I'm back in a Jeep!!!

No, I didn't find a clean, unmolested 1991 Comanche long bed with the 4.0, bench seat, and column shift AW4. But I did get a 2024 Compass.



OK it's actually just a rental, but it should be nicer than the standard issue Nissan Versa.

 

Another light upgrade. LED with halos.

 

Well I'm quite unhappy right now as I drove 90 minutes to Colorado Springs this morning to find out that the reservation I had for the Gearhead DIY Garage ($25/hr for a flat bay) was illegitimate due to them not doing DIY business for over a month. Apparently the booking contractor they use and whoever operates the web site will not stop accepting reservations and payment and won't change the web site. Talk about a real bummer. I have no place to work on my rear Leafs here. I'll obvious see how far I can get away doing this at my storage unit but they seek quite strict where I'm at now. I called a local reputable shop and they want $600-900 just for the labor ($165/hr).
Does anyone in the metro Denver area have driveway or garage space that I can pay you for?

 

Hooked up the trailer for the first time since December. Moved all my XJ interior parts from the trailer to the garage. Topped off all the tires and was ready to go to Tractor Supply for a couple ton of pellets, to be done with it for next winter. But their website is grossly inaccurate. Says they got 910 bags, when in reality they only have a small amount. Good thing I called first.

 

So I accidentally put a disc brake adapter spacer on backwards on one of my axle shafts.
OSHA? never heard of him

We got him.

Had the spacer on the right the wrong way and it was going to mess up the seal. Its all back together now and shafts are in axle with disc backing plates.

 

Picked up a set of 5 turbine wheels w/ caps. 3 matching 3 year old toyo tires with good tread. Not great but now I’ll have a set to clean up one day.

 

These wheels look so good polished with small paint accents.

 

I bought a set of these on CL a couple years ago. I really like the look of these wheels. On my 90XJ I discovered the stock lugs are too short for use with wheel. On the steel wheels you will probably alright.

 

Installed a new Hayden fan clutch (#2625 from rockauto.com) in my '99 XJ to replace what appears to be the original. (It was heating up a little at idle.) Problem is that the metal tangs on the original face sideways but they face forward on the Hayden, so the fan shroud didn't want to go into place. The shroud was also hanging up on the thermostatic spring which must have been a little further out than the original. (There's not much room to work in that area in general.)

I wound up cutting about 1/2" deep section out of the bottom of the shroud with a Dremel and it dropped right into place. The engine stays nice and cool now at idle.

 

Did you buy a ZJ one?
I bought an XJ one from my Napa. Pretty sure it is an rebranded Hayden and it dropped in just fine in my '00.

 

Hayden #2625 is what rockauto.com lists for the '99 XJ (I just double-checked). Of course their listing might be wrong, or it may be a matter of aftermarket manufacturers consolidating part numbers which happens quite a bit with older vehicles. It's working fine so no big deal, it was just more of a PITA to install than expected.

 

Best I can tell that is a standard duty XJ one.
Have to check my files but thinking I bought Napa 272318.
Like you said. It works so.....
LOL.

 

I needed a cheap car for a couple of months and found a 2by xj it'll be fine i thought one week later won't crank and fan doesn't work.... I'm a dummy

 

Checked with the Family Farm And Home, not my preferred place in the summer, but they had pellets. So I hooked up the trailer and went for a pellet run. About 13 miles, but across town which is a madhouse on any given summer or fall weekend. Traffic not bad today but jaywalkers in full force.

Made it to a stop sign about a mile from the store. Went to take off and the Jeep started stumbling, barely running. I was able to make it another 1/4 mile before it would no longer run.

My first thought was crank sensor, since that’s not been changed at least since I’ve had it. Did the easy test first. When the lady at the house asked if she could help, I asked if you got some starting fluid or anything like that. She did have some gas so we poured a little in the air filter and it started right up, and ran until that was depleted. Fuel pump wasn’t priming either. Tried swapping relays. Wiggling the wiring. Smacking the tank. Nothing. Brand new Bosch fuel pump only a couple thousand miles ago last fall. Well that was all I could do with what I had.

So I called for a tow truck. They couldn’t take the trailer too. Thankfully the trailer was still empty. I unhooked it and moved it into the lady’s yard after she said it was ok. My buddy would come pick up the trailer in a couple hours.

So after getting home and $158 later, I looked to see what I could do. Still no run, after burning out the gas vapors that formed again. Of course I’m in the middle of a major garage cleanout, so hard to find anything. Had to look at the old pump to see which wires to connect to. I was just about ready to run a jumper wire, when I put the connector back together just to see. And it fired right up.

I know I didn’t get the plastic pin in all the way last year, because it was so cold and I was in a time crunch. It must have worked its way loose just enough to disconnect. I put in a little silicone grease, and had to squeeze the connector with channel locks, just to get the pin to go in. But I primed it and started it several times, wiggled the wiring, and couldn’t get it to fail. Runs strong.

I’m hoping that’s all it was. Kinda leery about having a Groundhog Day tomorrow, so maybe I’ll just take it to work one day just to make sure. Along with some tools.

I also got the air filter sitting outside to dry out. I don’t like those gas fumes under the hood.

One of these days I’ll get my pellets.

 

Nice. What's the brand?