Thanks for the good advice
I think I'll pop down to Kwik Fit and get their "Guaranteed" service - which always starts with a pressure test so they don't waste any refrigerant on a knackered system.

 

It's the best bet. I lost a £40 re-gas in a week.

 

Well, whaddya know? Fully functioning air con!
They did a proper 20 minute leak test, which was fine and nothing else was broken.
Not bad for a 23 year old set of pipes (although the compressor was replaced somewhere up-thread)

Now we just need some sunshine

 

And the next little saga:
I'd noticed that the door electrics were getting a bit funky. The front passenger speaker had gone out, the windows wouldn't wind from the driver's door. Little things that were pointing to the driver's door harness having gone AGAIN.
The breaking point was me winding the two passenger side windows down from their own door switches and then being unable to wind them back up again. Rain was forecast so I did the Clingfilm wrap of shame and booked her in with the local Auto-Electrics people.
I took them a Fiat Coupe back in 2001, they did a good job then and they're still trading. If you can fix Fiat electrics... I thought I'd give them a shot
And so far - great result! All the windows and speakers are working properly and it cost me £143 including taxes for a professional job. Yes, it's a fair wedge of cash but 18 waterproof heat shrink connectors, 7feet of wire and 2 hours of labour later she's waterproof again. It's also hammering with rain now so... I'm calling it a wise move!

It was interesting to see a current model Range Rover in there. Apparently the rear indicators/turn signals don't work, even after new (LED?) lamps. He told me to "Stick with your old Jeep"

 

Cheap has been making an intermittent groaning noise from the front recently. That and a strange pulse through the steering wheel at full lock.
I consulted the forum and Front UJ was the suggestion. Seems fair!

So, Rock Auto sent me the UJs and I broke out the tools.

It all started well, the bolts had all been covered in copper grease and came out easily.

Easy Start!

There are loads of guides online which made it pretty simple.

Then I got a bit full of myself and thought that because I did the UJs in the driveshafts on my Range Rover last year, I knew how to deal with UJs.
Which I sort of do.. but I managed to break the ABS reluctor rings on both shafts

After a panicky google, I learnt that they are available separately. I've got them off, and now I'm waiting for replacements. I hope I can get the new ones on without breaking them too, they're quite brittle.

I don't think anyone needs a guide on how to remove the reluctor rings but if you do, this picture sums it up:



Smack it!


So, waiting for parts for a couple of days. The next mission is to get it all back together without breaking anything else.

Oh, and the RH UJ was indeed toast. It's my fault, I should have realised it was a greasable unit but it had one zerk on the end cap instead of in the cross and I didn't spot it. The LH one was still perfect, but hey - I may as well replace them both. I've got Dana/spicer ones from Rock Auto. They're non-greasable but I'll make sure they're well greased up before I install them.

 

This was good advice on RockAuto for the UJs - thank you They even do pre-paid customs which really speeds things up. I have my first fridge magnet

 

I think they should be sending me t-shirts and gift cards now

 

LOL - impressive sticker collection!

Well after that she's all back together. I'm sure no-one needs me to post up pics of how to do a UJ. I was a bit worried that I'd break my new ABS rings when trying to smack them onto my rusty stub axles so... I got some of this:
https://www.bilthamber.com/deox-c

and mixed it up at minimum strength (300g in 6 litres) which made plenty of fluid to cover up the stub axles. After a couple of days and a couple of scrubs with a brillo pad it turned them from this:



Nasty

Into something a bit better


Better

You're meant to scrub the parts every hour or so and not leave them overnight, but seeing as this isn't a body panel or anything that will be seen I just left them in the bucket for a couple of days and scrubbed the worst bits a couple of times.

So - now she's all back together. The weird noise has gone
Sadly, she's now overheating so I think it's new Radiator time. The fun never stops

 

Lookong good.

Do not buy a rad from BaHuHas Emporium on eBay though. Mine failed 3 days after PayPals 180 day policy and they said I didn't have enough proof to get it repaired under warranty.

 

More great advice, thanks Boxburn!

So.. the hunt is on. So far prices range from £203 from RBS-Handel down to £75 from Trade Vehicle Parts (never heard of them!) for this:
https://tradevehicleparts.co.uk/jeep...BoCMVMQAvD_BwE

which is listed as 91-96 in the URL but I didn't think there was a change in the radiator at the 96 revision and the page says it goes up to 2001. Hmm.

It turns out that ECP can get me one tomorrow for £95 plus VAT which is OK... but I should have googled a bit longer. EIS don't have a great rep (one year warranty so I'll see how it goes)

For reference, any UK owners out there might want to check this guy out https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/coolpartsuk - he has XJ rads listed at £77. No idea of the brand but if you're going cheap - go really cheap


EDIT: The rad is here, turns out it is a Nissens part. I've been pleased with them before - but never fitted one to a Jeep before.

 

OK, after a week away on a narrowboat - I've put the new rad in.
It went smoothly except the old rad didn't have removable brackets (56002231) to hold the aircon condenser so I had to zip tie it in place. Also, there's a big pile of worn-out old rubber and foam which I guess surrounded the old rad and stopped air going round it. I've still got it in case I can find a way to put it back in but seeing as none of the guides mention it I'll see how we do without it. It has a Chrysler star on it, so it's meant to be there.

I went for a 15 minute drive and temps are back to normal, with the needle pointing straight up (to 100C in my case) after I got home and left it idling for 10 minutes. I'm going to say we're back on the road

I think it's time for a list:

• Aircon - doesn't kick in at all, despite being tested for leaks and regassed earlier in the year.
• Radio Antenna - I still haven't fitted the replacement for the antenna (I may never do it!)
• Rear Wiper - slowing/sticking again
• Headlining - definitely need to replace it at some point
• Driver's seat - cracked on the outside of the bolster. Nothing bad, just annoying
• Slow leak in my brand new Grabber AT3 - that definitely needs to go back to the shop to be checked out. It's a PITA having to blow up one tyre every couple of days. It's probably just a bad valve as it has been doing it since I bought the tyres.

 

Good News bad news.

Good news: had the new tyre re-sealed and it's fine now.
Also, took Cheap through a car wash today and the windscreen seal job seems to be holding and the driver's door is also watertight.

Bad News: The driver's carpet is still wet so I think I know where the coolant is going. Looking like a heater matrix.

I had a look at the rear wiper and squirted it with lube along the shaft - bit of a waste of time. I'm going to have to strip the motor or replace it. It runs fine without the wiper arm but with the extra load it stalls after a couple inches of movement.

 

Does the wet carpet smell like coolant? I don't know on a 1997 but on the 96 down the heater matrix is on our passenger side so would have a strange path to get the drivers side wet but not the passenger.

I ended up buying a used rear wiper after trying to clean and free mine up. I did have it on video running well, then on video it stopped dead. One of the brush holders detatched and the motor ripped itself apart. Well worth giving it a go though as if it doesn't work, where's the harm in breaking it more?

 

Thanks for the info again, Mr B
The carpet smells of wet dogs and gravel, so maybe you're right or maybe I've lost my sense of smell... but that's a whole other thing.

I think I'm looking at a headgasket now. I topped her off and then used a litre of coolant in about 50 miles. There's lots of white exhaust too but that's not really definitive as we go into the cold damp months running on LPG. The oil looks good, thankfully. I'm parking her for now. I'll pull the spark plugs and see if any are suspiciously clean. I've never pulled the head on one of these myself so I'll have to do some research and make sure I can get it done in a weekend because it's dark by 1630 from now till March. I started painting the house last week, there's no rest for the wicked

 

Hmm, but it isn't pressurising.
I think it's time to hunt the leak, which isn't easy as Cheap is quite generous with marking her territory.