XJ Refurb

[kirksjeep]

So the past two weeks have made me re-think the idea of buying a $1500 Jeep.  First I would be driving and all the sudden the volt meter would spike to 19+ volts.  I would shift into N, cut the engine and drift over to the side of the road, re-start the engine and back to normal.  It got to the point where I could only drive 4-5 miles before it would do it.  After some research I replaced the Alternator, which turned out to be slightly larger and required the bracket to be modified, and turned an hour job into a 2 hour job and all on a day where I had to drive back here to NH.

I thought my electrical problems were fixed but then my battery would be dead after 2-3 days of not driving the Jeep.  My first though was that my Alternator fried the Battery with the High Volts.  After Autozone tested the battery and I found out they are all idiots there( differnt story) I eventually took my battery back home and did some trouble shooting for a short.  I read about pulling the negative cable off and placing a test light between the negative terminal of the battery and the negative cable, if the light it bright there is a short.  Sure enough I had a short.  I jumped inside the Jeep, shut the door, and started pulling fuses until the light went out.  Turns out it was the fuse for the power locks.  I remebered pluging in the connections for the passenger side door a few weeks ago.  I pulled the door pannel off, and disconnected the wires for the lock, and the it also made the light go off.   So I found my short, my power locks still don't work, but I found my short

[calvynandhobbs]

Sounds like you've been busy troubleshooting the XJ. I don't envy that kind of work at all. I hate electrical gemlins.

[kirksjeep]

When I was down in MD for the weekend I hit up my favorite place, the Pick-N-Pull.  I picked up the interior panel for the rear hatch with handle (mine never had one), the rear hatch sill plate (mine was cracked), rubber stoppers for the rear hatch (mine were shot), rear ash tray (never had one), fuse panel door with replacement fuses (never had one), and a drivers door door check (mine was shot) all for $30.  When I called around for the rear hatch panel the cheapest I could find was $50. 

The new rubber stops keep the hatch from rattling and the new interior panel has a lot of insulation which has cut the road noise in half!!!!  For my long drives the XJ is much nicer. 

I also changed the oil/ tranny fluid and swapped out the two main ground wires for 4 gauge wires to match the stock + wires.  I have no idea why Jeep used 4 gauge for the + cables, and 6 gauge for the - cables?  The headlights are a little brighter and it seems to start a little easier so I would guess it makes a difference .

[xjjeeper]

dude my 88 xj had 30 inch hankook mts stock no problem rear hit off road but i had flat leafs my new xj fits 30s to i might through some on untill i get my lift.

[kirksjeep]

dude my 88 xj had 30 inch hankook mts stock no problem rear hit off road but i had flat leafs my new xj fits 30s to i might through some on untill i get my lift.

I have 30x9.50 Goodyear GSA's on TJ 15x8 alloys and they work fine for on road use.  The GSA's are a fairly rounded tire compared to a BFG.  I am still planning to lift it and throw on the 31 MT's I have waiting in the garage, but the XJ is simply a Mall Crawler.

[reptile610]

dude my 88 xj had 30 inch hankook mts stock no problem rear hit off road but i had flat leafs my new xj fits 30s to i might through some on untill i get my lift.

I have 30x9.50 Goodyear GSA's on TJ 15x8 alloys and they work fine for on road use.  The GSA's are a fairly rounded tire compared to a BFG.  I am still planning to lift it and throw on the 31 MT's I have waiting in the garage, but the XJ is simply a Mall Crawler.

haha i remember you saying before no lift, now there's a lift? hm..... i see another project jeep coming along.

[BlacXJeep]

dude my 88 xj had 30 inch hankook mts stock no problem rear hit off road but i had flat leafs my new xj fits 30s to i might through some on untill i get my lift.

I have 30x9.50 Goodyear GSA's on TJ 15x8 alloys and they work fine for on road use.  The GSA's are a fairly rounded tire compared to a BFG.  I am still planning to lift it and throw on the 31 MT's I have waiting in the garage, but the XJ is simply a Mall Crawler.

haha i remember you saying before no lift, now there's a lift? hm..... i see another project jeep coming along.

he ended up with my old 31 MTs so I think that changed his mind 

[kirksjeep]

dude my 88 xj had 30 inch hankook mts stock no problem rear hit off road but i had flat leafs my new xj fits 30s to i might through some on untill i get my lift.

I have 30x9.50 Goodyear GSA's on TJ 15x8 alloys and they work fine for on road use.  The GSA's are a fairly rounded tire compared to a BFG.  I am still planning to lift it and throw on the 31 MT's I have waiting in the garage, but the XJ is simply a Mall Crawler.

haha i remember you saying before no lift, now there's a lift? hm..... i see another project jeep coming along.

he ended up with my old 31 MTs so I think that changed his mind 

I can't let my wife have a bigger lift and bigger tires then I do! It will still be a DD

[BlacXJeep]

Kirk you are missed, whens the boat due to come back to rotten Groton?

[kirksjeep]

Kirk you are missed, whens the boat due to come back to rotten Groton?

It is looking like late January at the earliest, but most likely mid February .  I've been able to make it home for a night or 2 most weekends, but even that is about to end with the work load ramping up .  At Least I still have the forum to keep in touch with you guys .

[BlacXJeep]

Well I know this is the job that you wanted, so hopefully the sacrifice will pay off in the end

[kirksjeep]

With winter coming (already a few cold mornings) I figured I should fix my heater blower problem.  My blower would only run on 1 and 4, so low or super high which kind of sucks.  It is a common problem on 97-01 XJ's and TJ's and from what I have read, 90% of the time it is the blower motor resistor.  A new resistor set me back $40 ( after military discount).  To get to the resister I had to find it first, and once I lowered the glove box door I found it down and back against the inside firewall.  I had to remove a small plastic panel where the passenger side courtesy light is ( 3 small bolts 2-8mm, 1-7mm).  The resistor is held in by 2 -8mm bolts and simply the wires simply unplug.  As soon as I pulled it out I saw why it didn't work.  It was covered in a layer of nasty dust and the one side had corroded away .  I plugged the new one in, bolted it up and now all 4 speeds work. 

The good thing is that I was able to do all this with the small tool kit I have up here in ME.  For all the XJ and TJ guys you might want to pull your resistor out and wipe it off, just to make sure yours keeps working.

On another note, it has been 1500 miles since my last oil change ( only 16 days ago ) and it looks like I have not burned or dripped any oil .  Pretty good for an engine with almost 198K miles.

[calvynandhobbs]

That's good info Kirk. Right now all 4 speeds work, but that would be good preventative maintenance. The problem with my heat is that I have the slides for controlling the temperature and I think a cable or two have come loose or frozen up. It sits at halfway, but it's way too hot and if I pull it to go colder you can tell that there is no resistance at all. It won't go to the warmer side at all. I have to turn my heat on and off because it gets too hot even at low speed.

[reptile610]

yay! now i can fix mine if i ever go to colder weather or fix my ac.