LocoJeeper

Hello all... this one has me stumped and frustrated. I spent a couple hours this morning swapping steering columns (tilt with column shifter to tilt from XJ). Other then being a major pain in the but with trying to get the column back into the shaft by myself, its done and everything seems in order. So I drove it down the street to the fast food chain to grab a late lunch. By the time I got about a block from my house it shut off and wouldn't restart. Walked back to the house watched about 30 minutes of TV then went back and it started right up. Grabbed the dog and headed to the vet... 5 minutes later it shuts off again and won't restart. Same story. I wait, it starts. I go, it stops. It doesn't start. I wait, it starts. My only figurings is that with pulling the air box, and the lower dash bezel somehow someway I missed re-connecting a sensor or knocked one loose. I checked the vacuum lines (everything's connected, unless that is I swapped two of them) and all the sensors on the lower dash piece. Any ideas?

When does this noise happen? All the time? Just when you first engage it? Where does the noise come from? Front? Middle? Rear? Left or Right? Hi or low? The system isn't hydraulic... it is a mechanical linkage. Far more reliable than any switch will be... and it would be a whole lot of work to switch it... don't believe i've even ever seen it done to an XJ/MJ platform.

If I remember correctly, the column has two bolts going through a plate... the holds the interlock cable in place. From there is just a ball in socket type fitting.

Appears to be an XJ/MJ column... and not from a FSJ. Good thing you got the AT shift interlock cable still attached. I pulled my donor column from a manual equipped XJ... and don't have the interlock capability. If I feel like doing it.. in the spring when I hit the j/y again I might pull another one.

I got my "build sheet" by emailing Chrsyler at customerassist@chrysler.com. It took about a week... but here it is: Thank you for contacting the Chrysler Customer Assistance Center regarding the build sheet of your 1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer. According to our records, your vehicle was equipped from the factory with the following: Heavy Duty Electrical Group Skid Plate Group Spring Special White Appearance Grp Monotone Paint Power Front Disc/Rear Drum Brakes 10x2.5 Rear Drum Brakes Straight Back Bench Seat Carpets - Floor and Cargo Area Passenger Assist Handles All 4-Speed Automatic Transmissions 4-Speed Automatic AW4 Transmission Lock-Up Torque Converter Command-Trac Part Time 4WD System Elec,Shift-on-the-Fly,P/Time T/Case Dana M30/181MM Front Axle 3.55 Axle Ratio Dana M35/194MM Rear Axle All Engines Tinted Glass Windows Tinted Windshield Glass Front Door Tinted Glass Fixed Door Vent Glass Rear Sliding Window Rear View Day/Night Mirror Left Remote Mirror Right Remote Control Mirror Manual Remote Mirrors Air Conditioning Instrument Panel Analog Instrument Cluster 85 MPH Primary Speedometer Var Intermittent Windshield Wipers Cigar Lighter Inst Panel Mounted Hood Release Key in Ign/Seat Belt Warning Buzzer Glove Box Lamp Halogen Headlamps Black Front Bumper Black Front Bumper Front License Plate Bracket Body Color Headlamp Bezels Black Windshield Moldings Upper Door Frame Moldings Belt Moldings Body Color Drip Trough Molding Federal Emissions EVAP Control System Catalytic Converter 18.5 Gallon Fuel Tank Intense Blue Pearl Coat Intense Blue Pearl Coat All Radio Equipped Vehicles AM/FM Cassette Radio 4 Speakers Power Rack and Pinion Steering 2-Spoke Soft Feel Steering Wheel Standard Duty Shock Absorbers Rear Shock Absorbers Tilt Steering Column All Tires Full Size Spare Tire Tire Carrier Winch P215/75R15 OWL All Terrain Tires 15X7.0 Styled Steel Wheels Pickup Box Fuel Tank Skid Plate Shield Transfer Case Skid Plate Shield Front Suspension Skid Plate -35F Protection Anti-Freeze Build To U S Market Specifications 5 Additional Gallons of Gas Rear Spring Group I GVW/Payload Rating Left Front Group XV Right Front Spring Group XIV U.S. Dealer Retail Zone 33-Philadelphia Largo Tracking Metro Cars of Detroit Everything seems in order... just wondering where the "5 Additional Gallons of Gas" went ;)

You'll need specialty tools in order to do a gear swap. A bearing puller and shop press are probably your most expensive items. Also need an in-lb dial indicator (or beam) torque wrench. Probably your best bet is to just swap the whole axle.

Haven't done the cleanup yet on my 89 (needs it) but everything i've read says you really are only doing 49% of the job if you don't pull the valve cover and clean it out. That's why its gets "crabbed up" to begin with. Good luck. God Bless, Ben

The parts guys always give me a crazy look when the 89 comanche I told them I had suddenly turns into a 95 cherokee when I ask for a different part.

That's me ... i think.... not that "i think" I'm from lancaster, but that I think you might be talking about me. Anywho... Jeep on.

I found out from pulling an XJ column to put in my MJ that if you go from a column shifting MJ your going to need a longer AT shifter cable... and (optionally... some would say required) a shift interlock cable.

Does anyone have any thoughts on fitting a tonneau cover on a short bed MJ that has a 12" tool box already mounted in it? I'd like to find something that instead of mounting the rail right against the cab at the edge of the bed, I can mount it to the tool box and go from there. Obviously this would mean the tonneau would need to be shorter then the average MJ cover.

I have grand dreams of embedding a color palm pilot into that spot... for GPS navigation... don't know if that will ever happen though.

Well... the only thing I can figure (which isn't much fun... so stop reading right now if your looking for a pleasant answer) is that somehow the bung (welded in metal thread thingy) snapped off and is spinning in exhaust tube. The only option then is to cut or drill it out and weld in a new bung.

Gotcha... just making sure that you didn't plug those hoses. 'cause that would've explained the miscellaneous leaking that would've developed. An engine's gotta breath, ya know.

Do you mean that you somehow plugged those hoses that are coming out of your valve cover?

Those cup holders don't seem to hold much of anything. They'll fit an 8oz can of soda, but that's all I've found that actually fits in the the indented section. Thinking I just need to fab my own to fit the large plastic cups from wendy's.

JKS mfg makes a nice looking unit... if you can swallow the price.

Check out this link: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.p ... ght=blowby

I'm planning this swap come spring (have everything... just don't want to take it down until winter is over). I'm pretty familiar with the swap, just curious if this was ever a factory option (242 instead of the 231) or if I get to chalk up another "custom" point :D ?

When I was looking over the 1989 Jeep Comanche trying to figure whether I wanted to jump a few steps outside of my budget to pry the Jeep out of the old-mans hands, I was amazed at how little rust there was on this particular MJ. My previous ventures into the XJ world (two 1989’s and a 1996) I knew that in the north-east, it is hard to come by a unibody XJ/MJ (or any Jeep for that matter) that didn’t have its share of floor board rust. My initial inspection only revealed one spot, just about the drivers side rear fender flare, of rust. I crawled underneath looking for the “poke my screwdriver through” type rust that I have come to expect, and found nothing. So an extra $100 outside of my budget didn’t seem like a huge jump for not having to weld in all new floor pans. So I bought the thing, drove it home and within a few hours began my initial “I don’t need/want this on my Jeep” tear down. The cap came off, and surface rust was discovered below the rear sliding window. Not a big deal, a wire brush and an afternoon and that will be taken care of. A few days later, I began tearing out the blue interior with a bench seat in favor of a donor 2-door XJ interior. That’s when I discovered the surface rust on the floor boards. Again, not what I was used to seeing, but rust non the less. It was only a few days until I was scheduled to take the MJ to A to Z Fabrication for custom bumpers and rocker guards. So I hit the rust with a wire brush, and sprayed some Rustoleum over it and called it done. Three months later my Maggie was returned to me… and the rust had cancer-ed its way through the previous coating. So, a new plan needed to be established. Because I had carpet ready to go in I really didn’t feel like pulling it out every 3 months to keep my floor boards from disappearing. I heard good and bad reviews of the Por15 line of rust-preventative products and keeping in mind that the MJ build up is just a the pre-amble to my YJ build… I wanted to give their products a whirl. And what better spot then the floor boards. I purchased the following: * POR-15 Six Pack (6 x 4oz cans) * Marine Clean - Quart * Metal Ready - Quart The first step was to remove all flaking rust. A quick run with the wire brush followed by a blast of air from the compressor, clean up things quite nicely. Next was to remove any grease and impurities from the area with the Por15’s Marine Clean. I diluted the product into a spray bottle, sprayed the area, then after pulling the drain plugs hosed it out and let the floor boards dry. The final step before painting, was to use Por15’s Metal Ready. This product etches the surface so that the Por15 can bite into the rusty metal a lot better. Again, I had to let the application dry. Finally, I was able to apply the Por15 black to the floor boards. Using a regular bristle paint brush, I used one 4oz can per side. Again… let the stuff dry. Looks pretty good ‘eh?! My initial impression is that Por15 puts a real impressive finish over existing surface rust. It leaves an almost ceramic, glossy finish that is in no way reflective of the rust that was/is underneath. My only prayer is that it holds up to the test of time. At least better then the 3-months that Rustoleum gave me. A quick note: Por15 is UV sensetive and should pretty much only be used in a primer type application. They recommend top-coating Por15 with their BlackCoat or Chassis Coat. I would not doubt the quality of those products, however, since my goal was to simply stop the rust and provide a good surface for my carpet to cover to up… I went back to Rustoleum and covered it in 2 coats of Black Hammer Tone Finish.

This is kinda hard to explain... so here it goes. I noticed that a 97+ (not sure what else) has a single piece of glass for its door window. Rather then having the fixed triangle or vent window in the front. Has anyone seen a write up or attempted such a swap? I ride with the windows down most of the time, and elbow to thumb... the existing open is a little small to get my arm relaxed on the door as I would like. The extra large opening of the 97+ would be a welcome change and give the MJ an overall cleaner appearance. Thoughts?

He wanted to style the front bumper after the rear.... if that was indeed his goal he did an excellent job. Again its very strong, but I was hoping for something much closer to Rock Lizard Fab's front bumper. I am going to modify it by flush welding the receiver hitch (there is enough room behind the bumper, so I don't have the "civil war bayonet" receiver hitch) and then make a 45 degree cut on the bottom of the square tube. All in all give it a more "rolling" effect... rather then the straight up and down of the square tube.

The rocker guards aren't a real far cry from his production CJ/YJ/TJ ones. He's still a custom fabricator... even though a bunch of his stuff now gets sold through Quadratec. I would imagine if I can get 4 or 5 requests put together, that he'd be more then willing to make a bunch.

So arriving home at 2:30pm on Friday, June 20th, with the PA Jeeps Show opening up for registration 16.5 hours away... I still had to paint the front and rear bumpers. In the planning stage of the fabrication, I mentioned to Zach that I loved the idea of powder coating, but probably with something whose purpose is to get scratched up before the body of my 'manche does... an "on the shelf" paint source would probably be the best idea. So I ran to Home Depot and picked up a box filled with Rustoleum's Clean Metal Primer, Rusty Metal Primer, and Black Hammered Finish. Zach had used the previous rear bumper mounts and welded them to the new square stock. That's what the Rusty Metal Primer was for. The rest of the primer delivered two coats to the front and rear bumpers. Then everything received a two quick coats of Black Hammered Finish. I like that paint because it holds up pretty well... and is "textured" so dust, scratches, dents and paint inconsistencies don't show up as easily. If I had followed the instructions as far as drying time and not rushed the process along, I'm sure it would have turned out better. Oh well... looks good from 3 feet away. Good enough for me.

For some reason the county that I live in only has one u-pull-it (up until a few weeks ago, there weren't any... one junkyard opened its doors to public wrenches). So anytime I find myself up in Berks county and try and hit a u-pull-it, in hopes of crossing things off my wish list. About 30 minutes from A to Z Fabrication is EZ Pull & Save Auto Parts. So when I went up to get the MJ last friday, I swung over on my way back to see what I could come up with. My wish list was simple... I was in search of a 97+ front clip to swap over to the 'manche and a 93-98 ZJ rear axle with disc brakes to swap the brake hardware over to the MJ Dana 44 I have laying in my garage. After walking the entire truck lot (about 2 hours) I only saw 1 97+ XJ, which must've rolled, tumbled and then sat on itself! 'cause there wasn't a straight anything on it. And I only found one rear axle that was even close to complete, however the entire weight of the vehicle was setting on it... and I forgot to eat my wheaties that morning. So, the search continues.