I am thinking about having red highlights (control arms, track bar, leaf springs, coil springs, diff covers,D rings, and a few other things) when I put my lift on and I was gonna use rustoleum enamel to do it but I'm kinda hesitant to paint over the lift that is powder coated :S

 

Something like that?

 

Ya color wise... I think red highlights would look good on a white jeep...

 

That's all powder coating. Including rear axle, not that you can see though. I've painted over powder coated suspension parts quite a bit with good luck.

 

Alright cool thanks

 

I've got a 95 cherokee xj 4.0 L 6 cylinder automatic with around 165,000 miles. Recently I performed a tune up, which included replacing thermostat, spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, transmission fluid/filter. The engine's been acting funny however. Usually the engine will run fine and smooth for about 20-30 minutes and then stalls out when i slow down or come to a stop. After the stall, I can usually start it up again, but sometimes it won't. I love this car and have put many hours into it and this is REALLY frustrating. Any ideas or help would be appreciated?

 

Hmm, any relation to weather? Does it run smoothly when it starts up again? When it doesn't, how long can it take to get going again? (I'm assuming you don't need a tow)

I'm thinking heat soak or a sensor that's acting up. CEL on? Have you scanned for codes?

 

I am replacing my power steering pressure line tomorrow but the return is leaking as well, would it be ok to cut it ( the return line) at the couplings and just use some new hose and clamps?

 

Yep. The return line is just a hose. If you go to whoever autoparts and ask for the return line fitting out of the steering gear, you'll get this tiny little universal barb, but it does the job. Then you'll need to get the hose too. Some people use heater hose or fuel line and for the life of me I can't remember what I used.
It'll be a good time to splice in a small cheap Transmission cooler too.

 

How does cutting the metal tube and flaring it sound instead of barbed fittings?

 

That's what I did with both PS and tranny lines to run to the coolers. Should work fine.

 

Okay, here's a question.

Checking my oil this morning, I noticed a small layer of gunk at the end of the dipstick. I got that sinking feeling that one gets when they realize their head gaskets are failing, but it didn't look quite like antifreeze in the coolant and definitely wasn't the milkshake of doom... now I've looked again, I'm like 98% sure it's not the head gasket.

After driving to work, I checked again. The little layer was still there, and had not mixed with the oil. On close inspection, it looks kind of like dirt or metal filings or something.

Picture:



Any idea? Are my bearings disintegrating, or have I just collected 193,000 miles of junk at the bottom of my pan? I don't hear any kind of bearing knock; having spun the bearings on a few cars, that awful sound is seared into my brain.

AJ

 

Just out of curiosit how long since u changed the fuel filter? Could have enough build up that after the pressure has went through it for a while it clogs it up when it dies the pressure releases just enough to get it going again.

Chiep enough to try if you can't find a bad sensor and good practice of maintance any ways

 

not to untypical for that many miles I'd say. My suggestion would be on the next oil change give it a good flush after u drain it say flush through 3-4 quarts you could even pull the oil pan and clean it out but if you don't want to spend the time a good flush should help. Might pay to run so oil system cleaner to. after you get it flushed out good if it still continues to build up you may have a need for concern. If everything still sounds normal i'd say more likely just build up over the yrs

 

+1. Looks like normal buildup and a bit of varnishing to me. I'd venture that previous owners weren't as dilligent as they should have been about maintenance. The super cautious route would be to drop the oil pan and valve cover and see what you're really dealing with before taking any action. With actual evidence of a bit of metal in there I'd be very careful about cleaning it out if you were going to pursue a flush. Like don't go overboard with a product like Seafoam or something, just a bit at a time, as if the gunk and varnish is actually bad you don't want something to break loose and clog a passageway.

Don't worry too much though - 4.0Ls have gotten almost as high as yours with 0-2 oil changes and actually lived to tell the tale