Minuit

Either this or the sad reality: there are hardly any MJs left to junk anymore. In the next few years I predict we'll see less trucks that are on death's door as the ones that were going to survive anyway stay on the road and the crappy ones get junked in ever decreasing numbers.

Bought a rather expensive shipment from them early this year and it took them more than a week to tell me anything. They have some rare stuff (quality has been lacking on many of the things I've bought from them though) but I have no patience for vendors that are that slow with my money. My parts shopping order kind of goes like this: RockAuto if (maintenance/service parts) -> Junkyard -> ComancheClub sellers (if MJ specific part) -> Morris 4x4 -> Quadratec -> 4WD.com -> Team Cherokee. I almost always find what I need before I get to the bottom of the list.

The guide looked good when I had the engine opened up so I didn't replace it. It's running great and sounds like butter anytime it's not idling (even the ticking noise heard in the video goes away which makes me think it's related somehow) - this is just at idle. I just don't want the chain to break or jump a tooth before I get another chance to work on it. I've looked at some other videos of 4.0/258 timing chain replacements and theirs are much tighter than mine was. Mine was only a slight improvement over the (very loose) old one, so I'm thinking even more now that mine was defective (or I just suck)

:rolleyes: Good thinking on the chrome with the Laredo arm-rests though :thumbsup:

Little bit late to be asking this, but what the hell. Early this year I put a brand new Cloyes timing set on my engine. The old timing chain was definitely toast - I could flick it around with my finger and hear it slap around. The new timing chain was an improvement but still a little loose, but I ran it anyway. About 3,000 miles later now and I can hear a familiar rattle starting back up and my engine sounds quite a bit like a diesel especially at the front of the engine - even more than it did before. Am I right to be suspecting that my brand new timing set is wearing out already? The engine is running very well and it sounds fine under any amount of throttle. Just sounds like a rattletrap at idle. This video does a good job of showing what's going on, not mine obviously: My own video - Like the one above mine depends on how warm the engine is. Before I made this video I drove it around the block a little bit and when I stopped it sounded like this: Thanks much.

UK market XJs had 130mph speedometers: $#%@#% Nixon. A well sorted XJ or MJ should be capable of 115ish MPH. Under extraordinary circumstances on a closed course I've had the MJ up to 95mph and it still had PLENTY left. Oddly enough my driveline vibration smoothed out with the speedo pegged.

They're a mirror image. The shaft of the mirror adjuster is right about level with the dash vent: On the other side:

Yep! One of my favorite upgrades. They came from an XJ, but it's the same regardless. People always complain about how small they are, but a little stick on mirror on the top corner takes care of that. I hated the ones that were on there. Couldn't see crap out of 'em:

Mostly Just Boring Maintenance: October 2015 I'm quite overdue for an oil change, and for that matter, another spill 'n' fill of the transmission. Time to make a mess. Notice that everything sitting there is a synthetic fluid. I'm going to be seeing how the Rotella T6 (5W-40 synthetic diesel oil) and the Valvoline Maxlife Dex/Merc synthetic ATF play with my truck for a maintenance interval. I've heard very good things about both fluids. I'll let you know what I think, and I'll probably get a used oil analysis when I change it next. About a week ago, I started hearing really loud, annoying rattling sound coming from somewhere on the right side of the interior. After a thorough and scientific percussive diagnosis, I found the sound to be coming from somewhere in the passenger side door. After I tore the door apart, I discovered this: Yuck. Here's how I fix something like that: I think this is something that's only used for power window regulators. Didn't seem like it was doing anything but make noise, so I drilled the rivets out and didn't bother putting it back in. I also dug out a bunch of broken glass I missed when I busted the window out early this year. Now everything is much quieter. The next thing I did may be a little controversial: I picked these up a couple of weeks ago at the Pull-a-Part from a 1993 XJ. I've always wanted the opening vent windows, and I figured I could either deal with or fix their notorious leaking issues. Believe it or not, these non-opening vent windows have been a considerable source of wind noise since I've had the truck. That and they block out some of the view for no benefit... ...so they went away: Tip: The screws on top of the vent window assemblies are NOT PHILLIPS. They are Pozidriv Size 2. Use of a Philips driver is very likely to ruin the screws (and your day, since you won't be able to get the window out). You can tell this because the Pozidriv screw has small diagonal cutouts in the head: Swapping the windows over is a simple matter of remove and replace. They are kind of a bear to get lined up when installing into the door, though. Take your time and do not force the windows. Make sure the gaskets all fit in their tracks without bunching up or you'll get a bunch of wind noise. The end result? No whistle, overall less noise, more air, and only minor leaking from only the passenger side. While I was in there, I also swapped in a set of good, non-folding mirrors with better manual controls. No pics, but they pretty much look the same. The only trick to these is the cleverly hidden T6 set screw you have to loosen: After that, three T30 screws gets the mirror out. An interesting thing I noticed is that the non-folding mirrors don't seem to use gaskets where they meet up with the body. They're also a little bit closer to the door since they don't have the (very fragile) folding mechanism, which improves visibility a little bit. When I got done with the doors, they looked like this: I may be one of a single digit number of people who actually swapped TO the vent windows instead of ripping them out in frustration. I think it's worth it though. And they're DAMN good at getting air in your face especially above about 40mph, even though my A/C works fine. Next, I decided to tear into the dash and fix a few things that had been bothering me. First off, I should have done a better job checking the bulbs in the new cluster when I put it in, since the bulb in the middle between the speedo and tach was blown out. I tested the lights, but it was light outside when I did the swap, so I didn't notice. Easy enough, I took the cluster and swapped out the bulbs from my old cluster, which were all fine. Easy peasy. What you probably can't see in that pic is the cluster surround. After only a week or so I decided I didn't like the grey surround on the new cluster, so I decided to swap my black one in. For anyone with a pre-'91 truck, this takes no modification at all, since the trip reset button comes from the speedo, not the surround. For us '91 and '92 owners, we have to drill a hole in the cluster surround for the trip meter: Each cluster with its respective parts. We'll need to drill a hole in the black cluster surround, and use the lens from the full cluster. Other than that, they are exactly the same. Using the full cluster lens as a guide, drill a ~3/16" hole straight down to the cluster surround. It's very important that you drill this hole straight, or you'll have trouble. Go slow and don't force the drill, since these are rather flimsy pieces. Done. Once you're happy with the hole, put the cluster back together and make sure you can reset the trip meter without it binding. When you're done, your cluster looks like this: So much better. They should've come like this from the factory. I think you're a little big for my truck, buddy. I also fixed up my Power/Comfort switch. Pain in the butt-tocks but now there's no holes in the dash. Maintenance Status: - Oil: Rotella T6 5W-40 changed at 158,185 (cluster shows 12k more than true mileage) w/Purolator filter - ATF: Valvoline Maxlife Dex/Merc drained and filled (~50% of transmission capacity) at 158,185 Odometer: 158,221 (cluster shows 170,221) Not sure if I want to keep putting the cost information at the end of each post. It's getting very difficult to keep track of, but this thread is ultimately for you guys' enjoyment, so let me know what you think. :papers:

I believe my 91 (very similar to schardein's truck) to have not come with a radio. The door panels did not have holes for speakers, the wiring holes for the doors have plugs, and there were no rear speaker brackets. The front speakers when I got it were installed incorrectly in the lower dash panel, and the rear trim panels were cut out for 6x9 speakers. None of the wiring to the speakers looks factory.

:eek:

They're in and I like them a lot. No wind noise whatsoever, unexpected and an improvement over what was in there. Blasted the truck with the hose for a while and the driver side doesn't seem to leak at all but the passenger side lets a few drops in - not a lot but still enough to bother with fixing. Pretty sure I know what I can do to have them both useable and dry. May update tomorrow.

WOW didn't expect that kind of price. Guess they have you by the nuts if you've got bolts broken off in your engine though.

Small one, but one worth thinking about: Almost all MJs are actually getting 4-10%, possibly more, better gas mileage than you think they are. They're also going about 4-10%, possibly more, faster than the speedometer says. Reason? The factory tires on these trucks ranged from 195/75/15 to 225/75/15 but almost every single truck on the road today has bigger tires than that on it now. Without adjusting the speedometer to match (which almost nobody actually does) this throws the speedometer off by a certain percentage. The fix is to replace the speedometer gear, which takes maybe 20 minutes. The gears themselves can be usually found online for ~$20 used or $40 new. See this chart for the correct speedometer gear for your application:

:eek: If you want to know what all those plugs do, post pics of them up on here and we'll let you know what they do. Most of them are easily addable options like clocks, lights, headlight delay, intermittent wipers, etc. Other than the typical PO crap looks like a fairly solid truck. Good luck!

I drove this car to the store and back to pick up some oil and ATF for the truck and I almost forgot how rough of shape it's in. Noticed a new clunk in the rear that maybe sounds like a broken rear sway bar end link, but can't confirm. The paint has gone from a golf-ball sized chunk missing from the roof to a hand-sized chunk missing from the roof. I hate to say it, but I'm not so sure that this car is gonna get fixed. Might do some essentials - brakes, oil change, etc, because it's going to be cooling down soon and I still haven't put the heater core in the truck.

Computer failures SUCK. And they usually come at the worst time possible. The computer I'm writing this from ate a power supply a couple months ago just as the semester was starting (and my wallet did not appreciate replacing it). No data lost thankfully, but it still sucks. Glad to have you back!

:agree: An MJ D44 is one axle worth regearing. Do that.

Will probably get these thrown in over the weekend as well as some other goodies. I'll let you know how things go and any fixes that may need to be made.

My 91 had (has) the same leak. The water was coming from either the blower motor gasket or where the HVAC box meets the firewall.

:agree: Buy an SJ because you want/need an SJ, not because some magazine or website or whatever told you to. People hold these things up in their mind as some paragon of a perfect vehicle, but they're slow, carbureted, unrefined, rust prone vehicles that were aging 40 years ago but happen to look freaking amazing still. Sorry if that offends the purists but it's the truth. People might say the same for MJs, but they are just old enough to not be computers on wheels but just new enough to have very nice things like fuel injection. I have a feeling that just put a HUGE target on my back, but my point is this: You wouldn't be worried about that "post-purchase sinking feeling" if you really wanted one.

Very nice :thumbsup:

:yeah that: Unfortunately the idiot cluster never went away. Not even after 1997. I like the way the gauges look more than the 87/88+ full cluster, but it's just useless. Side note: I don't think I've EVER seen a 91+ 3/4 cluster.

Cruiser, have to ask, what's going on in the pic in your signature?

I like my basic black steering wheel. So much, in fact, that it's getting swapped over to the new tilt column when I go floor shift/buckets. Pain in the butt-tocks to keep clean though. Dust always gets into that rim on the outside.