Tonys Cherokees thread

[awg]

mainly so I can keep track of my my posts and whats been done to my Jeeps.

So the Black Sport that was my daily driver got smashed from behind, and is a write-off. I had done a fair bit of work on it, however, it does still drive, and my intention at this time, is after inspection & repairs, it will be driven 100km to my rural block, to be used as spare parts, guest sleeping, hardcore trail rig. Rego will be cancelled. It cannot be made legal for the road ever again due to the nature of damage

The young fella that hit me was not insured, but after various negotiation, I was fortunate the father was wealthy enough to settle for $4250.

I viewed & agreed to purchase another XJ Sport, White, brass plate says 6/96, Compliance plate says '95 ! Has OBD2 connector, aircon doesnt work very well, and some relatively minor rust

Off the same guy I got my Black one, he is arranging a Blue Slip, should cost me about $2200 + A/C repairs + rego. A lot of time & other repairs no doubt

I also have the White '96 Limited, This was also hit from behind by a young guy...although I did pull out the bent frame rail, it would need some more repairs than the White Sport I looked at, which is quite a tidy & straight unit, albeit with 322k on it

[LuluBelle]

Black!....White!...and now another White! one maybe you need a different colour XJ so we all wont get confused
_____ooooo
/__l_l_,\____\,___
l_---l_l__l---[ ]llllll[ ]
_.(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)

[Jimmyb]

Going to move to the build thread section Tony. Thanks.

[awg]

Update after 2 months/1500km.

I bought the car in a hurry, needing a replacement

turns out to be only 59 VIN digits out from my White Limited, same color scheme, so thats good for spares & swaps

It has a straight body, paint is reasonable, White

have not had a chance to look at it, let alone work on it, as I had other things on my plate

just in time, I find the trans cooler lines are cracked, bypassed, leaking, all repaired & trans serviced, I dont know think this trans has long life left

has headers with 2" branches into 2-1/2" exhaust, sounds good, and the engine feels noticeably more powerful than the stock exhaust in my black XJ

oil is pissing out o-ring adaptor, onto header joint

ordered trans mount kit, o-rings, harmonic balancer from Rock Auto

fixed various electrical issues

A/C doesnt work, compressor & pipes no good, so it looks like I will have to swap over the parts from the black one, which had good A/C

front suspension needs attention

[awg]

ordered the following from Rock Auto.

Harmonic Balancer, Engine & trans mounts, o-rings, thermostat
$167, delivered in 8-12 days

fitted the Harmonic Balancer..I recommend remove bumper,
as this allows impact wrench removal of 3/4" nut without engine turning..AND, when replacing, I was able to get a big socket and extensions to bear on the inner hub face of HB, and hammer it on far enough that the bolt could grab some thread, and used a thin washer to start pulling the HB back on.

Otherwise I (or you) would have to drive to the fastener shop, and buy a longer bolt with the same thread, which would take longer than R&R bumper

It also much easier to line up the keyway, with the bumper off
I lightly filed the leading edge of the pulley keyslot, which helped

time taken for whole job less than 3hrs

[awg]

had a learning adventure on Jeep Starter motors, following mine failing..it had been warning me big time, by sometimes turning the motor VERY slow, barely starting, and I knew it was time to address this issue...as I began my investigation, it died completely..in my driveway!

replaced it with an O/H spare I had bought of a Jeep owning mechanic.

It just clicked the solenoid, despite passing a bench test.

I dismantled it, and saw 2 of the brush retaining springs had come adrift, presumably at O/H, and they were inferior design to the OEM type. I managed to get it back together, bench tested ok, installed it..still just clicked.

applying a ring spanner across all 3 terminals, and the car starts instantly. My diagnosis..Solenoid contacts unable to pass full starter current, no repair possible, other than replace solenoid.

So i removed a known good SM from my black spare, and installed that..all good

I also dismantled the original failed unit, it was Chrysler original, full of scum, and very worn brushes...however, as I needed to move my black one, I fitted it, and it now works fine

note...it is needed to remove the brush assembly from the end cap in order to assemble. The screws are super tight, and easily stripped out. You should start where I ended up, Impact driver, correct bit & valve grind paste on bit

The Jeep-owning mechanic had made a mess of them

2nd note...watch the youtube vid on O/H before you do...there is a couple of ball bearings will fall out and be lost, if you are not aware of them

[layback40]

I have removed the plastic tabs on the lid of my starter relay so I can lift the lid off with the relay in place & just push down on the flap. dont even need the ignition on. its great when you need to turn the engine over while your not in the car.