chastings

Well, I got home from my trip and drove it last night.... Functions perfectly without doing anything... I'm going to clean and refresh thr grounds in the engine bay and monitor it from there. Additionally, sometimes when you crank it the tach will bounce off of its stop, giving erratic readings when it should be zero. It reads correctly as soon as it fires up... Whenever the tach does this, the starter will almost act like it won't continue cranking... I've got a new battery and terminals but think there may be a ground issue, perhaps at the dipstick stud.... I'm going to start there and clean/re-seat all of my connections in the engine bay too. Can't help but think that the cranking/tach/sudden transmission issues are related to a poor common ground. Anyway, the transmission appears to be fine.... Thanks!

Thanks for the response cruiser. Since it was obviously slipping I just assumed the transmission was the culprit... good to know that the tps could still be an issue. Is there anything else I should look at since I just I took the dash apart for the ignition switch replace? Too bad I don't live in Prescott anymore, had a lot of great times there back in the day... I'll certainly look at the tps when I get home. I replaced the tps in the comanche about a year ago; your write-up made it a breeze.... Thanks

I pulled my vinyl floor out last month but it literally disintegrated before I could toss it in the trash. I put in an aftermarket carpet kit from a vendor on ebay and was quite pleased with it. If you don't trim off the first 12" at the front of the carpet it won't confrom properly around the tunnel. After a test fit I had to pull it out and cut more... no idea why they make it so much longer than it needs to be.

A black one? Cool! Wish I could find a black deluxe wheel for mine

Was on my way to work in my 89 4.0 AW4 NP242 Cherokee this morning and for the first time in its 190,000 mile existence, the transmission appeared to slip some between 2nd and 3rd gear (when going slightly downhill none the less). I continued to drive it around the neighborhood troubleshooting and it won't do it under a load... you either have to let your foot slightly off the gas prior to the shift point or be going down a hill with a little power prior to the shift point to notice it. Occurs in "power mode" at 2600rpm (give or take a 100) and won't do it in "comfort mode", yet (I assume because the rpm's are lower). BTW it's only slightly noticeable, I just noticed it because I'm obsessive about my Jeeps and have been driving it for 16 years. I last changed the fluid (drain and fill) at 150,000 and has been done regularly since new. The fluid is a little dirty; it's slightly overdue for a change, which I'll do when I get home from my trip. Perhaps that'll pro-long it's life (or kill it quicker)? Either way, I won't know until I have a little more time to dedicate to it. At this point I have to assume an internal clutch is wearing out and anything short of a new transmission will just be a band-aid... Two days ago I replaced the ignition switch (actual switch on top of column under instrument cluster) and was wondering if I knocked something loose when I had everything apart. Since the lower part of the dash was out, obviously the TCU was removed and the transmission "park" safety cable was unhooked from the column as well... but the symptoms have me thinking its completly unrelated. Could a faulty tps or tcu cause transmission slippage at the top of a shift point??? Otherwise the transmission functions just as it did when it was new. I don't wheel this one, it's just an extra vehicle we typically leave home for the sitter to drive or haul the boat with. It's a very nice, stock, fully loaded laredo that I try to keep nice. Has anyone else had similar issue with their AW4? Worst case scenario, I check my connections/grounds, tps, tcu and change the fluid. If it goes away, great, if not, I'll try to find a decent re-man.... On the bright side it gave me the opportunity to drive my Comanche 75 miles to work instead. What a fantastic vehicle! 240,000 miles on the original 4.0/BA-10 combo and gets 21mpg on the hwy with good reliability.... Cole

You're constantly amazed that the vehicles you scavenge parts off in the junkyard have fewer miles than your rig

Well, I had a cherokee that used to leak in through the kickpanel antenna grommet.... water always soaked in to the carpet from below. After replacing the windshield I finally took everything out and soaked it with a garden hose until I found the culprit. I've even seen water leak in from behind the fusebox, which soaks the carpet from the bottom up as well... cole

PICS!

Tons of ammo, tons of guns, cases of mre's, gold/silver, water, hunting and fishing gear... Not prepping, that's just how we roll!

Car payments suck, keep the mj. My cherokee and manche are both paid for and ANY repairs that they may need along the way are cheaper than a monthly car payment. My wife insisted on driving a new car so I bought her a 2010 Commander, which I love but I hate making payments on it. We're in it with only a 3.5% interest rate but I would have rather paid cash and put her in a low mileage 2001 cherokee classic instead. No idea how much a new dodge dart is but $300/month for 5 years is $18,000.... Imagine how bad @$$ your MJ would be if you kept it and invested only1/3 that amount in your classic jeep truck! Edit: just looked up the 2013 dart.... It looks like another version of the NEON? You can't even take that thing wheelin' or hunting or fishing.... Are they quick? It looks too practical to me! If it were me I'd top up the clutch master in the 'manche, bleed it, drive it and keep it topped up until I had time to drop the tranny and replace the slave/master.... Good luck!

At the suggestion of many on the forum I decided to check under the vinyl floor for rust and was pleasantly surprised to find only a little surface rust.... I wire wheeled it, ospho-d and undercoated before replacing with a molded carpet kit from ebay user: stock_interiors. I missed some of the creature comforts that my xj provides so I decided to replace the vinyl with carpet. The overall quality is excellent and fits well; although, you have to trim the front before postioining it or you'll never get it to conform over the tunnel. I had the bench seat recovered, replaced the shift boots and undercoated the floor while I was there too. Headliner will be next and possibly some quadratec floor liners..... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-1992-Jeep-Comanche-Pickup-Truck-Carpet-Kit-/260857179588?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AComanche&hash=item3cbc4cadc4&vxp=mtr

When mine leaked on the passenger side, it came from under the kick panel. The antenna grommet pulled out of the sheet metal, allowing water in through the side.

Comanchemodder, do those mats fit as well with carpet installed too? They look great, may have to invest in a pair. On an unrelated note, I have the exact same bench seat cover.... A full size 1911 fits perfectly in the forward pocket!

Couple things, are you sure it's "full" of coolant? A closed system sometimes requires "burping" to get it full. Jack the back end up and remove the temp sender until coolant comes out, then top it back up. Also, is it possible that the lower rad hose is collapsing? FWIW that last pic looks like its just over 230F? My 0.2 cents, good luck!

^^^^This!

I had no problems with the clutch alignment. I also put grease on the nose of the input shaft. Well, if you don't ask, you don't know. The last transmission I put in my gto was a pita! I double checked it with the alignment tool and it would barely go back in... had to loosen and re-tighten the pressure plate until the alignment tool would engage with ease. The transmission literally jumped in the next attempt. Good luck, it can be quite frustrating at times.

Did you tighten the pressure plate bolts evenly? Could you re-insert the alignment tool after tightening the pressure plate bolts? It needs to be precise... if your tool is worn out and sloppy the transmission may not engage the disc completely. Did you grease the nose of the input shaft?

As of this moment I'm out of town, but currently carrying my 1911 US Army Colt for the weekend. When I'm home I shoot several different 1911's almost exclusively, but enjoy pheasant hunting with my 870 wingmaster. I also shoot a Norinco M1 Carbine, an old browning lever action .22 and have a heavily modded Remington 870 Express Super Mag for home defense.

So its safe to heat with the transmission on the truck? You sure can. Sometimes I've even had to alternate with heat and pb blaster too while using my large breaker bar. I haven't messed with the one in my jeep in a while, but the plug and case are dissimilar metals and subject to corrosion. Plus, the last time it was serviced was probably a budget oil change shop that did chin-ups on the wrench before taking it off the lift. Good luck. My best suggestion though, is to make sure you remove the fill plug first. If you drain it and find out the fill plug is "really" seized you'll have to get creative.... I've had to add oil in different gearcases before through the vent or even the speedo hole.

I've found a minute or two with a propane torch on the material surrounding the plug works wonders for breaking it free. And I wouldn't even try to remove the drain plug until you remove the fill plug first.

Fezzik may still have one available, look in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=30135

IMHO I wouldn't even bother trying to adjust it. There are tons of clusters still available that will just drop right in. There were several "blue plastic" clusters with tach and gauges at my local jy last time I was there. Mine cost 30 bucks.

Your best bet is to buy a mechanical aftermarket oil pressure gauge and run it for a bit to get a baseline. A good rule of thumb is 10 psi for every 1000 rpm. I'm almost certain there is no way to adjust the gauges (but I've been wrong before).

The speedo reading wouldn't have changed with the installation of your new gauge cluster, if its reading fast now, it was reading fast with the old one too. I'm running 235's on my comanche and it always registers 4 mph too slow (I just accept the fact that I'm driving 4 mph faster than my speedo shows, or you can change speedo gear) Does the oil pressure drop to 20 only in higher rpms? Seems strange.... When I did my swap my oil pressure at cold read 20 idle and 60 when driving. Once it warmed up it always read 20 though. I swapped sending units with my cherokee and all of a sudden the gauge would read correct at all temperatures (always 20 @ idle and 60 when driving). I went to return the faulty sending unit back to napa and they realized it was the wrong part number. It looked correct and was similar but was not calibrated the same as the correct unit and showed a huge discrepancy only at operating temperature. Perhaps this is part of your problem? Not sure about the fuel gauge, did it work properly with your old cluster? Almost sounds like the float is sticking in the tank. I was hesitant about the light coming on in my fuel gauge, but it does work. The needle was literally buried at the empty mark before it came on. I had a spare can of gas in the back and nothing but time.

The box said it was for a jeep I6 4.0 and several other engines (but I don't remember which ones). I've swapped several of these over the years and it sure looks exactly like the one that came off ;) I'm sticking with my conclusion that it is the correct part, but incorrectly machined. There are numerous references on NAXJA regarding inconsistencies with not just Dorman, but other after market dampeners as well. I did pick one up from Jeep this morning and it fits like a glove :D Back on the road again!