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The ‘92fer


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Woke up Sunday, Checked Facebook Marketplace and found a Jeep Comanche  “2 for 1 sale”. Right up my Alley! Hit the guy up, was at his house and had a deal worked out within an hour. 
 

This is the one of those 2 Comanches.
The ‘92fer. 

2AC07DA5-5EA1-48E0-9AD5-7C4D87770AEC.png.f6ed8cf9c42bc5a3f0350a759501366f.png

 

1992, SWB, 4x4, 4.0, AX15, 231J, D30/35, Gray interior, bench seat, slider rear window, 

225,xxx on the full dash. 
 

The Previous Owner claimed it “has a brand new engine in it” upon further inspection once home, I believe it is indeed a “new” engine. It has a brand new oil pan installed on it, in the places I’ve dusted off the block, I’m finding brand new black paint. 
Haven’t broken out the pressure washer and super clean yet, but everything I’m seeing is saying the engine has recently been tampered with. No obvious oil leaks except the Oil filter adapter. Feel like it was long blocked and they threw on the oil filter adapter without new O rings. 
 
Previous owner claimed the fuel pump is Inoperable. 
 

Hooked up a known good battery, and cranked on the ignition switch, she cranks but won’t fire. Dumped some gas straight down the Throttle body and it actually popped and came to life for a split second. Did this a few times and it actually seems to want to run. Just not getting fuel. 
Swapped the starter relay with the fuel pump relay, both operate the starter so I assume that means the fuel pump relay is good. Checked the ground wire behind the taillight, cleaned down to bare metal, added  Cruiser54s extra wire to frame. Still no fuel. But air pressure in the fuel rail when I depressed the Schrader valve on the rail to relieve fuel pressure.  
 

More to come. Will post pictures tomorrow


 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I’ve been trying to get this old girl running now for a while with the little bit of time I have after work before it gets dark and decided the fuel pump was bad. The PO states the pump that was in the truck was brand new but I sure couldn’t get it to kick on. Even with the pump out and supplying 12v straight to it, nothing. Dead.
I siphoned out the old gas and dumped in a fresh 5’er. 
Luckily NorthwestMJ is an awesome guy and let me “borrow”(gave me) his unused MJ pump and sending unit from his ‘87 4.0.
Plugged his pump into my harness, turned the key and the pump comes to life! Well let’s put it in and see if the Renix pump will work on a HO. 
Both pumps are extremely similar. Just very slight differences between the two. 

19877EF9-A2B5-44AA-8D09-B10EA8D17AE5.jpeg.dce97261420be25a9381ed4185745df5.jpeg
Cranked the key over a few times to prime the pump and actually got fuel up to the rail, cycled the ignition, engine cranked over for about 10 seconds and sputtered to life. She was hesitant at first but after about 30 minutes of run time it seems to have cleared up. Idles smooth and accepts throttle. 
Since I know that it’s actually a functioning engine now, I decided she had better get a bath. Busted out the pressure washer and cleaning detergent then went to town on her. 
Couple of before pictures. Pretty scuzzy. 

27CC9DB0-5599-4B89-B7A8-2BABE1DE8D83.jpeg.25ffd0f4bc19badb0d24cf8df0958a42.jpeg173DDA19-5381-4B1F-BC18-D09592D7C2E3.jpeg.dfb24687da0ed4fc8f307bde2e1db03a.jpeg0BBECD6D-114A-42BF-B264-FD0D7B310095.jpeg.244ce2b6efa90fdb2aeb56cf4075485b.jpeg
During the bath. Amazing difference.  lol

59D1AFC0-6C34-4235-B484-C983C3879936.jpeg.60bad3370babf45b51f321faf4c48745.jpeg

And after her bath pictures. 
BE03DAE2-7625-4160-907F-4E24ED1DD2B3.jpeg.6d6be18132099e3aedfb7264da69684e.jpegA006E976-E4A3-4570-A323-FE9910D10AE9.jpeg.6708991c794942e24d32ec86bcde5ba2.jpeg

 

I do have the missing tail light. 

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I’ve been hiding a terrible, dirty secret about this truck guys. Unfortunately it is too good to be true. There’s a reason I haven’t posted any pictures of the passenger side yet….

Here they are. D1809C68-863A-49A5-8B00-2E655F257CE7.jpeg.4a319f8667d878928c0980607496dcd5.jpeg30D762CD-62A1-49C5-A92C-E64295E6DDA3.jpeg.a047c3b97c0dc56b91a536b7a3164486.jpeg6DC471E7-BE41-440D-B008-35ADC4FC7728.jpeg.3bdfff5cf8de6fa24c768f2bef68f09c.jpegDF6A5D8F-DDA9-45B3-83D6-1CC8B4B621AD.jpeg.8b43ddda787b75b429b480456ae4ae94.jpeg
 

Just makes me sick to even look at. But it’s there. In my opinion, this truck is as close to “The Comanche to have” as you can get. Basically a rear factory MJ Dana 44 away from being my Eleanor. 
 


 

 

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It’s a great truck other than the obvious, once keyparts comes out with cab corners that’s an easy fix, I’d also suggest checking out this thread, about halfway down the page he fixes a cab corner a little better than yours.
 

 

Other than that great job with the truck so far, it looks great 

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I'd say that bedside is toast, sadly. That cab corner on the other hand definitely could be pulled with a stud puller like above. If you want to go that route but don't have experience with pulling dents, reach out to me. I could give you some tips.

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Awesome. Thank you guys for the encouraging words. I am by no means a body guy. I was thinking about going down to harbor freight and getting one of those stud welders. I do not have a garage or dry place to do any of this work so it is going to be a fair weather project unfortunately. And living in Western Washington, that gives me about 3 weeks to get it done. Lol.  
I have a very meticulous friend that has some body work experience and is willing to help. I believe between the advice I can get here and the help from my friend, she will get back to her former glory. 
I was dreading posting those pictures. Lol. It’s so pretty from the other side. 

 

In the meantime, I’m going to do all the usual things that we do when we get a new MJ, Radiator hoses, thermostat, oil change, tranny, transfer case and F&R diff oil changes, fuel filter, Cruiser54 updates, etc 
The clutch is inoperable right now as well. 
I did notice the D35 pinion was super sloppy, and the U joint at the pinion is junk, so the hunt begins for a Dana 44. 

Just try to get it road worthy. 

Will post more as it happens. 
 

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19 hours ago, NorthwestMJ said:
20 hours ago, NorthwestMJ said:

Congrats on getting that thing running! Fun hanging out with you the other day, glad my fuel pump was put to good use!!! :banana:

Yeah definitely. Thank you NWMJ. Really appreciate the fuel pump. We could probably still be out BSn about taillights, fuel pumps and Jeep stuff. Lol. 

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Anybody know what this sensor is? Looks like it got a little hot, being right next to the exhaust manifold. F50EEABF-C90A-4BBD-A0C5-EC979FE88A33.jpeg.b4d8f230abd2d766f07d00915f214393.jpeg

Drivers side, underneath the exhaust manifold, behind the motor mount. Straight into the side of the block. 

I do not believe it’s the knock sensor, 

I think the knock sensor is forward, in front of the motor mount. But unplugged at the moment. 

Believe this is the knock sensor 

4DD181FC-CF2F-4432-9A4C-AF65CBFE256D.jpeg.c25482efe003d52bf9215c17cf8f884d.jpeg

 

Doesn’t it look like the block was painted recently? 
More evidence that this is a “newer” engine? It’s hard to tell, but that oil pan is brand spanking new. 
More fresh paint. I’ve got a couple 4.0s with similar mileage around, and none of them look like this one does. What do you guys think? 

EE952796-B5B9-4FA5-B65F-78CAF1A8CEC0.jpeg.1a990a9680b9a2414df9280bca0cfa4f.jpeg

Valve cover definitely wasn’t repainted. Kinda why I’m thinking long block. 
D97619B2-2BFC-464A-AE4B-88D7686872A2.jpeg.e7ddaa15cd3895dac69c9b0d8f2e6006.jpeg

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