Jeep XJ tips and tricks to keep your Cherokee on the road or trail
My old XJ has served me well for nearly 500,000 miles. The odometer stopped working at 444444 and I have swapped clusters a couple of times, so I really don’t know what the current mileage is.
Continue reading “Engine replacement Jeep Cherokee XJ”
When I put in my new engine I expected it to start up right away. I had carefully aligned the distributor, checked all the electrical connections and bled the air out of the fuel system.
But when I hit the key it simply spun over and never fired.
I put a light in one of the spark plug wires and it flashed indicating I had spark. That meant that the Crank Position Sensor was working.
Continue reading “Jeep 4.0 no start troubleshooting puzzle”White Jeep explores the Franklin State Forest
I have been looking for an adventure to test out my rebuilt White Jeep. I have passed through Franklin State forest many times and been curious about the dirt roads on either side of Highway 156. So today I decide to go exploring.
I started at the park headquarters on Highway 156. There was a map posted in the kiosk but none available to take with me. So I downloaded the PDF to my phone.
Even after repairing the main vacuum line in my HVAC controls I still had the problem that under prolonged acceleration, the vents would loose vacuum and switch to the Defrost setting. This problem is often caused when someone deletes the vacuum bottle behind the front bumper. However, my bottle is still in place behind the stock bumper.
I studied the vacuum diagram and saw there is a check valve where the source connects to the intake manifold. I tested mine by blowing through it. I could easily blow both ways so the check valve is bad.
Continue reading “Jeep XJ HVAC controls revisited”For years I ran a straight pipe on my Jeep. I liked the sound but after hours on the trail the noise would get to me.
So a couple of years ago, I replaced the entire exhaust system with stock style components. The truck has been nice and quite since then.
However, the stock muffler is not very strong. And, it hangs in a place susceptible to damage. After just a few trips off road, mine was crushed
Continue reading “Jeep XJ muffler replacement”The blower motor stopped running during my last off road trip past winter. Today I decided to find out why and get it going again.
Back when my off road Jeep was a rally racer we were required to have two easily accessible fire extinguishers mounted inside the cockpit.
Over the years off roading the original extinguishers had gotten used or lost and the brackets had gotten damaged. So my extinguisher was just rolling around and not easy to get to in an emergency.
I got this bracket from Amazon:
I have been noticing some intermittent drop out of power assist on my Cherokee for a few weeks now. I tried overfilling the reservoir in case there was an air bubble. That lasted for a while, but today the power assist was dropping out at some very inopportune times. So, since I had a new pump on the shelf I decided to change it out.
Since I don’t have an air box, I did not have to remove it. I did remove the electric fan just to get a little better access.
For years I have been running with the stock brake lines with my three inch lift. I just unbolted and rearranged the metal brake lines to get enough droop.
Occasionally, however, I will snag something and give some undue stress on the brake lines. After one of my wheeling partners broke a brake line on the last trip out, I decided to make an upgrade.
For various reasons, I did not want to go with braided stainless Teflon lines. I wanted to stay with stock DOT-style rubber lines.
I decided to try 91 TJ lines. I figured they used the same Dana 30 axle and the body was further away so the lines should be a little longer. The TJ line has a longer metal line before the rubber hose begins giving it a bit more reach.
I ordered Raybestos part numbers BH38861 and BH38862.
WHe nI started my 1988 Jeep Cherokee after having the engine out, I noticed a few things were not working. My Heater blower, windshield wipers, and turn signals were not working.
I assumed I had forgotten to hook up something or maybe damaged a wire somewhere during the pulling or reinstallation process.
Continue reading “Jeep Cherokee Electrical Troubleshooting”