GrandBoost98 Posted September 6, 2022 Share Posted September 6, 2022 I've had plenty of jeeps but never had a MJ before. I had a little YJ that needed a new frame but never got around to doing it. So last week I saw an ad for a comanche for trade and threw out the offer. We both liked what we saw and shook hands. What I ended up with is a 88 Comanche short bed with a 2.5, AX4 2WD and a 94 2 door Cherokee with a 4.0, AW4, np231, hpd30 and an 8.25. The comanche is pretty clean rust wise. Plenty of dents and faded paint which I don't mind. It's a bit of a work in progress from the PO. He did the 97+ front swap but left some work to do there. Bolted down some XJ seats just by drilling holes in the floor. Ran a whole new turn signal system that I would love to remove if I can get the stock setup to work. Installed 3d printed adapters for JK tail lights, Id like to go back to stock there too. Came with 6 doors to choose from. The driver door isn't lined up well at all and the passenger side doesnt have a latch so its held closed with a ratchet strap. There were tons of vacuum lines and wires left dangling in the engine bay. The steering wheel had a quarter turn of play. The tires are too big and rub in certain situations. They also cause death wobble over 50mph. Lost the ignition key but it turns over without it There's probably some other things I'm forgetting but that's enough to keep me busy for now lol I did drive it 45mins home while my wife drove the truck and trailer with the 2 door on it behind me. The plan is to fix up a lot of the POs projects firstly and eventually do a 4wd swap. I already have a 1 ton YJ and my wife has a long armed two door XJ. I also have a lowered 2wd Chevy s10. So I want this to be more street friendly for all weather and terrain conditions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 6, 2022 Author Share Posted September 6, 2022 I already started messing around with it. Had a bunch of extra parts to go through. Didn't have too much time but I figured out where most of the loose vacuum lines went which cured the high idle. Adjusted the steering box which got rid of the play in the wheel. And coincidentally, after fixing the play in the wheel, it decided to lock. So I stopped there, ordered some parts and started doing research on the other random wires and vacuum lines. If anyone knows where the vacuum line or random wires go and could show me, it would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 I got a chance to change out the cylinder last night. Went pretty smooth. Although the steering wheel nut was already off so I'm not sure how far on it should go. When I went to start it up, the idle was bouncing around. I thought it might have been the loose vacuum line but when i plugged it, it made no difference. Then i noticed both fuel lines going into the throttle body had a small leak! So i tightened those down and started it back up to make sure it wasnt leaking anymore. Sprayed some brake cleaner to clean up and noticed the idle changed. So i sprayed brake cleaner along the intake manifold and the idle dropped down. I'm guessing he had this motor out recently with all the loose wires, vacuum and fuel lines. I'm going to look up the torque spec on the manifold bolts and try tightening them up. If anyone could help with the loose wires and vacuum line that would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveevryjp1998 Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 The vacuum line is for the heater core/controls and I'm guessing the plug is for the a.c. which was always plumbed in regardless or at least for all the 4.0s I owned for those years. I can't say for sure though on the 2.5 since I've never owned your specific year and setup. I'd start with grounds specifically Cruisers tips and checking the stepper motor on the throttle body for the erratic idle. Sometimes they can be cleaned and fixed but otherwise there is still replacement opportunities if it is indeed the problem. U tube has some dyi rebuild videos on them and I believe the setup procedure. I'm not sure if it's on here in the master write up section of but it's definitely a place to get familiar with that will help you out drastically. Welcome to the addiction by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 Thanks for the reply! As you can see, Ive been addicted to Jeeps for awhile now lol Ive been reading everything I can about MJs the past few days. Cruisers website is amazingly helpful! So I did some more digging around the internet and I think I figured out what the vacuum line is for. It goes to a valve that was on the coolant lines going to the heater core which has been bypassed on this MJ (the valve is actually in the pic of misc stuff laid out on my work bench) I believe youre right with this wire possibly being for AC And I think this may be for an under hood light but the connector looks different than the ones Ive seen Then that leaves me with these two loose wires. Theyre with the unused TPS plug near the TB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 2 hours ago, GrandBoost98 said: And I think this may be for an under hood light but the connector looks different than the ones Ive seen Ground for cruise control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 Thank you @eaglescout526 ! So now just the loose wires by the throttle body. They were just wrapped up and hanging. I'm assuming the connector was either cut or burned off. Being colorblind makes reading schematics difficult for me but does anyone have a link to a FSM I could download? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 I could be wrong but I think those two loose wires are for the power steering pressure switch. Rather unfortunate that that plug is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 @eaglescout526 You know, I feel like a total dunce now Even after tightening up the steering box, it wasnt until you said that that I realized this thing doesnt have power steering! I even looked at the steering box and thought, that looks different I could probably convert it to power steering with an XJ box assuming I could find the right brackets for the pump though, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 You can get a new box for power steering and the bracket for the power steering pump is the same between both the 2.5L and 4.0L. It’s just a matter of choosing which pump style to go with. The 4.0L on pump reservoir or the 2.5L remote reservoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 Thats good to know! Interesting configurations though. On YJs its opposite, integrated reservoir on the 2.5l and remote for the 4.0. I should have all the parts I need then from the donor XJ. I started going through your little red wagon thread. Youve done some amazing/inspirational work and I'm not even halfway through it yet! @eaglescout526 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 I did not know this for the YJ, that’s good info right there. Why thank you! I did my best to find out as much as I could and detail all I found out over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The86manche Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 1 hour ago, GrandBoost98 said: Thats good to know! Interesting configurations though. On YJs its opposite, integrated reservoir on the 2.5l and remote for the 4.0. I should have all the parts I need then from the donor XJ. I started going through your little red wagon thread. Youve done some amazing/inspirational work and I'm not even halfway through it yet! @eaglescout526 That might depend on the year of the yj. It was different for the 4.2 and again on the 4.0. I've got a buddy with a 92 2.5 yj with a remote resoviour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 @The86manche You are correct. Everything changed in the 90s. I was referring to the early YJs with TBI. The early YJs were kind of thrown together with whatever AMC parts they had left before switching to Chrysler stuff. For example, you could find v belt or serpentine belt setups for both the 4.2 or 2.5. My 89 YJ with the 2.5l has v belts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 9, 2022 Author Share Posted September 9, 2022 Had to mow the lawn after work but couldnt help get a few minutes on the MJ. I plugged the vacuum line that went to the heater core valve and snugged up the manifold bolts. The two towards the front of the jeep I got a good 1/4 turn out of. The rest were pretty tight. It took a minute but the idle smoothed out! Then my wife sent me a link to another MJ near by. An 88 pioneer I was soo close to convincing her we needed it. Told her we could swap most the parts from her XJ into it too. But 10 vehicles seems to be her limit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 12, 2022 Author Share Posted September 12, 2022 well the idle started surging again. I got a better look at the lower manifold bolts and while one was tight, it wasnt seated at all. Turned out the threads were all messed up. I tried tapping the hole without removing anything and broke the tap off. So I eneded up having to take everything apart to extract the broken tap. The manifold gasket was shot so I ordered a new one. Hopefully I'll get everything back together this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 13, 2022 Author Share Posted September 13, 2022 The local parts store had the gasket in stock so I picked that up after work and got everything back together last night. At first start up, it was smoking a lot. But after several minutes it cleared up and idled nice and smooth Supposed to check out a comanche part out today or tomorrow, weather pending. Doesnt sound like theres much left but its nearby and he has a bench seat I want to rob the brackets out of. Keeping my fingers crossed that he still has the 3 piece slider window Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 14, 2022 Author Share Posted September 14, 2022 Well I got the bench seat but there wasnt really anything else left. The front driver floor bracket is a bit crusty but salvageable. I'm supposed to meet up with the PO to get the original bench seat too so I will have all the brackets I need to mount bucket seats properly in this thing. I think I'm going to take off the Wrangler wheels and adapters and put on a set of old turbine wheels Ive had for awhile now. The Wrangler wheels do look cool but with 33s they rub and the PO said theyre the cause of death wobble over 50mph. He said with smaller 31s it had no wobble. Might look weird though going down to 29s lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 15, 2022 Author Share Posted September 15, 2022 I swapped the wheels out and I was pleasantly surprised. They don't look as small as I was expecting and it's a lot easier to steer. I haven't registered it yet so I can't take it on a main road that I can get it fast enough to check for death wobble. I did take it up the road for a little 2wd flexin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 19, 2022 Author Share Posted September 19, 2022 This definitely wasn't in the plans Almost none of what I did this weekend was planned for. My plan was to rob the bench seat brackets and use them on the bucket seats that the PO just drilled holes the floor and bolted down. Those brackets didn't want to let go without a fight! And then I find out the passenger seat and center console weren't mounted at all! After removing the seats and console, I noticed the floor was a little wet which led me to pulling up the vinyl and finding all the cancer this thing wasn't supposed to have. I vacuumed and wire brushed and vacuumed over and over and ended up with this (Pic to be added) Then I find out that the seats that were in the comanche were the newer style XJ seats and wouldn't work with the MJ brackets. So that led me to stripping the donor 2 door XJ apart. Looks like I'll be swapping to tan/spice interior in the future. (Pics coming) Then I turned my attention to the passenger door that was held shut with a ratchet strap. I inspected the original door and decided there was nothing wrong with it other than a gummed up latch mechanism. So I took the window regulator out of the green doors and put it in the original and stole a door latch from the donor XJ and got the original door all mounted up and aligned nicely. (More pics to come) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 21, 2022 Author Share Posted September 21, 2022 I seem to be having a hard time uploading pics from my phone. Even after editing them to make them smaller. So here's all I got for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 26, 2022 Author Share Posted September 26, 2022 I took the passenger door apart again. I wanted to put the chrome exterior handle on, new exterior window wipe and a new front window channel. Got the driver seat and mini center console in too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 Got it registered yesterday! Now to start driving it and see what else needs fixing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 getting to finally drive it is a heck of a milestone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 I need to get some side mirrors on this thing. I have a few different options. The original doors had the small sport truck mirrors but both are in need of replacement. The green doors have the regular comanche/old cherokee manual mirrors. And I also have 97+ doors that I can rob the mirrors from. I was thinking about ordering replacement sport truck mirrors but kinda leaning towards the 97+ mirrors now. So thats probably what Ill be messing with this weekend along with getting the original drivers door back on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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