Minuit

And I thought having a fridge that spits out cold water and ice was fancy.

Thanks man! I have some much better Klein ones, not sure why that cheap one happened to be in my junkyard bag at the time. The crimps the Craftsman does are just awful, I could pull a blue butt connector off of 16AWG wire with hardly any force at all. The lowest spec acceptable to me for crimp pull strength for 16AWG is 30lb. Milspec crimp strength is 50lb.

:cheers: Well, it was 95 feels like 105 yesterday and it ain't any cooler today so might as well sit inside and eat Cheetos and tell the internets what all I done with regards to truck fixin'. A New Lease On Life - Part 2: May 2016 The engine ran well enough, but as I drove it more it developed a tendency to stall as I disengaged the clutch coming to a stop. Giving it gas as it began to stall would sometimes help, but it would usually die anyway. Thinking it had something to do with snapping the throttle closed suddenly, I looked at the IAC valve: Not pretty and it was dirty, but cleaning it didn't do anything so I started checking for vacuum leaks. Didn't need to look very hard: oh. The source of 75% of driveability issues on 4.0 engines strikes again. Turns out that in one of the many boxes of stuff that came with the truck, there was a spare MAP sensor vacuum line! Swapping it out with the much nicer spare solved the problem and also cleaned up the idle. And then it was this stupid thing's time to go: Disassembly was easy, since the tank had leaked itself empty. Say what you will about it, but at least it's easy to get to. Hello stopgap replacement! After refilling and burping the system, it now runs at a steady... 175? I think the thermostat may be stuck open. Whatever, at least it isn't exploding anymore. The heat also seems to work a little better for some reason, not that I need it now. The coolant in this badly needs to be flushed. Next, I decided to put the floor mat back in and properly mount the console, which was mounted with only one bracket and very wobbly. I wanted to put the mat back in to cut down on noise, but mostly so I didn't have to look at this anymore: Just like on the '91, there's 2 sets of divots in the floor to drill holes to mount the brackets. A 1/8" hole and #8 sheet metal screw had the brackets attached very shortly: One of the studs for the driver side seat mount pulled out whole instead of the nut coming off, and one of the front mount tabs for the driver seat is rusted off. I was in a hurry to get done so I put a bolt in and looked the other way. I'll need to find a set of Cordovan seats and another MJ floor bracket eventually. The seats in there now are comfortable but worn out. I also replaced the B-pillar trims and seatbelts with the correct Cordovan versions. The seatbelts in the '91 are old and shaggy looking and the B-pillar trims are cracked... again. Here's the console installed with all of its mounts. I also added a cupholder. Seriously, all of this stuff came with the truck. I don't have a massive secret part stash. It's like an MJ kit build! Why do people like drilling pointless holes in things so much? The next thing I tackled was switching out the oil pressure sender. I wasn't really surprised with what the gauge read: This is one tired engine indeed. Once warm it struggles to maintain 10psi of oil pressure at idle. To drive that fact home, here's what it sounds like from a cold start. It sounds much worse when warm idling: The above picture was taken at a stop, not 20mph. The speedometer in the cluster that came with the truck was worthless. At first, I thought the speedometer cable was the issue, so I decided to service the cable: Just undo the nut going into the speedometer housing and the cable will come out of the drive adapter. To access the speedometer gear, just undo the bolt holding that little fork on. Of note, the drive looks essentially identical to the 91-93 2-wire VSS. I wanted to know what size speedometer gear it had, so I took the whole housing off. Some oil will drain out when you do this... BUT IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO SMELL LIKE GEAR OIL. ABORT MISSION. REPEAT, ABORT MISSION. REPLACE TRANSMISSION OIL IMMEDIATELY. The drain plug on the AX-15 is on the passenger side of the transmission. 15/16". It's probably very stuck since it probably hasn't moved in either 27 years or since the last moron who didn't do their research and put gear oil in last touched it. The kind of person to put standard gear oil in an AX-15 is the kind of person to crank down on a drain plug anyway. The oil looked like it had seen some miles, so I absolve relyt120 of all guilt. I put in 10W30 motor oil for now. The transmission is probably the only drivetrain component on this truck worth saving, so once finances allow I'll put in some Redline MT-90. The fill plug is also a 15/16" plug. It's on the driver side of the transmission. Probably a good idea to open it first just in case it turns out you can't loosen it, or it's rounded off. You won't be able to fill the transmission from the bottles. I put a gear oil nozzle on the bottles of motor oil and filled through the speedometer gear port (it has the correct 31 tooth gear, by the way) until it dripped out and then used a turkey baster through the fill port for the rest. The AX-15 takes about 3.5 quarts for a complete fill. Anyway, on with the speedometer cable: The cable attaches on the driver side upper control arm bolt with this bracket and a very annoying retainer nut. Make sure you don't destroy it, because the cable might rub on the exhaust if you leave it off. The cable goes inside through this grommet. Once the cable is taken out of the speedometer, the cable can slide back through the firewall. Make sure you don't break the plastic retainer for the end of the cable as you're pulling it out. Here's the cable completely removed. I'll be lubricating it and putting it back in. Here is the inside cable (the part that spins) taken out of its sheath. It was almost entirely dry, so I lubed it along its entire length with white lithium grease and put it back in the sheath. It didn't fix anything, but it was free so I figured I would try. The speedometer never went back to zero so I figured the speedometer itself was shot, but there were no cable speedo equipped XJs in any junkyards in the Nashville area, until this very generous 1990 XJ showed up in the Pick-A-Part, my least favorite self service junkyard: It was pretty much unmolested, and it was even an automatic! I'll spare you the details (it was really hot and I didn't take many pics anyway), but I took the fuse box, speedometer, gear shift knob (for the 91), and the cigarrette lighter: Oh, and by the way, those Craftsman wire cutters/crimpers/strippers are garbage. The strippers are completely worthless, the crimpers don't crimp properly, and the cutters are marginal at best. Garbage! Now, let's play spot the difference! Old speedo: New speedo: I wonder why the old one didn't work. It was only bent, that's all! The end result: After putting the speedometer in, it works smoothly and accurately. Yeah it doesn't match, but that was the only cable driven speedometer in the middle Tennessee area at the time. Nothing else on this truck matches anyway. I mounted the toolbox in the bed using this kit. I have a sneaking suspicion I might be better at hole drilling than several owners of this toolbox: That's all I've done to the truck since I've had it. Next week some fun stuff will be showing up, so look for another update in the next couple of weeks. :banana: . :MJ 1: .

I also have this game. The camera sucks as does the transmission system. Not the kind of thing I could play for hours but fun every now and then.

Sounds like you had a way better weekend than I did. I spent mine rebuilding the front suspension and steering on my father's Buick. Not a hard job, but doing anything sucks when it's 100+ outside and humid. Didn't even touch a Jeep, either.

The shaft for my '91 cost $225 out the door from a reputable local shop.

I'd say you did pretty well. Looks in good shape. NOS? Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

Not unusual. Facebook groups give everyone a chance to voice their opinion. 99% of the time that's a bad thing, as most people don't know half of what they think they do. The only one worth a damn I've seen is the one simply called "Jeep Comanche", and the only reason it's worth a damn is that there's several familiar names from this forum setting the blowhards and rectal orfices straight. But yes, tearing down an engine isn't something to be taken lightly. Do your homework before you ever start, and take lots of pics and stay organized.

A New Lease On Life - Part 1: May 2016 I was in a rush when I made the thread and didn't get a chance to make a proper introduction. This is that. Maybe. It's 2 AM as I'm writing this and I'm not what you'd call awake. This post may get better as you read as the coffee starts working. This build thread won't progress in quite the same way as my previous build. At least in the beginning, you won't see quite the same ridiculous level of meticulousness I exercise with the '91. That doesn't mean I'm not going to do a good job, but the interior screws may not match when I'm done. This truck has some major issues that need to be dealt with before I can be OCD about stupid things. I'll be following 2 major rules in the process of fixing this: 1. Differentiate this truck from the '91 if at all possible, even where doing so makes the build more difficult. This truck is not a replacement for the '91, but a complement to it, so I want it to have a very different feel. I'll be using as many parts exclusive to the pre-HO era as possible, such as the elusive '84-'87 blue full gauge cluster (yes, I know the speedo cable is different). There will be lots of chrome on this truck, since it's almost completely gone on the '91. 2. Make all repairs as correctly as possible. This is a rule I always follow, but especially in the context of this truck I feel like it needs to be said. This is what I have to work with. Someone in this truck's life fancied himself an artist and decided to inflict his talents upon this poor truck with extreme prejudice. The red parts are nice, though. Whoever decided the truck needed to be yellow and black was clearly a specialist in the "melting paint" effect. The interior is a mix of cordovan and grey parts. I'll be completing it with cordovan parts to differentiate it from the '91. The furious heart of the beast, powered by only the finest of French fuel injection systems. No doubt owing to some grounding system improvements made by the previous owner it runs like a top. It sounds very unhappy and has a nasty exhaust leak. In what will be a common theme, it makes the silver truck's 163k mile, sitting-for-8-years engine sound like a finely crafted Swiss watch. I don't want to know how many oil changes were skipped, but judging by the way it sounds I'd guess the answer is "many". When I first went to look at the truck and test drive it, the cooling bottle split open right in front of our eyes as the engine came up to temperature, so before I took a test drive relyt120 and I went to the parts store to fix it gud 'nuff to get the truck driveable again. This "fix", consisting of some epoxy and gorilla tape, survived the 60 mile drive home with no leaks! There was no fan shroud on when I got it, but an OEM fan shroud came with the truck. Unsurprisingly I noted the truck ran far cooler with it in place. I didn't have any more speed nuts to attach it (those things have a very short life at the Minuit ranch) so I used alternative but Renix approved methods to attach the shroud. Here's the 20 foot alligator in the room and the source of 75% of this truck's problems. It might not look too bad in the pictures, but this fuse box is toast. About 5 of the circuits are powered reliably, and some of those don't have a good connection unless a spade terminal is jammed into the fuse slot. The blower motor, for instance, works about half of the time. The gauge cluster lights work on a "wiggle the fuse, then pray" basis. The fusebox in this state is very dangerous and replacing it is a very high priority. The laterally split case (and April 1989 build date) reveal that the transmission is an AX-15. No complaints with the way it shifts, but reverse is temperamental at times and noisy. Some research suggests that this is normal. Note the crispy connector for the reverse lights. ~to be continued~

The MJ is hurt by the wind because it's a light vehicle with vertical sides. No real helping the fact it gets tossed around unfortunately - can't ever say I've had trouble keeping the '91 in the lane though, but it has pretty much brand new front suspension and a good alignment. The '89, on the other hand... better hold on.

Nah, you need grade 2. Gotta let the transmission stretch and get comfortable. :fs1:

The "grade 8 bolts snap, grade 5 bolts bend" myth is stupid Facebook bullcrap and anyone who repeats it needs to shut up and engage their brain before they engage their mouth. You probably shouldn't believe anything else people who repeat it have to say either. Grade 5 bolt yield strength (in other words, the stress at which the bolt begins to noticeably deform): 81,000-92,000 psi depending on size. Tensile strength (the most stress the bolt can take) of 120-105ksi depending on size. Grade 8 bolt yield strength: 130,000 psi. A grade 5 bolt of the same size will already have broken by the time a grade 8 bolt yields. Maybe I should make a list of all this BS bad advice you see floating around and explain the truth?

As a general rule, things going into the engine block are standard thread and head. For example, the very common "11mm oil pan bolt" myth - they're actually 7/16".

:bowdown: :bowdown: Very nice. Did you go with the 6 speed or the automatic?

The silver truck has a non-matching spare but it's the correct size. It gets taken down and inflated every couple of months. The 89 doesn't have a spare tire hoist - need to get on that. I don't feel comfortable in something that doesn't have a full size spare.

Damn dude, you stole that thing.

The Toyota comment was half joking. I know people with trucks of all make and model that are doing just fine at very high mileages. My own Ford ownership experience has been a disappointment (not a truck though) but I have no brand loyalty in the world of fullsize trucks. Look for good maintenance and no abuse before brand if you want a good truck IMO.

I've never had mine do that when the switch is in COMFORT mode and I know the switch works. Have you also tried adjusting your throttle valve cable? Might make it even better.

Disc bake, you say?

Yes, they just don't get ruined by the clutch master cylinder. Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

My dad's car (Buick 3800 engine) has been fine for the last 80,000 miles with a dented oil pan. As long as you didn't have crankshaft-on-oil pan action or a leak, you'll be fine forever.

If you replace the pan (which I wouldn't worry about in this case), use a factory pan or don't bother. Aftermarket oil pans for our engines are junk.

TOYOTA (Seriously, you'll never get a consensus on this no matter who you ask)

I was in a couple Jeep related FB groups but I got out of all of them except for the Jeep Comanche group. I couldn't handle the stupid and people would argue with me constantly when I tried to correct them (2dr XJ rear flares DO NOT FIT on an MJ! :fs1: :fs1: ) Facebook is the absolute last place I'd look for a straight answer, except there's a few recognizable names from CC like Pete and Adam that go around setting things straight.

I'm 99% sure that there's just a couple of crappy little flaps in there. If there was a full liner I bet we'd have a lot less problems with rusty rear wheel wells.