DirtyComanche

I changed my valve cover gasket, did the Cruiser mod to the valve cover breather towers, cleaned the orifice out in the back breather, and put a new grommet/elbow in the front one, and amazingly my rear main seal leak seems to have gone away... Any excess of pressure in the crank case (breathers being clogged) will want to force oil past the rear main seal. The valve cover often leaks because normally they have the factory gasket maker gasket on them still, and it just wasn't meant to last that long, that leaking oil tends to run down the back of the block and looks like a rear main leak. I would do that first. You need very basic hand tools (a socket set, a couple scrapers, screwdrivers, a drill/bits, hacksaw, and some files) to change the valve cover seal and do the Cruiser mod on the breather towers. It takes a couple hours to do because of the fiddlefarting and cleaning up the old sealant. You will want some good shop towels, some scotchbrite, and brake clean to clean everything. To do the oil pan gasket isn't very hard either. Same tools. Again, takes a while just to clean it up. Buy a good pan gasket set and it will go a lot better.

Yeah, but that's not here nor now. Does it crank reasonably fast? Do you have spark? Did you pull the intake off and mist some gas in it? When the lower rad hose was frozen, did you freeze water in the block/head? :???:

At this point, yeah, it's the air/fuel/spark thing. Almost. Is it actually cranking fast enough would be my first question. If it's just turning over slowly, it's probably not going to start even if everything else is working. If it is, proceed to pulling the intake off, and misting some good gas or starting fluid into the intake. It it tries to start, or runs for a few seconds, you know you've got spark. If not, proceed to checking for spark.

When was the last time it ran? Did it run until parked and shut off, or did something abnormal happen?

The long cranking is fairly normal with a Renix setup. It's just figuring out what's going on. If the CPS signal is weak, or other connections are not so good, it will exaggerate the problem. Read through Cruiser's tips and do the ground/connector refreshing and the upgraded grounding strap will probably help. You can move the crank sensor a little closer to the flywheel too, another one of his tips, but I've never bothered to do it. Eliminating the stupid C101 connector might help a bit too. Also, if you can get the cranking speed up it will help, so good battery cables, clean connections, and a good battery are worthwhile.

I'd budget about a thousand, and then somehow spend three times that.

Get some pictures of things, please, because I really don't know what you're working with. Assuming it's a 2003 2.5L that's been swapped into the 88, but the 88 wiring and injection has been retained, it shouldn't be too bad to figure out what's going on. But I'm not sure if that's the case. Let's clarify a few things: 1. Have you seen this thing run? Or were you told that it does run? 2. When you say it 'wants to turn over' that means to me that the engine wants to crank over (spin) when the starter is engaged. Not that it wants to actually start. Am I correct? Or does it crank and sputter like it's trying to start? 3. You tightened the positive connectors, I'm assuming you mean the positive lead on the battery? This made it crank over faster/better, or did it actually make it start? 4. You had to jump it. Was that after cranking for a long time so it ran the battery down? Is the battery charged? Is the battery good? Did it crank over properly when jumped? Did it start when jumped? At the very least I can tell you swapping the motor out is not likely the easiest solution right now. And AFAIK no Jeep has ever used an Allison transmission. Asin transmissions, yes, they've used those.

Maybe. My 76 J10 has it, but it was swapped in with an 81 engine, and it definitely was supposed to have a points setup. I don't remember, but 78 sounds reasonably likely. I mean, I could just look it up, but I'm being lazy right now.

I want to say 81. They went to a Ford Duraspark setup. It might have been a little earlier than that though. Why do you ask?

Wow, what a score. Keep us updated on it.

Knock sensor. Thanks, I was told by a few people that they're not important, my question is why would they not be important? I'll be replacing it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk It's important. It will run without it, hence some people feel they are not important. However if you wind up in a situation where there is detonation then damage may occur to the engine as the ECU will have no idea and not cut timing. They did delete it on the HO system because Chrysler does stupid things. I don't know if they run slightly less aggressive timing or not with the HO.

It also would be cheapest to keep it basically the same as a Wrangler. They could then build it on the same line, as the Comanche was with the Cherokee.

Knock sensor.

Oil capacity isn't quite that much, I think count on 2 quarts each but you'll probably not need quite all of it. Fill until it's coming out the hole. XJ/MJ front axles take all the same bushings. I believed 2wd/4wd to be the same, but oddly there is different listings for them from some manufacturers. There's a link to the factory parts catalog in the write ups subforum, you could check it if you want to be sure.

If you broke a pane I believe it's toast... I tried to get one repaired years ago and you couldn't get the pieces, and apparently they aren't meant to be taken apart.

I'm not the OP, but I have rewired three vehicles from scratch without buying an aftermarket harness of any sort. I'm thinking I would never do it again. The first one was very bare bones. The second was more elaborate. The third was about the same. The main thing is I wound up with a lot more money and time into it than I would have liked. The Painless type harnesses suddenly look like a decent deal. Once you start trying to find pins for all the weird OEM connectors it just gets painful and expensive. Not to mention a lot of the stuff that's available is crap. On my current XJ I cut the main underhood harness down and rerouted it to on the firewall (where it should have been from the factory, IMHO) and even that was quite a few hours (but very little money) into it. For an XJ/MJ with the Renix setup I'd pull a harness from the junkyard and clean it up/cut it down before I'd dare make one. There is not that many extra things on it. My XJ is more of a trail rig, but it's retaining street legality and many of the features, there really just isn't that much wire you can cut out at that point. You actually do need all of that stuff. BTW, the factory wrapped the soldered splices with duct tape. And the 4L Renix harness has two generations, at least that I've seen. 87 to mid-89 and mid-89 to 90. They use different connectors, and you can swap them in their entirety, but you can't mix and match them. I am not sure if all of the early ones have the C101 connector on the engine harness, I want to say the early 89 stuff will not have it despite not being interchangeable with the mid-89 to 90 stuff.

Interesting, and good news. Keep us updated on it long term. Although, if it's working correctly now, it will probably work correctly forever.

No, it's a way smaller o-ring than that. My notes say the size is a -903, but that won't mean anything to most people. A hydraulic shop should know what that means, tell them it's for a hydraulic application that sees abuse. There's a GM P/N 26001594 that I believe to be correct. Rockauto lists a 10 pack for about $3 US (might be the price for one but you have to buy a box of 10?), so I'm thinking they are the ones.

Run a good synthetic oil, or a diesel synthetic (such as Shell Rotella T6, not my first choice but some people swear by them) and just let it do its job. It will slowly remove whatever might be deposited in the engine. You do not want to add something to it that will suddenly cause all of the stuff that is stuck to things to come off, as that might cause the oil filter to plug, and either starve the engine, or have it bypass which will force contamination into the clean side of the oil system. They make oil filter cutters specifically for the job. They're kinda like a pipe cutter. Normally not a lot of money. Try an auto parts store or Speedway/Summit/Jegs.

They come with self tapper but i would drill thru and use lock washer here is the model # best price Amazon AIR LIFT 59503 Ride Control Rear Air Spring Kit Interesting. I would probably destroy them when my axle droops out, or so I'm guessing. But they would be kinda nice if I used air switches for in cab control, I've already got the compressor.

At this point I'd say ball joints most likely. Wheel bearing maybe. Tire/wheel or shock issue is also possible. And there's a good chance both your tranny and motor mounts are worn/torn/smooshed, not that it's likely giving you the vibration during braking. And Don's method of checking ball joints is good. 2x4 or a big pry bar. You gotta really put some effort into them to feel them. If the boots are torn, they look dry, there's rusty powder streaking out of them, etc, just change them.

I wouldn't drain the oil out and put it back in. It's asking for trouble. Change the filter a couple times instead, if you're worried about it. The oil is going through it and it will catch whatever is in it. You can cut the filter open and take a look at it if you're curious or worried about what might be in it. IMHO once oil goes in the drain bucket it's only good for the furnace.

-The ZJ tie rod ends will bolt in. Make sure you get the threaded adjuster coupler for them too as it is not the same as the original MJ/XJ stuff. -Either steering stabilizer should work, the Monroe lists XJ/MJ/ZJ/YJ/TJ as all being interchangeable. I used an OEM TJ one. -Yes, 5x4.5. Watch out for slight differences in hub diameters, some OEM wheels (IE, Ford) will not necessarily go over the hub. Aftermarket ones are normally fine. -If you're planning on using it in the Peugeot, 75w90 is fine or Redline MT-90 seems to be the preferred flavour. Some guys put motor oil in them, 10w-30 or 20w-50, I wouldn't. Axles will take 75w-90, however it is suggested that for severe use that 80w-140 or 75w-140 synthetic be used in the rear axle. I use Lucas 75w-140 synthetic in both axles personally, because I get it cheap and it does seem to perform well.

I know what you mean, I had to absolutely butcher the floor to do it on my XJ.

Are you going to put an X in the interior/seatbelt cage, or not worry about it since it's more or less only for the belts? And are you going to do some frame tie-ins for where it's bolted to the floor, or again leave it be? Long arms are looking good. :thumbsup: