XJ Mods VSB 14

[alexbrown64]

Originally Posted by awg

re the seals, a local bearing & seal place can probably supply whats missing
if you dont have the old ones you took out, shaft OD, housing ID and thickness from witness marks

I personally would not use a new chain unless I was satisfied, but rather, assemble the TX with the old one, and replace it with a known good one when you can get one.

Dont know if yr vehicle is a non-goer cause of it

hate wrong fitting parts, put in a trans mount yesterday, its too low right out of the box and the trans now bangs on the xmember

Whats up with the trans mount? Wrong part number, or just a junk part? That would be a pain. I have a new one to put in my XJ when i refit the T-case. I will double check now to make sure its like for like.

All good now i think AWG. I am doing an order now from Summit. I want to get some LubeLocker reusable diff gaskets, so i am going to order those, and some seals at the same time.

https://www.lubelocker.com/product/llr-d030/

There has been some confusion with the seals. None of the seals are tagged, and i have been trying to swap like for like. But the ones i received are different. For example, my original input seal is single lip. The one i got is dual lip. I didn't realize this for a while. Most kits now come with the dual lip version. I think you just have to put a bit of grease between the two lips to stop the outer lip burning up. Anyway, i still need an oil pump seal and front output.

As for the chain, i did email a few places and basically got told to send it back. Probably cost more than its worth to do that.

I have sourced a new BorgWarner OEM chain for a reasonable price, so i am going to go for that. I am not fitting junk that may be noisy, stretch or fail down the track. I have been reading reviews on chains and some are horrible. The Crown one doesn't even fit correctly (too tight) and then stretches to much.. just junk.

The XJ is not my daily driver at the moment, and is parked up awaiting a few projects to be completed. The T-case, rear disc brakes and bigger alternator. So, i think the project is on hold again for at least a month while i wait for parts and also go back to work

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

I don't have any pics yet, but i pulled my 90 Amp alternator out this evening.
Ended up having to pull the battery, battery box and a few other nick nacks to get to everything.

I trial fitted a new 136 Amp alternator that i have. Of course it didn't fit. I thought i could grind down the bracket and make it fit, like on some forums i read ages ago. No Way! My old girl is a RHD pre update model with the auto tensioner. It was only when i searched the good old forums on here tonight i realized i need a 96 and on manual tensioner alternator bracket and perhaps a longer belt.

I will have to check the wreckers and get this small project to work.

Pics to come..

Cheers,

[awg]

Originally Posted by alexbrown64

I will have to check the wreckers and get this small project to work.

Pics to come..

Cheers,

The Factory Parts Manuals are a good thing to free download

pretty sure the '96 have a different length serpentine belt than 95

not sure post-'96 might not have a slightly different arrangement again, thats where the parts manuals come in handy

96 is a bastard year lol

[alexbrown64]

Got it all sorted AWG. I do have digital copies of the FSM for 1995 and 1997. These helped, along with advice on this site.
Have to remember, the RHD Cherokee has slightly different parts sometimes. The alternator upgrade mod can be done to all XJ's, but do your research on country, year, etc..

Anyway here goes...

To upgrade the pre update XJ from a 90A to a 136A.. you need to change the mounting brackets and belt (and perhaps lengthen the wiring a bit).

Here is the 95 RHD bracket with auto tensioner..



Below is a pic of the 96 and up brackets. These are a manual adjust and allow a lot more room for a bigger alternator.



Next pic is the 1995 RHD (with aircon) serpentine belt routing. It uses a 6PK2500 belt (6 ribs 2500mm long).



Pic below is of the 96 and over serpentine belt. Depending on your pulleys, it usually takes a 6PK2275 belt.



Finally, i can compare the two together. I knew what i needed this morning, so went down the local wreckers which had a 96 XJ. He had the brackets and bolts on a shelf ready to go!! and only $50. Pic below is my 1995 90A alternator with brackets on the left, and new 136A alternator on right with brackets, pulleys etc. You can see that there is no way a bigger alternator fits in the old brackets. In fact the new alternator was touching the timing cover and was still a mile away from fitting...



When i picked up the new brackets, which included everything, the bearings in the pulleys were shot. I punched them out and will order a couple of 6203 sealed bearings and just tap them in. Easy fix.



And there you have it. I am leaving the project for a few weeks, but i have bearings, seals, chains etc. coming, so will update the T-case and Alternator in a few weeks.

Cheers,

[awg]

Originally Posted by alexbrown64

Got it all sorted AWG. I do have digital copies of the FSM for 1995 and 1997. These helped, along with advice on this site.
Have to remember, the RHD Cherokee has slightly different parts sometimes. The alternator upgrade mod can be done to all XJ's, but do your research on country, year, etc..

Do yourself an extra-special favor and download the free Factory PARTS Manual for 94-96...I always find these are so helpful, as they give the different actual part nums for RHD/LHD, when things changed etc etc. Also makes things easier to order parts ie enter correct factory part number on Google, Rock Auto etc

I also find Parts manuals generally have better drawings of the parts, altho the Jeep FSM is good in that respect

[alexbrown64]

Thanks for the heads up AWG,

I downloaded it from here this morning...

https://cdn.xjjeeps.com/pdf/en-us/19...ts-catalog.pdf

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

I got flown home from work this arvo due to a big cyclone brewing off the coast of West Australia..
Grabbed myself a few beers and did a bit of work on the XJ.
I realized a while ago that my aircon was making a funny noise. If i switched it on, then a bearing noise would appear whenever the a/c clutch kicked in.
Looked easy enough to replace the bearing on YouTube, so with a beer in hand in decided to tackle the job in position.
Its a hard job with the A/C mounted. My aircon runs fine (but noisy) and i did not want to disturb the gas and joints etc.

I used a 14mm to remove the nut on front of the clutch (all work was done from under the Jeep). Then i prized off the clutch plate with a few big screwdrivers, being aware of the shims behind the plate. Next up was the bearing in its pulley. This was awkward. There is a circlip to remove. I had to use a mirror, a torch held in my mouth, and some circlip pliers to remove the clip. Once that was out, i was able to remove the pulley and bearing by gently prying it with a few large screwdrivers. This all took about and hours of tedious work.

I knocked the bearing out, and as suspected, it was a 35x55x20 bearing. You can use part number 35BD21 from any bearing shop.

This should eliminate any bearing noise from your a/c unit.

I have pounded the bearing out, and will replace that bearing, along with the two other pulley bearings and the serpentine belt. Together with the new 136A alternator, this should be a good upgrade and also service wear job. Warning. Doing this job in position is really awkward and a bit hard. If you can do it on a bench, it would be 10 times easier.



Cheers,