What did you do to your XJ today? 1M Views

[Sobek]

Funny you should mention that, because I have also developed an exhaust leak recently - there's a pin hole on the underside of the collector that I'll get a friend to zap with the welder as that's a 2 second fix, but there is a second bit of noise up towards the manifold that I've yet to locate. Wonder if it's the same issue you've mentioned. Exhaust was actually going to be a thread for another day for me, as I wanted to get people's opinions on what the best option there is. The underside of my XJ is in remarkably good shape bar the flintstones hole under the drivers' feet, but the exhaust has seen better days. The cat is gutted, the big muffler copped a bashing at some point over the years (doesn't leak though, yet) and now with these little leaks and lots of surface rust... I figure it's almost time for a new exhaust. I had hoped a whole replacement exhaust system might be available somewhere to purchase, but it doesn't seem likely - if you had to replace your whole exhaust, how would you go about it? We had extractors put on back in 96 or 97, and I love how silent they made it!

I think I'll put the trans and engine mounts on as my next priority, as all that movement under there is resulting in some slack when getting on the gas fast or during some gear shifts if under load (like up hill work). Rockauto has them both quite cheap, even for the higher quality brands, so that's no trouble at all for me to do. I also need to do the tail shaft seal as it's leaky and spitting oil over the muffler. Looks simple enough to fix.

One little bit at a time!!

[awg]

Originally Posted by Sobek

The underside of my XJ is in remarkably good shape bar the flintstones hole under the drivers' feet, but the exhaust has seen better days. The cat is gutted, the big muffler copped a bashing at some point over the years (doesn't leak though, yet) and now with these little leaks and lots of surface rust... I figure it's almost time for a new exhaust. I had hoped a whole replacement exhaust system might be available somewhere to purchase, but it doesn't seem likely - if you had to replace your whole exhaust, how would you go about it? We had extractors put on back in 96 or 97, and I love how silent they made it!
One little bit at a time!!

I have a 2.5" exhaust on mine and like it, although 2.25" is said to be better.

I recently replaced my Cat with a universal Ebay item $100

My exhaust specialist welded it in for me, they can usually obtain or make the needed sections, have a chat with them.

check Ebay and other sources for XJ exhaust parts...probably cheaper than allowing the muffler guy to supply all parts

[alexbrown64]

My exhaust is a mish mash but works well. I got new headers a few years ago and had them ceramic coated. I have bought a flex joint and straight through cat that the exhaust shop welded in. They also supplied a muffler. I am still running the 2.25" system. They also added a chrome tip on the end.





I like the flex joint, as it allow the engine to twist with the torque, without putting pressure on the headers.. Just a small thing i added to future proof the Jeep. They are quite cheap on Ebay.

Cheers,

[awg]

had an unusual weekend so far, with some Cherokee content

my oldest son who lives in Sydney decided he needed a vehicle and tasked me with sourcing one

strike one...a VERY tasty '95 Limited XJ, but broken down engine, on the side of the road 50km from me, $1000 obo on Gumtree...gone the next day!

this morning 8.00am get a knock on the door from a young man,

wants to know if his Iphone 11 is inside on the charger ?

this is a very strange question, I ask him if he is a mate of my oldest son and he says yes, so I invite him in

turns out he slept the night in my spare XJ, which is crammed to the hilt with spare parts, (except the front seat)...in my back yard

coldest night of the year

trying to be a helpful guy, I say to him, "its ok mate, we used to take drugs & stuff when we were young"

he says.."where am I"...so I tell him, and offer him my home phone to try and find his mobile or whatever, he isnt making a whole lot of sense

after a bit, he asked for directions to the Ocean View Hotel, which is 5mins walk up the road, and off he went

according to my 3 sons, via Facebook, they dont know anyone of that name or description, (I thought he looked too young to be a mate of my eldest)

so we decide my son will take an XJ, a Subaru Forrestor, or X-trail

reject a Subaru I6 with head gasket issue

inspect a 2003 X-trail with 2.5 auto, 225k, only been advertised a few hours and is 10min away, fits the bill well, purchase for $2800

Drives on the road considerably nicer than my XJ lol

[LuluBelle]

interesting day ...
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[Sobek]

Had a crazy busy day but got a few hours at the end to spend on the heep, and actually got a lot done...

Managed to track down and seal 4 separate leaks, all the major common leaks - passenger and driver footwells, and two leaks in the cargo area. The passenger leak wasn't actually the fresh air intake strangely, as I put a camera in there and it was SOLID, not bad for 26 years old. Turns out I had a combination of a really bad windscreen sealant job up top, and a bad seal on the bottom of the blower motor panel on the firewall. 20 second fix for both. For the drivers side it was that rubber antenna cable grommet... I managed to smear black rtv all around it and that did the trick, but I think the outside needs it too. What do you do, pull the fender to get clear access? A job for a sunny day! The cargo was leaking at the rear left window seal up on the top right corner, and the tail light was letting some drips through too. Both easy seals

I also wired in an RF keyless entry system. Holy moly was that EASY. 15+ years since my factory keyfobs failed, man it's easy to forget just how much we can take keyless entry for granted. I'm beyond sick of having to shove my key into locks all day long in my running around...
I also took all the door panels off and liberally lubricated all locking mechanisms, latches and buttons with silicone lubricant, and man does that new keyless system SLAM those locks open or shut! It's amazing. $30 off ebay, copied someone's wiring details from some old post online somewhere for a 94, and it worked great - I just had to splice two more of the wires that came with the RF transmitter into the 12v source and it was good to go.

My extractor and new downpipe with gasket also arrived late yesterday, I grabbed one of those Tiger Headers kits off ebay for $360 delivered, and I have to say, it's... really good. For $360, it's bloody good. The downpipe is essentially IDENTICAL to the late 90's Wildcat extractors already on the car, and the extractors themselves line up perfectly for all the bolt holes as confirmed on the new manifold gasket I got too. I'd read old posts online from many years ago that people had to grind and modify their cheap Tiger Headers to get them to fit, but mine look like they'll go on perfectly first go. The only difference between these and the Wildcats, is that the join of the extractors to the downpipe doesn't use a compressible flange gasket type of join... it's just a flat metal gasket with the inner steel rings. So that's clearly of a lesser quality, but it's going to last well long enough that by the time it's ever an issue, I'll likely be in a position to do something nicer for it then anyway.

Changed the trans fluid, fixed up my stabiliser bracket (it was a bit warped and when reversing, stopping and shifting into drive, like in car parks, it would clunk or crack and was pretty embarassing. Now it's solid as a rock. I also repainted my windshield wiper cowl as it was peeling clear and ugly as hell.

Also I finally got my set of 235/75/15's fitted to the factory rims, and man do they look nice. For the $100 I spent on them, and the $100 to fit, and the fact they're basically brand new... I couldn't be happier. They make a very satisfying noise at lower speeds, and they grip great even in the wet. Which is saying something as I have NOTHING in the rear of my XJ, not even seats or a spare tyre, so it likes to SLIDE. The tyres are General Grabber AT2's.

It's slowly coming together. Next step is to fix the floor pan rust, then I'll feel happy about painting it. I've got all my paint gear ready to go, it'll be a matte black finish in the end, as I also have satin black unpainted headlamp bezels coming (I couldn't find a black grille that didn't cost literally an arm and a leg, so I may plastidip mine for convenience). Baby steps!

Oh, also... Does anyone have ANY idea what CNC machining costs are like? cad4x4 has a roof rack design that I seriously love, and it's what I want to go with for my XJ, but you have to pay $30 (I have no idea what currency as they don't say) just for the plans, to then give to someone to get a quote and decide if it's even reasonable. So if anyone has any thoughts what to expect $$ wise to have this cut and bent, by all means let me know?? You can see it here;

https://cad4x4.com/product/jeep-cherokee-xj-roof-rack/

[Fishframe]

One of the best XJ upgrades, if you can find one, is an old Brock Energy Polarizer. Improve fuel consumption to get around 1L/100km’s and increase top speed to 450km/h. All based on magnets and crystals, apparently.