Turbowned

Hey all,

My name is Corey; never been into Jeeps (in fact as a technician and service advisor I held a pretty low opinion of them) but I recently picked up this '91 4dr auto and its in surprisingly good shape and I kinda like it! 2 owners, rust free, 337,000 miles and runs great! I'm looking forward to sprucing it up and using it as my winter vehicle.

I've begun restoring the interior because I'm something of a neat freak so nearly everything is out of the vehicle from the carpet, seats, headliner, trim, all but the dashboard. In doing so, I've noticed a few issues that I'd like to address:

• I noticed the headliner was stained so I'm wondering if the roof rail bolts are letting water in or if it's the windshield seams? I've replaced all the door and hatch weatherstripping as they were pretty ratty, but noticed a few water droplets in the front of the car with the carpet being out of it. Should I just run a hose over the roof and go from there?

• I'm wondering what type of fastener holds the frontmost part of the inner door armrest/handle into the door; it seems to be a plastic inert with some metal bits inside? Anyone know if these are available aftermarket? Had no luck finding them on Quadratec's site.

• Only my front doors lock or unlock with the button. Pretty safe to assume I have 3 bad lock actuators (rear doors and hatch) or should I try to do some testing to confirm? (discovered before interior was removed)

• I swapped my folding front quarter windows with fixed ones as they were whistling over 30mph and I can't seem to find replacement weatherstripping for them anywhere besides NOS Mopar ones on Yahoo Japan auctions for almost $400... anyone know if there's a comparable model Jeep you can get weatherstripping from? I kinda like the old folding windows.

Moving onto mechanical issues/questions:

• When I first got it about a few weeks ago, the transmission worked as it should. After I removed a good portion of the interior (seems unrelated but that's just what happened chronologically), it seems to start off in second or third gear. I can put the shifter in low and it will start out from first, but it doesn't select it on its own when the shifter is in D. I suspect the solenoids in the trans have gone bad? I was going to order a pair or solenoids off RockAuto unless someone has a better idea?

• My reverse lamps do not work. I swapped the bulbs and checked fuses so I suspect it's something at the trans not sending a signal? (discovered before the interior was removed)

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'm sure I'll run into more things as I go along. Looking forward to getting this thing 100% and enjoying it, hopefully past 400,000 miles!

PatHenry

Roof rail leaks are common. Running a hose over it would be a good test.

Shift solenoids are available at a reasonable price on Ebay and folks seem to have good luck with them. I don't know much about autos as I am a clutch fetishist.

I believe there's a specific switch in the transmission for the reverse lamps. You could start there.

If you don't have a parts catalog, hit up xjjeeps.com and download one. You might find the weatherstrip part numbers there which will help with searching. Considering the age of the Jeep, it may be really hard to find a good OEM match replacement.
If you can find a copy of the FSM, obviously get one.

My Dad's 94 crossed 400k - all original, all fully functional through the retirement day (retired due to rust). To this day (in which he drives a <3 year old Toyota Tacoma) he still says that his 94 4.0L 5spd 2dr XJ was the best [read most reliable] vehicle he's ever owned and he's owned a lot of Toyotas.

Red1992XJ

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the solenoids.

If your reverse lights are not working and the bulbs are good, its time to check the Neutral Safety switch. (It seems as though lately, most of my comments involve the NSS).

You can take it off and simply rebuild it. Take it apart, clean it good, and reassemble with some dielectric grease. There are plenty of writeups on how to do it, and if you are somewhat mechanically inclined, its a breeze.

Turbowned

Thanks Pat, fellow Masshole here! Originally from the South Shore; moved to CO last summer. Any ideas on how to cure the roof rail leaks? Is there a gasket/grommet/seal that needs replacing?


Thanks! I will certainly try that first!

TCP64

Welcome to the forum. Say hi to Joe Kenda for me.

Ralph77

This might help you do research on parts you might be looking for.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/research-249236/

jordan96xj

Just got back from the Springs. If there is a place in the US where cherokees live forever, it is Colorado Springs. On my way to work in the morning I must count 5-10 of them. Many of them completely stock (or close to it).

Welcome!

PatHenry

Nice! Groton is central north, just outside 495 - close enough to smell the freedom of NH to which I'll be escaping the moment I can sell my house.

I think most folks just silicone the roof holes. That's probably what I would do, but I'm probably the opposite of a stickler for details. I like the Auto & Marine sealant available at the local Ace hardware. It goes on and dries clear, sticks nicely to all kinds of surfaces and works. If it were me, I'd disconnect the roof rails and apply that stuff upon putting it back together.
I have a saggy headliner that I may or may not get around to fixing, but because my 95 is a SE model, it doesn't have the factory roof racks. I have a set of Thule gutter mount racks that my Dad gave me since it seems they don't make vehicles with gutters anymore and both my parents' current vehicles have built in racks.

jpk

As for the shifting issue I would bet money it the solenoids. My AW4 was doing the same thing. That fixed it. For the roof rail, I used grease to seal the hex screws. NSS good chance for the reverse lights. A downloadable FSM is available off ebay. Worth the seven or eight bucks. Highly unusual for 3 out of 4 door locks to fail. I suspect a short or broken wire some where in the wiring harness especially since the driver's door works but it gets far more use than the other doors.

Turbowned

Sounds like a plan. I'm going to remove the racks this weekend and seal the bolt holes. I'll run a hose over it and see how my handywork goes! Then I need to order some mechanical parts; shift solenoids, tranny pan gasket, oil pan gasket/rear main seal, front pads/rotors, front U-joints, rear drums/shoes/hdwr/wheel cylinders, and next weekend I should have plenty of work on my hands!

I have another question: I found a factory fog lamp switch and bezel out of a '93 and it looks as though mine is pre-wired for fogs; there was wiring and a connector behind the blank bezel in my dashboard. Does anyone know if this is correct? If so, where would the wiring be on the other end to connect fog lamps?

Jeepwalker

Welcome to Jeeps! I hope you grow to like/love yours. The nice thing about XJ's is their simplicity and basic ruggedness ....in this era of 4x's where mfgrs have had to automate AWD processes to protect the ignorant from themselves. The visibility with all the glass is great too. Let's see ...didn't they add door beam protection in 91?

I would also say, ZJ and WJ Grand Cherokees are also fantastic vehicles when compared to their contemporaries of the day. So don't forget to give them some credit too. For instance I had an Explorer in the mid/late 90's and a ZJ Laredo at the same time. Even though the Explorer had more options, a full frame, and some nice engineering, it didn't drive anywhere near as good as the ZJ and I'm sure it wouldn't have went 325k miles fairly trouble-free either! And the WJ's with the 4.7 are even better. Personally, my favorite of all the Jeeps I listed is the mid 90's ZJ because the interior ergonomics are great, and it was still fairly small.

You may want to inspect your xfer case output bushing for wear and possibly replace it (and the seal), given your miles. And give the rear end a good look over. The rear ends commonly fail on these and I had one gernade with little notice on my ZJ leaving my wife stranded on the side of the road with a melted pinion bearing ...so I know it isn't just a wives tale. And I know it wasn't low on oil ...I always used synthetic gear lube too (due to cold winters).

Also, if you have steering play, put a vise grips on the steering gear input shaft and rope it solid to the frame and check the steering wheel for free-play. If the intermediate shaft has even a teensie-weensie amount of play, it can add up to an inch of free-play at the wheel. A new input shaft may make it drive like a lower mile rig. Steering boxes are somewhat weak on these too, but a lot of guys blame the steering gear out of the chute and the real problem is the intermediate shaft.

Heater cores are an issue on the older ones, and on mine, a lot of the heater core foam (on the doors) became dry-rotted due to age, and had to be replaced. So, sometimes a no-heat situation can be more than just the heater core. If you have doubts about yours, may want to address it before it gets cold out. it's not a 30 minute job.

Enjoy!!

Ralph77

Best thing to do would be to see if the connectors for the fogs is up front.

Turbowned

OK good news, bad news! I did not realize it but when I removed most of the interior I must have unplugged the TCM or what I assume was the TCM; a module under the dash near the glove compartment. So, now I have restored my shifting and don't need to replace the solenoids.

Bad news however; yesterday when I started it the idle was up and down, up and down, almost stalling but stayed running. I drove from Colorado Springs to Denver (~70mi) and it was pretty much fine once it warmed up, but on the return trip, the engine started missing severely. I sat in stop-and-go traffic for a good portion and it never stalled but the idle was a bit off, and when I tried to accelerate I could hear popping under the hood and there was virtually no throttle response; the engine was breaking up badly. I had to hold the throttle wide open to get it to accelerate at all, and it barely was able to hold speed going uphill. I was actually amazed I made it home without crapping out on me but oil pressure and coolant temp stayed steady so I stayed in it. This morning I replaced plugs, wires, cap and rotor and noticed virtually no difference. I suspect either a fuel pressure issue or a bad throttle position sensor but that's just shooting from the hip. Any direction on what to test next would be most appreciated; thank you!!

Edit: I pulled the fault codes and returned 12: Positive battery input to PCM was disconnected within the last 50 Key-on cycles. (I recently disconnected the battery to replace the steering wheel so the horn would stop going off LOL)
and 51A: Lean air/fuel mixture has been indicated by an abnormally rich correction factor. I was surprised to see the check engine light not be illuminated for this but it's been a good 7 years since I've owned a pre-OBD car.

Red1992XJ

It may be best to start with the fuel. Check the pressure at the manifold. Worst case scenario you can replace the fuel pump, for under $100.00. I dropped the tank on mine when I did it because I wanted to make sure it wasn't full of junk. Luckily it wasn't, so I put in a new pump and sending unit and I am all set.

You can take out the pump and sending unit without dropping the tank if you want. You can also just replace the pump and reuse the old sending unit if the sending unit is working properly.

There could be other issues, but fuel is always a good place to start on an XJ after ignition components have been replaced.

Turbowned

It was the pump, or more specifically, the feed hose to the pump had fallen apart (guessing due to ethanol mixture in fuel?) causing the pump to be overworked. Tested 15psi at the rail. Knowing this I probably wouldn't have driven it home from Denver but I thought it was running rich... whoops!

Replaced the pump/sending unit and the fuel filter, changed the oil, and she purrs again! Shone a mirror in the tank and it was virtually spotless inside so that's an added bonus! Now, back to solving all the other little issues!