I'm in Lakewood if you need anything.

 

I'm in Lakewood if you need anything.

 

Excellent thank you. I need to get some parts; have you been to the FN Jeep place in the Springs? I'm missing a driver side read door small window glass piece and a rear hatch trim bezel piece that goes over the license plate. I'm guessing there are a lot of Jeep parts available around here. First order of business tomorrow is "renting" a head gasket leak test kit from Autozone along with a fuel pressure test gauge too. It is a really PITA to start this this thing. I want to rule out a fuel pump issue (PO claims he already replaced it) and it also has "white smoke" on startup when the motor is cold. It sat angle up on the car dolly overnight and when I started it up it smoked pure white smoke for a little while; not sure if this is a cooling system issue or bad valve seals. I get a hint of that sweet coolant smell.

 

Mine has been making a tink noise at speeds over 25-30. Diff fluid is good. Figured out passenger wheel bearing has a tiny bit of play, and that’s the side the noise is coming from. Also figured out the driver side U joint has noticeable play. Not as bad as the passenger side was 6 years ago but it will get there. So got parts coming for 2 U joints and 2 wheel bearings and be done with that hopefully for a long time. Got the greaseable u joints this time. Got 6 days off around Christmas and already got the press from last time.

 

Back in 70's I lived right near there in Denver and I was shocked at how older cars in general were rust free and in such good shape.
I don't know about now but pretty sure they did not use salt on the roads back then.
Which in my mind explained why.
LOL.

 

Absolutely nothing because I haven’t had a jeep since 2020.

 

Good that you stay in touch

 

I haven't been to FNJeeps, but I wouldn't go to the Springs unless I'd already checked all the yards here for parts!
Usually Upull Upay Denver has 8-12 XJ's in stock. I was at the Aurora Upull Upay last week and they had I think 6.
LKQ Denver has a few. LKQ Aurora only had 1 last week I think.
Colorado Auto and Salvage might have 1 or 2.
Littleton Upull usually has a few too.
All of the yards have online inventory, so look them up before you go, possibly see some pics and decide which can best get you sorted out!

DM me if I can be of any specific help.

 

Today and tomorrow off yay. Last night I noticed I had a taillight on one side and a brake light on the other side out. At least I noticed before the boys in blue did. So while replacing those, I pulled out the housings and cleaned out the mouse nests that were packed in the open spot at the red reflector. Also removed and cleaned up the license plate lens that was almost completely blocked with dirt.

My 4WD light hasn’t been working since I rebuilt the floors, but was fine before that. Thought maybe I cut or burned through a wire, but thankfully nope. It lights up if I jump the connector, so I’ll be picking up a switch this weekend when I get to town.

Drained and filled the transfer case which had very little fluid left. Thankfully no debris at the plug. Also drained and filled the AX15. That one wasn’t low one bit, no debris either. Been reading a lot about the various fluids people use. Redline is about $100 a gallon. So I’m using Mobil 10W40 synthetic. No noticeable difference in shifting when I took it to (different) town and back to get the bulbs and go to the bank.

Then while I was at it, I figured I’d put the other rear bumper corner back on. The star shaped piece had ripped from the corner, and was seized in the bumper. It broke when trying to remove it from the bumper. So with a 1/4” bolt and flat washers and nuts, I tightened them into the corner piece really good to make a stud. Then I ground the tips of the nut down to fit it into the bumper hole, and then tightened it again after the grinding heat. It dropped right in place, and with the rest of the bolts, it looks a lot better.

There’s still a rattle coming from the driver side rear. I’ll figure it out sooner or later.

Also starting to make a noise like a water pump. God I hope not. I’ve already replaced it once in 2016 or 2017 when it locked up out of the blue, and another time in spring 2021 when it was so loose the impeller was chewing up the housing, yet it didn’t leak. So I’ve only driven it through one winter since then, so maybe 5k at the most. Last winter it sat with the floors torn out. I’ve got one of those Krikit gauges coming so I can confirm the belt tension.

My front bearings arrived at work. No sense in going to get them since the seller hasn’t shipped my U joints yet.

 

Smart choice. Your pockets will thank you!

 

Just Empty Every Pocket! Seems to be never ending things to fix on it. However at least it’s a vehicle that I CAN fix, and has a huge selection of parts available at any level.

 

I asked a few weeks ago in the "budget builds: what junk yards parts fit", if there were longer sway bar links from another vehicle that would fit.
I went ahead and built longer ones using the YouTube video I saw on the subject as impetus in the mean time. (Bottom)
We’ll see how they do…
If they don’t work, I’ll rebuild and use the longer ones I found at the yard a week later! Lol (top)

 

Wow their prices are quite cheap and their website is up-to-date on their inventory. I'll be planning on going to Upull Upay this weekend!

 

Low beams went out on the way to work today. I just left the highs on and nobody flashed me. Figured it had to be one of the Bosch relays in my headlight harness. Got to work and swapped relays, and turned out they both worked, must be just dirty connection. I had cleaned them up and used dielectric grease back around 2019/2020. I’ll be refreshing them tonight.

Also being delivered today is a set of clear glass housings with H4 bulbs and retaining rings I got off eBay for $50. Will be interesting to see if these improve lighting beyond the harness (which had already made a considerable difference). I’m gonna be going on overtime soon, which means coming home will be pitch black on a road with tons of deer activity.

 

I doubt those H4's are much good (not at that price) but probably still better than sealed beams.

Plenty of scope for further upgrades: +30 - 120% or, as you've got glass lenses, high wattage bulbs although 100w might need upgrading the harness, definitely recommended for 130w high beams.