New here, proud owner of two Comanche's

[Timmmmmy]

Hey there, my name is Ryan, I live in Vancouver Canada and I have two 1989 Comanche's.

 

Comanche one is a silver Rwd 2.5L auto, short box, sport truck, 177,000 Km, rust free and looks real pretty.

 

Comanche two is a 5 speed, 4.0L, 4x4, long box, 255,000 Km, needs A LOT of work.

 

Just bought the 4x4 in hopes of getting it running but my mechanic told me the most of the front suspension, engine, and a whole whack of other things are shot.

 

So it looks like I will be sticking with the sport truck. Gonna part out the 4x4 and try and restore the Rwd. 4x4 conversion eventually. Would post pics but not sure how.

 

The Rwd sport truck however has some engine problems of it's own. It runs terrible. when it is given gas it miss fires like crazy. takes a long time to get to speed. A compression test was done and it got 30 across all 4 cylenders. It has an exhaust leak that can be heard but not sure this is enough to cause the low compression. It is not blowing any blue smoke or leaking oil either. I have already put a new gas tank and fuel filter on her as it was rusty and putting crap through the fuel lines, blew out the fuel lines as well. I read on here to connect all vacume hoses if this problem occurs. My mechanic connected some of the vacuum hoses and said a few were un necessary (still un connected). He said I probably needs a new engine. I thought I would ask you guys your opinion on the 2.5L engine. I am also going to take it to a Chrysler dealership to get a second opinion. Any ideas what could be causing this? dropping in a new engine is pricy... Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[jimoshel]

Welcome to the club Ryan. First, DON'T PART THE 4X4. A cherokee, XJ, will furnish 90% of the parts you need and I know they're plentiful in Vancouver. As for the 2.5, in my opinion they're one of the most dependable and reliable engines ever to go in a Jeep. My DD is a '87 MJ with the 2.5 and 4 spd, 2WD. 190K and it does everything I ask of it. Maybe 5% of the time I could use a little more power but the other 95% it gets the job done with no complaints.

[dasbulliwagen]

As for your compression on the 2.5.... 30 PSI is NOT good. And I am assuming youre telling us in PSI, but being that youre in Canada, maybe the 30 is Kpa or something else. Please clarify this for us. If its 30 PSI, you need a new engine or a rebuild. As for going to the dealer for a second opinion, most of the techs at the dealer rarely if ever see a Renix 2.5 in the shop. I'm a Jeep dealer tech and none of us want to see a renix come into the shop, mostly because none of us have much if any experience with them and they are hard to get running info from. A good independant shop will be better for you and cost less.

[Timmmmmy]

Yeah it's at 30 psi... There is a place near by that specializes in jeep. Gonna see if they any decent used engines tomorrow.