mjeff87 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 On December 21, 2019 at 6:47 PM, Drahcir495 said: You guys and your shiny clean engine compartments (just jealous) If you like the KJ engine bay, you'll love the Focus. It was a bit of a hot mess when I got it, but I've been slowly working on getting it cleaned up. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Just got to rub it in don’t ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 Well, I've put about 200 miles on it now. Nothing is leaking, or knocking, or banging. Coolant level hasn't dropped any, oil is still nice and clean, and she's chugging down the road just fine. Knock on wood, but I'm gonna call this repair job good. Lol. It should be good for at least another 135K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Oh yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 Holy crap, had a near vomit moment today. I flushed the heater core in the KJ last week, but haven't driven it since. I decided to take it out today, down to the grocery store a couple miles away. It ran great the whole way, with heat out of the vents so hot I could melt steel. Got back home and parked in the driveway, went inside the house for a few minutes. Came back out to a puddle of coolant underneath, with a steady heavy drip coming out of the passenger side. Pulled it into the garage, still whizzing coolant everywhere. Popped the hood, nothing was leaking on the engine, nor inside the cab. I deduced the heater core had sprung a leak and my heart sank. I seriously thought about putting a couple rounds into it with my 9mm or driving it off a cliff. Then it stopped dripping. Turns out, it was just leaking spilled coolant from when I flushed it. My driveway is not level, it faces uphill from my garage. When I flushed the core, I had the front end facing uphill, and must have trapped a couple gallons of water/coolant inside the frame rail/behind the firewall and heat shields. It all settled to the back, and when I got home I parked nose down in the driveway and it all flowed forward and leaked out. Talk about a heart attack moment, lol. I seriously thought I'd be ripping out the dash to replace the heater core.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 so glad it wasn't a leak! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 It's all good. I do have a very tiny leak from the back corner of the trans pan, gasket is worn out. I'm about 10k miles late on trans service....I'm going to drop and replace the pan and pony up for a lubelocker gasket for it. Front axle pinion seal needs replacing too...it's a bit damp with gear oil on the bottom, but it's not dripping or slinging oil anywhere yet. I hate leaking vehicles (so why do I drive a Jeep?) I can't really complain though. The darn thing is almost 20 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante2 Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Awesome that you got it fixed and running good! When I end up doing the wife's KJ it's getting a new engine. Over 235K and it uses oil like it's free. No joke on the heater core it was about an 8 hour job and hopefully it will last another 10 or more years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 If it's using oil, it's likely the valve stem oil seals in the head(s). I change my oil religiously at 3K miles, and it will burn a quart in 1000 miles. I fill it back up, and it stays full until the next oil change. No idea why, but it's always done that.....I just remember to check it at the 1K mile mark. I'm afraid if I had to change the heater core, I'd either bypass it entirely (can't really do that right now, because winter), or get rid of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 Dropped off my old camshaft at the speed shop a couple weeks ago. They drilled and tapped the POS pin and pulled it out for me for the tidy sum of $10, lol. Ill press a new pin in it and keep it as a spare. They're pretty hard to find new anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted February 11, 2020 Author Share Posted February 11, 2020 Talk about a nickel holding up a dollar.....that dowel pin. I can order it online for $3 and some change, but also with $13 shipping..... I actually went to the dealership yesterday, they are ordering it in for me (picking it up today after work) for $7. LOL. So that'll be $17 total to repair my original camshaft. That's exactly what I paid the junkyard for the camshaft I pulled and installed, which is running absolutely perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I hate when shipping is twice the cost of the part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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