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Brown Betty ('86 AMC Eagle)


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12 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Glad to see you got it figured out. 

 

Yep, got lucky and found that diagram. Still haven't figured out what the orange w/ tracer wire that is cut does, and I can't seem to locate it in any of the wiring diagrams. Hmm.

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2 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Now that I was thinking, I may have an extra engine wiring harness that isn’t all jacked up, IIRC. Maybe I have more than that. Is any of that something that you would want?

I think I’m OK with the one I have currently. At this point, it’s just the orange with white tracer wire that is cut that ends near the battery that I’m not sure where it goes to.


The spliced wires in the cab aren’t a big deal to me, since they’re not vital functions.

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Think I figured out that orange w/ tracer wire. Looks like it should be connected to the alternator, somewhere--and that it comes from the cluster, which might explain why the violet w/ tracer was spliced to that other wire that was run directly to the starter solenoid.

 

image.jpeg.a6495ab6ce61d634d8f804b078e757bd.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since it was warm out, decided to tackle some more stuff with the Eagle.

 

Pulled out the yellow wire that was used for the old coil, since it's not doing anything. There's also a dark green wire that goes to the ECU (I think) that would have connected to the old coil. Just tucked that one away for now.

 

Upon inspection of the alternator, there are no plugs or anything where that orange w/t would be able to connect to. All I have is a wire going from the alternator, directly to the battery (which should prob. go to the starter relay, but probably doesn't really matter?).

 

This is the type of alternator I need, which would be stock:

 

image.png.b5032eeb849c331f33a96ef53b1fd47a.png

 

So, whether I want to bring it back to stock form, or leave it as it is for now... we'll see. AFAIK, nothing is currently wrong with the charging circuit, but the indicator light just won't ever work if it does stop working.

 

Anyways, got the front all sorted with new headlights, pigtails for the high beams (since one of the POs completely hacked apart the headlamp assembly and the wiring harness to put in these Blazer brand lights), and new bezels. Looks a lot better!

 

image.jpeg.8c9eed2f23a3c596398cda35e094f684.jpeg

 

All lights work as expected, but trying the turn signals didn't do anything, left or right. Didn't dive into it more, since there was other stuff to do, but something to keep in mind.

 

The lower radiator hose that I replaced is continuing to leak. Idk if it's the water pump outlet (pretty rusted) or if it was due to having to trim the hose to get it to fit without kinking, but it just comes up and over the edge of the hose, and the hose clamp is as tight as it can be. Really strange. Bought a Gates brand hose to try instead.

 

Re-connected the cut alternator warning and upshift indicators and plugged in the new cluster I got. Clock works, can adjust the time, and the gas gauge was reading correctly. However, the coolant temp. gauge was all the way down and didn't budge at all after it idling for some time--not sure if I gave it enough time or what, but may have to dive deeper into that.

 

Went to go replace the rear wiper arm, and realized the knurl is a different size than the front wipers. Ordered an arm from Amazon for an XJ rear, hopefully they're the same.

 

I think that's about it. Remaining things to do:

  1. Figure out why turn signals aren't working.
  2. Replace lower radiator hose/water pump to stop leak. Also going to do a complete system flush since it's ruuuuuuuusty colored.
  3. Retrofit oil dipstick tube so I can actually check the oil level
  4. Haven't checked in awhile, but I'm pretty sure the washer fluid motor isn't working. Will need to dive into that.

I think that's really the majority of things that need to get done to make it a daily/get an inspection sticker. We're close!

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Not much happening today, replaced the flasher for the turn signals, everything works great now.

 

Checked the washer pumps, both front and rear are getting 12V at the plug, but the pumps aren't doing anything, so I guess I need to replace both.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got some more goodies in! Found a cluster with a tach AND rally gauges across the country!

 

The unfortunate part is, it seems like whoever pulled them from the JY I bought them from, broke the needles on the voltmeter and oil pressure gauge... ugh. Going to have 0 luck finding replacements for either of those, I'm guessing.

 

image.jpeg.f9bb352b29b2aa0090d136ccff622451.jpeg

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I reached out to the JY I bought the above gauges from, and they were able to find another set and are going to send them out to me free of charge--sweet!

 

Non-photo (and not exciting) update:

* Replaced both non-functional washer pumps. Had to remove the plastic washer that is on the inside of the pumps, just couldn't get the nut/filter threaded back on with it. Didn't seem to leak when I did a quick test, but I'll know for sure next time I go work on the Eagle. Both front and rear work great (even though the driver's side seems to be angled too far up and hits the roof)

* Replaced the warm air duct that was missing from the manifold to the air cleaner. Kinda took forever, had to remove a few things to get enough leverage.

* Replaced the fuel tank vent line that goes to the vapor storage canister since it was cracked. A couple other of those lines are cut/missing, so I'll have to track them down and replace them next time around.

* Finally put on some wipers.

 

That's about it. I plugged in the new cluster w/ tach, but I'll have to run wires to hook up the tach correctly.

 

Additionally, I was trying to get the low washer fluid light to show up in the cluster, and it wouldn't. Not sure if I'm missing something--I figured shorting the two terminals on the connector would turn the light on. Confirmed that the bulb was working as well... so maybe something else is broken downstream? Didn't try to short it out at the back of the board.

 

While checking the lights, noticed the seatbelt light never illuminates, and tested the brake light... by using the e-brake, which wouldn't depress. I know I'm going to need to make sure it does work, since that's needed for safety inspection.

 

Didn't have time to swap out the alternator with a higher amperage unit I got from eBay (and that has the proper 2-wire connector on the back) nor the NOS water pump I got from eBay (which is almost as old as me, lol). Lots of work left to be done!

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  • 4 weeks later...

For the lift I have heard that V8 Javelin coils work well. For the rear I just used XJ add a leafs and it worked out really well. If you ever want to put a trailer hitch on it check out this thread over on AMC Eagles Nest. https://forums.amceaglesden.com/index.php?topic=46767.0

The wagons work well with the ZJ hitch. However there are 2 styles of hitches available for the ZJ make sure it is the one where the receiver is in the middle of the cross bar not below it or it won't fit. I used this method to install a receiver hitch on both my dad's wagon and my SX4. Worked out great.

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  • 4 months later...

Finally got around to doing some more work to the Eagle. It's been neglected for most of the "nice weather" this summer (although it has rained quite a bit, lol).

 

Battery was dead, had to charge it and poor a little gas in the carb, but it fired up and actually idled nicely.

 

Ended up replacing the water pump with a NOS unit, and put on a new lower radiator hose, since the other just kept leaking the entire time. Got it all back together, and installed the fan + shroud. PO had it apart for some reason.

 

Drove it around the block and was pleasantly surprised by how it ran. As if it hadn't been sitting for 3 months, lol.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tinkered around some more in this nice dry warm weather we're having in the northeast.

 

Found two more dead mice in my trap bucket, so they're still lingering around somewhere. I know 100% they've built a nest in the blower, as it's loud AF. Decided I should take it out and blow it out. Didn't take too long, just had to remove everything in the way in the engine compartment. Remnants of a nest, go figure. Put it all back together and the blower is definitely still noisy--I can move the actual motor itself back and forth and the noise will get better or worse. It did seem like the wheel itself was rubbing on the housing.

 

Aftermarket blower motor + blower motor wheel are available, although Rock Auto lists a distinction between Factory A/C and Dealer A/C--no idea which one I've got. Looking at the pictures, assuming they're accurate, I've got factory installed A/C. But, not really a priority now, and money is a bit tight, so I'll put that on the back burner.

 

Noticed that the heater control valve was zip-tied up, making me believe that it's probably no good--I can actuate it, but it wants to stay "down"--which is the same direction when I blow into the nipple, so I'm assuming it's broken, hence why it was zip-tied to stay in the "up" (closed?) orientation. Will probably get a new one rather than delete it.

 

Not sure if the gauges on my cluster worked, and figured out the 7.5A fuse was missing for it. Not sure where that got off to... And of course didn't have a spare at my parent's house. Will need to bring them with me next time.

 

That's about all I had time for. Need to get the interior buttoned back up, run some radiator flush in it (currently, just water, and it's rusty) then fill it back up properly.

 

Got an awful leak coming from the transmission, so something that we put back together isn't sealing properly. Hopefully it's nothing crazy.

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That's awesome! There's what I believe is a SX4 in my hometown that's been sitting in the same spot for as long as I can remember. I've always thought about seeing if I could find out who owns it. It's definitely lifted and looks pretty awesome.

 

For now I'll settle for my wagon :laugh:

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  • 2 months later...

Haven't gotten much done with the Eagle. I needed to flush and re-fill the coolant (since it was just sitting there with water) and got that completed, so it'll be good to go for winter. I've noticed that the transmission has been slowly leaking, like to completely empty, while sitting. It's coming from the rear passenger side of the pan, so I think it's a failed seal there. I splurged (not really, it was only $12) for the Mopar gasket, and holy smokes--it's no joke. The pan that was on the transmission I put it looked a little beat up (came from a Wrangler) and the one on the Eagle looks perfect, so I'll give them a swap and hope that the new gasket + pan fix the leak issue. ATF+4 ain't cheap!

 

IMG_1261.jpg.2a6e2f5883a8dba63d08f0c25061fd90.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Took advantage of the warm weather we're having, and got underneath and replace the pan + gasket. Torque'd everything to spec, hopefully that will be the end of it. I'll know more tomorrow if my plywood piece underneath is soaked or not.

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16 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

What's the word? Did the pan swap turn out okay?

 

Seems so! I put in ~3.5 quarts or so, and hasn't dripped once. I'm thinking it was actually the crappy gasket I used originally, as it was kinda warped when taking it off the pan. The Mopar one was much nicer.

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