cherokee4meplz

Haha- trust me I found some brittle points. There will need to be some small vac lines mended that snapped like twigs.

I gotta admit for an old truck is is cake to work on. I used about 1/3 can of PB blast though.

Once I got that darn belt loose I dropped the PS pump and pulled all the intake and exhaust bolts. The intake is in the hatch, the leaking freeze plug was pounded out. It would be replaced already, but autozone gave me a 1-7/8" plug instead of the 2". No big deal I will get the right one tomorrow or monday at the latest.

I was able to remove the freeze plug without dropping the exhaust. The tool of the day is my snap-on 14mm gear wrench for sure. They are long handle wrenches and it was the only thing in my tools that could get to the middle exhaust bolts under the intake.

cherokee4meplz

to correct myself, tomorrow IS monday lol. Been a rough weekend.

I also discovered that I need a new motor mount on the driver's side. May as well change it while everything is apart.



Here you can see the missing freeze plug. I have a new valve cover gasket for it and I am going to clean things up a bit once I pull the valve cover. I hate the smell of burning oil.



I ordered a block heater that replaces one freeze plug over a week ago, I am hoping it shows up tomorrow. I was going to run and get the 2" freeze plug for the hole pictured above, and put the block heater in the closest plug to the front. Now I am thinking if the cord is long enough why not put it where the leaky one was and call the rest good? They are a PITA to remove and install.

I will be applying some RTV to the others that are not leaking as well.

Also while the valve cover is off and getting cleaned up I would like to replace all the lifters. The air filter in the filter box has black oil on it. Something is not working right in that head.

cherokee4meplz

I just found an 87 4.2 straight 6 motor that needs a rebuild for next to nothing. Just curious if anything on it would be worth having?

I got my block heater in the mail today, stoked about that. I did notice one thing though, in the product pic the wiring has a piece of split wire loom on it, my kit did not come with that. Luckily I have some in the garage.

Unless I get called out to plow I will be working on my jeep in the morning.

cherokee4meplz

wanted to update things a little, I have been so busy I havent had much time to work on or play with my jeep. Tomorrow I have nothing to do during the day, so all of my daylight hours will be spent on it.

I picked up new motor mounts and a lower radiator hose, and also I have to put the intake back on and fill the cooling system. I've had those parts laying around for like a week or so, I need to snap to it.

Today was a great day for the xj though in that I bought it a trailer hitch, for 50 bucks! Gotta love craigslist. The person I got it from had an xj on a 6" lift with american racing wheels, was a sharp jeep. The guy also had a spare wheel and tire I bought off him, so I have a spare now. The tire is shot but I'll replace it. It's better than no spare at all.







Also, when I got back from the 3+ hour round trip journey my hella spot lights were on my porch. I opened them up and I am VERY happy with the out of box quality of these. I paid 33 bucks shipped for them on amazon and it came with 2 100 watt lights, wiring kit with switch and relay, and 2 light covers. I hate the covers they came with though so I ordered 2 hella 500 covers for 20 bucks. So technically they cost me 50 bucks but whatever.


There was also a touch of fail for the xj today though. I need a darn door key. I went to the local jeep dealer, and told them my situation and showed them my keys. "those are gm keys" he says. "I cant help you, go across the street to the gmc truck dealer".

so I do that- they say they cant get me a new one unless I have the whole key. Well, hmm, I am no rocket scientist but if I had the whole key I would not be here asking for a new one...

So it's looking like I need to put new door lock cylinders in the jeep. That should be a fun afternoon.

cherokee4meplz

saw this xj at the gmc dealer and noticed it looked a lot like mine, except those snazzy chrome door handles, where mine are black. I want chrome ones.


While I was waiting for the guy who sold me the hitch to get off work I spotted this guy. Just remember him next time you think "why do I tolerate this" at work.

CRoading

You look like a paparazzi the way you take a shot on that chrome XJ handles... LOL
XJ Laredo packages has them...

taythegibs

nice find on that hitch, it looks like this is turning into a build thread?

cherokee4meplz

my 1990 IS a laredo and I have black handles. The plot thickens..

I dunno if this qualifies as a build thread, I just figure its better to add to my existing thread rather than start a new one every time I have updates. Then later I can look back at it and remember all the fun I had putting it together.

cherokee4meplz

I've about had it with the doors on this thing. I spent 2 hours last night looking for door cylinders for my 1990 that were cheaper than 50 bucks. the ones I was finding came with keys that looked like they would break the moment you put it in a cold lock, I will have a local locksmith cut keys for my new cylinders so I can pick some stout looking blanks.

I ended up getting these AC delco cylinders. I dont even know if it is a single one or a pair, but for 10 bucks I will test the waters. It says 2 pounds weight so I'm thinking it's a pair. On the fitment chart these fit pretty much every XJ except my 1990. GRRR. I will make them fit. lol

offroadnut36

i have a laredo with black handles too, and i think quadratec has door lock cylinders with keys. I got my ignition lock cylinder there and it came with a decent key. ....but the key says "For use with GM motors" it works any ways.

offroadnut36

http://www.quadratec.com/products/55014_101.htm

offroadnut36

nevermind it looks like its only for an 84, even though they shouldnt be too different.

cherokee4meplz

got the jeep running, no more exhaust leak. Its amazing what you can do when you tighten the manifold bolts beyond hand tight. Starting to buy into this DAPO idea..

so I fire this thing up after putting it back together (sans a few vacuum lines I broke), except I left the valve cover off. I have good oil flow to the valve train, lol. It was dripping all over and smoking so I didnt have a ton of time to look things over, but I noticed one rocker arm does not seem to be moving as much as the others. By that I mean it moves in the right timing/sequence but does not seem to have a full range of motion compared to the others. Also noticed it appeared to be blowing out some sooty oily exhaust. (from the tail pipe, it turned the snow black!)

Does this sound like an indicator of a collapsed lifter? Truck is still making some sort of valve train noise as well.

cherokee4meplz

Ok so after further diagnosis the rocker arms and valves are all doing there thing correctly and actually they are all within spec. I think I may have one lifter that sticks here and there. I checked out the torque converter and that was all snug so I fired it back up and listened to it while thinking about the thing.

When I got it there was a freeze plug leaking pretty bad and it would overheat within a few minutes of idling. I fixed that up and there are no coolant leaks that I can find. I now am thinking that the rod bearings have been cooked in this thing during one of the DAPOs overheats and I have a rod knocking. From the noise I am hearing there is nothing else it could really be.. It sounds like a piston is about to make a surprise appearance out of the side of the motor.

A good friend of mine has a lift at his shop and does a lot of wrenching. He was telling me about a 4 cylinder jeep wrangler that was knocking and the owner did not have much to fix it so they just replaced the rod bearings, oil pump, oil and pan gasket. With the engine in the truck. The guy has put like 80k miles on it since. Looking at the parts, I could do the same to my 4.0 for (minus a new oil pump- I have great oil pressure) for about 60 bucks and a couple few hours of getting greasy. I need an oil change and new pan gasket anyways.

So this weekend we are going to trailer it over there and try that as a last effort to revive this abused 4.0.

I am also going to buy an old 258 I6 from a CJ though. I found one complete with 130k miles for 100 dollars. WTF do I want with that you wonder?

I am going to cheap fix the renix 4.0 so that I can drive the thing- that is why I bought it. All the while I will be gathering the correct parts to perform a 4.5L stroker job on the old renix block. The 258 has the crank and connecting rods I need.