump works, but it makes noise, specifically a clicking noise. I did a bunch of reading last night — including of old parts manuals. It seems like the 1987-1990 and possibly 1991 MJ, XJ and SJ’s with the 2.5L and power steering, came with a pulley wheel that is hard to find these days. The part number is 5300 3805 for those who are interested. I have some questions about this, and if we can answer them all in one thread, it could be really helpful to anyone troubleshooting their power steering on an ‘87-‘90 (and maybe ‘91) MJ, or other similar jeep with a 2.5L + power steering. QUESTIONS: 1) Does anyone know why other similar pulleys cause issues on the ‘87 and other adjacent years with the 2.5L? And before you answer, I understand that they don’t line up quite right. But does anyone have details or theories about how/why they don’t line up? Are they too far forward? Too far back? Is the angle off? Are the ribs on the pulley not quite right? All of the above? 2) If someone like me can’t find the exact OEM part or parts, has anyone had luck with making other parts fit? What did you do? Did you put spacers behind the bracket, for example? 3) In my case specifically, the pulley wheel I am currently using is marked G3 53002909. I think it came off a YJ, but maybe something else… with this particular pulley wheel, is there something I can do to fix my issue (which is a clicking sound)? DETAILS & PICS: - Pump Style: I have this style of pump. It’s the kind with a remote reservoir. - Belt Position on Pulley: Here is how the belt sits on the pulley. I tried scooting the wheel forward on the wheel, but it didn’t make a difference. Probably because the grooves hold it in place. - Rough Grooves: I was originally thinking that the rough spots on my pulley wheel’s grooves were playing a part in this. And maybe they are. I tried my best to file/sand them smooth. Before: After:

Well... Now I'm reading up on this a bit more and I'm seeing lots of posts that say the pulley for the 2.5L is hard to find. Anyone know anything about that?

After doing a bit more research, I'm thinking that what I might want is to get some ZJ springs for the front end, do a little bit of spacing on the front and the back and call it a day. I'm not trying to build a crawler. As I mentioned, this is largely an aesthetic thing if I'm being honest. Snooping around the forum I saw someone mention that just doing a little lift in the front really balances out the look of the truck. I have the 2.5L. Do you all think that doing the ZJ V8 spring swap would get me what I'm looking for there?

Hey @ghetdjc320! Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but is the KJ rear axle a common mod? I’m sure you chose the axle for more reason than just looks. Why’d you go with the KJ rear axle?

Hey all! Before I go through the trouble of pulling my power steering pump again, I wanted to consult the community. I've got a clicking sound that seems to be related to the belt, a pulley wheel, or something like that. I am fairly sure that I've isolated this issue. I'm 90-ish% sure it is something related to the power steering pump. So, over this past weekend, I replaced my pump. The symptoms seem to have improved, but it's not fixed. I don't want to drive the truck too much until I get this fixed, because I'm worried that this is an issue that will get worse over time. The Issue: Clicking Noise Speeds Up & Slows Down w/ RPM I first noticed this shortly after I had power steering installed. I would post a video, but I bet the moment I pull out my camera, it won't make the sound. Plus I find that engine noises don't translate that well over phone cameras. Essentially, it is a click. I don't think it's a chirp, although it's kinda like a chirp. But let's call it a click. And it speeds up or slows down with engine speed. What I've Done So Far - I've done the water/soap test. That seems to make the noise go away. - I've run the engine without the belt hooked up: No clicking noise. - I've replaced the pump (just the pump... not the gearbox). I did this because after I took the belt off, I observed that the pulley seemed to wobble a bit. Kinda like the pulley shaft was loose or not fitting right into the pump housing. I figured it might be a bad bearing. I thought about just replacing the bearing, but that seemed like a ton of work and I realized it could have been a busted vane or something else, so I just replaced the entire pump. What I Haven't Done I have not tried to run the belt without the Power Steering Pump connected. That would involve reinstalling the old flywheel that was in pump's place. I may try to do so next weekend. I have not tried to install a new belt or treat the belt with some kind of product. I have not tried a new pulley wheel (I think this my next step). The current pulley wheel is kinda beat up. My Questions Anyone Experience This? If so, were you able to fix it? Pulley Wheel Recommendations? I see a lot of different pulley wheels at a lot of different price points. Belt Tension: How much do I need to obsess over belt tension? Got recommendations for a quality belt tension measuring tool that won't break the bank? I've just been doing belt tension by the Goldilocks Method. Not too stiff not to loose. But maybe I need to step up my game. Pulley Alignment: How much do I need to obsess over pulley wheel alignment? My current theory is that the clicking has something to do with the pulley wheel itself. It's kind of beat up and has a few chips in the grooves. I also thought that maybe I need to be more obsessive over the alignment of the pulley wheels. I know that there are laser pulley wheel alignment tools but the ones I've seen so far are expensive! If I can rent one, I would be willing to do that to get the alignment perfect. Better Power Steering Pumps: I'm currently running a TruGrade pump #7081. I think that is what was in there previously, as well. It seems like there were two types of pumps that Jeep used originally. One was the "Ham Shaped" one. That is not the one I have. Picture of my pump is below. Maybe I need to get a different type of pump? This is the pump I'm currently running. Napa Auto Parts says this is the only one that fits my vehicle. There are other types of PS pumps (but maybe they are for the 4.0, and I have the 2.5). This is the other style of pump:

And @89 MJ that’s good to know. If I put equal spacing on front and back does that solve for what you are describing?

Thanks to all who have replied. For some reason I didn’t realize that the back wheel base was actually narrower. I guess I thought I was something of an optical illusion. D’oh! At any rate, I was thinking I’d put spacers on front and back. Appreciate the pics so far! Anyone else got what I’m looking for? @fiatslug87, do you have any other angles, like from the front?

I missed your reply, @watchamakalit. Sorry about that. Maybe I will eventually. I have been on another streak with electrical work recently. And I’ve been starting to add some switches to the dash. Just this week I added a new LED light to my camper shell and hardwired it with a switch in the cab to turn it on and off. Good for checking on the dog and other precious cargo when it’s dark outside. I’m planning to add a three-way switch function eventually. But doing that will require either a second dedicated power line to the bed, a complex relay system, or an RF relay. I really need to start a build thread. I promise I will eventually.

SOLUTION: I want to close the loop on this thread in case anyone finds it in the future. This is what I think fixed my issue: My truck has the internal slave cylinder, which has a bleeder valve. There were at least two possible culprits: 1) Originally I thought I had a pinhole leak in the rubber section of my clutch hose. I used some rubber patching material, tape and some hose clamps to cover that up. I’m still not sure if there was actually a leak here. 2) Now I think the real issue was with my bleeder valve. Inside the nipple of the bleeder valve there is a gasket that was slightly askew. I fixed the position of that gasket and I added a little bit of teflon pipe tape around the threads of the nipple cap. Clutch has been very solid ever since. And I haven’t noticed any leaks on the master cylinder. I don’t know why or if the drippy master was somehow connected. Maybe something to do with low pressure in the line or air getting into the line. But I’m pretty sure the bleeder nipple was the main issue.

Anyone running wheel spacers on 235 75R 15s with no lift? If so, can you share pics? I’m not sure I want to lift my MJ. But if I do, it won’t be for a while. Too many other projects to tackle first. But I am considering wheel spacers. Not looking for anything crazy. I mainly want to fix that narrow butt look and gain a more aggressive stance that extends just a hair wider than fender flares. At least I think that’s what I want. But I am having trouble visualizing this. So if any of you have an MJ that fits the bill and could share pics, I’d be much obliged.

Hey @A-man930 - Attaching a picture. Sorry, It's not the greatest. I might have undersold it when I said "simple A/B switch." Last year when I did this project, I had an RCA switch that I was no longer using. It was actually a five-way stereo switch that I previously used for my home stereo system. The switch has a rotary dial. I mounted it facing down, underneath the steering wheel on the bottom most panel. To use it, I reach under the wheel (below where that vent is between the driver's legs) and turn the knob to select between the two inputs. The other three stereo inputs are not used. On the left hand side are the RCA inputs from the radio and the Bluetooth receiver. On the right are the RCA outputs that run down along the driver side door and back to the amplifiers. I am planning to change this setup soon (maybe this weekend). It works fine, but it's a bit over-engineered. My plan is to install a simpler A/B switch and an inline volume knob. I think I will mount it in the space under the clock. Pics below. If you don't have the computer display that monitors engine performance (and I think most of us don't have that), there should be plenty of space underneath the clock to cleanly mount both of these components. Just in case you need more info on how to make this work, here are some other components you need: - Line Level Converter: You need one of these to turn the stock radio outputs into RCA (line level) outputs. - Various RCA cables of appropriate length - Bluetooth Receiver. Here are the components I plan to install to simplify my setup a bit. I'm going to install the inline volume knob so I can control volume from the dash, rather than using my phone's volume buttons.

I also want to endorse this method! I had been getting prepared to do the full rebuild and then thought, why not try this first? It is working great! I’m a few weeks in now and I can park on steep hills again! I made a video for anyone else who wants to give this a try before completely rebuilding their brake assembly: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMkB6s4A/

I’m following up on my last post from almost a year ago. I tried to mod the AR series radio I have. My goal was to make it so ny Bluetooth receiver would go through the radio’s internal volume and dynamics controls. It did not work. I’m not sure which AR I have, but it resembles the AR-7750. I tried tapping into the two wires that Minuit identified on the treble slider. It did not work as I hoped and had to re-solder those two connections back together :-/ I set up a simple A/B switch to toggle between Bluetooth and radio and that has been working fine

Ah... It's cool that I have an AMC, but also this. Too bad. I had been wondering why some of the trucks in the registry had so much more info. Thanks for explaining!

I just went to the listed manufacturer's website. I'm thinking about giving them a call. It seems like they have only ever really made RVs. Is it possible that they could have taken a contract to build Jeeps to be sold elsewhere? Or maybe I A two questions and an observation: 1) Does someone have a key for what all the abbreviations mean? I've been Googling around to no avail. 2) Does GEC refer to the rear window? My current rear window is a solid pane. 3) If this thing had tinted windows at some point, it definitely doesn't anymore. Although, sometimes when I look closely, it does seem like maybe they were a bit smokier in the past.

Wow! Very cool! I'll have to read up a bit more on how to read this table. Some of this stuff is Greek to me. But I will say that I still have a bench seat, and my MJ did come with a compact spare tire, that I still have (although there is a full size one tucked up under the bed now). One more thing I will say: My MJ may have come all the way from Alabama, but it has been in California for quite a while. When I bought the truck, it came with a blue license plate with yellow numbers/letters. A quick Google search indicates that the state stopped issuing those with any regularity around 1986 or '87.

Found it! Posted it! I had definitely been meaning to do that. So do I eventually get a report from @jdog? Hope so. Can't wait!