I feel your pain on the rust. Yours somehow looks a little bit worse than mine, however. I'm tackling mine this summer hopefully when I get the cash. I also have a slightly leaky front pinion seal. You got quite a project on your hands!

 

OK guys! I did the VC Gasket today, went in seamlessly, very stoked about it. Also got rid of the old muffler and will hopefully straightpipe it tomorrow. Also I cleaned the throttle body and cleaned out the engine bay with degreaser / pressure wash. I will be tackling the rust in the near future; the pictures make it look pretty darn bad but most of it can be tackled.

As for the rust hole, I am going to cut out that whole area and have a buddy weld in a patch.

Next up is the front and rear diffs, then order and do the rad / water pump when my new bumpers come in

Also I will check on those starter cables and harmonic balancer, thanks for that tip!

As for the parking break -- I'm not too sure yet. I don't understand how it works so I'll give it an analysis tomorrow and give oil pan pics and rear brake pics.

Thanks everyone!

 

Its not a Jeep unless it leaks something, I'm 19, And have a 96 3.5in lift, sitting on 33s, I'm fighting my cooling system right now, do all the work myself. Let me know if ya need any advice

 

Nice work! Seeing any new oil leaks after changing the VC gasket?

 

Thanks for that -- glad to know someone else is in my shoes

Not yet. Did it about 5 hours ago and have been driving it around a lot since then (and driving it kinda hard -- sounds good with the muffler off hehe) and I haven't noticed a leak yet so that's good. I'm praying I did it right!!

I'll look for more leaks tomorrow as well when there's daylight. I parked it on a new spot in the street to see if the leaking has improved. It really needs oil; I supposed I could do an oil change but I wanted to hold off until I was for sure done with working in the engine for now. What do you think?

 

Looks like you got a good plan so far. What kind of oil filter/oil are you running on there now?

 

If you have the $$ for an oil change and it needs it, I'd do it. Rotella is fairly inexpensive, the 4.0's tend to like it and it does a nice job cleaning the internals.

 

Don't know -- haven't changed the oil since I bought it (about a week ago). TBH, I actually have never done oil before :0 ... but that's why I bought this Jeep. Time to start learning.

Any recommended brands for oil filters? I was gonna go with 10w-30 oil. Should be good for the cold winters and warm summers. It smelled like synthetic oil (I don't have a very trained sense of smell though) -- should I keep up with running synthetic if it is? I guess it would be kind of hard on it to switch back to regular?

PS I can't thank you guys enough for being so patient with an utter car n00b here.

It's almost a quart low and the oil looks dirty to my untrained eye so yeah, oil change is imminent. Probably tomorrow or the day after. I will possibly attempt the tranny fluid as well

 

Mopar, WIX, NAPA all are good filters. Purolator is generally OK too. Avoid the Frams. There are fans of 10W30, 10W40, 5W30, 15W40.... pick one, lol. I use 15W40 in the summer and 5W30 in the winter.
Oil choice is kinda like religion. They all have their pros and cons, people defend their choices vehemently, discussion of those choices tends to lead to long threads, and there really isn't a 'wrong' answer as long as you don't do anything silly involving Wesson cooking oil. Pick a weight that's acceptable in the owner's manual, pick a good name brand and use a good quality filter and you'll be just fine.

There is no problem switching from conventional to synthetic or from synthetic to conventional. That's an old wive's tale that still makes rounds it seems.
I'm not a huge fan of synthetic in the 4.0, it's (IMHO) wasted money. They're an old design with loose tolerances and tend to pollute the oil with combustion product and raw fuel long before dino oil or it's additive pack is shot. That means you shouldn't really be running extended oil change intervals, and that's synthetic's biggest advantage.
Some folks swear by synth. and that's fine. It's very good oil, run what you like.

Oil changes couldn't be simpler, you can actually get at the drain plug and filter!

• Unscrew the oil pan plug, drain the oil into a container.
• Remove the filter (being careful of the oil pressure sender). Probably will need an oil filter wrench. Don't stab a screwdriver through it. I know folks do that, but what are they going to do if it still won't come off and they need to run for parts? The oil won't stay in now..... (Lesson #32- never intentionally leave yourself stranded)
• Lubricate the rubber o-ring seal on the new filter with a bit of clean motor oil.
• Screw the filter on hand-tight. Snug but not Hercules-style.
• Replace the pan plug after wiping it and the pan drain area clean.
• Fill with 6 qts of oil of your choice.
• Start the motor, let it idle, verify oil pressure on gauge or see that the light is out. Check for leaks around the pan plug and filter.
• Done.

 

I'll add to the oil change instructions.
Before putting on the new filter make sure the gasket from the old one came off. double gaskets are no bueno....

 

Right on! I get a free oil change manual! Thanks. I'm gonna swing by and grab an oil change kit and some 10w-30 of the more affordable name brand stuff and do the oil tonight hopefully. If they have them, I'm gonna pick up a magnetic plug too.

Thinking I should start a build thread so people who are in my situation (young, new to cars, limited funds, lots of problems with their XJ) can see that it's possible!

 

Go for it! That describes my build thread exactly. Although I've learned TONS since I got my XJ back in December. I fear nothing now. I also have a 1990 Mazda 626LX that's my daily driver, and I've learned a ton of things on that car too. It's very rewarding. Problem is, I'm broke as a joke too, living all on my own and making 17 bucks an hour, doesn't leave a lot left over for the Jeep unfortunately, so my build is very slow.

 

I think thats a good idea. You may want to post up prices for what you did as well. It would be a good way to keep track of how much you're spending and what you'er spending it on.

 

OK guys... I got a little carried away. See, my mech told me the radiator looked nasty and needed to be replaced. (And for sure the water pump needs replacement). So, today, with the help of my pops, we removed the bumper, and basically entire front of Pepper in order to get to her radiator. Well guess what? It looks gorgeous. Maybe you guys can clue me in on what to look for? Perhaps I'm just not looking in the right place. But from what I can see, I'm beginning to get angry at my mech. If the rad was fine, I guess I just wasted so much time cursing and breaking bolts!!!!!! GAHHH!

I attached a few pictures of my progress (and stupidity I guess...) Let's hope I can get it all back together...

I didn't even change the damn oil yet. Imagine that - a 19 year old kid who hasn't ever changed oil but is trying to rip out a rad to inspect it. Welp, it's an adventure

Pics! Perhaps someone can see something that my untrained eye can't. Let me know if you need any other pics. They're all enhanced.





Does anyone know how the @#$@#$@# to disconnect this damn thing? It's for the aux fan? I removed the red tab but it won't come out!

 

Nice that you're tearing into the Jeep and getting familiar with it. If the radiator isn't leaking, and you have no reason to believe it's plugged, it should be fine. Maybe ask the mechanic why he recommended replacement.