DeafPhysicalEducation

Hello,
I've always wanted an XJ, but being a teacher supporting a family with a Wife and 2 boys, I had to be careful to get the right XJ that had what my wife and I wanted that would last us a long time. I want to keep this XJ until it dies. After looking for a while, finally got a Baby blue XJ Limited.
It has 205,000 miles so been doing a lot of small jobs to make sure that the filters and fluids are up to date while I work my way around. My father is a 25 year retired mechanic so I have some help from him and my friends who work on cars etc. The head gasket has an oil leak but is not that bad, but plan to do this once school gets out and I have a week to do the work with friends and get more information on what I need to get to prepare for this job.
The check engine light came on when mornings were cold, 30-40 degrees without a long warm up, when tempatures are over 50 degrees with a warm up, the light does not come on, dad says it's just an imbalance of fuel and oxygen and needs to be warmed up before driving.

Work I have done so far;
- rear shock absorbers (bolts came out easily and did not break)
- rear differental fluid change w/rtv (it was leaking when I bought it)
- front differential fluid change w/rtv (this was not leaking)
Both smelled pretty bad and looked dirty
- transmission filter change/high mileage dexmerc - THis was a total BISH to do because apparently the headers are new/aftermarket and taking out the pan was a total pain for space. Think I might have stripped 3 bolts while putting this back, will look at them again soon to see if any leaks. I have tap and die set ready in case.
- 6 spark plugs, cap and rotor replaced.
- K & N oil filter with synthetic blend 10-30w oil

Plan to do;
- thermostat
- water pump
- coolant flush
- oxygen sensor - important?
- headlights - update harness and convert to H4 type...

I do have a 2 inch lift kit but lifting is not important to me, I want a daily driver and something that will pull a small aluminum trailer to go camping with the family. I am keeping this until it dies.

Suggestions, feedback, tips on how to maintain my jeep so that it lasts me another 100,000 miles is much appreciated. I am not very knowledgeable with car mechanic terms etc, but a quick learner and like to do things with my own hands.

Some problems I have with the jeep.
- the rear lights, when I signal left and apply the brakes, the emergency lights come on, no brakes - just the left light is on.
- stereo comes on and off sometimes and only the right side speakers work
- once in a while when I try to start the Jeep too fast, it will sound like electric grinding, I just shut it off and then try again and it starts up fine

mcguyver_xj

looks good and its actually Steel Blue...and sounds like you might have some small electrical issues but dont sound to difficult to tackle

86-Chief

Electric grinding would be the starter. My advice is love your autozone for most things.

My Alt & starter are from autozone...they tend to not wanna work after they get wet for some odd reason
So I got autozone parts there for free replacements for life


Headlight wise, grab yourself a upgraded harness..and get silverstar replacement headlights. They are bright as well and cost about 40 bucks at any parts store..


For your lift, I would toss it on..won't need much else to do it..


Maitenance wise...I know you just did your oil and such, but next time, grab 5W40 Reotella. Or 15W40 Delo. You need a 40 weight in these 4.0's.
If you have plans for the water pump & such, while your in there, I would pull the intake/exhaust & replace that gasket as well. Cost 13 bucks. Check your header for cracks while its off.

I saw you say you did the trans, but what about your transfer? Pull the drain/fill plug on it, drain it, grab some good ATF & flush it out till the fluids nice & clean..should only take 1 bottle/quart. Replace drain plug, fill it up & replace fill plug.
I use a little thread sealant on each to prevent leaks.


Next tackle your bushings/ball joints/tie rod ends.
Hope under it and check all the tie rod ends, ball joints & bushings on everything. Motor mounts & trans mount included. If they need replacing, autozone for the trans mount, Ironman andy4x4 or Browndog for the motor mounts. OEM replacments will fail again lol.

DeafPhysicalEducation

I live near a costless, which is way better than autozone... I did fear the grinding was the starter, I usually stop as soon as I know its the grinding which is 1-2 seconds.
What harness is suggested for the headlights?
Keep the feedback and suggestions coming...

mcguyver_xj

well you dont have to upgrade your harness just buying a set of housings like Delta's or IPF's (i got IPF's) and a set of 55/60W Hella H4 bulbs is a vast improvement but if you want insane get the housings and harness and 90/100W bulbs and the harness is like Eautoworks or something and supposedly you can use one for an S10 in an lmc catalog for $10 less

86-Chief

Upgrading the lights without the harness is silly. First step to better lights is the harness itself.
Eautoworks is just fine, cost about 40 bucks last time I checked.

And you can keep your sealed beams and go with Sylvannia silverstar performance headlights.. super bright & white, or as mentioned go with the H4 conversion..personally unless you do the 90/100W upgrade, theres really no difference other than cost.
Sealed beams being cheaper.

DeafPhysicalEducation

Excellent help there... will go this week and see if the harness is there and get the silverstar lights. Thanks!

DeafPhysicalEducation

Also if 2-3 transmission bolts are stripped but are "tight in", should I worry about this and get this taken care of asap or am I fine for a while until I can get back to this project?

86-Chief

If theres no leak, I'd say its fine for a while.

I would jump on the Tcase flush so the fluids will all have about the same mileage. That way next time you do the trans you can do the tcase at the same time. Just grab 4 qrts of a good ATF and go to work.



You know I'll be honest as well...I did to the Silverstars..now I have a Wagyy front clip with the 4 small headlights. And those lights suck, and the only upgrade for them cost 100 for the lows, another 100 for the highs. No way I'm dropping that!
So I grabbed a set of Hella 500's..I should of got the 700's..same light just slightly bigger/more light output. But adding those lights made a 100% difference. they are legal to be ran 100% of the time and only cost around 60 for 2..they are great lights. May consider that vs upgrading your headlights right away.
My point was do harness & some AUX lights, as you would have more output all together that way.

DeafPhysicalEducation

I am tempted to add AUX lights but I think I want to stick to just upgrading harness, headlights, and also fog lights as those suck and are half filled with water I believe. What would be a good upgrade for the foglights that will go where the current foglights are now? I think that is the way I want to go for now, I am not into changing the way things look on the outside of the jeep too much...
so harness, silverstar lights, now what fog lights are good?

86-Chief

Do you want square or round?

Round I would get Hella 500FF or Hella 700ff...difference is the 500's = 5" the 700= 7".
If you want square I would look into the IP868's

DeafPhysicalEducation

I want the rectangular ones to replace the ones that are currently in the stock space or whatever you call it.. or is it that easy to put in round ones in the middle on top of the stock bumper?

86-Chief

SUper easy..basically you have a hole, the like sits on the bumper/bolt through whole. And a nut & washer go on the inside of the bumper..very very simple to install.


Personally I like rectangle lights better on jeeps. I would get IPF868's but they cost about 150 for a pair. So I went with hella 500's instead, which cost me 42 bucks.

You can unbolt your stock lights, and then bolt on the hellas in their place in a matter of an hour or so.

DeafPhysicalEducation

Wow, I am way more ignorant than I thought... the manual says 5-30 or 10-30 but you say should do a 40 weight?
Will try to do the intake/exhaust this week and hopefully I can figure out what I'm looking at and such.
The rest of the stuff like the tcase, joints, bushing, rod ends... I have no idea what those are but am learning one by one since I have the manual, haynes book, and the internet...

What work must be done when doing coolant/water pump/thermostat jobs? WHat else should be done when doing these?

86-Chief

Honestly I don't know why the rec. a 10-30 for us..Run Rotella or Delo, both better than Mobil1 and about 10 bucks cheaper to.

Hoses should/could be done while doing the cooling system.


Tcase drain & refill. It uses ATF, so grab your favorite brand and go to work. Also see the circle silver tag, look what it says on it, either 231J or 242J, the write is for both..but that way you know what your working with.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/b...hange-1009078/


Bushings..your lower control arms have bushings on either end, they mount to the axle & to the body..you should be able to grab a light and look at them fairly easy.
Check the bushings on the axle..obviously you can't see the whole thing, but you can get an idea if they need replacing or not.


Click this link here, theres a picture showing you what everything under the jeep is
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/tig...8/#post1218013



My question now is, do you plan to stay at 2" of lift for some time or do you plan to go higher?
If you plan to stay at 2", and be honest, no shame here. But I fyou plan to stay there, then I'll give you a few ideas.