dzywicki

I think you have just named this Jeep for the rest of it's life! I like it a lot. Now I will have to incorporate this logo somewhere. Maybe under the hood or a on the fender.

dzywicki

Went to the local pick a part and picked up a fresh bracket+bearing. $30 with the discount. Hard to beat that. The old one was defintiely not turning correctly. Took it from a Cherokee that had suffered a rollover so glad it could give something to the living. Got that back on, put the radiator back and filled with just distilled water (in case something went wrong). Happy to say it started right up and I was able to move it out of the garage under it's own power. Seeing the end of this round of rebuild. Will have to start looking at where to get the magnetic logo printed for the Jeeps new name: "tubthumper"

uptownbill

yeah dude!

jordan96xj

Yes! This thread rocks.

NewbJeep

x1,000,000

dzywicki

Next time this Jeep gets rebuilt, it will be for off roading. Glad to see some folks are interested in my XJ rebuilding adventures. Should be able to get everything back to roadworthy this weekend. then, it's back to where I was getting the A-pillar and windshield fixed.

dzywicki

Took "tubthumper" out for the grand re-reopening drive today. I got the new drivers fender fitted up and secured (still have some adjusting to do) and secured the new header panel and lights and the bumper. Tried to put the washer fluid bottle back in but gave up trying to get the fill nozzle in. that looks like a real ***** of a job. Didn't put the bumper end caps on yet since I didn't need those for the test drive. Fired right up again, idled really well. Took out on the road and took i tup to 60. No shakes, no wobbles, steering wheel was perfectly straight. Last step is AC stuff. Need a replacement receiver-drier, o-ring kit and electric fan. Definitely seeing the end of this now. Been a ton of work, but definitely is a good story in the end. People just look at me funny when I tell them what I have doing.

uptownbill

you're a bloody inspiration!

dzywicki

Been a while since I updated. Football coaching has been taking up pretty much all of my time during the week. Ran into a snag on the AC. Replaced the condenser, all orings and accumulator. Pulled a vacuum and it held fine overnight. Then pulled the low side vacuum connector and the valve is leaking now. Found a valve core removal tool that fits, but it appears the low side valve core is nonserviceable. The tool I bought was not moving it so I made my own out of a bolt so I could get a socket on it. No shoes, no service, no dice. Bent my diy tool. The high side valve core came right out. I posted other threads looking for help with that problem. I cannot believe this would be designed to have to repalce the entire hose assembly for that $2 valve.

MWMahoneyJr

This guy mentions a special tool for the low pressure side in his blog post, but it looks just like the one you bought. Maybe skinnier.
https://mike-thomson.com/blog/?p=1234

Someone in the comments mentions that it could be one of two sizes of Schrader valves. Maybe yours is the smaller one, and you need a skinnier tool?

Some people on the interwebs mention working the valve in and out to kinda lube the o-ring. Or screw the cap down REAL tight.

dzywicki

There is a really expensive tool that will preserve the refrigerant int he system if it's still there. I don't need that tool because my system is empty.
I was just looking for some miracle that the valve is actually removable (since the high side one comes out) so I can replace a $2 valve vs. $100 for the AC suction hose assembly. Just makes no sense unless someone thought this was a good way to drive $$ for dealer service on the AC.

MWMahoneyJr

No, I get that overall the tool was for preserving system pressure or whatever while removing the valve. But I'm specifically talking about the little forked screwdriver inside. The part that unscrews the valve stem. It looks just like yours...but smaller. Maybe.

dzywicki

Gotcha. I don't think that's it. the homemade one I made is fitting right over the squared part of the valve. It just won't budge. Looks like I have no choice but to replace the entire hose assembly. Definitely less than ideal. Looks liek $75 from Rockauto. Once I get the old one off, I'm definitely going to cut that thing off and see why it won't come out. Bastards.

KD3NE

I looked at your first post and the damage pics ..... have not waded through the entire thread yet, but my thoughts were " oh yeah that is rebuildable "

We've had several XJ's here for the kids ( 3 kids = 3 XJ's ) to learn and practice on ... they all had their wrecks, and I got to put them all back together.

Our last XJ, a 1995 is still with us .... but I don't know why! LOL

Just had an electrical issue which turned out to be a massive ignition switch failure and I thought this might be the end for it, but it lives on .... for now!

dzywicki

There sure seems to be a reason that the Cherokee stays on the list of top cars that just won't die. I am amazed at how many I still see on a daily basis. I just don't think there are that many other cars from that era on the road.