2001XJWeekender

Bought this Jeep in September. Have been doing some upgrades since then. Will do as much myself as time/skill allows. Please chime in with any additional items you would look at doing.

Whats done (all done by me and a friend):

3" Zone Offroad Lift /w nitro shocks & boots, TC drop 1"
Installed Zone adjustable track bar when I broke the OE taking it off
30x9.5x15 Treadwright's
Oil change, followed by a dose of seafoam in vacuum, oil, and gas tank (1/3 bottle in each)
Yakima Roof rack and Tire mount
Painted stock rims metallic black (sexy sexy)
Installed front recovery hooks
Installed hitch and ROLA bike rack
Installed Walmart fog lights on front bumper, switch on center console
Installed Dynomax cat back exhaust kit and pipe
Installed Zone Offroad front sway bar quick dosconnects
Removed rear sway bar
Installed Powertrax No-slip in C8.25.
Installed new parking brake cables.
Cleaned f/r diffs, used synthetic gear oil in both
Installed rear brake pads

Todo list (1-2 months):

Install new champion spark plugs
Install new spark wireset (correction, the 2001 has a rail, no wireset)
Install new oil pan gasket and main seal gasket (small leak, mechanic shop)
Get another oil change (mechanic shop)
Install YJ rear brake hose, bleed (mechanic shop)
Install sliders (local guy is building them)
Install gas tank skid (local guy is building them)
Install new headliner (starting to sag a bit)
Spot touch up undercarriage with Rustoleum rust reformer (75% done)

Future Maybe list (3+ months):

Install Ford Mustang injectors (XR3E, already have them)
Install new TPS (gonna test with meter soon)
Install new O2 sensors ($$ how to test?)
Install rear fog lights on Yakima light mount
Pull off plastic trim, buff out paint overspray from PO.
Repaint remaining plastic (already have the paint)
Replace or cover front seats (small rip on driver side)
Clean and bedline the wheel wells.


This is a pretty basic build post, so probably not too many pictures (I know, booo).

My goal with this Jeep is to have a solid weekend warrior rig I can take anywhere. I do a lot of adventure sports, climbing, biking, paddling, hiking, camping, etc. I'll also spend a lot of time in the mountains of NC this winter, my favorite time to hike and camp. Have been to Uwharrie only once, took all the easy trails as it was my first 4x4 experience. Uwharrie closes in mid Dec, so not much wheeling until next year. I have looked for other places to wheel, but the only other place is Tellico?

No major problems, but I want better gas mileage. The best I have seen was 17MPG with seafoam in the tank. Average is 15-16MPG. I did replace the speedo gear in the TC, so my mileage is accurate. I use an app on my Android phone to track mileage when I fill up. 20MPG is a goal.

Also have a short in the window control. Only the driver side can operate the other windows. I have seen the post on the lockout override, but it's not important enough to be on my lists.


Thanks for reading,


K

OttawaXJ

For your 3 inch zone offroad kit, try to get full leaf packs. I think all they offer are Blocks or AAL

2001XJWeekender

Here are two pictures I took prior to most of the changes. Stock lift, tires, etc, and only addition being the roof rack.



All the drips and whatnot are me soaking all the bolts in PB Blaster. I did that for a week prior to installing the lift.

Sadly, even with trying to cover the concrete floor... it will never be this clean again. I have since spilled all manor of fluids, permanently staining it in spots.

2001XJWeekender

The add-a-leaf that Zone provided is full length and beefy. I'll replace the pack if and when it sags. As for now, the AAL is stiff enough to balance the front and rear, even with a load in the back and roof rack. I attribute some of that to the nitro shocks. I was impressed with the kit for the price.


K

xjnj

From the description you jeep sounds nice. Im planning on getting some kind of safari rack or roof rack, how do you like the Yakima rack? Does it mount to the stock roof racks?

2001XJWeekender

Pictures from this weekend. I was in the Western NC mountains for a few days to see the first blizzard, enjoy some good country cooking, and tour some local art studios. Though the city streets were well plowed from snow and salt to keep the ice at bay, some of the higher roads were covered requiring some 4wd.

Drove up Friday night, and on Saturday morning woke up to a light dusting.



This was after a few hours of touring.



Sunday morning it was a bit different!





Tech wise, I ran through a full tank of gas in 2.5 hours! On the way home I was loaded with two Frazier Fir X-Mas trees strapped to the roof rack. I could feel the resistance the whole trip, and was pretty steady around 3000RPM for the trip. It was like driving with a parachute on the top.

So Sunday night I pulled off the Air intake, re-tensioned the transmission kickdown cable, and pulled the electrical connector off the TPS. When I tested the Ohm's on the TPS, I was getting CRAZY readings. So after the daily grind I'll pick up a new one, replace it, and test the oxygen sensors.

I have the Haynes manual, so the testing procedure should be straight froward. I'll try and post pictures if I remember.

The ice and slush was falling off the car while I was working on it. This morning I have all manner of nastiness on, under, and around that Jeep.


K

2001XJWeekender

So far the Yakima is the most expensive piece of equipment on the Jeep. It was just a few bucks more than the Powertrax No-slip locker.

It's nice to have, however it's gonna cost ya 1-2mpg, even more if you opt for the roof mounted tire carrier like I did. I use it on trips where I am carrying my boat, canopy, or a ton of hiking gear (most recently a couple of Frazier Fir trees). I have the cargo net that clips to it, and that is a great accessory.

I had the spare tire off-center when I first installed it to allow a full length section of the rack for a kayak, however that caused the rack to drift to the heavier weighted side. I tried to compensate for that with some zip ties, but eventually just centered the tire. Haven't had any issues since then.


K

KTMrider

Nice lookin build there chief. keep it up! Up here in western MD were getting a lot of snow. 1 full weeks worth. haha

2001XJWeekender

Short on time this week, so last night was about the only convenient time to knock out some of my list.

First was to take off the throttle body, remove and test the tps, clean the throttle body lever, and test the oxygen sensors.

The tear down was easy, I was in a hurry, no pictures.

The old tps was tested as such: Positive lead to the center pin, ground to the adjacent pins in turn. Switching on the ohm meter, I slowly turned the tps with a flathead screwdriver... and the numbers bounced all over the place. Quick trip to AutoZone and a new tps was ready. I tested it, and the readings were smooth.

Finished cleaning the throttle body, wiped off the excess gunk, reattached the tps sensor, bolted the throttle down, and clamped on the Rock-It air intake.

On to the oxygen sensors... I read as much as I could find about them. In general the upstream sensors send to the ecm to modify air/fuel mixture. The downstream are just for emissions reporting to the ecm? Either way I have 4 of these things to test.

The first 2 are easy enough to access. One on the top of the intake manifold, one under the intake manifold. Pop off the connector, and test the voltage using the black lead and a ground to the block. They both provided readings in the .05-.25 V range. Not sure if these are good or not...

The downstream ones were next to impossible to test from under the Jeep. I tried to pry off the connector, but wouldn't budge. Afraid of breaking something I left them alone. One more item to add to the mechanic visit later this month.

Took the Jeep out for a test drive, and since I had moved my ipod back to my daily driver, I was just listening to the sound of the road and engine... which sounded pretty awful. It was like a high pitched whiney sound, like something was too tight, or needed some lubrication.

Swung back by AutoZone and picked up an oil filter and 6 quarts of 10w30. Changed the oil, and of course spilled oil all over the floor in a giant puddle. Cleanup ensued.

Fired up the engine and let it idle back up to operating temp. Still could hear that whiney sound. Crawled under the engine and listened for a minute. Couldn't tell. Took the Jeep out for a test drive.

About 5 minutes into the drive the Voltage dropped to 9 and the check guages light came on. Made it home.

Shut it down and ate dinner. About 20 minutes later started the engine and voltage was back to 12.5 on the gauge. Shut it down and hooked the volt meter up to the battery. Battery read 12.45. Started the engine, and battery read 13.8.

Turned on the lights, and Voltage gauge dropped to 11. Turned on the AC, and gauge dropped to 10, turned on the radio and the gauge dropped to 9 and the check gauges light came on. Bad alternator?

Took the battery out, unbolted the alternator, pulled and wiggled until it popped out the bottom. Will have to test tomorrow and try and get a replacement if it's bad. If it's good I'll be stumped.

Gonna say about 90% sure the alt is bad. Take a look at this.



Yes, that is a crack in the housing at the center of the picture. Here is another angle. all the vent fins are cracked as well.





K

Moparboy01

Wow, yeah that would be a bad alternator, lol. Nice looking XJ though.

BamaXJ

Nice looking XJ bud! That's a gnarly looking alternator!

2001XJWeekender

At lunch swung by AutoZone and dropped off the old alt. The counter guy took one look at the alt and just laughed . 5 min later with a SHINY new alt in hand I went home for lunch and shoved it in the bracket. Went in SOOO much easier. Picked up a new belt as well, but just stuck that in the back as a spare.

Reconnected everything, tightened the belt to ~about where I thought it should be, and cranked the engine (crosses fingers).

And vroom! The I6 growls to life! engine sounds great, voltage is close to 14!


Just to test the output, I turned on the lights, ac, radio, and fogs. Tested the reading from battery pos to engine ground. 13.58 Volts. Enough to charge the battery at full electrical use.

Let it idle until it was at operational temps, then drove it to work instead of the Maxima.

Heading back to the mountains again this weekend, so definitely want the Jeep operational. Gonna be short on time the rest of the week... please nothing else breakdown!

Pretty stoked to see if mileage is improved. The TPS, oil change, and cleaning the throttle body should make some difference.

Here is a shot of the new one installed! Oooo Shiny.





K

420blackxj

Nice XJ. I want to do some of the same mods to mine. (powertrax no slip #1)
I didn't see you mention a xfer case skid in your plans.
Probably a good small investment.

2001XJWeekender

Yes. I like the Rusty's TC with 1" drop and the skid for it. It's listed here.

TC Skid Plate

TC Crossmember

Will install the rock sliders and gas skid first, so these are probably next year's projects.


K

2001XJWeekender

Knocked a few things out today. Surprised at how easy it all was. Did this all during a lunch break... skipped the eating part, but I'll be ready for another road trip this weekend.

First, pulled the coil rail covering the spark plugs off, pulled the spark plugs out, this is what they all looked like. Installed new Champion spark plugs. Got them for $1.99/ea!



While I was under there I also pulled off the fuel rail and installed the Ford Mustang injectors. XR3E is the model installed. Here is what the old injectors looked like.





Before I installed the new injectors, I sprayed the holes out with carb cleaner, then used a wooden skewer to scrape off some of the harder areas. When done it was a pretty clean surface.



Here are the new injectors seated in the rail. Notice a little seepage on the foreground injector. After checking, ended up just being a blob of grease I used to lube the O-rings. No seepage detected.



The test drive was fine, I noticed no change in handling.



K