I think I fgured it out.. what to do! I need to immediately get rid of these bad battery terminals from off my WJ. I am going to remove them and replace them with the better quality battery terminals I have from off my ZJ (for now), pictured below. Then, I can get the military spec'd version terminals going on the ZJ.

 

I do not think there is a need for a block heater. There are heater element attachments that I think would be good. You can put them on the underside of the oil pan and around the battery. People say they do not remember to always plug in their block heaters, and they have no issues with these items installed and on.

Surprisingly enough, many peoples advice says to plug in a lamp with a high flux radiation bulb in it, like an old fashioned incandescent light bulb.. To put one light bulb below the oil pan, and a second bulb somewhere in the engine compartment helps it in the cold.

An engine coolant warmer does not seem necessary, but it would make it nice having instantaneous heat on like that. I guess the transmission will basically be okay? Some people say you can re-route the transmission cooler lines, to have the system run backwards through the warmed radiator first to warm the transmission in the cold? I think that would work if was really something needed, or worthwhile? The lines help with being oriented for priming how they are, and I think thats a main reason why for how they are routed?

 

The transmission cooling lines can be routed anyway you feel like since the fluid going thru them is just bled off the converter to create circulation for cooling, lubrication, and pressure to make the coupling function. There is a pressure valve that controls whats in the converter and the excess goes thru the cooler and then is returned to the pan. Without an aux cooler, it goes thru the coils in the radiator to either be warmed or cooled. Which cooler it goes to first really doesn't matter much. The only temperature restrictions for the fluid is controlled by the thermistor in the pan that will not allow O/D to engage if the fluid temp is less than 32*F or above 260*F.

That white corrosion deposits around the terminal posts are caused by acid vapors that leak up the posts when the case seals around them are broken. This is usually caused by hammering on or twisting the posts. This can sometimes be fixed by cleaning them up really well and flowing Superglue around them. The thin liquid type, not the gel.

 

Completely depends on where you live. My climate can get to -20 to -30 Celsius in the dead of winter and a block heater makes all the difference in the world. The residual heat from the coolant flowing through the block helps it start better and warm up faster.

 

A properly sized block heater can keep the coolant at 100*F all night long! I had one on my 87 Chevy truck 350 and that fired up like it was summertime! They even make battery wraps now.

 

I was wondering something like that with the battery. The white crusty material on its post, and it possibly being from strong acid vapors?

I know it got very hot under the hood inside of my WJ engine compartment, and all around the battery, for most of this year. Like, all day long every day extremely hot, a lot! So hot that I believe the fuel vaporized a time or two, because I experienced this unusual off-idle stumble a few times during hours of extended idling time on 100*+ days when I went to apply the gas. I seen it was 106* actual temperature on a day. It would be 90* at sunrise. Do you think that could cause it? Repeated superheated engine compartment temperatures heating and boiling the battery?

I thought a two weeks timeframe was a really short timespan for corrosion to start to build up so quickly like it did.

 

I guess disregard the extreme cold climate preparation questions. I think I will be leaving both of the Jeeps behind? I'm getting a 4×4 company provided vehicle I have to drive, a truck for me to use instead. I won't need the Jeeps on the contract I'm going on, or again probably for awhile?

So, 89 octane is probably better, and you may notice a more noticeable improvement with using the 89 octane mid-level gasoline if you are using it in a cold climate? 87 octane works great! 93 octane is wasteful in the 4.0L in my opinion. Definitely do not use diesel fuels!

 

The only GOOD thing about 93 is it usually doesn't contain ethanol. 94 does.

 

Heh. I have a station near me that sells 95 with ZERO ethanol. That's all I run in my yard equipment now. (Mowers, saws, etc.).