laredont

im a mustang guy, live in california..... but i just got offered a job in colorado that i couldnt pass up. so were driving. ive got a 1996 jeep cherokee laredo 4x4. i picked it up with 160,000 miles from an old guy. he bought it from his friend the original owner. so far im lovin this thing. ive never been into 4 wheel drives but thats quickly changing.

ive got an auto wrecker next to me that has jeeps for days..... what years do i fall into?? 1996 is the same as what years?

the only problem im having is the dash lights. when i turn on the headlights and crank up the light brightness my dash flickers and stays dim. but if i press on the light switch the lights light up perfectly, i pulled off the fake wood grain frame and checked the connections in the back and they seem fine, is it time for a new switch? im sure i could find one off the junkers. also i do notice it idles around 500rpms. it doesnt feel rough but its not smooth, if that makes sense. im used to cams so i dont know if thats a normal thing. what kinda plugs do you guys run? gap to factory size or is there a better gaping? also i was lookin to at least do some kind of air intake system, k & n or other brand, just for a little help with the drive, what kinda systems are you guys running?

thanks in advance and once i get some pics taken ill post a few.

andrewmp6

You have a zj which was made 93-98,Which engine do you have is it a inline 6 or v8?The air intake depends if you want a street jeep or off roader.If a street one any cold air intake will do,Off roader keep the oem intake and get a k&n replacement filter for it.

Thexjfiles

Use factory Champion plugs at .035.

If its idling low, you probably need to clean the throttle body. The IAC is probably full of carbon and not moving correctly.......or better yet, just buy my bored out one and it will already be nice and clean for you
TPS might also be going south.

laredont

its the 4.0 straight 6. thanks for the plug tips. ill check things out . xj files..... whats the best way to clean that? i cant remember what we used on our stangs but i think it was brake cleaner, cant remember. thanks guys, were making the trip soon so ill have some snow pics

Bustedback

I will no longer recommend Champion spark plugs. I ohm tested a set of eight unused Champion plugs, the lowest was .046 ohms and the highest was .258 ohms. You don't want more than 10% difference between them. Ohm test a set of NGK plugs and you will see them to be more consistent.

dave1123

Hey Busted! Something I just found out and it seems like a good time to bring it up for discussion. Napa no longer recommends Bosch for 02 sensors. They now carry Denso and NGK. They say the service life with Bosch is too short. What is your opinion?

Laredont, You can take the switch apart and check for cracked solder joints. Quite common on these units. My 97 ZJ had the same problem.

Also, when are you guys going to notice the OEM intake system IS a cold air system?

Bustedback

I've never installed a Bosch O2 sensor. Actually, I have not replaced that many O2 sensors in the last 25 years. They don't fail as often as people think. O2 sensor codes do not always mean it's the sensor that is the problem.

dave1123

Yeah, I know. I replaced both on my 97 ZJ because I was replacing the exhaust manifold and convertor and they looked old. What did I use? Bosch, of course! I didn't have the Jeep for too long after that, though.

po0dingles

Welcome to the forum. The light switch is known to go bad on these vehicles for some reason. They can be found for around $80. Youtube it for the process of removing it and installing it if you want to do it yourself.

While you're at it, upgrade the wiring harness:
http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--...s-PRD7540.aspx

The switch seems to fail because a bunch of electricity is flowing through it. Apparently if you install one of these it will run off relays which will help in preserving the circuitry inside the switch. It should also brighten up your headlights too--a win win.


The other guys covered the sparkplugs. I just bought a K&N air filter system. If you know mustangs and performance parts then you know what to expect. Minor results but still an improvement. Since you got the 4.0, the good news is you can pick up a header for pretty cheap if you were interested in going that route.

laredont

in the stack of maintenance records i got i found the o2 sensors were changed last year, but it does not say which ones, im guessing bosch.... ill take a look at the NGK's for plugs but i noticed those were changed as well at 130,000 miles along with many other things. i ran through a half tank of gas, then added some lucas gas treatment along with a full tank. the rough idle seems to be smooth but i still want to check out the throttle body, see how that looks. luckily i have a jeep recycler 1 mile from my house so im gonna go check that out tomorrow. while i have you guys here, im wondering if i need to pull off the lower part of the dash to get to the switch for the lights. i see 3 screws i can get to without moving anything else (top right, top left and bottom right) i cant find a chilton for this year, maybe ill find one at the recyclers. i tried to upload pics of the switch but it keeps getting an error. ill mess around with it. thanks

laredont

haha i just checked youtube and the first video i got was this one



songs perfect for me

laredont

man i forgot about youtube..... i quickly found tutorials on everything i need. so i pulled my IAC out and cleaned it, it was black just like the videos. put it back in and now my rpms are at a steady 700ish. now im going to pull the throttle body off and clean that. i can only imagine how that looks. question though:

most videos dont make mention to a gasket. is there a gasket between the throttle body and the header (im not sure what the throttle body sits on). its been a while since ive had to mess with cars so its slowly comin back to me. do you guys use RTV with your gasket? some of the videos say that you should strip everything off the throttle body (TPS was a biggie, saying you can kill it with throttle body cleaner) is that true? thanks guys. im gonna try these pics again.

po0dingles

don't forget the wiring harness.

Thexjfiles

There is a thin gasket beneath the throttle body. They dont usually rip so you could probably just reuse it. And use throttle body cleaner on the TB, not brake cleaner.

dave1123

Just a backyard mechanic's idea I'd like to pass on. I've done this many times and it works the cat's. Those thin paper gaskets can be made with a paper grocery bag and RTV. Just rub the RTV until is soaks into the paper on both sides, make sure to remove all excess before it dries, then cut your gasket. I've used this on water pumps where they mount to a housing and they don't leak.