Bruce has to enroll at MJ academy

[brucecooner]

I succumbed to some sort of mania, which most of you will probably understand, upon encountering a super clean 1988 Gray MJ with a 4.0 with 190K on the clock and 5 speed manual and no rust.

I appear to have bought it.  When I awoke from a fever dream it was parked in my driveway.

 

I've wanted a four wheel drive vehicle for a while. I live in Arizona and there are more than a few roads I've had to avoid as being beyond my 2WD Ranger's abilities.

 

I've long been drawn to XJ's. They have a solid reputation and I see them all over the roads here, the dry climate here granting them some measure of immortality.  But I really wanted a truck. I just like trucks and I think most guys understand that. Mix those ingredients together and you get the somewhat rare beast that is the Comanche. So an MJ was high on my shopping list.

 

We can and should debate the merits of buying a 30+ year old vehicle as one's first four wheeler. And had I done my research by reading some of the juicier threads here, I probably would have passed on buying a 30 year old truck and put the money down on a lightly used Wrangler.  I could have been out there wheeling right now!

But I have wanted a vehicle I could learn to wrench on a little bit. Also I find four wheel drive suspension systems fascinating and would like to begin tinkering with one. The example I bought was clean enough that it didn't look like it would require a mountain of effort to keep going. But I never lied to myself that owning a decades old truck wouldn't entail learning and effort.

All sufficiently old vehicles are project vehicles, no matter what state they're in.

 

And, at the end of the day, I just love the way it looks. 

It's true I have always said one should never buy a car or get married based on looks alone, but I've also never been one to take my own advice.

 

So yeah, I made a questionable choice, but not one I can say I regret (yet).

It starts, runs, and drives like a new one. And the miles I've driven it so far have put a smile on my face.

But if I'm being honest, I'm nervous.

The reliable old voice of doubt keeps repeating, "There is more here than you can hope to learn. You didn't think practically, and now you're in over your head."

I don't have a lot of mechanical knowledge and I'm afraid of encountering problems I can't fix, or breaking things I can't replace.

But I wake up as a student, every day, and I've had to learn new things my whole life.

If other people can do it, I can do it.

 

I don't plan any modifications.

It already came with slightly larger wheels and tires, which was all the mod I wanted, and in its current state it will probably travel all the roads I've earmarked for exploration.

But I wouldn't dream of taking it into the wilds of Arizona without being reasonably sure it will get me back.

 

So my plan for it at this time, is to learn about it.

 

I need to learn what to check and how to check it.

I need to learn what to refill, and with what.

I need to learn what those clunking sounds are.

I need to learn what I need to replace or fix.

I need to learn what to listen and look for.

I need to learn what I can do, and what I can't, and where I can get them done.

I need to learn what I'm overlooking.

 

 

So my plan is to break down the learning, from the most very basic stuff, and work my way up.

I'm certain this will lead to lots of intensely amateur questions in the tech forum.

But my impression so far is that folks here understand, when we need info we just need it.

It doesn't matter how basic information might seem to the person who has it, what matters is that it's valuable to the person asking the question.

 

So wish me luck, and with any of that luck I'll have my dream truck on some of those trails soon.

 

I'm tracking stuff to do and stuff I've learned in another post further down:

https://comancheclub.com/topic/68912-bruce-has-to-enroll-at-mj-academy/?do=findComment&comment=721403

 

[howeitsdone]

Bring on the questions! I learned a lot here. Also...

 

[brucecooner]

I was thinking, "I posted a pic in the VIN thread, I don't want to over do it."

But this is definitely a place that warrants a picture or two.

 

 

 

[eaglescout526]

Welcome to the addiction! She is a clean MJ that’s for sure and I’ll have to make it a goal to see it in person. 

[Pete M]

this is the place that warrants ALL the pictures.   no such thing as too many!

 

you missed one thing on your plan, start taking it to car shows!  old american iron that nice deserves to be shown off now and again.  

 

oh, and for sure disable the CAD.

[JMO413]

This will help everyone with answering questions.

 

 

http://cruiser54.com/

 

Cruisers website it definitely required.

 

Welcome to the club and the addiction.

 

[brucecooner]

Thanks everyone for the welcomes.

 

I took PocketsEmptied and Pete M's advice and added some pictures.  And JMO413's and updated my sig so it's at least somewhat informative.

I've also got cruiser's website bookmarked, I'll have to see how far I can make it down the list.

 

The only bad road habit it has is that bringing it to a stop is an action you have to plan way ahead for.

And it squeals a bit while stopping, so next on my plan is to jack it up, take the wheels off and have a looky at the brake situation.

 

[brucecooner]

13 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

Welcome to the addiction! She is a clean MJ that’s for sure and I’ll have to make it a goal to see it in person. 

 

Sure thing.  I've been meaning to ask you if there was any XJ/MJ/Jeep community around the west valley.

I'm also curious what kind of XJ compatible businesses we might have around.  Not many, I suspect, but a four wheel drive shop might be able to a few things.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Pete M said:

this is the place that warrants ALL the pictures.   no such thing as too many!

 

you missed one thing on your plan, start taking it to car shows!  old american iron that nice deserves to be shown off now and again.  

 

oh, and for sure disable the CAD.

lol I hadn't even thought of taking it to a show.  I really did just buy it as my truck.

 

But you're right, there aren't many of these around, and there's probably more than a few Jeep and old truck enthusiasts who'd enjoy seeing it at a show.

I'll have to add that to the plan.

 

I figured out CAD is the Central Axle Disconnect. I'll have to do some research on that.

Thanks!

[Pete M]

the link in my signature has some free ways to bypass it so your 4wd is reliable.  

 

there are less than 19,000 MJs left on the roads.  

[eaglescout526]

1 hour ago, brucecooner said:

Sure thing.  I've been meaning to ask you if there was any XJ/MJ/Jeep community around the west valley.

I'm also curious what kind of XJ compatible businesses we might have around.  Not many, I suspect, but a four wheel drive shop might be able to a few things.

Honestly? I don't know of any. I know there is the AZ 4x4 club and possibly a group called XJ outlaws but I really don't know since everything has migrated towards the internet. I did how ever join the cactus chapter of the American Motors Owners club recently. If you find a group that isnt full of snarky JK owners, I would be happy to give it a whirl. But most everyone here in AZ are jeeple. Meaning they arent Jeep enthusiasts. Ill wave at the XJs, YJs and anything older but I usually wait for the newer models to recognize what I am driving.

[89 MJ]

12 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

If you find a group that isnt full of snarky JK owners, I would be happy to give it a whirl.

Please keep me in the loop on that too

[JimiGibbs]

Beautiful truck..... WELCOME

[eaglescout526]

2 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Please keep me in the loop on that too

Oh indeed!

[olddude]

15 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

Honestly? I don't know of any. I know there is the AZ 4x4 club and possibly a group called XJ outlaws but I really don't know since everything has migrated towards the internet. I did how ever join the cactus chapter of the American Motors Owners club recently. If you find a group that isnt full of snarky JK owners, I would be happy to give it a whirl. But most everyone here in AZ are jeeple. Meaning they arent Jeep enthusiasts. Ill wave at the XJs, YJs and anything older but I usually wait for the newer models to recognize what I am driving.

Careful, I am a 89 Comanche owner since it's birth and also a JK owner (not snarky). Just a Jeep Lover.

[eaglescout526]

6 minutes ago, olddude said:

Careful, I am a 89 Comanche owner since it's birth and also a JK owner (not snarky). Just a Jeep Lover.

Lol fair enough. But AZ seems to have a really weird Jeep culture. Like yes there was plenty of Jeeps around me growing up. I saw mostly XJs, ZJs and YJs, but none were ever jacked up and lifted from what I recall. Now a days its JKs, JLs and all the other little Jeeps Chrysler has produced and you might be able to find some stock YJs, XJs(97-01) TJ's and the other classics driving around but the drivers of them look to be starting out or its just their 'car' from point A to B. Funny enough, been driving my MJ for 6 years and I have never had a JK owner actually recognize what I was driving until a month ago. It was actually an enjoyable moment. 

 

Anywhoo back to the MJ at hand!

[olddude]

8 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

Lol fair enough. But AZ seems to have a really weird Jeep culture. Like yes there was plenty of Jeeps around me growing up. I saw mostly XJs, ZJs and YJs, but none were ever jacked up and lifted from what I recall. Now a days its JKs, JLs and all the other little Jeeps Chrysler has produced and you might be able to find some stock YJs, XJs(97-01) TJ's and the other classics driving around but the drivers of them look to be starting out or its just their 'car' from point A to B. Funny enough, been driving my MJ for 6 years and I have never had a JK owner actually recognize what I was driving until a month ago. It was actually an enjoyable moment. 

 

Anywhoo back to the MJ at hand!

I must be a little older than you..........when I was growing up there were 2 jeep owners in the neighborhood. They both drove military surplus jeeps everyday. One of them trimmed trees on the side and had a jeep trailer that he carried all of his equipment in. I was fascinated with him always hanging around and asking questions. He used to pay me to help train his hunting dogs. Good old days

[buxmj]

What a great find and glad you found this site to share your addiction! Shouldn't be long before other Jeep owners, well of older Jeeps, start giving you thumbs ups while driving and compliments while parked. 

[NHMJXJ]

On 4/23/2022 at 4:22 AM, brucecooner said:

"I posted a pic in the VIN thread, I don't want to over do it."

 

Please over do it. Often.  

 

Nice truck (looks remarkably familiar), great find, welcome!

[brucecooner]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes.

 

It's convenient to have a thread to record my "journey".

So I've started putting together a list of stuff to investigate. I think every owner probably has a list like this.

 

engine/trans:

* rear main leak ? https://comancheclub.com/topic/68978-the-rear-main-leak/ SOLVED: it was the clutch leaking, not the RMS. Hooray I guess?

* difficult start when warm, requires delicate use of gas pedal to start https://comancheclub.com/topic/69080-hard-to-start-when-warm-88/* surging idle, if I race it lightly then let off during idle it will stutter, act like it's going to stall https://comancheclub.com/topic/68979-surging-idle/

 

* seems to be a clunk from down below when I let out the clutch during upshift SOLVED: Yeah, that was the clutch. Not heard after new one.

* I need to learn how to check transmission fluid

 

suspension:

* I'd like to know how to look it over, what to inspect and what to look for

* a clunk coming from down low somewhere up front when starting from a stop while steering

 

interior:

* lights don't come on when doors are open (FIXED! Er, SOLVED! Turns out I don't know how to work a light switch.)

   https://comancheclub.com/topic/68912-bruce-has-to-enroll-at-mj-academy/?do=findComment&comment=722982

* passenger side window only cranks down halfway

 

electrical:

* do those things cruiser says to do on his site

 

brakes:

 

*squealing a little, need a general inspection (Took a look, the front pads are actually nice and fat, still need to look at the drum shoes though)

* very poor stopping power - pretty sure the booster is bad, need to check it out

 

[Gjeep]

Clean MJ! Congrats 

[brucecooner]

Thanks everyone!

 

I actually had a small win in the cab today.

 

The interior lights weren't turning on when I opened the doors.

 

My mind started racing around thinking about wiring and switches and everything, and completely skipping over the bulbs.

Spoiler alert, the bulbs weren't the problem.  The problem was way closer to home than that.

 

I carefully pried off the driver's side light fixture, unplugged the fixture, and figured out how to pull the bulb out.

The bulb has a pattern embossed on it that made it hard to see if there even was a filament, but the tester showed continuity.

I went back to the plug, which interestingly had one red and two black wires, so I figured duh, it has more than one way to come on.

Crucially, either of the black wires across the red showed 12 volts with the door open. Aha, so it wasn't a circuit issue.

This just left the fixture, which I took inside and began looking over very closely.

I was immediately confused that, with a tested bulb in it, there was zero continuity between the middle plug lead and the other end of the bulb.

I looked for a way to disassemble the lens from fixture so I could trace where the leads went, taking great care not to break some irreplaceable piece of 30 year old plastic.

It had a really weird design. At one end the bulb sat in a little round cradle that I found out had NO connection to either of the black-plug leads.

And then the light IN MY HEAD came on, and I figured out that the entire fixture is a rocker switch.

The contact that looks like a cradle is actually a cradle, that holds the switch in the middle position (which is OFF), but serves no electrical purpose despite looking like it does.

I rocked the lens to one side with a satisfying click, and then the tester beeped on the leads.

 

Durrrr, me no need read instruction manual that come with truck.

 

I figured since I had both fixtures out now, I might as well clean up the touchy bits with some contact cleaner doused Q-tips.

They were pretty grimy.

 

 

I cleaned up every part that contacted another part, and put some oxgard on the plug leads for practice for when I go after all the ground contacts under the hood.

Plugged them back into the truck, flipped them to the up position, opened the door and lo and behold, they were working just fine the whole time.

 

Turned out the problem with the lights was just operator error.

 

In my defense though, the lens had "Made in France" molded into it, and my French is really rusty.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pete M]

you're not the first, nor will be the last to get confused by the weird light fixtures.  

[brucecooner]

I've been wanting to start in on cruiser's tips, but life and other stuff keeps keeping me away.

But today I finally did one.  Probably the easiest one, but you gotta start somewhere.

 

I had raised the hood late this afternoon to check on my clutch fluid level (it's fine, I guess the problem with my clutch is actually the clutch).

But while I had it up I took a look at the major ground stud near the dipstick, which I knew was among cruiser's first spots to scratch.

I looked to the west. The sun was low, probably too low to start a project, but without thinking about it too much I went for the socket set.

I knew this whole side of the block is in grimy shape, thanks to all the ongoing oil seeps.

(I had already removed the nut before taking this shot)

 

 

I was alarmed that the interior chime went off when the innermost lead lost contact, but I went about my business anyway.

I hit them with contact cleaner, probably to no effect, but I wire brushed them and even got after it with some sandpaper to get them somewhat shiny.

Hit them with OxGard and a wire brush to work it in (I hope), and put it back together.

It did seem a bit shinier after.

 

 

I noticed that one of these cables looped went toward the firewall, looped back around the power box(?), and attached to a nut on the inner fender.

And where it attached the nuts actually looked a bit rusty?

Or not rusty but, I don't know. They looked weird.

 

I was suspicious this was actually grounding anything, so I pulled the outer nut, lead, and washers.

Everything here had a dark layer of, something on them. 

I sanded stuff up best I could to get some shiny spots and (barely) got it all back together.

This picture is the two lock washers that surround the lead after I sanded them down a little to show at least some bare metal.

The left one looks wet because I just put OxGard on it.

 

 

Whew.  Nothing here was difficult but hopefully this puts me ahead of the game a wee bit.

 

I cleaned myself up, went back out, started it up and....

...after it idled back down, it seems my inconsistent idle is a bit worse now.

Huh.

I wonder if I knocked a hose loose in my fumbling around under there.

Oh well, I'll take my small wins where I can.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pete M]

sometimes with Jeeps that's the most important thing.  the little wins.  

[brucecooner]

On 5/27/2022 at 5:07 PM, Pete M said:

sometimes with Jeeps that's the most important thing.  the little wins.  

Oh man, tell me about it. 

It's thrown enough stuff at me in a short span of time that I've avoided messing with it the past week or so, out of a mix of frustration and fear.

I've got a list of issues somewhere in my thread here that seems to periodically jump in size before I manage to get a single thing addressed.

Then when I can't seem to fix anything I feel like I'm just wasting the time of people trying to help and I get more frustrated with myself.

I don't want to drive it until I know what's up with the clutch so it's just been sitting in the driveway.

I don't want it to just sit there though, so I fired it up the other day to let it warm up and it started on the first crank, then settled right away into its weird surging idle.

I've noticed now that it sounds like it's ticking at the top end and maybe slapping at the bottom end.  I could have sworn those noises weren't there before, a couple more new features I've discovered I guess.

There's a chunk of me that feels I'll never get it running really well.

But it has run fine, doesn't feel low on power, has gotten 20 mpg on the dot in the last 100 miles I drove it before the clutch decided to aggravate me.

Anyway, I borrowed a compression tester from the parts store today, going to have a go at it tomorrow mostly out of curiosity. I guess I felt I didn't have enough stuff to worry about lol.

 

Old Jeeps are weird.  It seems like they can have all sorts of known issues and still run fine.