Daily driver MJ....what do I need to fix

[Disturbed]

I just bought a 88MJ for a daily driver. The truck has had some work done to it but I am sure there are some things that I can do to make it more reliable and drive better. Its a 20 year old truck and I knew it would have issues but issues I can fix. I sold my DD Neon to buy this. I wanted to get back to a daily driver that had a manual transmission, was 4wd, and had the motor in the right way.

 

Details of the truck:

4.0 w/ the Renix EFI 125,000 miles

99 XJ AX15

NP231 w/ hack and tap SYE

4" Suspension Lift

31" BFG ATKOs

Dana30/35 with 3.55 gears

AC

 

Here is what I have found so far:

The floor on the drivers side is rusted. Interior is coming out on Friday for new floor pans and fresh paint.

 

The transmission need a new slave cylinder. Ordered new master/slave setup from the dealer, I will have it on Tuesday.

 

Door windows seals are shot, order new from the dealer also, they will come Tuesday also. Now I know you will tell me not to buy stuff from the dealer due to price, I am new to MJs but not to Jeeps and I have a "connection" at the dealer so I don't pay anywhere near what someone off the street pays.

 

Drivers door is rusted on the bottom but not bad. Presumably from the window seals and probably clogged drain holes. I will replace the rusted metal once the window seals are fixed.

 

Drivers window does not roll up if rolled all the way down. The window seams to run crooked in the track and the regulator seem to have a tight spot, more than like do to the leaky windows seals, I will the door apart and make the necessary fixes. The window is also chipped at the top, probably from someone try to pull the window up with a pliers after it wouldnt roll back up. I will replace that, 4 door XJ glass will fit, correct??

 

Rear brakes are almost non functional. Going to run a single new line to the rear, swap in a YJ proportioning valve, replace the rear hose and lines on the rear axle. Brakes themselves are all new, wheel cylinder, shoes, drums, adjusters, springs, etc.

 

Rear brakes seem to hang up after the ebrake has been used. Going to blame this on the cables. I will pull them and see if the issue goes away, if so I will try to lube them or replace them, my dealership guy says they are still available.

 

Truck has AC but the condensor is shot and I would rather have the window down. AC components (excpet for the compressor)will be removed as time permits. Compressor will be converted to an OBA system with a tank mounted under the bed where the tire normally is (all that hardware is missing).

 

Tierod is bent a little, will replace it with V8 ZJ stuff and have it realigned. When I grab that stuff I will probably grab the sway bar from the ZJ also and swap that in.

 

Headliner is missing, not sure what I will do about that but that can wait.

 

Battery tray is rusted out, I will fix that and may relocated the battery under the bed, if not I will make a good battery try for it.

 

What else am I missing? Things that normally go wrong. I think mainly I am worried about the Renix injection system. There are alot of vacum lines under the hood that are 20 years old. I will probably try to replace them all but I am sure there are some gotchas under that hood. I have a computer and wiring harness from an HO 4.0 from another project but I do now want to get into a HO swap right now, I just need this thing to be a driver.

 

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated or any reason why any of the above idea are bad ideas.

[Red 1989 MJ]

Welcome to CC.

 

You will find a lot of information here.

[camjeep3]

you def. know what you are talking about. So thats good! :clapping: everything u said sounds good to me, i honestly can't think of anything else. I'm sure as you drive it some little gremlins might pop up, but a good start! post some pics up!

[KYMJ]

Sounds like you already have the plan. Things will crop up, fix them as you go. Don't waste time trying to unfreeze the e-brake cables. I tried that(stubborn I suppose) it never free'd up. New ones are available from any parts store, I paid about $12 each at Oreilly's. I had to do it twice, once I gave up, I had to put it back together and wait for the new cables. I replaced all the vacuum lines on both that I resurected, because I like a half way neat looking drivetrain at the least. They're available from Oreilly's also. The numbers, I've lost. A GOOD parts man can find them, Dorman Products come to mind. The brakes suck, my 4x4 needed a new booster to get any where near acceptable, might swap in the later year type. Instructions can be found here on the forum. Just deal with rust, I luckily didn't have to. Good luck. My 2wd drive just turned 199k this morning, i've been DD'ing it since I bought it w/147k for $600 and I take it anywhere. Have fun, I did. I will get another 4x4 as soon as possible.

[Disturbed]

you def. know what you are talking about. So thats good! :clapping: everything u said sounds good to me, i honestly can't think of anything else. I'm sure as you drive it some little gremlins might pop up, but a good start! post some pics up!

 

I havent figured out how to post pictures yet, I have them, hosted but I always get an error that the size of the pic can't be determined. Anyway you can see pics here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18927 I bought it off the classifieds on this board.

 

Like I said I am not new to Jeeps, no even close. My first rig was an 88 YJ when I was 15. Started life with me as a bone stock daily driver. When it hit 4.5" lift, 33s and locked (spooled) I quit driving it daily but kept it kind of street legal for a while, then it got rebuilt again in to a comp rig It ended life at the NEUROC finals in '04 I think when I flipped it end for end off the wall at Paragon OffRoad Park. At that point it was injected, sprung over, wheel base stretched to 103", with a t18, Dana 20 case, 37" PitBulls (before they were available to the public, they didnt even have the name on them, they were test units) and 5.89 gears.

 

After the daily driver duties were over I drove a diesel XJ for a while (wish I would have never sold that), then switched to a V8 ZJ (converted to 2wd/4wd instead of full time 4wd) when I took the YJ off the road and needed a tow rig. After that YJ was off the road I missed driving a YJ on the street so I build a "street Jeep". TBI 4.2, AX15, 4" lift, Dana 44s w/ 4.56s, and 35s. I still have this one but it is currently disassembled for a rebuild that start as a tub swap. It will get an automatic this round too. Frame is almost ready to go to sandblasting.

 

Also owned an 2wd MJ with a HO 4.0. It needed some work but I bought it to race Jeep Speed when they were going to do that on the east coast. Never read the rules until after I had the MJ and found it did not qualify. I ended up selling that as it sat the day I bought it. Also had an 86 MJ that I parted out before I knew any better. :fool:

 

After my YJ died I built a tube frame rock buggy. Kept enough of a YJ frame to qualify for the "Legends" class of NEUROC. I still have this rig. TBI4.3, full manual TH350, Dana 300, HP44/60, 5.38 gears, spooled rear, locked front, twin sticked, air shocks, 37" Toyos (again before you could get them)etc. I am currently switching to coilovers, they will hand jumping it better. I am hoping to race the King of the Hammers qualifier for 2011. :brows:

 

I have been to Camp Jeep, Jeep Jamborees, NeuRoc, WeRoc, KOH qualifier, Carlisle Trucks shows, and SEMA. In case you havent figured it out, I used to work in the offroad industry (don't any more). Two different companies, one will remain nameless, but I am sure you have seem something I built or designed. The other was Whaley Enterprises, who is now out of business, they were the first to offer the cable operated twin stick shifter for the Dana 300 which I designed.

 

OK know that I have told you way more about myself than any of you care about I am sure, I will say I have absoltuely NO experience with the RENIX EFI system. It seems like it is stuck in no mans land beteen ODBI and ODBII and has no self diagnostics, is this correct? :idea: My personal solution to this would be swapping in a 4.2 that is worked up a little bit and adding a GM TBI unit with a custom chip. Very reliable, cheap parts, very simple to troubleshoot. However since the 4.0 seems to be running good, and I have alot of projects right now and due to 4 month old twins not much time I will just leave that alone.....for now :chillin:

[Disturbed]

Don't waste time trying to unfreeze the e-brake cables. I paid about $12 each at Oreilly's I replaced all the vacuum lines on both that I resurected, because I like a half way neat looking drivetrain at the least. They're available from Oreilly's also. The numbers, I've lost. A GOOD parts man can find them, Dorman Products come to mind. The brakes suck, my 4x4 needed a new booster to get any where near acceptable, might swap in the later year type. .

 

 

OK if new brake cable are that cheap I will replace them, that a no brainer. Can you get the front cable also or is it not available?

 

Did you get factory(aftermarket) replacement lines or just bulk vacum lines and replace them?

 

Does the E350 master cylinder swap work with an MJ? Did that on my YJ and it worked great, don't see what it won't fit a MJ. It cheap to, that will be my next step if the new porportioning valve does clear up my issues.

[Carl'sMJ]

I replaced my front cable a few years ago... got it from NAPA... I can't remember the cost, but it wasn't too bad from what I remember.

[KYMJ]

Bought the front for my 4x4 at Oreillys as well.

 

Replaced the vaccuum lines with original replacements. Bought the first set from the dealer, the second set aftermarket. No difference but price.

 

NAPA #'s for hoses- BK 7151365, 7151366, 7151367

Dorman #'s- 53004838,53004868,4762592

[mvusse]

Renix is not in no man's land between OBD I and OBD II. Renix would be more accurately described as pre-OBD I. There are no self diagnostics, and the computer keeps no memory when the ignition is off. Every time you start the vehicle is a fresh boot.

 

Front doors of 84-96 4 door Cherokee are s straight swap. 97- will need the striker relocated a bit higher I think. Everything else you seem to have under control.

 

Even with the rear brakes redone, Comanche brakes are marginal at best. Common swap for better pressure is a later model Cherokee dual diaphragm booster. Some Cherokees with the towing package have hydro boost brakes run off an electric hydraulic pump, but i don't know if anyone ever swapped that into a Comanche.

[Pete M]

photo tips can be found here: :thumbsup:

 

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11077

[Disturbed]

Started the day Friday by putting the MJ up on my lift (yes I have a lift in my home shop, I know, I suck ). I looked a bunch of stuff over and made myself a list for Napa. Picked up some brake line and fittings, an 86 E350 master cylinder, and ordered ebrake cables.

 

Back to the shop, pulled the load sensing valve off. It works very freely so it very well may be operational but I still didnt want to deal with it. Found 2 places where the rear brake lines had been fixed with compression fitting, I don't think this is acceptable for brakes, so I pulled the lines all the way up to the master cylinder. When I pulled the lines out from beside the fuel tank I started to smell gas and found that the tank was now leaking. Now I probably created the hole by yanking the lines out BUT if that is the case it would have punched through fairly soon so I will be order a new tank today. Pulled the skid plate, all but the two bolts in the bottom of the frame came right out. Those two bolts just spun. Now what, :dunno: can't grind, air chisel, cutting wheel, or torch them off. Leaking fuel tank and sparks are no good. Ended up drilling both of those bolts out. Had to hold them in place with vice grips while drilling otherwise they just spun.

 

Once the skid plate was off I could see it was leaking about half way up the tank. Siphoned the gas out of the tank, got about 13 gallons out before I ran out of fuel storage and had to quit. Good news it I had just filled the tank before I drove it home, so it had 18.5 gallons. There is still some fuel in the tank, but not much, means I was probably down about 5 gallons from the fill up. Its about 100 miles from where I bought it home, 20 MPG, I am happy with that.

 

Installed a new longer brake hose in the rear that I got using part numbers I found on here. The one I removed had the hard brake line cross threaded into it. Luckily the hard line fitting was OK and I didnt need to redo that.

 

Disassembled the YJ proportioning valve I plan on using and cleaned it up real good. Flushed all the ports and passages in the parts washer. By then I was out of time for the day, it was time for the twins to eat, they just started cereal (which looks like mush to me) and it is quite the undertaking to feed both of them at the same time. I keep telling my little boy that he gets this MJ when he can drive (hes 4 months old) Ha Ha. My wife wanted to know what I was going to do for his twin sister, told her little girl gets Moms YJ and I will build Mom a new one :banana: Mom was OK with that.

[dasbulliwagen]

If the E van brake booster works for you, could you please put up a detailed thread maybe in the do it yourself section of how to do it, what years work and what mods need to be done with as many details as possible. It is always good to have as many options as possible when working on our trucks, and if this one is an easy swap, I think there are many people on here who would like to know. Thanks!

[Disturbed]

If the E van brake booster works for you, could you please put up a detailed thread maybe in the do it yourself section of how to do it, what years work and what mods need to be done with as many details as possible. It is always good to have as many options as possible when working on our trucks, and if this one is an easy swap, I think there are many people on here who would like to know. Thanks!

 

 

If this works I will post up what is needed. Going to try running a YJ proportioning valve with the E350 master cylinder. I can tell you the master cylinder was $35 brand new at NAPA. Not sure about the YJ proportioning valve, I have a stash of YJ parts.

[Disturbed]

Got the gas tank out last night, actually went very well, had absolutely nothing fight me, which is odd for anything I work on. New tank arrived yesterday so it can go back in whenever I am ready. Was underneath looking at everything and it seems like it would be pretty easy to pull the bed at this point, now do I pull the bed and clean up the frame or not? 2 bolts for the exhaust, 2 bolts for the ebrake bracket, 8 bolts for the bed and unhook the wiring harness. It seems so easy and worth while to pull the bed and clean everything up real good, then paint the frame. Problem is time is not readily available and it will add a few days worth of work. I need to be driving this thing in a few weeks, driving my ZJ daily is killing me for gas. I won't be able to get back to this until the weekend at the earliest so I have some time to thing about it. Any suggestions?

[87Warrior]

Take care of the rear frame while you are in there. Otherwise, you will just be doing it later down the road anyhow ;)

 

You should start a build thread and fill it with pictures :D

[Disturbed]

Take care of the rear frame while you are in there. Otherwise, you will just be doing it later down the road anyhow ;)

 

You should start a build thread and fill it with pictures :D

 

I do need to take some pictures but I am not starting another build right now, that is why I hesitate to pull the frame. I have enough "builds" going right now.

 

Build#1 - Rock Crawler -> Rock Racing conversion (in progress) More up travel, more cooling, more fuel storage

Build #2 - 88YJ frame off rebuild/build (in progress) 44s, 35s, TF999, TBI4.2

Build #3 - 15ft ModV Jon Boat redo (not started, but needed to be done soonest) - interior redo w/aluminum rather than the plywood the PO used and more seats for the kids

Build #4 - Horizontal metal cutting bandsaw -> vertical metal cutting bandsaw conversion (in progress)

Build #5 - tubing bender build (still in design phase) Need to get moving on this because I need this for some of the other builds.

 

I need anyother project like I need another hole in the head, but it makes sense to me, I am this far, why not take care of it while now. Of course this line of thinking is what turned "honey I am going to make sure your YJ is ready for inspection" into a frame off rebuild.

 

If I do pull the bed whatis the best course of action. Throw the MJ on my trailer, haul it to the carwash and pressure wash the frame, and then??? . Maybe brush paint with rustoleum and then spray with undercoating? I do not want to get into the POR15 coating right now.

[freakjeep93]

juts do it right or you won't have an mj so take the bed off and if theres any rust wire wheel it off. then somehow blast the inside of tha frame clean of all the crap thats gunna be in there. anfert that use some kind of coating to keep the frsme from rusting. myself i just put about half a can of paint over the entire frame adn I'm not done yet (still got the inner side of the rails under th cab to du but its to cold) also check your floors for rust and make sure you windshield idnt leaking.

 

if you take these steps your mj won't end like my old mj .. broke in half

[Disturbed]

juts do it right or you won't have an mj so take the bed off and if theres any rust wire wheel it off. then somehow blast the inside of tha frame clean of all the crap thats gunna be in there. anfert that use some kind of coating to keep the frsme from rusting. myself i just put about half a can of paint over the entire frame adn I'm not done yet (still got the inner side of the rails under th cab to du but its to cold) also check your floors for rust and make sure you windshield idnt leaking.

 

if you take these steps your mj won't end like my old mj .. broke in half

 

That is what I am thinking, do it right, I plan on keeping this truck for the long haul. As for the MJ being broke in half, I have read about that and have something in mind, looked at it the other night, it won't be a simple as I first though but I can still make it work.

 

I know the floor needs some work, that is on the list.

[jimoshel]

When going to a car wash to do engine frame cleaning , try to find a truck wash. They have hotter water, steam sometimes and more pressure. Don't use it for a regular wash job. Or if you got old wiring.

[Disturbed]

Decided not to pull the bed, I just have too much stuff to do. One of the previous owner did some undercoating and the fram is actually in great shape. One place that was no undercoated was the frame along side the gas tank, because they couldnt get to it. I did clean that second of the frame very well with a wire wheel, wire brush, and sand paper, then a painted two coats of Rustoleum Hammer finish paint onto it. Looks real good. I will start the brake line work on Tuesday night.

[Disturbed]

With the holidays here time to work on this is slow but here is where I stand. I started running new brake lines to the rear. While I was under there I got to looking at a way to strengthen the frame from where it transitions from the unibody to the frame rails. This seems to me to be the weakest part of the frame and where the first issues will start in the future. Its the low spot in the frame where any water inside the frame will collect and where the rear spring solid mount is. While the tank is out I decided to address this. I am going to plate the frame on both sides and the bottom. Once the two sides are welded in I am going to cut a hole in the bottom of the frame and clean out all the junk and when I plate over the bottom I will leave a drain hole.

 

Last night a created a pattern for the sides of the frame. It will run from 6" in front of the unibody mount (not sure what else to call it) all the way back to the end of the spring mount. Obviously there is a fairly large notch out of it going around the unibody mount. Once the side plate is in I will be boxing around those. I cut the first side plate out last night. I needs a little fitting yet but looks great. I fish mouthed both ends and will drill some 1" holes in it for plug welding. I really need this truck on the road so I will probably only be tackling this side for now since the tank is out. The other side I can do once the truck is back on the road. Once I have everything fit up I will post some pictures.

[Pete M]

Once I have everything fit up I will post some pictures.

 

 

started a project thread yet? :brows:

[Disturbed]

Wow I didnt realize that it has been almost a month since I updated this, well, up until this past weekend I really had nothing to report. I took Friday off work and almost got the frame plating done. I did a little write up on my local club website, I still don't have pictues figured out here. Here is the link to the other site, you do not need to be a member to view it, just pop over and check it out.

 

http://www.jeepsrus.org/megabbs/forums/ ... s=5#M15348

 

I made some changes to my plans from what I had posted before but it turned out very well if I do say so myself. I can tell my welding is out of practice, it doesnt look as good as I would like, or course alot of this was out of position.

 

I should have this all finished up by the end of this coming weekend. What do you think?

[1986Comanche]

Here are the pictures of the truck for you:

 

 

[Disturbed]

OK three months after my last update it is finally on the road. This took WAY longer than I was expecting BUT I am happy with the results. I pulled it out of the shop Thursday and have put almost 300 miles on it since then. Here is the breif run down of what I did to get this truck on the road.

 

Plated the Unifram (not sure what to call it) on the drivers side since the gas tank was out. Plaing runs from about 10" before the "frame" starts at the back of the cab and 14" back the frame, 24" over all. Inside, outside and under the frame. Also boxed in the cab mounts both inside and outside. All done with 1/8" steel, painted and undecoated.

 

Replaced the leaking fuel tank, fuel pump prefilter, and all of the rubber fuel lines. Also replaced the fuel filter and the rubber lines for that.

 

New rear hard brake line from the proportioning valve to the rear. Moved the rear flex line frame mount to in front for the cross member. Master cylinder replaced with an E350 Ford van master cylinder, proportioing valve is from a Jeep YJ, load sensing valve has been removed. Replaced rear wheel cylinders and rear ebrake cables. Replaced one front caliper due to a frozen bleed screw. Brakes work very well now.

 

1998 XJ clutch master and slave cylinder. For the master cylinder mount I used a hole saw and cut the center of the 1998 mount out of the plate, the part that is formed for the master cylinder to slip through and twist into. Made a plate to fit the stock mounting holes and welded studed to it. Removed the bracket from the inside of the firewall and drilled the studs out so the new plate I made could be bolted in.

 

Replace two large sections of the drive floor, passenger floor was in good shape. Cleaned the foot wells up, bed lined them and reinstalled the carpeting.

 

Replaced alot of the broken and missing hardware from the interior trim, still have more to do there. Also properly installed the shifter into the transmission and fix the shifter console which had broken mounts. Freed up and lubed the seat slider for the bench seat, I think I will actually keep the bench seat, I kind of like it.

 

Cut out the rusting metal under the battery and made a replacement panel. Replaced trashed battery tray with one from a 1996 XJ. Painted and undercoated replacement panel.

 

Cleaned up and re undercoated both front wheel wells and replaced the plastic liners with rubber one from a 1996 XJ with new push clips. Also re undercoated along the frame rails and floors. Pulled both the front flares and ditched the rusted mounting plates, replaced all of that hardware. There is no rust under the fender flares, yes.

 

Removed the chrome step bars due to the fact that they were not for an MJ and the where held in place a self tapper screws.

 

Fixed all broken and rotted vacum lines under the hook. New air cleaner. Removed all of the AC lines and hardware, except for the condenser, if I am going to take the time to rip that out I want an open cooling system to install while I have it apart. The lines were all cut and crimped shut so there was no use saving them or keeping them intacted. AC compresor is still there, will eventually be converter to OBA

 

New window seals in the doors, lubed up the window regualtors but the DS gas a stripped section and needs to be replaced.

 

Fixed the wiring issue with the front turn signal and added an electric flasher for the turnn signals. Got radio working again. Fixed the fuse issue for the gauges and dash lights, fuses werent blow just loose.

 

There are still a million little things to attend too but it is road worthy and safe and I am sure I missed some of the things I did. It was inspected Thursday. I will get back to the little stuff later but I need to move on to some other stuff. I will try to get some pictures resized and posted up in the next few days. I bought this truck for $1300, have probably another $300-$400 into it, I am pleased with it, all of the work was worth the effort. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions in this and other threads. It feels good to be driving a Jeep with a 5 speed as a daily driver again, I drove a little automatic cars with the engine in the wrong way for too long.