johnj92131

Don, what year did that stock XJ trans cooler come from? Where did it mount.

ParadiseMJ, Where did you mount the 11 x 11 transcooler? In front of the a/c condenser? How did the trans cooler change your engine coolant temperature? Suspect not at all?? Good information. Also, did you mount your trans temp gauge on the output side of the transmission?

Pete, How about a grab bar to assist the lady in the passenger side?

JeepDriver, Notice that the "Postal" radiator is a 2 core or 2 row radiator and the "non Postal" is a single core or single row radiator. That would seem to be the major difference. The 7/8 inch height difference is minimal. You will see some custom 3 core/3 row radiators offered on Ebay. But all I can read is that they are of no additional cooling value for the XJ/MJ. My guess - not enough air flow out of the engine compartment to cool the third row. My own experiment with simply turning off the truck A/C led to a noticeable drop off in engine coolant temperature (maybe 10 degrees?). That also leads me to think a 3rd row on the radiator is worthless. Have you measured your transmission temperatures? I would be interested in before and after results when you install the trans cooler.

Minuit, Engine Temperature Sensor was for the ECU. Had an OBDI blink code error #22. See posts 8 and 9 in this thread: http://comancheclub.com/topic/53435-diagnostic-help-needed/ Replacing the ETC cured my stalling out problem. The bad sensor caused the ECU to go fuel rich and/or fuel lean on the engine. Depending on where the bad sensor voltage signal bounced. While I don't have a thermometer to check the temperature gauge/sensor - it seems reasonably accurate and responsive to engine load conditions over the past couple of years. That includes some cooling issues I have had that led to repairs/replacements. One of these days, I will upgrade to OBDII controls and be able to read the ECU directly.

Just ordered the hood spacers. We will see how they work in September/October if I make a test run up to 4000 feet in the heat. JeepDriver, Read the full thread, thanks. I am puzzled by why the factory would route the trans fluid thru the radiator IF the trans fluid was supposed to run at 170f. But all automakers use the radaitor/transcooler combination. So I suspect the 170f temperature number referenced in the thread is not accurate. But I do agree that 230 is hot for both the transmission and the engine. Noticed that the red area on the temp gauge starts about 240 - perhaps for the transmission fluid?

AW4 with factory BigTon package delivered from factory. Radiator, 2 rows 18 months old. Water pump, thermostat, less than 6 months. Engine temp sensor less than 6 weeks old. Traffic was typical L.A. mid day freeway. Means, stop/go then 65, back to stop/go. Radiator is running standard mix water/coolant. Those aluminum spacers look worth a try. After several years of on/off towing, sure looks like under hood temps just climb with heavy use.

Yesterday, I was towing 3500 lbs with the Comanche. Outside temp was 95 degrees in Los Angeles area. My coolant temp got up to a sustained 230/235, just below the red. The truck has the full, factory towing package which includes all heavy duty cooling options. Once I quit towing, cooling returned to normal. Should add that my cooling system is in top notch condition. Problem seems to be simple heat build up in the engine compartment. What are my options here? Yes, buy a bigger truck is one. Really asking best ways to vent hot air from the engine compartment. Know about hood vents Don uses. Does anyone "lift" the rear of the hood to vent the engine compartment?

Hey Bo, I thought you were down sizing for your move back east?????

Let me guess: Last time you voted for a guy you didn't like was November 8, 2016? I just voted for the MJ - now off to my phone and vote for it again. Then get ask Anita to vote for the MJ on her IPad and her phone.

Some progress pictures: Remember the clearance problem with the a/c and the steering column? Solved by rotating the transmission mount 180 degrees. Now about 5/8th inch room. Plate to mount TDI engine to 4.0 motor mount Ebay purchased 4.0 motor mount in place on the Comanche: Test fitting the B5.5 exhaust manifold did not work out as well as hoped for. Turbo still in the way of the motor mount. So looks like the best solution is to use the exhaust manifold from the 1.6 Turbo Diesel motor from the mid 80's. We have sourced a NOS one from Cascade German. Should be there Tuesday Last week I shipped the old injectors in for rebuilding with larger nozzles. Race 520 nozzles will support up to 200 hp. Should be ready to install next week..

For those of you who may think it is crazy to want to run a Comanche/Cherokee in a SCCA Solo race. Here is a Road & Track magazine article on "How to make and old Jeep Pick up into an Autocross weapon" http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27352/jeep-comanche-regular-car-reviews/

See this link in the DIY section: http://comancheclub.com/topic/43663-diy-sliding-roof-rack/

Pete: Great idea! Another forum I belong to (TDIClub) sends an annual "renewal" notice for donations. I got my renewal and hit the "PayPal" donation button in a minute. Done, Easy. My donation is on the way right now.

Finally!! Time to report some progress/issues on the build. 1) The Original Comanche drive shaft is about an inch too long now that we have replaced the AX-5 transmission with the longer AX-15. So the drive shaft will have to be shortened next week 2) Purchased some 4.0 Cherokee engine mounts to make it easier to mount the AHU engine a bit forward in the engine compartment. Easier than making them! The ALH engine mounts are different than the AHU, so Matt has to make the custom mounts. These mounts should be delivered next week. 3) The GTC1549VZ turbo as mounted on the AHU intake is in the way of the passenger side motor mount. So Matt is going to test fit the turbo on a B5.5 Passat maniforld. If that works, I will be looking for a B5.5 turbo manifold. Hopefully next week I will have some progress on these issues to report. The goal is to have the Comanche finished before the end of August and drive it back home to San Diego.

I recall seeing the thread also. Just not sure how long ago or where it was.

Sounds very much cheaper than a single PhotoBucket ransom!!

Pete, Clearly photo hosting is number 1 for the long term. Would think it should not allow 3rd party hosting on other sites. That will drive up non Comanche Club traffic and suck a good bit of band width. Next, a better search function. Maybe it is just me, but I don't know how to search within a group of search results. Trying to say,how to "refine" the search results. I am willing to share the costs to pay for the work to be done so it is not a burden for you or the mods. Other members need to step forward to share the cost burden also.

My stock header was welded a couple of times before I finally replaced it with the design pictured above. I had no issue with the smog inspection once the new header was on the truck.

Doesn't even mention if it's 4WD. Being in Florida, probably not. Check out the interior picture. Looks like a 2 x 4 ...black book next to transmission shift lever would not sit there if it was 4x4? Looks like a good buy for someone.

That thought had crossed my mind. The HOA frowns on storing cars on properties. I dislike HOAs Most of your/My neighbors don't like our "stuff" and consider it JUNK. I know my stuff is very valuable and rare: The neighbors stuff is simply unorganized, ugly garbage. I don't understand why they refuse to clean up their yard and live like "us" normal people. Some of us need HOA;s to help us with our "hording" instincts. BUT my neighbors need it even worse than me. "They" need to be controlled.

Jeep Driver, understand your point about somebody has to do the work. It has been the issue for a long time. Pete has only so much time and lots of stuff to do in real life. No issue with that. I am asking if there is a way to solve the issue with some money? We sign in to post here, Why not the same sign in to post pictures? Is it a money problem? The moderators and our members do a good job with keeping our discussions on track. Pictures should not be any different if hosted by a third party or not. Software could/would prevent turning the Comanche Club only picture host into a public 3rd party host.

Eagle, You are correct about all the past photos. And I recall Facebook making changes once or twice that caused image hosting links to go bad. BUT, contracting for a photo host for the Comanche Club could eliminate the issue in the future. Simply trying to make a proactive suggestion that MAY prevent these issues in the future. And I am willing to kick in some money to help out.

Does the recent Photobucket policy change make an opportunity to have a Comanche Club specific picture host? I am wondering if the Comanche Club could take advantage of the $399 per year unlimited photo hosting to set up it's own account on Photobucket specifically for Comanche Club only pictures? What do you think? Can we make some lemonade out of this Photobucket mess? Pete, is this something the club might be interested in?

Neat project! Looks great. Need a report on how it runs in the real world! I want to see how it compares to my TDI Comanche conversion when mine is done later this summer.