pago cruiser Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 1991 4.0., PWR Steering, AC, stock engine. See Pics. Old cover has a boss adjacent to the 0-degree mark. New NAPA 600-5631 cover does not. Have parts in various stages of cleaning and painting; was just getting ready to paint this... I am not entirely sure this boss had anything attached; but then again it would seem odd to have a casting with a boss that is not used. NAPA indicates there is only one TC from 84 thru 92. No. Other. Options. Can anybody advise? Or take a pic showing what connects to this - if anything? Or reference a corrected part number? Finally get a weekend off from work and I am stuck chasing parts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pago cruiser Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 Just checked OReillys; theirs matches the NAPA cover - boss-less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scguy Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Interesting that NAPA's part is a reboxed Dorman 635-409. It shouldn't matter. Dorman's interchange shows the same part number fitting every XJ/MJ 4.0 produced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pago cruiser Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 Figured I would see what I could find on Ebay. Omix ADa - No Boss. Just checked on the Omix Ada site - the part number listed in the photo crosses to a 93-2001 4.0 Cherokee. In other words, NOT 91-92. Crown - Has the Boss. But the part # on the Ebay site (SX-9TFW) is not found on the Crown site - nor anywhere on google... The Crown site shows a "replaced" part # of 53020222: fitting 93-2001 Cherokee - with no boss. Again, 91-92 NOT listed. After looking at my hardware, I ...believe... that the bolt that goes in here is what the adjustable power steering pumps slides on. Without this boss, I would be looking at changing the power steering pump mounts - all because no one makes a correct TC replacement??? We have a local auto parts chain called Merles: they are usually the best go-to source in this area. They checked the NAPA # - and it indicates 84-90, and 93 up. Again, 91 and 92 are not covered. So: anyone with a 91 or 92 been down this road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pago cruiser Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 The Dorman part appears exactly like the NAPA and the Omix Ada and the Pioneer. No Boss. What I thought was really weird was that the Merles guy was able to look up the NAPA # and find that it did NOT cover 91-92. The NAPA guy said it covered 84-92. Just spent some more time on the Crown site: they show the correct part, with a different part number from the ebay site. See red arrows on pic. So it appears this part will work with earlier 4.0's - the boss is...I guess... just not used. But the "84-92" covers from NAPA and Pioneer and Omix will NOT work on the 91 and 92. Sigh. What a pita. And another half day is gone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pago cruiser Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 saveevryjp1998 - Thanks much for the response and the pic. It confirms that the mystery boss is unused. It is certainly perplexing however, why the...confusion... in part numbers for the 91/92. I do wish I could find a Mopar, but they appear to be unobtanium; like more than a few other parts. From the Crown site, I called a few dealers here in Tucson. (2) folks were open; neither had it, and both indicated it would take a week to get it from the warehouse Mass. I spent about an hour partially re-assemblying components; and came to the conclusion that I could not see where it was used. So then went back to cleaning and painting parts. Other than the mystery boss, there is (1) boss near the left that appear at least one size larger diameter. So I may need to make a bolt sleeve for the Timing Cover. Looks like you have done a lot of the work on my plate. At the risk of hijacking my own thread... My battery tray base hold-downs were split; and it's a long way to a JY for me. Found this guy making them out of steel. A little pricey, but it would take me a day to fab up what he has done, and my time is worth more than that. Still need to paint it though. Battery Tray Bolt-In - Jeep XJ/MJ - DirtBound Offroad Should be delivered next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 someone has to have a good used one they'd part with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pago cruiser Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 Not trying to say the odds are against you, but... the original part is some type of polymer (plastic), that was under-designed from the start. Just tightening down the nuts to put the stays in tension to "hold" the battery down stresses the threads cast into the base. 30 years of the front end bouncing around and owners replacing batteries (just one more turn oughta do it...) conspire to stress the threads - and the boss - beyond their limit. My bosses were split right at the threads. IMHO, this part should have been steel - or aluminum - from the start. But manufacturers keep trying to use plastic instead of metal - it keeps both costs and weight down. Though without sound engineering, there are often...issues. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago I was in the service bay of a Ford Dealer, talking to the manager about something. They had five (5) new customer hi performance V8 Mustangs all being worked on at the same time. All lined up, hoods opened, all the mechanics doing similar tasks. What are the odds? Finished my business, and asked the Service Manager whats up? Seems each of these V8's had Fords new polymer intake manifold. Ford had designed the manifold heater hose connection to literally just thread into a "reinforced" section of the "plastic" manifold. And every one of them failed at the threads. The replacement manifold had an aluminum section about the size of a pack of cigarettes cast into the same area - the remainder of the plastic manifold was unchanged. It was a full days job on every car. Ouch. If you want something cheap, listen to the bean counters. If you want it to last, listen to the engineers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 How did we go from timing covers to battery trays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schardein Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 The boss on the timing cover is for old diagnostic machines that had a probe that fit the boss, to read the timing, which was then indicated on a screen. Unless you have one of those old machines, the boss does nothing else and has absolutely no purpose. The battery tray being plastic means it won't rust or otherwise be affected by battery acid and corrosion. It's not the most horrible design out there, compared to looking at other vehicles with the battery tray rusted away to nothing. If you only tighten down the battery hold down bolts enough to do the job, it should last a long time. Gorilla tighten it, and it will crack. These days, you can find late model XJs in the junkyard and about 1 out of 3 will have a decent battery tray. They are sized slightly different, but do interchange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 this^^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pago cruiser Posted July 25, 2022 Author Share Posted July 25, 2022 schardein - thanks for the info on the TC; that should be in a sticky somewhere. Only Crown could provide a "valid" part number for the 91/92; all due to that boss - that is essentially a distraction. And the slightly larger boss hole on the other side. Good to know there may still be some good stock battery trays around. cruiser54 - "At the risk of hijacking my own thread..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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