rgs80074

Hello Everyone,

Not sure if anyone cares or not but this forum lets me write down what I've done and still think about doing. I like any kind of feedback, etc.

I am not a mechanic so sometimes what you all say is over my head especially when you refer to parts I don't know what they are.

Well recently I had a good number of days off work and planned on doing a lot of work on my jeep and van. Well I guess my skill lvl or whatever was not accurate, I have not finished the jeep let alone started my van.

I don't have much left to do on the jeep before I can start driving it again.

Here's what I did, and remember I did the work a couple hours at a time when it was not so hot outside and I was sick and already slow as it is.

Belt replaced (old one though looks good enough to keep in an emergency).

power steering pump- really not sure it was bad but it felt like it even when removed that it was not turning freely.

replaced upper and lower radiator hoses and drained all water out of system and refilled with coolant and water.

did and oil change

replaced trans filter and gasket and fluid.

I also cleaned up the underside of the vehicle so I can see if and where the oil is leaking from. when I had it up on the ramps it appeared the oil was leaking from the oil filter itself right at the crease at the top, not sure if thats at all possible. But if the leak continues then next oil change I'll remove the oil adapter as then its likely that's where its leaking.

replaced the 6 piece headlights and side lights. Need to adjust the one side as they don't fit together like the other side maybe the one piece is down to tight I don't know for sure yet, have to take it apart and re do it.

replaced the tail lights with new ones azure or something like that, they look much nicer than the stock lights.

left to do:

fix the clogged condensation line
put on the back lift gates/shocks
remove the passenger seat (look for possible manual replacements whenever I get around to it)
start to look at the doors master switch for why the doors do not unlock and lock from any switch even though they sound like they do.
rear third brake light (already have it)


then I'll start on the van maybe before all of this is done.

ryan

ZombiePopper

Sounds like you got a real good start, good job Ryan.
And it sounds like you're doing it right, 1 thing at a time, don't start to many things at one time or you start to feel like you're in over your head, trust me I think we've all been there!

Bustedback

Keep working on it! It took me five years to get mine to this.

dave1123

About the seats. They are 2 parts, the seat itself and the rail system. The seat bolts to the mechanism with 4 nuts on studs just under the cushion so you can keep your power system or use a manual track system. I'm a big guy and my driver's seat edge cushion on the door side of my WJ was bad. I didn't like the seats anyway because, for me, they were uncomfortable. I went to the junkyard and bought seats from a Cherokee and they bolted to my tracks. All I have to do now is buy covers for color match. $15 each plus $2 core charge. The hardest part was getting the rusted floor bolts out of the Cherokee.

rgs80074

Well I did so much at once because it seemed to be the best course of action. With half of the stuff requiring to remove a lot of it anyways.

Still haven't had a chance to do anything else so I've been driving the van which also needs a good deal of work.

Really the only thing that has to be done to the jeep before I can drive it again is to make sure the fluids are at the right lvls. I lost more trans fluid than I expected becasue I left the pan off for a couple of days before I finished working on it.

I do really like the way the new lights work, still want to redo the drivers side see if I did something wrong putting them in that caused some gaps the other side don't have.

Hopefully tuesday I can get some work done. Have to change the oil in the 2013 Kia soul of my mothers, then I am going to try to tackle clogged condensation line and that other wiring job.

Good to know on the seats, I didn't look too well at them but the passenger side seat don't move at all (not sure if the power goign to it is bad or its just bad itself). But if its like the drivers seat its not comfortable.

Any idea what seats will fit, would it only be grand cherokee and what years would fit. Is there some standard size rail system or anything?

I see myself doing stuff to the jeep little by little as well. I want to paint it but I'm liking the green color of it, heck even liked the spray painted rims.

Ryan

dave1123

Ah, yes! Seats! Here's what I found when I went looking. All the jeep seats from ZJs, XJs and WJs are mounted to their rail systems by 4 nuts on studs. The rail systems from ZJs and XJs use the same floor bolt pattern weither they are power or manual. In '99 they changed the floor pan and the rail systems to fit it, but still used the same seat cushion bolts. The seats themselves have 6 bolt holes in the bottom, only using 4 to mount them to the rails. They are a real PITA to get to without removing the rail from the floor, but if you want to stand on your head, it can be done.

I have to admit, I'm a short fat guy and the seats in my WJ are designed to cradle your hips to keep you in the seat better, but pinched a nerve in my hip. The seats in my ZJ were flat and didn't give me this problem so I went looking for ZJ seats. They were all power seats and mine aren't, so I asked the guys on the forum. They told me about the separate parts and said just about any jeep seat would fit but weren't sure about the TJs. I found a really nice pair of seats in a '97 Cherokee and took them out. The passenger's seat came out nicely but the driver's seat had been welded to a 1/4" plate on the floor, so I had to stand on my head for that one. My seats are slate grey and the Cherokee seats are fawn tan, but I don't care. If they bother me enough, I'll just put custom covers on them. They also came out of a 2-door so they have the release levers to tip the backs forward, but that's not an issue either. The plastic trim panels on the sides from the WJ even screwed onto them.