Morat

Thank you! Here's another update just in case you're bored

I swapped out the MAP sensor (having retrieving it from the snow after the dogs beat me to the parcel) and Cheap is running pretty good on Petrol. There had been some hesitation when cold and hard starting when warm. I haven't had them since changing the MAP although it's early days. I'm hoing to call that fixed

No change on LPG. Seeing as I had the Torque App set up I checked the trims. On petrol everything looks kosher. LTFT and STFT are generally pretty close to 0, ranging up to about+7% on acceleration at WOT. But.. stick it on LPG and both shoot to -33% in a couple of seconds. So the injectors are too big at the new higher reducer pressure and they're overfuelling by a LOT at low revs/idle.

This is what I expected but it does confirm I'll need new LPG injectors because once they're drilled out you can't jet them back down again. If I lower the reducer pressure again (basically the same as reducing the fuel rail pressure on petrol/gas) it'll go lean at WOT again like it did before.

I'd rather pay for petrol than lean out on my refurbed cylinder head and beat the valve seats to death so she's booked in for new injectors and mapping at the LPG specialist next week. Not the same one who installed this setup to start with. Swapping injectors isn't that hard bit (No Smoking!) but the mapping is the key and Simon is a guru.

Round and round we go!

In other news, the trans seems to be making a bit of a whirring noise. I'm not convinced that the local shop put the right ATF in it when I towed it in after the trans cooler line blew out and dumped the lot.

I know I should man up and do it all myself but I don't have access to a pit and nowhere level for ramps so I've bought the right stuff (DexIII) and a filter/gasket so that's going to be done by the local shop (again). I don't really fancy dropping the transmission pan on my face!

I'm moving house in Summer, can't wait. There's more parking and YES level ground.

Morat

10l of ATF, from a make I've never heard of before. As you know it can be confusing to find the right stuff for an AW4 and the brands mentioned in the forums tend to be common in the US but not over here.
So, here's hoping!

Basslicks

Hey, it's Dexron 3, that's all you need to worry about.

Morat

So she's had the tranny flushed, and it shifts smoother than ever.
The noise on the belt turned out to be the power steering pump which was replaced by a brand new one from China. I couldn't find any genuine parts so this one came off Ebay.co.uk via Riga and originally from China. So, let's see how it does. The old one was making such a terrible noise I thought the rods were going to come out the side of the block until I took the belt off and the engine sounded sweet.

I've also had a new set of LPG injectors fitted because the old ones were bored out too far. The new ones are better quality and meter more accurately so the idle is smoooooth and she reves really well through the whole range with no loss of power. Sweet Economy also looks to be good but I haven't managed to measure a full->empty tank yet. Because....

The belt is squealing again, and I'm not sure what it is. I should take the belt off and check all the pulleys but it's dark. Last time I took it off the water pump did have a little bit of play even though it ran smoothly.

More worrying is a huge coolant loss. It's dumping out the manifold side of the engine but the fan is making it hard to tell where. It could be the lower rad hose (hard to tell with the gauze on there) or maybe the water pump, or maybe HG but I've never heard of a HG just pushing water to the outside of the engine. Oil level/pressure is good.

The aircon compressor (where you LHD guys have your alternator, underneath the PAS pump) is getting all the PAS fluid from the old pump washed off again which I guess is something. I'm just losing the will to fix this right now. Work is nuts, we're away for Easter and I think I'm just going to have to hand my wallet over to the local mechanics (who are a good bunch to be fair) and say "LALALALALALALA". Girl style

Morat

Had a google around and it does look like a failed water pump. Not the end of the world if that's it - but it's a pretty good leak. How big is the weep hole on these things?!?!

meh, time for bed.

Morat

Any guesses?
Freeze plug! Which _really_ let go about half a mile from the shop. Luckily my wife was in convoy because we were taking her Range Rover to get an exhaust leak fixed and I keep a tow strap in the Jeep. It's meant to be there so I can smugly tow lesser vehicles out of trouble but so far it's 2-0 to the Range Rover

Anyway, the shop fixed it on the same day and I'm picking it up tonight. I wasn't even booked in. There's a reason those guys are busy!

Morat

So it's been a fun times for the Jeep recently. I think I must have abused a Jeep in a previous life, or maybe I'm paying the price for spending so much time fixing the Range Rover (which is unavoidable to be fair).

Anyway, the new core plug is in and the coolant is green (ish) and staying in the right place! This is fantastic news, because the slight coolant loss that the jeep has had for as long as I can remember is now gone. Completely. She's also holding 90C/194F degrees constant. At least that's what it says on the gauge, one day I'll check what the truth is with an IR gun.

So, that's the good news. After the core plug incident, before I'd even parked up at home - mad misfire. The symptoms were odd, it started fine on petrol. Just as it started to warm up, it was pretty much undrivable. Idle dropped to about 500 and weak/lumpy. Mid throttle was a huge misfiring mess. Full throttle ran OK but down on power.

This was the same on petrol or LPG which suggested that the issue was on the petrol side or the ECU/sensors - but nothing had changed apart from a full load of coolant being dumped into the engine bay. Codes arrived for MAP (already changed) Upstream O2 and Invalid key from immobiliser. Err, ok. Cancelled the lot and they didn't come back - but the misfire came and went just as before. I could just about get to work (5 mile) on full throttle, then coast. Not exactly safe and not something I wanted to try in traffic.

We thought grounds (especially as there was a whine on the stereo rising with engine revs), we thought wiring getting wet, we thought battery. In the end, Bob the Spanner God pulled out the wire to Petrol injector No2 for no good reason beyond "I didn't like the look of it" and bingo. Problem identified.

It seems that the petrol injector has failed in some weird way and unplugging it stopped the problem. OK, it only runs on 5 on petrol but once you switch to LPG the LPG injectors take over and we're on 6 and smooth as silk. I've ordered some used injectors and new seals so I can swap them over (the injectors were cheap so I might just swap the known bad one and put new seals on the rest depending on how they look). I don't really care about upgrading the petrol injectors - they should only run the Jeep for about 5 minutes until the temp is high enough for the propane to take over.

I hope that sorts it, although I'm not quite sure how the injector was still firing when the LPG was running because they're supposed to stop running at that point. Still, the next step will be to see if she'll run all the way up to temp on petrol with new injectors and then see how the LPG copes. It might be that there's still a fault in the wiring but I'll go with one thing at a time.

Maybe after that I'll get a chance to fit the new rear wiper motor.... It's been so long that the weather has now changed and I won't really need it if we have a decent summer. I'm more interested in a re-gas for the aircon now.

Morat

Well it's been busy times for me - I've moved house! So that's taken quite a lot of time away from the Jeep.
But some stuff had to be done, and some stuff is still on the list.

1st up - needed to get through MOT/Inspection
1. Horrible misfire. It took ages to work out what this was. It spent a day at the garage and they couldn't figure it out even after sticking in a new battery and running an extra earth strap from the engine.
The weird thing was that it started OK and then went horrible when it warmed up. To cut a long story short, it was a combination of a bad Upstream O2 and a bad Petrol injector. The petrol injector had failed open so it was letting fuel into cylinder2 no matter what the ECU told it. The engine was running fine when cold and on open loop but when the ECU tried to go closed loop it was getting mad signals from the O2 and trying to pull all the trims full lean. Just to make it more fun, because the Jeep switches to LPG when the coolant reaches about 40C you could make it run OK by disconnecting petrol injector #2. This forced the ECU back to open loop because it detected a misfire and went to limp mode. The LPG would fuel OK from the base map and there wouldn't be any extra fuel getting in from #2 so it ran fine (but did burn a bit more gas).

Anway, eventually I swapped the O2 and put in a new petrol injector and everything returned to smooth running.

2. Headlights. I had an "advisory" on last year's MOT saying that my driver's headlight was losing the reflector to corrosion. Which was definitely true. I ignored it until inspection was coming due and had a closer look. It turns out that you can get pretty decent replacement headlights from ebay https://tinyurl.com/y9swmn3m and since we already have H4s as standard on all UK Jeeps - that seemed the way to go. For 40 quid I reckoned I couldn't really go wrong so I bought a set and swapped them out. Nothing very exciting - except the state of the old lamps. I pulled off the chrome surround thing and pulled the edge of the glass which came away and left the rest of the light where it was. The whole thing was rust all the way through. I had to blow it out! The new headlights are all plastic so they won't rust and they fit fine. The only thing is you have to drill holes for the sidelights (dunno whey they don't put them in as standard). I gave up trying to vacuum the swarf out of the lamp so I eventually washed it all out with water and let the lights dry out. So if you're in the market for a similar fix, do yourself a favour and drill the sidelight holes before you even touch your Jeep so you can get the headlights good and dry before mounting them.

The new lights are MUCH better compared with the old ones. But the old ones were rust held together by dead bugs... After a few days they look like this:



So, after getting moved I need to get back onto fighting the ever growing list.

So in no real order

1. Advisory for "end float" in rear axle. I guess I need to jack the jeep up and find out how much end float there really is. If it's more than spec I'm not sure what fixes this - new axles? I'm secretly hoping I'll be forced to replace the diff (my LSD is definitely open now) but I suspect the diff is going to last.a
2. Advisory for slightly leaking steering box. Yeah... that'll have to wait.
3. Squeaking power steering pulley. It's the original one and I've had two new pumps so it's a bit tired. Especially as the local shop used heat to remove/replace it and overheated the replacement - I wasn't very happy about that. Puller and new pulley are on their way.
4. Engine fan viscous clutch - needs replacing. Parts on the way!
5. Rear wiper. This is such a small thing but it really annoys me when I can't see out the back properly. I've bought a replacement 97 motor and a replacement arm. My 97 seems to actually have a 96 motor fitted so the arm won't fit on the "correct" motor. So I bought another arm and it looks like another 96 arm. FML. It's dead simple to swap, I just need the right bits.
6. Power Ariel. One day.... one day....
7. New tyres! Yep, I've got over 45k out of my (4) General Grabber AT2s. They're legal, but they're not exactly AT anymore. The AT3 is out now, in the correct size. The AT2 have been superb so I think I'll go with General again.
8. Intermittent trans faul. This is a bit weird. Sometimes my trans just sits in 3. I checked over the earths in the engine bay and found the one at the back of the block was completely loose (no nut) and covered in oil. I dremelled it shiny and re-attached it. I cleaned up the earths by the dipstick tube as well. The trans is definitely better but sometimes it just decides that 1-2 are boring and you pull away very slowly from junctions. Usually when the engine is good and hot. I'm guessing there's some more wiring that I've missed but right now it has improved a lot.

Still loving the Jeep

Morat

OK, now I've got my picture hosting sorted, here's a couple of shots of shiny parts.
First an overview of RHD weirdness with the old bits, and the current state of the LPG system. It has all been changed since I first got her:



and here's a new fan clutch and power steering pulley. To stop me feeling too smug I managed to knock the fan and clutch off the water pump and fumble it so it fell blade first onto my big toe.



Sadly, the squeak has come back so it might be I'm on for a third power steering pump I think the mechanic who heated the first new pulley instead of using a puller tool must have just bashed the old metal pulley back on. Grr. Now I've got a puller myself the pump seems an easier job.

Morat

OK, if anyone is having problems sleeping....

Cheap is in dry-dock. After moving house and getting that settled down I wanted the Jeep working properly before winter arrives. I've been in denial about a few Jeep issues but now it's time to face up to the truth.
First the good news.
She starts right up, no misfires and clean running on Petrol and LPG. Great
So that just leaves: Steering, Gearbox and the rear axle. Also no heat. Almost mint!!

Firstly the axle end float wasn't just a myth, she basically needs a new rear axle because the half shafts are worn out. I kind of knew that as you could hear the rear knocking teeth if you gassed her out of a tight turn. The Track Lock rear has been open since I got her so I'm going to pony up for new clutch packs at the same time. This should leave the whole thing tight and quiet and with better traction. I did really want a Tru Trak but all this stuff is shipping from the USA and that makes it ££££ or $$$$ for you guys. I'll see how long the packs last before dreaming of Tru Trak goodness again.

Then the other fun stuff. The gear box has a speed sensor fault - another £120 for the part. I can't really get round that. I know some guys just live with manual shifting but I really don't want my wife pulling out into traffic and finding herself in third.

Steering. Yep, I'm just getting another Power Steering Pump. At this rate I might set up reconditioning them myself

I still don't have a rear wiper or a working antenna. For now that'll have to stay as it is. Also, my radio is still whining in time with the engine. It's fine using the tape or CD so I'm still betting on a ground. I'll have to hunt it when I get the Jeep back.

On the upside Cheap was losing coolant again which was making me close to insane after the whole core plug affair. Turns out it's just the coolant cap, can it be a nice simple fix this time? I surely hope so With a bit more luck a coolant back flush will get the heat back again, because it's getting colder and I like to be able to feel my toes when using the pedals.

RockinRonnie

Wow sounds like your having fun with your xj or at least can hope its still fun. Tinkering with these never seem to end but they are really nice to drive and play with!

boxburn

You certainly have done a fair bit to this XJ looking through this thread. It took me a few months to be happy to just get in and drive mine but I still have a list of small snags I could do with sorting out.

What's up with your antenna anyway? If it's not lifting and lowering due to a supply issue, I had the same with mine and created a "simple" 3 relay control circuit which if you're any good with some wires and a crimp tool, wouldn't be difficult to make. It is simply powered by ignition on and not radio controlled.

Morat

Thing is when they're sweet they're SO sweet!

Morat

It's my fault. The thing worked perfectly until I tried to lube it and ending up snapping the plastic toothed strip by mistake. The motor runs and cuts out correctly everytime I power on /off the radio but the mast doesn't move.
However... that may change soon. Well, soon-ish. When I cba.. because:

Ebay item 223060040156 has just arrived.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223060040156

I've got a spare mast with the plastic toothed thread but I can't get the old one out for love or money - it's jammed in there good. So now I've got a cheapo Chinese replacement for the whole thing in case I screw up I can get medieval on the broken mast and get the whole thing fixed

The rest of the work has gone well. The rear is tight. The halfshafts and diff are great, but I missed the opportunity to upgrade so it's just a standard open diff. Not the best communication with the shop there but the bottom line was that an LSD would have meant at least 10 days extra wait and I needed my Jeep back on the road.
She has new drums, the rear wiper works at last and I can see out of the back which is a real bonus in winter time with clag all over the roads.
The new windscreen is watertight and the carpets are now pretty much dried out so I'm not worried about rotting out the floors from the inside - although I should probably get the carpets out in summer and get some rust prevention down.
The gearbox is shifting perfectly with the new solenoids. I got them from https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/usa.industries usa industries for Fourty Pounds delivered which was excellent - but they don't have any listed right now.
Finally the new Power Steering Pump is... steering.
So, now she goes, steers, shifts and stops! For bonus points you can see out the front and the back and she's waterproof!


The only issue now is that the aircon compressor sounds like a steam engine. I think it's time for a new one, or maybe just the clutch but I'm starting to think that a new compressor, dryer and full re-charge is the best way to go.

boxburn

Good to hear your getting on. It sounds just like me still, getting different systems sorted out one by one.

I've posted in the welding thread with my recent work after having to do a lot to my floor. All sealed up, bed liner paint and wax oyl on the carpet underside for good measure.

That's also the same solenoid kit I had to order. It cost me in total about £62 posted.