October 2025 - An Original Owner

[89 MJ]

October 2025 - @AnotherOldJeepGuy's Original Owner '90

 

Year/Model -

1990 Comanche Pioneer Short Bed, Automatic (Nobody wants a manual in daily Dallas rush hour traffic!)

 1J7FT36L6LL229268

 

Drivetrain-

Oil is on the monthly refresh plan since that's about how often I have to add a quart.  I don't do a full oil change but I do replace the filter periodically.  I have the stuff to replace the RMS and oil pan gasket as soon as I can convince myself I can successfully do this job.  Getting the pan off seems questionable without removing other things I don't want to remove.  And It seems like driving out the old gasket could easily go very wrong and I really don't want to pull the engine to "fix my repair".  Most recent related repair was putting in a new transmission shift cable, getting the new one through the firewall in the orientation needed was lots of fun.....

Park = Reverse, Rev=Neutral, etc., kinda

 

Cooling-

MJ Cooling - New Radiator in 1998, and again in 2017.  On 4th Water Pump, #5 is in the garage with the tune up pile.

Driver Cooling - Started out R12, replaced with R134A in 2012.  The R12 system was colder.  Biggest recurring issue here is the vacuum lines are turning to dust and I have to patch them often if I want the airflow to come out anything other than the defrost vents.

 

Electrical/Ignition-

Tune-Up, along with Fuel Pump replacement in 2015.  The stuff for the next tune up is in the garage and the tune-up is on the todo list.

Ignition switch was one replaced in a local shop, since they I have no power in the ACC position.  Unfortunately since I don't use that much, it went unnoticed way to long for me to take it back and have the fix it correctly. Fortunately, I don't use that much.

 

Suspension/Steering-

Steering is very "active", that is, there's plenty of play.  My son recently drove it for the first time and he was a little concerned he could keep it in the right lane at first!

In 2008 a local shop told me they needed to "Tighten the Steering Column because they tend to come loose",  at that time a spring was determined to be bad but with no replacement, resulting in my column shifter now flops freely.

 

Interior- 

Headliner was recovered in 1998.  It needs done again badly but as long as I don't look up, it's fine.

 

Brakes-

They appear to work, so far when I want to stop I stop.

~440 Hertz road noise goes away on veer left

 

Lighting-

My records show I replaced my front lights in 2000, I didn't remember doing that.  I have considered some of the documented mods to improve lighting but have not dove in.  I would also like to modify my backup lights so they provide some usable lighting, but have not dove in here either.  More to do items I guess.

Dimmer no longer dims unless you call off a dim setting.  Dash lighting is either on or off.

Replaced the interior cabin lights recently, the originals never really worked very well, and really didn't fit in the designated hole well snugly, the replacements are in there snug and working.  They will be difficult to remove however should the bulb be replaced.

 

Exterior-

Sometime in the 90's there was a crappy paint class action law suite against Chrysler, and I was actually contacted by a lawyer to get my name on the list to collect a new paint job.  I still have the crappy paint   I did once in probably 2022 take it to a paint shop to ask what it might cost to get it painted.  The shop told me they would not touch it!  Not because they loved the minor rust showing, but because the prep for the paint job would take way too much time.

 In 2024 my MJ had it first fender bender.  I was able to remove the fender and hammer it back into shape for the most part, but there are a few wrinkles remaining, and my bad paint has been scraped off in a few places.

Was a bit surprised I could actually get a new bezel, it started out all silver.

 

 

Wheel & Tires-

Recently replaced all the lug nuts, some of the old ones had lost their caps.  The rest were OK but pretty warn.  I couldn't justify new wheels, but shiny new lugs nuts, the one piece kind, was not a hard sell.

When driving from Texas to West Virginia a while back, and running into icy roads, I stopped at a convenient store and bought about 20, 10-lb bags of ice and put them at the back end of the bed.  Turns out that ice was pretty helpful for improving traction, on ice.  Not as good as studded winter tires or tire chains, but in a pinch it helped.

 

Misc-

I replaced the original in 1994, then again in 2001 with a Blaupunkt San Jose MP3 in 2001 adding MP3 playback capability.  With the San Jose I swapped out the front speakers and added some tweeters in the location where the power window switch would have been if I would have had power windows.  

 

In 2004 this radio decided to draw a lot of extra current and killed my battery every night, but a successful repair of the unit and it stopped doing that.  Since that time the San Jose malfunctioned and not being able to find a satisfactory (IMHO) replacement I now have 3 more Used San Joses with different issues with attempting to restore one fully functional one on the wish list.  I was hoping the internals were marginal enough that I could swap parts around, they are not all that modular, so this wish list item may remain indefinitely!

I temporarily installed a Kenwood, it died in about 5 weeks, sent it back.  Currently San Jose #4 is in there.

 

Some of the more interesting of my threads, well in my opinion anyway..

Stalls At Rapid RPM Decrease, Foot-Off Accelerator, Otherwise Runs Fine

 

Replaced Valve Cover Gasket now engine runs very rough.

Weird Bulb "Fix"

Wiper Stuck in Intermittent - Long Delay (1990) - Fixed

 

Best MJ story-

Many years ago when my MJ was a young pup, I had a dalmatian.  He was a big fan of riding around the neighborhood in the back, I suppose he though the Jeep was a fire truck.  He was also the reason I have a rubber truck bed mat, actually purchased for a Comanche which you could do from Sears at one time.  The bed was too slippery for him to stay standing without it.  He stayed in the back when I went into places and was very vocal if anyone got close to "his" truck.  His favorite stop was McDonalds because he knew that I would return with some chicken nuggets.  The mat is still there.  Of course these days I would no longer recommend doing this, and wouldn't do it myself, times have changed.  But Hooch enjoyed tooling around the neighborhood for a lot of years and was well known for doing so.  All he needed to hear was "truck" and he jumped in ready to go.

 

CC is Awesome! Why? 

When I was employed full time I was less likely to tackle too much maintenance, but some.  I say that I have an ASTM (Advanced Shade Tree Mechanic) Degree.  Before CC, it was only a STM degree.  The folks here are very knowledgeable, and always willing to help.  But beyond just the pure expertise and helpfulness, the CC community is loaded with just good folks.  It may not be impossible to find a disagreement (but rare), but it does seem to be impossible to find any arguments about being right or wrong!  It would be nice if the mold used here could be used everyplace else!

[Pete M]

I can't even imagine being an OG owner.  like, no other owners have screwed up my wiring, or forgotten to change the oil for 20k, or jumped it and tweaked the frame and hid it under some underspray. 

 

congrats!  I'm super jealous! 

[Salvagedcircuit]

Awesome story! That passenger fender looks pretty decent for being hammered back into shape. The clone Taiwanese fenders just don't seem to fit quite right on the comanche. I had to spend quite a bit of time to match mine, but I plan on grabbing an OEM one before I decided to seriously paint mine.

 

Did you ever grab the high mileage license plate frames from Chrysler / FCA / Stellantis? The first and 2nd owner of any jeep is eligible. I think they cancelled the program by now. It's a good reminder for me to bug my local dealer. They have to have some lying around back.

 

Well deserved!

[NHMJXJ]

9 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

I really don't want to pull the engine to "fix my repair".

 

Epic write up and the line above absolutely killed me!  

 

That truck is tried and true, as is its owner!    

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

10 hours ago, Pete M said:

I can't even imagine being an OG owner.  like, no other owners have screwed up my wiring, or forgotten to change the oil for 20k, or jumped it and tweaked the frame and hid it under some underspray. 

 

congrats!  I'm super jealous! 

 

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

7 hours ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

Awesome story! That passenger fender looks pretty decent for being hammered back into shape. The clone Taiwanese fenders just don't seem to fit quite right on the comanche. I had to spend quite a bit of time to match mine, but I plan on grabbing an OEM one before I decided to seriously paint mine.

 

Did you ever grab the high mileage license plate frames from Chrysler / FCA / Stellantis? The first and 2nd owner of any jeep is eligible. I think they cancelled the program by now. It's a good reminder for me to bug my local dealer. They have to have some lying around back.

 

Well deserved!

Hmm, I guess I'll have to stop by the dealer and ask!

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

7 hours ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

Awesome story! That passenger fender looks pretty decent for being hammered back into shape. The clone Taiwanese fenders just don't seem to fit quite right on the comanche. I had to spend quite a bit of time to match mine, but I plan on grabbing an OEM one before I decided to seriously paint mine.

 

Did you ever grab the high mileage license plate frames from Chrysler / FCA / Stellantis? The first and 2nd owner of any jeep is eligible. I think they cancelled the program by now. It's a good reminder for me to bug my local dealer. They have to have some lying around back.

 

Well deserved!

I guess I have a pretty decent hammer..

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

1 hour ago, NHMJXJ said:

 

Epic write up and the line above absolutely killed me!  

 

That truck is tried and true, as is its owner!    

  

[hgeranium]

Great MJ and an even greater owner! Your input is always very helpful for my silly questions. Congrats on MJOTM!