Stacks

Gettin' there slowly but surely!! Actually gophers are getting a bit scarce here in north Idaho. Have had to resort to taking a run to the east side of Montana and harass the prairie dogs. Think they are dumber than gophers not to mention being a bigger target!!! :P

Gopher season that is. Time to reload the first batch of ammo for gopher elimination!! Decided to build a new workbench more or less dedicated to reloading. Nothing fancy. More or less down and dirty and functional. Gotta love dry wall screws of varying lengths!!!

Jerry... I've gotten.... lazier??... as the years have gone by. My E-kit is multi-purpose instead of one for the Jeeps, and another for the garage and yet another for the woodworking shop. Gets used in the Jeeps, garage, (garage one has a plasma cutter and welders in it too) woodworking,etc. :laughin: Just finished a work bench for reloading and used nothing but drywall screws to build it. Yup definitely lazier!!! :yes:

Yup... duct tape, zip ties, balin' wire and dry wall screws are always in the emergency kit!!!!!

No, no no... gotta have wing windows!! :P A rear slider doesn't do diddlie to create air flow!! Wing wiindows= poor man's A/C here in the north country where regular A/C is a waste. :)

Yup, the jerky start is often the result of letting the clutch out wrong/too fast at too low an rpm or in too high a gear. Here's a little 'exercise' to help learn to use the clutch. In an empty parking lot or back road, put it in 1st gear, keep your foot totally off the gas and practice starting without touching the gas. It's slow but it helps you learn the feel of the clutch engaging. 1st gear too deep?? With 3.07's and 29's you can hit 55mph in 1st gear before you hit the engine rpm redline!!!!! :P

There will be those that will disagree with some of what I'm about say but that's OK. The AX15's 1st gear ISN'T a granny gear. It's there for a purpose, use it. Your clutch will last decidedly longer. If you have a shift light on the dash, pull the bulb and throw it away!!! Even around town you shouldn't be shifting to the next gear until at least 3500rpm's. That keeps the rpms at or above 2000 when you hit the next gear. Don't be afraid to rev the 4.0!! It lives on rpms! My '97 TJ has 196,000 miles on the original clutch and still works fine. I have put 90,000 miles on my '89 MJ since I got it and it still has the same clutch even after the engine rebuild. Just my 2 cents worth. :)

My experience has been that the sweet spot changes with each tire and gear combo. My stock TJ with 31's and 3.07 liked 2400-2500 in 4th gear. 5th unuseable unless you wanted to cruise at about 88mph. I averaged 22-24 mpg commuting to work. With 4.10's and 31's, 4" of lift it likes 2700 and gets around 19mpg. Again in 4th. 5th lugs it too much. Vacuum drops to 7-8" at 2700 where in 4th I run about 12-13" at 2700. I agree with Eagle, 3000rpm isn't pushing the 4.0 at all.

Well... so much for my cheap fix!!! :P

If there's minimal rust as mentioned, $3200 is a decent price I think. It has over $1600 of tires and wheels on it alone. I'd also check the steering and suspension parts in the front end especially. Also check all the drive train fluids that you can for water contamination!! I get a bit paranoid of a rig with a snorkle. Can mean they love mud and water, hence the suggestion of checking for water contamination. Just my two cents worth! Larry

First one is fuel pressure regulator... gotta have it. Second looks like the vacuum hoses for part of the evap system. If you are going to pull that then they aren't needed. It's part of the emissions sytem stuff. The third I don't recognize. The forth one probably controls a 'door' in the fresh air inlet to the air cleaner. Hope that's a bit of help. Larry

If you still have a D30 with the disconnect why bother with a Tera 2 lo kit? Just rig a manual disconnect for the front axle, put the t-case in 4 low, disconnect the front axle and.... 2 low!! I've been running my MJ like that for 3 yrs now cuz I love having 2 low. It's a whole lot cheaper way to go and works just as good!! :thumbsup: Larry

Your symptoms sound like a plugged or partially plugged catalytic converter. Especially if all else checks out OK.

Not quite sure what you mean by what range does the regulator work in. The stock RENIX one is fixed at 33/39. There is another for later years that is fixed around 43/49 I believe. There are aftermarket ones that are adjustable but are fairly spendy, $150 and up. Hope that helps some!! Larry

The RENIX system runs at 33psi + or - at idle with vacuum attached and 39psi + or - at idle with vacuum line detached. Unfortunately I do not know what the pressure capability of the stock pump is. I'm sure someone will jump in with that value!! Larry

It sounds alot more like a transmission issue than a transfer case issue. If it was a transfer case issue it would do it when you shift into any gear. I'd venture a guess that possibly the syncros are going out in 3rd,4th, and 5th OR that the clutch isn't disengaging completely. Especially as you stated it didn't do it before the clutch work. Bleeding the lines and slave cylinder completely is a pain in the backside at times!!! It is conceivable too that there's a broken syncro and there are pieces floating around and making the impact sound and feeling as a piece gets jammed between gear teeth. Something to ponder on!! I just changed the t-case chain on my '97 TJ. http://comancheclub.com/topic/38529-np231-chain/ In that link you can see how badly it was stretched. It had been rubbing on the inside of the case. There was absolutely no additional noise that could be heard by that rubbing. The only issue I had is the gears jumped/skipped teeth on the chain and you coud not use 4wd. No problems shifting the tranny in 2wd at all. Hope the thoughts here help a bit. Larry

Also check the passenger side track bar mount. Every Jeep I have worked on that has a track bar, the bolt is smaller diameter than the hole in the mount and allows for side to side movement. I carefully drill out the sleeve in the bushing to 7/16" and the mount also. Put in a new Grade 5 or 8 bolt and nut and that eliminates that as a contributor to Death Wobble. Just finished doing this on my '89MJ. I also had to match up bolt hole sizes on the steering stabilizer right side mounting. Can't hurt to eliminate all that you can.

WARNING!!!! Property protected by Colt... Desert Eagle... and Claymore!!* :banana: *... Rotweiler retired... got too fat eating the scraps! (Currently in the market for 2 large under fed dogs) :laughin:

I got the chain from CSE Offroad in Holmes, NY, link below. Cost was $56.10 and free shipping. It was an Alloy USA chain. If you have ever had a chain jump/skip on a bicyle or motorcycle it creates a jerking in your motion. Mine sounded click like a moderate clicking along with the jerky motion. http://www.cseoffroad.com/11650.html

In stock form the TJ 231 does not have a bolt on yoke. Yes I had a SYE on mine and a Tom Wood's drive shaft. This may or maynot show my ignorance but what alignment pin???

This is said kinda 'tongue in cheek'... voluntarily playing in the mud has become a no-no for me. I'm still cleaning mud and grass out from under the TJ from my last session... in 2006. Even after taking the pressure washer to it many times!!!! :rotf: Hmmmm.... instead of an idler pulley... how about an adjustable chain tensioner like Honda used on their cam chains on some bikes???? :idea: The idea of taking a link out has interesting possibilities but... the extra work of having to add a scatter shield above the case to protect one from the shrapnel when the fix broke and the chain wadded up and turned things into a mini-claymore just seems like time spent that could be spent wheeling instead of fixing. :banana: Dual tensioners??? One top... one bottom... so you're covered forward and reverse!! :rotfl2:

I was doing some work on my TJ cuz I'm selling it. Had everything fixed except the transfer case issue. It wouldn't stay in 4wd. It felt like the chain was slipping. :eek: Checked the linkage for proper adjustment and that was fine. So... out it came. The photos below are what was found. This is what a 231 xfer case chain should NOT look like. New chain is on it's way and is somewhere between here (north Idaho) and upstate NY. There is slight evidence of the chain contacting the case lightly and also the pump filter. Replacing the filter. I got the TJ with 73,000 miles on it and it has 196,000 on it now. So, in all honesty, the chain was long past due for being replaced!! When that is completed the 'Forest Mouse' will be heading for his new home later this week!! Yup... I'm like a lot of the rest of us... I name my vehicles!! :laughin: Have a good week everyone!!! Later, Larry [/url]"> [/url]">http://s160.photobucket.com/user/kg7rq/media/DSCF0009_zps8f487bd0.jpg.html'>

This is from the 1988 Comanche electrical manual. Hope it may be of some help. Later, Larry

I'm very much a newbie to MJ's, less so to Wranglers. The knowledge and experience available here is priceless!! I've turned my own wrenches out of self defense for more than 40 years. I continue to learn from the people here and hope to continue to do so for a long time. I too thank all who comment and post here. Thank you!! Larry

Like Zackcj7 said... the ARB would be the best choice or any selectable locker. For an auto locker the Detroit is very good. I have Lockrites in my TJ and MJ. I have a over 100,000 miles on the ones in the TJ. Spartan and Aussie lockers appear to have a good rep too and are a bit cheaper also. Hope that helps!! Larry