1987Comanche

Saw this happen once on a Ford pickup. The reman alternator was missing a washer (spacer) behind the pulley so there was a slight pulley misalignment. It would run for 2-3 weeks, then randomly shred the belt. Took about 3 belts to figure it out.

I'm assuming it's a 4DR 4X4 AW4 XJ? Assuming it is, everything works, and the body is so-so I'd say $2500-3000. I recently passed on the chance to buy a '99 4 dr 4.0 with 230K miles but a spotless body. He wanted $1200 but it was 2WD and I was thinking more along the lines of $800 for it. The pinnacle of XJs is a '99 2dr, 4wd, 5 speed 4.0. Folks pay a premium for them.

Might not be a bad deal for someone looking for a rust-free HO MJ in New England, assuming the underside is as nice as I envision it being. Too bad she isn't 4wd. Converting my '92 from 2WD to 4WD was a lot of work

I picked one of these up at the junkyard today. Bracket # 52077574. I was going to put the whole linkage in the for sale section.

disconnect the linkage, manually shift the T-case to 4HI, go for a drive, and see if the noise is still there. I though the 231 I swapped in had major problems until I tried this. Turned out the jy that pulled the T-case subtly bent the linkage.

I found a mom & pop yard that was parting out a '96 XJ with a bad motor and spent $400 on a 3.07 D30, T-case, both Driveshafts, linkage (turned out to be bent) and literally a 5 gal hydraulic pail of assorted nuts & bolts. They were pulled & ready to go though the D30 was sitting in the mud and needed diff stock and all new wheel end components. I thought it was a pretty good deal. I'd pay based on ratio & desirability. CAD vs non CAD, HP vs LP, and 3.55, 3.07, then 4.10. $300 wouldn't be bad for a non-CAD, HP D30 in a 4.10 that had a good gear set, diff stock, and only needed brakes.

Have you tried topping off the fluid? It may have sucked all the fluid down as soon as you started it. The seal kit for the pump is pretty cheap ($10 or so) but you'll need a good donor to start with. I hit Pull-a-Part and found a non-reman CB series from a 2003 Malibu. The major difference between the CB and TCs is that the TC uses a bearing (CB uses a bushing). The CB and type P pumps (ham cans) use the same vanes. I'd think the TC does as well but can't confirm that. The pump is fairly easy to rebuild. Here are a few pics of it going back together: I have a lot more pics if you're interested

By brand new you mean fresh reman, correct? I just finished building my own CB series Saginaw P/S pump for a FWD GM L body b/c the last 3 didn't work properly. I finally got fed up after finding the inside of the reman pump was awful. The TC series pump (in our Jeeps) is considered the Hi-Po Saginaw design. Pump whine is either air in the system or excess vane to pressure plate/thrust plate clearance. The vanes should be as close in size to the pump ring as possible (I matched the CB to 0.0001"). Your flow control valve may be damaged, improperly assembled, or dirty. Depending on how deep you want to go you can swap the pump for another one, disassemble it, or pick up a jy unit. Bear in mind the next reman may have the same (or worse) problems. The Saginaw steering box is the least likely part of the system to cause problems.

Sounds like an Airtex fuel pump to me!

We got 15" of snow & ice and I've been out driving Georgia around all weekend. The 4WD conversion works great! I took her into town to get kerosene and saw 4 cars/trucks/SUVs in ditches along the way. Drifting snow and 2" thick ice underneath meant 20-25mph driving into town.

Lots of blow-by and low compression on cyl 1 & 5? I'd be looking at the rings and/or the pistons. Maura had horrible blow-by (leaking oil out of the airbox) and the rings/pistons were shot. Has it been sitting for an extended period of time? If so the rings may be stuck. If you can borrow a borescope you can look at the cylinder walls and see if they're scored up.

Do NOT get an ATK engine. It's sold through all the big box parts stores (NAPA, Advance, O'Reilly, etc) under a variety of names. They are remanned in Mexico and are absolute garbage. I got a 4.0 for Maura and it ate the cam bearings in 282 miles due to poor workmanship. If I could do it over I'd either pick up a good core and have it rebuilt locally or look for a running engine I could transplant.

Good info. How was the interior? Bench/buckets? Color?

Not mine but thought someone here could use it: http://asheville.craigslist.org/pts/5377589325.html

I've seen a few XJ Waggys with the light wood grain on burgundy door panels. I haven't seen any XJ Country packages with burgundy door panels and wood grain. Doesn't mean they don't exist but it would be more rare than the XJ "System Sentry" (saw one of these in the jy & it was pretty cool). FYI there are 3 wood grain dash bezels that I'm aware of: -Light grain on the XJ Waggys (my personal preference. Had one in Maura and have one in Georgia) -Dark grain on the XJ Country (non-airbag. Has smaller cutout for steering column). -Dark grain on XJ Country (airbag column. Will fit non-airbag vehicles but has a gap between bezel and column).

You might be able to temporarily slow/stop the leak by draining some coolant, cleaning the heck out of the freeze plug, and applying a generous amount of RTV around the entire OD of the plug. As rust builds up in the cooling system it might help the cause as well. Saw that happen on OneOverZero's leaky freeze plug.

Glad you solved the mystery :). I don't think the LWB tank will fit in place of the SWB 18.5 gal tank. P/N for the tank is JP5B if memory serves. I put one in Meg and Maura. New repops were $100 give or take on Ebay.

I wonder if the sealant is interfering with the O-ring's ability to seat? It's a pretty tight fit so the ring may not fully seat if the groove has something else in it. Beyond that my only thoughts are a bent tab on the tank or a weak/broken weld on the collar for the snap ring. You can pick up a replacement tank for about $100. Maybe that's the next stop.

Round cut sounds right now that I think about it. Did you get the O-ring or the entire lock ring kit? Also did you lube up the new O-ring with Vaseline prior to install? How tight does the sending unit fit into the tank without the lock ring retaining it? It should be tight enough to require a fair amount of pressure/wiggling to pop the sending unit free.

Dumb question but have you used a square cut seal or round cut seal each time? If you used all round how about trying a square cut or vice versa? Fastenal can probably find something appropriate if you take the old one in to match up. I had this exact problem with Georgia and the seal supplied with the kit was incorrect. I used it b/c it came with the kit but something didn't seem right. Started kicking myself as soon as it started leaking. I think the round cut seal is right but wouldn't swear to it. Buna-N O rings will be eaten by gas. Viton will not.

I'm sure they would ship it. The company is Asheville Powertrain. I had a Mustang driveshaft cut down to fit but they build them from scratch as well. http://www.ashevillepowertrain.com/

You should have a driveshaft shop within maybe an hour's drive. Look for power train in the phone book or call the local transmission repair shop and see who they recommend. I had a local place in WNC shorten/make a driveshaft for Georgia and it works fine. I can give you the name but it's a long drive from AL :)

Good used is your only option for the correct MJ sending unit. You got the sending unit for an XJ which, as you discovered, faces the wrong way. Check the classifieds section or post something in the wanted section. We all tend to horde MJ parts and someone is bound to have a spare floating around they could let go.

I'd pull the filter and cut it open to see what's inside. If it's full of glitter your engine is toast.

Yes but you'll have to drop the oil pump/pickup into the pan to roll it out. It's 2 bolts so no big deal. You can reach above the pan and get them. The suspension at full droop leaves enough room to get the pan out. For installation I'd recommend zip tying the new gasket to the pan and cutting the ties after you have a few bolts loosely threaded.