Silver 88 Comanche Resto

[91Pioneer]

OK folks well I'm finally a Comanche owner. I picked up a pretty clean '88 short box. You can see my "Going to look at an 88" thread here: http://comancheclub.com/topic/41721-going-to-look-at-an-88/

 

Here's a quick low-down on the truck... 4.0L 4x4 5-speed (BA-10). It has 235,000 km (146,000 miles). Silver on the outside, not factory paint but is pretty close to factory color, blue interior. No options really, no air conditioning, no cruise. It has tilt, and a sliding rear window, that's about it.

 

The good:

- Very little rust compared to most around here, one "ding" that's it

- Has full gauges

- It always starts, the guy told me it starts after 5-6 tries, nope every time, just let 'er crank for the 5 seconds or so it needs (I don't think he let it crank long enough)

- Recent full safety inspection

- Floor boards not totally full of holes LOL

 

The bad:

- Previous total loss vehicle (sideswiped but mostly fixed)

- So some body damage needs to be fixed (front fender, door crease/dent)

- Heater temp control doesn't change the temp, it's always hot

- A bunch of rust spots, but all minor and repairable

- Used to have a remote starter so there are some cut wires under the dash

 

I don't have all my plans in place on what I want to do to the truck, but first up will be maintenance type stuff:

- cruisers's renix tips (grounds, wiring, cps, etc.)

- replace valve cover gasket

- fix squealing noise from engine (belt/pulley area)

- replace ignition cylinder lock (can start without a key right now)

 

Long term I may even repaint the truck or swap out a grey interior. Or maybe an AX15 & NP242. I'm not in a rush to do that stuff though.

 

Pics below.

 

 

 

 

 

[buxmj]

Welcome to the madness and that is a great find!  
Buck

[91Pioneer]

Well since I enjoy reading other people's project threads, I thought I should update my thread. I've stopped driving my truck since I discovered the first item below...

 

In the last week I've discovered/done:

- Removed serpentine belt to diagnose engine squeal. Turns out it's the harmonic balancer rubbing on the timing chain cover. I've got a new one on it's way to me from RockAuto

- Ordered replacement emissions hoses from RockAuto, mine are rotten & leaking

- Radio illumination doesn't work so I pulled the radio, discovered the wires were twisted together, so I soldered them all and am shopping for a replacement stock OEM stereo

- Ordered & received new ignition lock cylinder (just need to find a lock plate tool now)

- Removed IAC (idle stepper motor) & cleaned it & throttle body using TB cleaner, reinstalled

- Disconnected & cleaned many underhood wiring connectors

- Connected heater blend door cable, was totally disconnected

- Diagnosed passenger window would not go down all the way. The bottom plastic tube on the regulator popped off which caused the part with the teeth to rust out. Ordered used regulator from eBay ($30 shipped, pretty good deal)

- Ordered Dakota odor bomb to help get rid of funky/smoke smell on interior, read good reviews online of Dakota odor eliminator products.

- Discovered very frayed park brake release cable, bought one from member here that isn't frayed

 

What's up in the near short term:

- Harmonic balancer replacement

- Passenger side manual window regulator replacement

- Installation of ignition lock cylinder

- Continue checking engine grounds, add 4ga wires at firewall/battery as per cruiser's Renix tips

- Give everything a real good cleaning

- New valve cover gasket & cut down vent tubes on bottom of cover

- Lubricate hood release cable/mechanism to prevent future problems

- Shop for various things like "normal" exterior mirrors

 

I'll try to post more pics when I have something worth posting...

[91Pioneer]

I got the ignition switch cylinder done tonight, used the free tool loan program from the auto parts store. Boy my interior looks like a hoopty car right now, I need to get it cleaned up and put back together!

 

[gogmorgo]

My interior has looked worse... so long as you're not driving with the dash on your lap and the steering wheel flopping around due to it just being shoved onto the end of a disassembled and unsupported column, I'd say you're still doing fine.

 

You might also want to add upgrading the headlight harness to that list if you haven't already.

 

Incidentally, I've got a complete grey interior in my MJ and am kinda wondering what a blue one would look like, given my dark blue exterior. If you're ever up here with your MJ, I might want to check it out. Don't make a special trip up here though, cause I'm not all that close to sold on the idea of swapping out my interior (I'm pretty anal retentive about changing the colour of things), and you might decide you don't want it after checking it out.

[Minuit]

Glad to see you bought this one. Great looking truck.

[91Pioneer]

You might also want to add upgrading the headlight harness to that list if you haven't already.

 

Incidentally, I've got a complete grey interior in my MJ and am kinda wondering what a blue one would look like, given my dark blue exterior. If you're ever up here with your MJ, I might want to check it out. Don't make a special trip up here though, cause I'm not all that close to sold on the idea of swapping out my interior (I'm pretty anal retentive about changing the colour of things), and you might decide you don't want it after checking it out.

gogmorgo, headlight harness is on my to-do list, just not right away as I'll leave the headlights stock and don't drive much at night anyway. I'm doing my best to prioritize things right now and not get too carried away with things ;)

 

If I decide to keep the truck long-term, I'll probably repaint it red and put in grey interior. So I'll be keeping my eye on grey interior parts whenever I go to the junkyard. Honestly swapping interiors isn't out of the question for me... is your interior in decent shape? My interior isn't perfect but it is in great shape. I was actually searching yesterday on interior paint seeing if repainting my interior grey was an option :D

 

I already have a grey leather steering wheel & grey glove box door.

[gogmorgo]

It's far from perfect. The carpet has stains. The door panels are good though, and so are the mj-specific plastics. The headliner needs new fabric and the vinyl seats are torn, but I'd be keeping the buckets anyhow unless I can find another pair.

[91Pioneer]

Time for another update. Stuff I've done since last update:

- Bought some Teflon lubricating spray from the auto parts store, used it to lubricate the hood release cable and mechanisms

- After replacing the ignition lock cylinder I had a no-start condition. Long story short is that I had to adjust the rod that goes from the lock cylinder down to the actual ignition switch to make the key go to the actual "start" position (technically you move the switch which adjusts the rod)

- Removed the lens cluster, polished it using plastic lens cleaner, it looks like new!

- Ordered and installed new Dorman clutch & brake pedal pads, the old ones were  pretty worn a bit

- Installed the Dorman harmonic balancer. Had a bit of a screw-up, when taking off the old one I accidentally started pulling off using the tool before removing the washer, whoops. That distorted the washer a bit but I drilled it and put everything back together OK

- Replaced the front main crank seal on the timing chain cover while I was there. Boy that was a real b**ch to get out. I put some black RTV in there when installing the new one and it went great (used FelPro seal, but stuck in the deep freeze to make it a tiny bit smaller, good tip for installing seals)

- Removed wiper arms, repainted satin (trim) black, re-installed with new wiper blades

- Bought wiper bushings to fix my slow wiper problem and replaced them but the real problem was the missing hold-down bolt on the washer motor. Replaced that with a bolt I had laying around, wipers work great now LOL

- Continued cleanup of interior, used a Dakota Odor Bomb to eliminate any funky smells, it works really well. Also, used epoxy to try and fix the big crack through the lower dash trim plastic, it worked OK.

- Replaced the frayed park brake cable release with the one I bought from a member here.

- Discovered exhaust manifold cracked where #5 & #6 cylinders meet the main exhaust header downtube

- Ordered the OEM European amber turn signal lenses from eBay

 

Next upcoming things:

- New valvecover gasket (good FelPro one) & do cruisers' valve cover mod

- Install middle seat belt

- Order extra 4 gauge ground cables & continue cleaning wiring connectors/grounds

- Try QuickSteel on the exhaust manifold to seal the cracks, even temporarily

- Drain and refill trans fluid with Amsoil 75W90 GL-5 synthetic for more time out of the trans

- Figure out why the clock no longer illuminates, it was working fine a week ago when I had the dash apart

- "Clean up" exterior, remove pinstripe, tacky Pioneer decals, black rub strips

- and any unknown mechanical issues that pop up

 

OK that's it for now. As you can see I've been taking care of my new-to-me Comanche :thumbsup:

[Minuit]

Looks like you're on top of the common things. IIRC the 88 dash clock has a bulb for a backlight - check there first. Love this truck, keep it up. :thumbsup:

[USAFAGumby]

Truck looks great!! Seriously reminds me of my 89. Great buy too!

[91Pioneer]

I hit up the junkyard the other day, came back with some goodies. A clock, some grey interior trim pieces, courtesy light (sockets), 97+ Cherokee door weatherstrip, etc.

 

Updates:

- the '89 clock I installed is perfect, like new, easily readable during the day. I also put in a new #74 light bulb before installing it though.

- I received my $30 replacement radio from eBay, it works wonderfully, lights up, it even had a cassette in it. Bonus here is it has the extra two pins inside so I can connect an AUX input port if I really wanted to.

- Added the cigarette lighter light I picked up at the junk yard

- installed the amber OEM turn signal lenses I got from eBay:

 

 

More updates to come...

[91Pioneer]

Wow it's been a month since my last update, I shouldn't wait so long between updates LOL.

 

So nothing too glamorous to report this time:

- Did another shot of the dakota odor bomb on the interior, it seems to smell OK now

- Fixed tailgate strap rattle, put in a used tailgate rubber bumper, I cut it to fit, I'm not sure what it came off of, I got it from the junkyard

- Discovered a leaking block heater so I replaced it

- Applied QuickSteel to the cracked exhaust manifold. Long story short it was useless and a waste of money

- Replaced the door glass wipe moldings with junkyard ones, the old ones were cracked all over

 

- Installed fender bolts on the bottom of the drivers side fender (they were missing from both fenders)

- Drained, ran a Prestone flush, and refilled the cooling system. Fair share of brown in the heater core especially, I took the hoses off and flushed some water through it before refilling the system. Surprisingly I had no problems with air in the system after refilling, so I'm guessing the thermostat has a tiny hole in it because the truck gets up to temperature just fine normally and does not overheat. I also noticed some "gunk" coated all over inside everything, the rad hoses, the engine block, etc. I suspect that a PO used stop leak at one point and it's created buildup all over inside the whole cooling system. It should be illegal to sell cooling stop-leak, it's not even a band-aid fix, it is awful.

- Found high tire pressures, rear was 48 & 40, front was 40 and 30. Fixed that, that explains why the rear end was so very rough over bumps & potholes

 

- Discovered both rear leaf springs are broken on the bottom leaf in the pack, same spot both sides, in front of the axle.

- Installed the middle seat belt I bought from yellaheep (good seller)

- Had a crazy bout of 2,500-3,000 rpm idle on startup yesterday. Normally I can just shut the truck off, restart it, and do that a few times and it will go back to normal. It wouldn't. So I took the C101 connector apart and it was a nightmare. So much black tar and crap, I cleaned it up as best as I could and put it back together. That seems to have fixed my crazy high idle problem instantly. I will either clean it again or eliminate the C101 in the future, but for now it's starting wonderfully, I've started probably 20 times since then. It might just be in my head but it feels like the engine is just a tiny bit smoother now too.

- Bought Amsoil 75W90 GL-5 synthetic fluid for the trans

 

OK that's it for now. As you can see it's nothing exciting but I like doing this stuff, it's making the truck more reliable and just better.

[benjy_26]

If you haven't thrown the amsoil in the tranny yet, swap it for a synthetic 10-30. It's what Mopar recommends in one of their TSB's and works great in the Aisin tranny's.

[91Pioneer]

I've got the BA 10/5 trans (I don't think that's an Aisin), I'm hoping to do the trans fluid tomorrow.

 

Anywho, I did my research online before buying the fluid and most people recommend going with a synthetic 75W90 for the BA10. The owners manual calls for SAE75W-90 (API-GL5) so I figured if the tranny is still going with that fluid I may as well stick with it... but switch to synthetic. As far as I can tell there is nothing "official" from either Jeep or Peugeot saying the 10W40 is OK to use. If you have access to a TSB then let me know.

 

Oh, and it sounds like I should extend the breather hose up higher too.

[Wiggilez]

uugggg, I'm jealous of your trucks strait and cleanliness. 

[91Pioneer]

OK time for another update y'all.

 

Since my last update I did change the trans fluid. I got my hands on the 8mm square socket and soaked down the fill plug the night before with a quality penetrating lube. Surprisingly it came out well, the whole process worked well except for the refill pump. I bought a cheapo hand pump that broke by the first half-quart when refilling so I had to go out a buy a much higher quality metal suction gun that really got the job done right. Bonus, now I have a good suction gun for doing the transfer case & diff fluid changes also.

 

Judging by the condition of the fill plug, someone tried removing it using a chisel since they didn't have the right tool. It was gouged up pretty good and the square was deformed a bit. The fluid that came out was black as tar, it was WAAAAAAAY overdue for a change. At least the fluid level did not seem low at all. Anywho, I got the new synthetic fluid in there and it shifts A LOT more smoothly. Definitely worth the time and money, I probably extended the life of my BA10 :-)

 

I also removed & cleaned the IAT sensor using brake cleaner I think it was. I sprayed some Caig Deoxit on the electrical connectors under the hood. I applied some "Inferno metal patch" to the crack in the exhaust manifold, it helped a little bit.

 

I added 4 gauge ground wires (battery & head to firewall). I put dome dielectric grease on the distributor cap contacts and plug wire contacts. I sprayed the CPS with brake cleaner, it was pretty gunky down there.

 

I bought and installed a new Dorman 603-300 coolant pressure bottle since mine was leaking worse and worse. Funny how you fix one coolant leak and then the next weak thing starts leaking. I'm waiting for the water pump to start leaking now LOL.

 

I cleaned the ICM/coil contacts. I installed a new Dorman passenger side outside door handle (I absolutely could not stand the grand cherokee handle that was on there!). I replaced the passenger window regulator. That's a fun job, actually not hard, just a bit tricky getting it out and in.

 

The shop that did the full provincial inspection on the Jeep last December paid to replace the two broken rear leaf springs out of the pack as they missed that in their inspection. I added about 1/4 can of Seafoam to the crankcase to help clean up the internals of the engine prior to removing the valve cover for the mod & new gasket.

 

I also bought & installed a passenger side 97+ Cherokee outside mirror since the 84-96 ones are so hard to find and I desperately wanted a mirror there. Then, today I bought & installed a non-broken driver side corner lamp & chrome headlight trim.

 

That's it for now. I think my progress will slow down a bit now. I discovered that while driving on the highway, it causes a pretty good leak out the rear diff pinion seal, so that's moved up on my to-do list now. Honestly I'm enjoying all this "tinkering". My daily driver is a 2013 so it doesn't need a thing, that's so boring!

[91Pioneer]

Time for another minor update.

 

I've been busy and out of town so didn't get a whole lot done lately.

 

I fixed the blend door cable, it took me a while but I figured out how to get that darn clip on properly. I changed the transfer case fluid (boy it needed it), put in Mobil 1 full synthetic ATF. I cleared the rear axle vent line, which caused about a quarter liter of fluid to leak out the pinion seal overnight.

 

I removed the ugly Pioneer decals from the bedsides, and used PlastX polish to make the tail lights look good. Otherwise I bought a few things for future project time: a used exhaust manifold with no cracks, a rear pinion seal, and a FelPro exhaust gasket.

 

Oh yeah and yesterday I cleaned the carpet using Turtle Wax PowerOut Carpet Cleaner and stiff bristled brush, I'm VERY impressed with the result. Here is a before & after pic, I may touch up a few spots a second time, but wow for $8 it made a world of difference!

 

[Megadan]

Have you pulled back the carpet up front to check the condition of the floors yet?  My truck is nearly immaculate as far as rust goes, but even I found a small bit of rust through in the drivers floor board that actually rusted from the inside out.  

That is a really nice truck though, very clean.  I really like the front amber turn signals too, I may have to look into getting a set.

[91Pioneer]

I did pull up the passenger side while I was cleaning the carpet. Very small amount of surface rust, actually very good condition as compared to what I expected. My cab is really solid, worst rust is on the box (wheel wells). Truck was originally from BC (west coast), cars last a lot longer there because of winter conditions aren't so severe.

[Minuit]

At first I wasn't quite sure but I love the way the front end looks on that truck. The interior is definitely growing on me too. Keep it up. :thumbsup:

[91Pioneer]

To be honest, the interior is growing on me too. I originally did not like the blue and really wanted gray, but now I'm not in a rush to collect all the rest of the gray parts LOL

[91Pioneer]

Here are a couple more interior photos just because.

 

 

 

[91Pioneer]

Time for another update. I haven't done a whole lot since my last update as I've been busy but, I did manage to replace the rear pinion seal. In doing that I discovered my pinion yoke was beyond repair, so I also put in a new pinion yoke (Omix-Ada one).

 

I took the brake drums off and discovered that a cable inside the drum (for the park brake maybe??) was out of place, it had slipped out of the metal guide. So I put it back in place.

 

I discovered one of the vacuum lines for the CAD was disconnected, so I cleaned up the CAD really well (it was covered in oil & dirt) and re-connected that, it was the green line.

 

I installed an adjustable eye bolt thingy to the rear brake load valve thing, so it should be operating normally now. I guess the rear springs have sagged over the years which caused the arm to be up higher than it should be (level when truck is unloaded). The brakes do feel a little better now.

 

I put fresh Amsoil 75W90 GL-5 full synthetic lube in the rear diff. Man the old fluid was nasty black, probably original stuff.

 

While I was there, I also cleaned up and sprayed the rear springs & diff/axle with Rustoleum semi-gloss black paint. It's lookin' real nice now.

 

And today I discovered a very minor gas leak on the rear fuel rail connection. Seems to be old o-rings, I'll be replacing those ASAP.

 

And in other news I'm going to look at a 91 Comanche for sale on Tuesday. Long story short is if I buy the other one, this '88 silver one will be for sale on Wednesday :-)

[Kickinmule]

Well I'm going to hate to see you let go of the '88 as I am kinda using your thread as a guide! As I start the "get her Rollin process"