Minuit

Looking over cars for sale is a little bit of a hobby of mine, so I'll bite. This might sound harsh, but none of it is aimed at you directly. This is a general playbook for someone buying or selling an old car that's been restored. That money was gone the second you put it into your truck. Don't expect to get any of it back. Your valuation of your time and the money you put into it are irrelevant to anyone buying it. The market will decide if you get any of it back. If you do good, you might even make a profit. When you put how much you "invested" in the ad, you're pretty much wasting space. Cars are not investments, and even the "good investment" cars that will go up in value are terrible investments most of the time. You're asking $12,000. That's at the very high end of MJ pricing right now. I would consider this a "restored, stock-ish" truck. Anyone considering paying this much for a Comanche is quite likely to be taking the ordeal seriously, so I'll role-play an informed buyer who is seriously considering looking at the truck but is clever enough to do some detective work first. Let's start with the "macro" things. It's a 4.0. Good. It's a Renix year. Potentially not good. Some people have stronger thoughts on this than others. It's a 5-speed. Is it an AX-15 or BA-10? Most serious buyers are familiar with the difference by now, and people will be looking out for this since '89 was the transition year. Someone who knows what they're looking at will be able to tell this just by poking their head underneath. AX-15 is split laterally with an off-color plate in the middle, BA-10 is split longitudinally. It's 4WD. Good. Buyers hate 2WD Jeeps with a burning passion in my experience. It's been repainted in a non-factory color. I for one really like the color. It's shiny. A serious buyer will try to run the VIN before doing anything else to see if something spicy comes up. I had to go looking for yours, but let's assume it is part of the ad. Your truck is on the registry, and googling the VIN reveals that this is definitely a restored truck. The first thing I saw when I googled your VIN was a picture of a multi-colored truck with a rusty rocker panel and cab corner. If you end up with a buyer that's got an eye for detail, your job just got harder: "Restored" is not the magic buzzword it used to be, and "restored" runs the gamut from a Maaco paint job and a coat of wax to something that is pretty much indistinguishable from how it came from the factory. The buyer will have to decide what end of the scale your truck falls on. Here are some things that will be going through an informed buyer's head as they look the truck over. It's hard to get an eye for these things in pictures, but the more pictures the better. - Is the quality of the work done high? Did someone give a damn when they put this together, or did they just slap it together as fast as possible with no regard to how things should be? Did they do any necessary fixes correctly, or half @$$ them? Are parts that take a concerted effort to line up correctly lined up correctly? In the engine bay, everything has a place it's supposed to be. Is it in that place? - A truck with bodywork or paintwork done will always raise suspicion. Sorry, but it's true. The factory paintwork on the original MJs I've seen with my own eyes has been above and beyond the quality level of the typical repaint. I've extensively looked over the body of my 91, and I came to the conclusion that it came from the factory damn near perfect. Orange peel, swirl marks, any overspray, misalignment of badges - all count hugely against a repainted truck. Bottom line: it's hard to do as good a job as the factory did. Is the body straight? Are the body lines parallel? Are the panel gaps consistent? If the color has been changed, are the door jambs and engine bay the same color as the body? - Is the quality of the parts used high? Did someone use junk aftermarket parts that are going to crap out again next year or did they use things that work? - Vehicles are supposed to be driven. How does it drive? Is the alignment correct? Does everything work? Does anything make noise? Are there any weird smells such as oil burning off the exhaust? Is the steering tight? If A/C is present, does it work? How does the engine run? Does it sound like it should? Does it pull consistently through the power band? - Rust is the skeleton in every MJ's closet. These damn things rust everywhere you CAN'T see first. Even pulling up the carpet is not usually enough to get a complete picture. If you can see rust on the outside (or any signs that there were rust), it's too late. Considering that, has the floorpan been checked? Have the floor braces been lifted to check for rust in all layers of the floor assembly? If the floors were worked on, was it done properly? Does water get in when it rains? Does the clutch master cylinder leak? How do you know if someone looking at the truck is an informed buyer? They won't look at the truck from 20 feet away for long. A vehicle is the sum of all of its small details, so they'll get in close and look at the most common trouble spots. They usually don't talk much while they're doing this, but if they do talk, they'll be asking questions. When an informed buyer looks over a truck, they're grading a test you took before you even met, and what you tell them is secondary to what they see. He probably won't be asking questions because he wants to know the answer - many of the things he asks you will be to tell if you're blowing smoke up his @$$ or not. In the classic car world (which Comanches are getting ever closer to being part of) it's commonly said that modifications lower the value, not increase it. The inclination of the buyer will determine if that's true for you. If the buyer likes cut fenders and off-road bumpers for instance, they'll be willing to pay more for it. If you get someone with more money than sense and just wants to drop $20k on something shiny, everything I wrote above goes out the window. But you've got to prepare for the worst case scenario, and for a restored truck that's an informed buyer that knows what he or she's looking at. If a guy like me shows up though? Switching out the bumper and more importantly, cutting the front fenders, means a few thousand off the price I'm willing to pay. When you modify a vehicle and then sell it, you are limiting the pool of people that would be interested in it. People are just fine with modifying a stock truck they bought, but very few people are willing to un-modify someone else's project. This isn't everything I have to say, but it is most of it. Good luck with the sale if you decide to sell it.

If the senders are Mopar, it's within the realm of possibility I guess. A 4.0 with a healthy bottom end is generally capable of around 50-60 psi at cold start and I imagine a 2.5 isn't too much different. IMO a properly functioning cooling system should cover up the "2" on a "210" gauge when fully warmed up and not significantly deviate. Didn't the older XJs have 220 as the center point of the temp gauge though?

CHANGES TO PRODUCT LINEUP - Overhaul of Chrysler-Era Product Line Until now, it has been JRE policy to not sell radios from my stock without an auxiliary input. This will now change. Starting now, refurbished Chrysler-era radios, in both AM-FM only and AM-FM-Cassette flavors, will now be sold without any modifications. These radios will come with a comprehensive maintenance already performed, including reflow of solder joints where necessary, cleaning of tone and volume controls, and all-new incandescent illumination for the button panel and LCD. The front panel will be free of any major defects, including wear to the buttons. In addition, cassette decks will come with fully serviced and aligned cassette decks. Soft-Touch Button Backing, Color LED Illumination, and Auxiliary Input will be optionally available, at prices of $25, $15, and $35 respectively. AM-FM radios include a 1-year full warranty on all functions of the deck. In addition, AM-FM-Cassette radios will also carry a 30-day full warranty on function of the cassette section. The "Enhanced Radio" branding will now refer to all radios refurbished under the above program. The Standard-Series, Special-Series, and Classic-Series brandings will no longer be used. Pricing: AM-FM: $115 plus shipping, plus options AM-FM-Cassette: $150 plus shipping, plus options. Options: AD-C1 Adapter - to install a Chrysler-era radio in a 1986 or 1987 Jeep or AMC vehicle with intact factory radio wiring: $25. Please specify whether you would like the LCD backlight to be always on or only on with the headlights on. Auxiliary Input - standard rear-mounted 3.5mm stereo jack for connection to a phone, tablet, MP3 player, or wireless receiver (typically replaces AM functionality): $35 Color LED Illumination - high-output LED button panel lighting in your choice of blue, white, amber, green, or red (typically non-dimmable): $25 Soft-Touch Button Backing - greatly improved button backing materials for a soft, but firm, button-pressing experience: $25 This pricing scheme does not apply to AMC-era radios due to their relative rarity and large number of variations. Orders for AMC-era radios will be priced on a case-by-case basis. Members of Comanche Club with an account at least three months old will continue to receive a $15 discount on all orders including the purchase of an Enhanced Radio. NEW SERVICES - New Flat-Rate repair: Cassette Deck Tune-Up Cassette Deck Tune-Up Services are now available for the following models: RX-758 RX-131 RX-135 RX-141 RX-161 323-8861 RX-170 thru RX-173 A Cassette Deck Tune-Up Service consists of the following: - Replacement of all drive belts with new production, OEM equivalent belts - Demagnetization of play head and capstans - Cleaning of play head, pinch rollers, and capstans - Lubrication of mechanism pivot points, axles, and sprockets if necessary - Adjustment of cassette playback speed (performed with a calibrated frequency counter at 3 kHz) - Adjustment of play head azimuth - Adjustment of channel balance, if adjustable For all models, the price for this service is $65. All adjustments are performed to factory specifications using lab grade test equipment in good working order. If the cassette module is broken, seized, or otherwise unrebuildable, this price will not apply, and we will discuss other options. - New Flat-Rate Repair: RX-170 thru RX-173 Loading Motor If the cassette mechanism on your RX-170 thru RX-173 recognizes a cassette (arrow appears on the display, radio mutes), but does not load the tape, the mechanism can now be repaired for a flat rate of $35.00. This rate does not apply to completely seized mechanisms which have been forced. If you can insert the tape into the radio without resistance, it is quite likely the mechanism can be repaired at the $35.00 flat rate. - New Repair: Button Switch Replacements If your radio suffers from one or more intermittent or non-working buttons, the switches are likely faulty. These switches can be replaced with brand new, exact replacements for $5 per switch. All replacement button switches are covered for 12 months against any defect in function. - Now Available: Used Radio Parts I have decided to begin selling some types of radio parts. Please note that I do not have an endless supply of these parts, and I will only be able to offer them for sale if I have enough available to sell. Repair jobs will have priority access to parts over a-la-carte orders. Mounting brackets XJ (1986-1992 Comanche, 1984-1996 Cherokee, or 1984-1990 Mid-Size Wagoneer): $25 YJ (1987-1995 Wrangler): $35 SJ (1986-1991 Grand Wagoneer): $40 I have a small number of other mounting brackets as well. Inquire for details. Volume and tone knobs Chrysler-Era: $10.00 each AMC-Era: $12.50 each All part prices include domestic shipping. When ordering, please specify the exact parts you need. Also, please confirm the model of your radio via either the ID sticker or by sending a picture. All part sales are final and do not include a warranty. PRICE CHANGES 1: Standard shipping charges for a single radio or radio-shaped object will increase to $16.70 from the previous $13.60. This increase reflects cost of shipping insurance and an increase in cost of postage. I will still not profit from shipping charges. All packages are insured for their full invoiced value. 2: The diagnostic/labor rate for repairs will increase from $25.00 per hour to $35.00 per hour. A 30-minute minimum will apply, and will increment in 0.1 hour (6 minute) blocks from there, rounded to the nearest increment. For instance, a repair which takes 35 minutes of real time will be billed as a "0.6-hour" line item. A repair which takes 31 minutes of real time will be billed as a "0.5 hour" line item. These price changes DO NOT apply to quotes I have given at any time in the past. If my direct correspondence with you includes a price, I will honor the price I quoted for that item.

I will not accuse anyone of anything, however, when selling something of this nature, you are required to: - Affix a tag to the radio with an FCC-issued ID. If the radio contains a plug-in module that has not been modified, the FCC ID of said module is acceptable. This would normally take the form of a sticker somewhere on the radio chassis. This can be matched to a freely available database, so any fakes can be found out with very little effort. If there is no FCC ID visible on the product, it can be assumed that the product isn't FCC certified. - An RF-emitting module of this type must be shielded. - Pay New Booth's licensing body a lot of money (at least $4000 or so) to license the branding and/or logo. Without doing this, you are not licensed to use any of their trademarks, and they can presumably sue you for not doing so. For someone retrofitting said tech into old cars, this would probably never even get noticed, but the possibility is there. I was really interested in offering this in a radio. I built a few prototypes, and the best ones worked really damn well. I figured at some point I'd run into some red tape, so on a slow day at work (this is back a few years ago when I was in college and had several paid hours of access to a laptop a day) I did some research and reached out to a few people in the industry on this subject. Short answer: it'd cost me several thousand dollars to be fully licensed to do such a thing. Spending all of that money in licensing fees plus the very real possibility of having to have my radio tested at an independent certification lab (another bucketload of cash) on top of the cost of parts and integrating said parts into the radio means I'd have to charge well north of $300 a radio to break even... after selling a few dozen radios. When I can offer an auxiliary input and just tell someone to plug in a $14 New Booth dongle they bought off Amazon into it and be profitable right off the bat, that headache just is not worth my time. There is no shortage of shops doing this to car radios. Look for FCC certification tags on their radios. Look for any note that they are officially licensed by the New Booth special interest group. Ask them what the FCC ID of the module they're using is. If you get no answer (or an answer that does not match a freely accessible database) they are selling a product that is not legal for sale in the US. They probably won't ever get in trouble for it. I don't think they should. But that chance is not worth it to me.

Attention JRE Customers! - NOW BACK OPEN FOR BUSINESS! HOW IT WILL WORK Jeremy's Radio Emporium will begin working on orders again on June 15, 2020. In the beginning, this will be a gradual process. My current target is one order processed per week, and hopefully ramping up as time goes on. There is currently a waiting list of over two hundred customers who showed interest in placing an order while I was on hiatus. Unfortunately, working through this backlog is likely to take some time, so a new order made right now will take some time to be filled, but that process should speed up as I work through the existing inquiries. I will be accepting new orders (if you are not already on the waiting list) starting on June 15, but any new orders will be placed at the end of that waiting list. I will be reaching out to customers in the order that they first contacted me. The algorithm I am using to determine this is quite clever, but if you feel as though you have been skipped, please let me know. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Q: Why did you stop taking new orders? A: Previous to April 2020, I held a full time job in industrial field work, which took up almost all of my time. In April of 2020, I received a medical diagnosis that means I cannot go back to that job until the end of 2020 at the very least, possibly never. As a result, I now have much more free time to spend working on radios. To be clear, my medical condition is not life-threatening in the long or short term, it just requires me to make changes to my lifestyle. Q: What have you been doing this whole time? A: Aside from more personal matters, I haven't been sitting idle on the radio front either - there will be more info on that coming tomorrow. In addition, my lab setup has gotten a few massive upgrades - my shop computer has gotten an overhaul, and a few new pieces of test equipment have been added. This will enable me to do more work on more radios, more accurately than before. Q: If I place a new order now, how long will it take to have that order filled? A: Unfortunately, I can't say for sure. I have a backlog of over two hundred customers who "got in line" during my hiatus. At my stated goal of one order finished per week, that's four years! Of course, not every order will take a week to complete, and not everyone who put themselves on the list will be interested in going forward with an order anymore, so not every customer on the list represents a week of time. Q: I spoke with you while you weren't taking new orders and put myself on the waiting list. Do I have to do anything else right now? A: Nope. When you're next, I will get in touch with you and ask if you are still interested. If you are interested, we'll go forward with your order. If not, I move on to the next person on the list. No hard feelings if you aren't still interested. Q: Is there a way for me to tell where I am on the waiting list, or if I'm on it at all? A: If you are curious about where you happen to be on the list, get in touch and I will let you know. I believe I have an accurate counting of who is on the waiting list and in what order, but if you feel that you have been skipped or left off the list, please get in touch. To reiterate, the list is ordered by when you first contacted me, either by e-mail, the Contact form on the website, Facebook message, or ComancheClub message. Q: I don't want to buy anything or send a radio in, I just have a question about an application or whether something will fit my vehicle. A: If you are just looking for information and are not wanting to place an order, I have always responded to questions even during my hiatus. Ask away, either by posting a comment on this page, emailing me at jeremy@radio-emporium.com, or by sending this page a message. Q: Will these changes be posted on the website? A: I have a LOT of updates to make to the website. Hopefully that work will be finished in the coming week or two. Some new information has come to light (and I have some corrections to make to what's there now), and a lot of product lineup changes will be happening. Q: You gave me a price quote for something. Will the price increases listed above apply to me? A: If I ever gave you a price quote for anything at any time, that price quote will be honored forever. This also goes for any price quote I give in the future. It is my policy to stand behind any quote I give for any product or service. Q: Why don't you offer anything with "that one wireless music technology" that's in everyone's cell phone that happens to rhyme with New Booth? A: It's not an engineering problem, it's a legal and financial problem. I've even done it - I have built several prototypes with this technology that work very well. They receive crystal-clear music and even can take phone calls, but they are completely un-sellable. To be legally in the clear to sell such a thing, it would cost tens of thousands of dollars in both FCC certifications (to prove that there are no harmful waves or potential interference coming from the radio) and licenses from said wireless technology's governing body. You can get various car radios that have been modified with this technology from several places, but as far as I can tell, every single manufacturer does so without FCC certification and without a license from the "New Booth" special interest group. This puts several targets on these shops' back legally, and and I don't want any part of it. Just for kicks, if you see a product being offered for sale that advertises "New Booth" and features its logo, ask them for the FCC ID of the product they're selling and ask them if they've gone through the "New Booth" qualification process.

There's a lot of work going on right now in my field (automotive and industrial), but I don't know much about the architectural side of things. There's lots of new construction going on in the cities, so my guess is that skilled architects and draftsmen would be in demand, especially if you have the certifications and qualifications that the recruiters like. I'm not familiar with any big projects in the last couple of months for medical reasons, but work was still good even with COVID starting to show itself. Nashville got hit pretty hard with a tornado a few months ago, and there was a lot of rebuilding going on but I don't know how far along that is. Also a very good state for firearms enthusiasts. No major threats to our gun rights here, and there are plenty of places to shoot. We have shall-issue carry permits, and our new governor is a friend of the 2A even if I don't care for him otherwise.

All I've got to say is good freakin' luck finding those stupid proprietary connectors that these harnesses are full of. That is almost certainly a big part of why there isn't already someone making new engine bay harnesses. If you can find out something that we can't (and believe me, myself and a few others who are into this kind of thing have spent a LOT of time pouring over catalogs, manufacturers, and other back channels to find a source of these connectors in their bare form with no luck)

Hey, at least my dumpster fire has a straight body. Its big problems all lie on the inside. I'm all for saving any MJ, but... damn.

DON'T BUY THAT IF YOU EXPECT THE GASKET TO COME WITH IT. TEAM CHEROKEE ARE LYING SCUMBAGS. Now that I got that out of my system, it's just a standard evaporator core, not any heavier duty than OEM, and it will not come with a gasket. I'm also pretty sure it's for a right-hand drive XJ, as the input and output tubes are offset in the opposite direction from the original. That said, the expansion valve and lines still fit just fine for me, but I'm still a little salty about the false advertising in that ad. I'm also a little leery to recommend A/C parts that have sat uncapped on a shelf for 20 years. Mine had no caps on it when it arrived. They should be vacuum (or nitrogen) sealed with caps on the lines until right before the expansion valve is put on.

My honest suggestion for a Weatherpack crimper is to buy once, cry once and buy the Delphi ratcheting one. It'll give you the best quality crimps and the best repeatability. $100 for a manufacturer approved crimper is pretty much as cheap as it gets. Will help your credibility too that you're using the official manufacturer tooling. If I'm not mistaken the Weather-Pack one also works on Metri-Pack 280 series, which is another very common connector line.

Here are a collection of thoughts about wire harness building from someone who has done it a time or two. This isn't aimed at you in particular, but at anyone who is interested in the subject. Some qualifications to what I'm about to say: I have high standards for wiring, probably higher than most, I'm a bit of a stickler for detail, and I get a little bit annoyed at some of the common things you hear repeated about wiring. If I were you and were interested in doing this either for money or just to fill a gap in the market (hopefully both), here's some of the things I'd keep in mind: - The big one: splices. Splices of any type should be avoided whenever possible. That means solder splices, crimp splices, whatever. When possible, connections should be point to point with no interruptions. There are a lot of situations where splices are unavoidable. Make splices where they won't move, and make sure they are completely sealed from the elements. - When building a harness, think a few steps ahead. If this thing needs to be taken apart for service, how hard will that be? Are there any connections that can be accidentally plugged together in an incorrect way? A proper harness should ONLY be able to be plugged in correctly. If you need three different four-pin connectors in the same spot, use three different styles. Expect to be selling to people with absolutely no electrical knowledge whatsoever. If you get the sense that something needs an instruction manual, provide one. This is why I don't use bullet connectors or quick-connects in any harness I build. Even if it's for personal use. I can't even rely on myself to not be an idiot 100% of the time, and I share a brain with him. You don't want a customer ruining an expensive part because they plugged the connectors in wrong. As a side note, you can buy real connector housings that fit those quick-connect spade terminals. Great thing to have a few of in the toolbox, but very bulky for what they are. - Related, but make sure you keep documentation on how you build your harnesses. You want two examples of the same harness to be the same within a tolerance. Real measurements are never perfect, and there's an acceptable tolerance for everything. You've gotta be careful about this with multi-pin connectors. - Don't buy pigtails and splice them together. Get some spools of quality colored wire of the appropriate gauge and the bare connector housings, contacts, and seals. That normally means GXL and TXL wire for an automotive application. I don't mind plugging one of my suppliers here: https://4rcustomswire.com/ - Get good at identifying connector series and manufacturers. AMC used a lot of Delphi (now called Aptiv) connectors. That's good. Unfortunately, they also used a lot of nameless $#!& that isn't in production anymore and has no information available. If you start making big complicated harnesses that have to interact with factory wiring, be aware of this and have a plan in mind to get around it. - If you're going to do this for money, get the proper tooling. In my mind, anything done with a non-ratcheting hand crimper is not suitable for sale. You have absolutely no consistency with those. - It's critical to establish a good reputation for yourself. I wouldn't buy a full engine harness from some guy who just started making harnesses. Start small and expand your horizons with quality, well thought out products. Offering a warranty goes a long way to ease customers' minds, but you have to take warranty obligations seriously if things do go wrong. Nothing is worse for publicity than stiffing someone on a warranty claim. - Consider the possible demand for your products and the value those customers would place on your products. Know exactly how much one harness worth of supplies costs you, and know how much time it takes for you to put them together, and how much time and energy it took for you to develop that product. Price accordingly. - Crimping vs. soldering: it really annoys me when people speak in a black and white manner about this. "always crimp electrical connections" "no, always solder electrical connections. No exceptions" - there are reasons that you find very few soldered connections in production wire harnesses, but there are times and places for both crimp joints and solder joints. Understand and know the limitations of both methods. Soldering creates a strain concentration right behind and in front of the solder joint. If that portion of the wiring is allowed to move with any regularity, it WILL break right where the solder joint ends. To mitigate this, provide the solder joint some form of strain relief to keep the areas immediately in front of and behind the joint from bending, or make sure that the wire flexes somewhere else. Solder is less tolerant of age and heat than proper crimp connections made with high quality components and tooling. Many types of crimp connectors are much bulkier than a proper solder joint. In the real world, soldering isn't quite as easy as people like to think it is. Soldering iron tips don't last forever and must be kept properly tinned. Some soldering irons just aren't powerful enough to get large wires hot enough. Use extra flux, but CLEAN IT AFTER YOU'RE DONE. When adding solder, don't apply it straight to the tip - make it flow through the wires. Get good at doing a Lineman splice. The result should be stronger than the wire itself before you solder it. - Most types of connectors have a time and a place where it is acceptable for them to be used. The two exceptions I can think of are both things you're likely to find at an auto parts store - vampire taps, and those hard plastic non-heatshrink insulated crimp connectors. Both are open invitations for moisture to ruin the connection, and vampire taps make a highly questionable connection that permanently ruins the wires it's connected to. Most of the crimp connectors you can buy at a parts store will make a garbage crimp even with a really nice tool. My advice: avoid buying anything wiring related at an auto parts store. Almost all of it is bottom-barrel garbage. You can find much better quality for cheaper from actual electronics suppliers such as Digikey, Waytek, and Mouser. - Protection: For interior harnesses, I love that fabric Tesa harness tape. Quality split loom makes for a professional looking product and will help the harness survive, but the cheap stuff does not last. Use good heat-shrink tube. 3M Super 33 is my go-to tape for exterior applications. Use a multi-layered approach for protecting your harnesses. If you're serious about this, feel free to shoot me some questions. The Jeep world needs a wiring harness vendor.

Every piece of literature I have found agrees that the Laredo package was longbed only. I have never seen a shortbed Laredo but plenty of longbed ones.

Oh! I know this problem! Are you using Renix era switch panels on HO era wiring? There's probably a grounding pad on the back of the driver side switch panel you'll need to pry the contacts off of. That thread includes pics of what the difference is and what you need to do.

How it should've been from the factory.

I can confirm that this works. A cheap heat gun is a great general purpose tool to have anyway, so it'd be worth it to buy one for this purpose if you don't have one. Don't go crazy with it and start slow, but after a while the plastic will take on its original color again. It won't last forever, but it'll look great in the mean time. Works on fender flares and other black plastic trim too.

Now that's a good question. My first guess is the contact for the switch that lights up the BRAKE light on the cluster when the parking brake is on. Does that still work? I don't actually know exactly what this piece is, but that's my best guess. If it's not that, maybe ignition switch or headlight switch guts? Has anything abruptly stopped working after this piece fell out?

On mine, I didn't even bother to put the chipped piece back in. That was five years ago. I had about a drop of oil every few hours at first, which went down to about a drop a week after I replaced the oil drain plug - that's an overlooked oil leak IMO too. I did use the super expensive Mopar anaerobic sealer on the seal (there's a diagram floating around somewhere of exactly where you're supposed to put the sealer), and I have a feeling that contributed to the success of my repair. I also used the Fel-Pro double lipped seal. My crankshaft didn't show much wear on the seal surface, but on the other hand it wouldn't take much at all to cause a leak there. IMO the main leak point is the interface between the seal halves, and the specific sealer they recommend is very important to make sure there is no leak path between those two halves. If oil gets to that spot on the block, it's already breached the seal and was going to leak out anyway. It sounds catastrophic, but in my experience, no big deal.

Nope.

Welcome to the club! Mine is cracked in that same spot. It's fine. Just make sure you follow the FSM procedure exactly when installing the new seal.

You want to settle this? We can settle this. I'll start. There's 2 in my driveway. One drove on the road just fine yesterday, and one hasn't moved in months.

Ultimately it's all academic. There's no way to know which one of us is right. But between rust, crash damage, mechanical failure, abandonment, and any other factor that can take a vehicle off the road, I think the number is much closer to the four digits than not.

Half is extraordinarily optimistic. Half is probably about right for ten years ago or more. 10% is probably still high at this point. I would be surprised if there were more than a few thousand MJs still in roadworthy condition. There was a study done in 2006 that found 12% of 25-year old trucks in the US are still left on the road. The newest MJ is 28, and the vast majority are over 30.

Applying 12V to the orange/purple wire should lock the doors. Applying 12V to the pink/purple wire should unlock. If each wire does what it's supposed to, swap those two wires at the switch. No need to swap the wires at each actuator. Fix it right. If needed, I can provide the relevant pages from the '91 FSM. Be warned that the diagrams aren't exactly cleanly laid out.

Love BeamNG. Probably the best value for money entertainment product I own. I bought it yeeeeeears ago back when it was in very early development for (I think) 15 bucks. Steam shows 375 hours played, and the real number is a lot higher than that. I played the crap out of Rigs of Rods (the game it was developed from) years before that too.