A couple questions- MPG, Wheel bearing noise, Renix/HO swap

[turboxr]

Hey all. I found a cherry candidate for very reasonable money. It's an 87 Pioneer 4.0 AW4 4x4 longbed. NO RUST. I just test drove it. It runs and drives very well. It just has me asking a couple questions:

 

-I had to turn the ignition two or three times before it would engage the starter. Wiring? Fuseable links? Ignition cylinder?

-It sounds like a wheel bearing is going out, or it could be a sticky caliper/dragging pads. Is there anything else that would sound like a bearing that it could be? How bad are the bearings to replace on these?

-Has a really high pitched whistle which the owner says the dealer said was a hole in the intake manifold. Sounds like a gasket perhaps? Is this common?

-What should the fuel mileage be? I'd love to get somewhere around 19-21.

-What is entailed in swapping the Renix stuff to the later Chrysler HO stuff? Do I need an entire wiring harness to go along with the manifold/ecu/etc?

-Owner says it needs motor mounts. Royal pain in the you-know-what?

 

Here are pics of the beast:

 

 

 

 

Sorry for all the questions and please be gentle with me. I'm a newb to MJ's but not to cars or to forums. Some forums would ban me immediately for asking any question.

 

Thanks!

[Boots]

Rule #2: Absolutely NO apologizing for asking questions!!! That is what we're here for, answering each others questions. There's no need to feel bad because you are unsure of something or if you couldn't find what you were looking for using the "search" feature. We all start at the bottom of the knowledge ladder and there's only one way to climb up. I encourage you to ask whatever is on your mind. The flip side of this coin is please do not yell at people to use the search.

 

 

 

and

[turboxr]

That's not how most forums are, trust me.

[Kenbob]

It is normal for renex engines to turn over 3-5 times before starting. Wheel bearing noise: I heard a weird noise coming out of mine yesterday. The best i can say is that it sounded like a horse trotting across a bridge (low speed, window down). I am certain mine is the center hubs that screw to the stock wheels. One is loose. You have to take the wheel off to fix. From the pix I don't think you have a seperate center that screws to the wheel, so it is something else.

[turboxr]

No, it won't turn over at all the first couple of times I turn. It seems to me like the ignition cylinder is worn or something.

 

After doing some searching, it looks like the high pitched whistle is likely a cracked exhaust manifold. I'll be looking for a header I suppose.

[maddzz1]

-Motor mounts on these arent bad to replace. The pass. side is a little more of a problem because the bolt will hit the oil filter. Remove oil filter and sometimes even the oil filter adapter.

 

-If swapping to an HO you are better off buying a complete XJ donor. You have to swap all wiring. Then you still have to splice the XJ front harness to the rear MJ harness (theres a write-up in the DIY section), then you will need a fuel sending unit from a 91-92 MJ which arent made anymore. You can use the renix one but your fuel gauge will read backwards from what Ive read.

 

-I get between 14-16 MPG

 

-Our trucks normally take a while to turn over since everytime you start the truck the ECU needs to learn the position of the fly wheel since it isnt stored.

[jeepcoma]

Looks nice, I almost ended up with a '91 the same color with a matching bed cap. I still haven't decided if I like the color or hate it!

 

-I had to turn the ignition two or three times before it would engage the starter. Wiring? Fuseable links? Ignition cylinder?

 

Could be, but try starting it in neutral and see if it goes away. Or, if you're able, when you turn the key and nothing happens, hold it there in the "start" position and jiggle the shifter, then shift to neutral. Could be the safety switch.

 

-It sounds like a wheel bearing is going out, or it could be a sticky caliper/dragging pads. Is there anything else that would sound like a bearing that it could be? How bad are the bearings to replace on these?

 

There are 5 ujoints in the front (3 in the driveshaft, one each on the axles), if any of those are worn you could be hearing that. Removing the front d-shaft is easy and a quick check to see if it's the problem. If you end up replacing the axle joints, you might as well swap in the later year thicker shafts/joints and replacing the hubs.

 

-Has a really high pitched whistle which the owner says the dealer said was a hole in the intake manifold. Sounds like a gasket perhaps? Is this common?

 

As you mentioned, it's likely the exhaust manifold. Replacement headers are cheap and plentiful. It should sound different from a constant whistle though (which I'd think to be vacuum leak, like from the intake manifold) and be more like a tick-tick-puff-puff kinda sound that would change as the engine warms up and as RPMs change. A vacuum leak would be far more constant; try sticking a vacuum gauge on it.

[jeep10]

Hey all. I found a cherry candidate for very reasonable money. It's an 87 Pioneer 4.0 AW4 4x4 longbed. NO RUST. I just test drove it. It runs and drives very well. It just has me asking a couple questions:

 

-I had to turn the ignition two or three times before it would engage the starter. Wiring? Fuseable links? Ignition cylinder?

-It sounds like a wheel bearing is going out, or it could be a sticky caliper/dragging pads. Is there anything else that would sound like a bearing that it could be? How bad are the bearings to replace on these?

-Has a really high pitched whistle which the owner says the dealer said was a hole in the intake manifold. Sounds like a gasket perhaps? Is this common?

-What should the fuel mileage be? I'd love to get somewhere around 19-21.

-What is entailed in swapping the Renix stuff to the later Chrysler HO stuff? Do I need an entire wiring harness to go along with the manifold/ecu/etc?

-Owner says it needs motor mounts. Royal pain in the you-know-what?

 

Here are pics of the beast:

 

 

 

 

Sorry for all the questions and please be gentle with me. I'm a newb to MJ's but not to cars or to forums. Some forums would ban me immediately for asking any question.

 

Thanks!

Welcome and nice looking MJ

Turn over problem could be faulty safety switch, ignition switch on lower colume needs adjustment or possible ignititon switch failing at times.

Whistle / does it have a aftermarket cold air intake by any chance ? Mine does and it sounds like a turbo whistle at times.

And a stickey caliper normally will cause pull or drift going down the road to the side that is sticking.

[alleydog]

My son drives an 89 XJ that I think is the same color as yours, I love it. My MJ is dark blue, like so many others.

 

I bet you need a starter, but make sure all the connections are good on the battery cables first. As far as the HO swap, I don't kow if it's really worth the hassle to change it over, a well tuned renix is a good runner as is. Just my 2 cents worth.

[turboxr]

Guy with the 87 took $1k. Rust free and runs and drives well. Needs a couple hundred to be really really nice, but I'm not complaining. I think I'm here to stay guys. I'll make a build thread when I pick the truck up on Thursday.

[mvusse]

In my experience having to turn the key a few times before the starter engages is more of then than not he starter itself.

 

Wheel bearings are not too bad to replace if they are not rust welded to the steering knuckle. This trick usually works quite well, using your power steering as a hydraulic press:

 

[duster1971]

Huh wish I wuld of thaught of that when I was changing the bearings on my couzins 86xj. It wasn't bad and the bfh made the removal of the bad bearing fairly easy.