Bigthoven370

This weekend I was working on the jeep to try and track down whats causing my speedometer + odometer to not work. (Still doesn't work, need to pull out my voltmeter and do some wire testing) It only will work for a short while if I go over a bump at highway speeds. And when it does work it is all over the place and goes back down to zero. So I took the gauge cluster out, took the speedo gauge out and the contacts and everything looked fine. Went to the engine bay next and took the ground strap off of the dash, and cleaned it up and put it back on. Finally I went to the transfer check to make sure the wire to the speedometer gear was plugged all the way in. It was but the speedo gear retainer was on the wrong way, took it off and put it on the correct way. Was poking around while I was under there, found the connector to the gas tank that I need to test to figure out why my fuel gauge is inaccurate. While I was poking around I found the "unfortunate discovery." (I honestly never looked hard enough to notice this until now.)

When I bought the jeep from the PO he told me it had a 3 inch or 3.5 inch Skyjacker lift. (the lift height doesn't matter anymore) Turns out it doesn't. It doesn't even have a full lift kit. Just like everything else the PO did or fixed on the jeep, the lift is a cheap half-assed lift. In the rear it does have Skyjacker Nitro 8000s, but the lift itself comes from blocks. As the leaf springs are super flat.



Scrubbed the shock to find out what I had, and the obvious block lift.



Leaf springs are very flat.

As for the front lift I didn't take any pictures but it has Nitro 8000s as well, but I'm unsure what coil springs it has. It does appear to have Teraflex lower control arms, as the arms have three grease nipples. The steering stab is black and has no label on it so assuming its generic.

I'm rather pissed that it's not a full lift kit and instead it's just pieced together. I'm also worried about the rear suspension because the leafs are very flat, and because of the lift blocks.

I was thankful when I bought the jeep that it already had a lift kit, cause in my mind that meant one less thing to put in the jeep. Turns out that's not the case. So now I need to put a legitimate lift kit in, or just get the rest of the parts so it's real 3 inch lift. Or maybe I should lift it higher, not sure yet.

Glad to know that the harder I look around the jeep the more I find that needs to be done the right way.

Bigthoven370

After I figured out I have a pitiful attempt at a lift kit, I took off the stupid exhaust tip that was on the XJ, been meaning to take it off but never got around to it.


Tip on the jeep



Without the tip



Exhaust tip off the XJ

Then that weekend I finally tackled my reverse lights not working. I spent all day Saturday and into the early morning on Sunday taking the conduit off of the wires from the taillights all the way to the fuse block in the engine to check for breaks.



Panels and wire conduit taken off at the tail light



Dash taken apart



Entire wiring harness in engine bay undone

I was able to easily track the wires that went down to the reverse switch, and I figured out they went into one end of a connector but they stopped there and didn't continue on the other side.



The brown/green and the blue/white wires went in this side of the connector but didn't connect on the other side
After I found where these wires went and didn't continue I found the other end on a different connector that was for a automatic trans. This leads me to believe that the XJ was originally an auto trans from the factory and at some point the PO swapped in a manual but they didn't hook up the wires for the reverse lights.



The other end of the wires went into this connector which is for an auto transmission



This grey connector had lots of wires that were cut, these wires would've gone to an automatic trans

I cut each end of the brown/green and the blue/white wires at their connectors, rerouted them and spliced them together with a butt connector.



Cleaned everything back up and routed the wires down to the reverse switch
After cleaning up, turned the key to on, put the trans into reverse, and sure enough I finally had reverse lights!




Now I have reverse lights!
Glad that I finally figured out why I've never had reverse lights, I had always thought that there was a break in the wiring, or that the trailer wiring done by the PO was causing the issue, (wouldn't have been surprised seeing other things done by him) but I would never had guessed the wires just weren't hooked up! I also now know that the XJ was originally an auto, and that's why there are some cut wires in the engine bay.

After fixing one thing of course another problem showed up.

Bigthoven370

Even though I fixed my reverse lights another problem showed up afterwards. Went to start the XJ a few days later, and nothing. Wouldn't crank at all. I poked around the engine bay to make sure everything was put back together, which it was. Couldn't figure out what was going on, the battery had 12.4v, there was the same voltage at the starter,the relay and everywhere else it needed to be. I read that if you put the key in the on position, and jump the S terminal and the battery terminal on the stater with a screwdriver that it'll start, so I tried this and sure enough it started. Took the starter in to get it tested to just make sure, and it passed the test. I also read that the ignition switch could cause no crank issues, but sure enough there was battery voltage at the switch while cranking.

As I was having trouble coming up with anything I asked my instructor at school what could be causing issues. He showed me the wiring diagram for the starter and its relay, he also told me the voltage I should see at each wire and whether that be while cranking or at all times. I wish I had more time to test the wires as I was pressed for time to get my jeep running. It'll only start if the XJ has been sitting for awhile, and if the throttle is "jabbed" it'll die if it's feathered. Hoping I can get it to the school tonight without any issues.



How I jumped the relay terminals

Once this jumper wire was in the place the XJ started up with no problems. I did have drill that following weekend, went to leave and my battery was dead. Charged it over the weekend, and when I came back the XJ started up once again. The next day I went to go do errands, and as I was leaving my drive way the XJ died. Rolled it back and tried to start it again, I got nothing. Let it sit for awhile and tried again, still nothing, put a little bit of gas in it and eventually got it started. As I was driving to the gas station I noticed that as I gave it throttle it would bog down and would pick up again. Filled up with gas, and went to leave and of course it wouldn't start. A guy from the gas station tried to jump it with a jump pack and nothing, then guys from the oil change place that owns the gas station tried ether and that didn't help either. Towed it over to their shop and they poked around the engine, checking for voltage at the battery, at the coil, and the distributor, voltage was there. Checked for fuel pressure at the fuel rail and there was pressure. The also checked for the pulse width on the injectors and as they were on the second injector and I was cranking the XJ started. They checked my timing as well and said that it was 30 degrees off? If that was the case that could be causing some issues, but I don't see how my timing could have become that off. Drove it home by blipping the throttle because if I put the pedal down it would die, and a CEL came on.

The next day talked to my instructor and told him what was going on and what had happened. He said if I could to bring it into class so my classmates and I could start working on it. Went to drive it earlier today, started perfectly fine on the first crank and no issues with the throttle, gave it a touch of throttle and it died. Took the air hose off and tried to start and it started, left it to idle while I waited for my grandpa to follow me with his truck in case it needed to be towed the rest of the way. And as I went to back it up and as soon as I touched the throttle it died. Still won't start and will have to tow it to school so I can start working on it.

No clue what's going on but I'm thinking its electrical related. But man am I getting feed up with issues popping up left and right.