What did you do to your jeep today?

[tommudd]

Like I said before, what you may find simple, I don't; not because of the job (I've removed numerous drive shafts over the years) but because it's a KJ, unfamiliar &, in some respects, quite strange.

Certainly won't be selling it, not even for scrap, nor buying anything even newer (perhaps that's my problem: too far out of my comfort zone).

Now, to specifics: made some progress, in that the shaft's no longer seized in the flange on the diff but still can't separate them, mainly for want of room. Logic suggests removing the left down-pipe/cat. (as the FSM says for the 2.5 diesel) &/or the transfer case X-member, but I'm reluctant to do that if it can be avoided.

As for the valve covers, I remember when removing them was part of a routine service (to adjust valve clearances), they've got progressively less access able over the years, but 'til I got a WJ I'd never encountered a vehicle where you couldn't see them. It's the shear amount of dismantling, the time it must take & how long it's going to be stuck immobilised that deters me. What once would have been a challenge, now just seems more trouble than its worth but that's all for the future.

AGAIN
If you set your mind to it, look at each thing before you start , take your time, breath deep and don't get excited, you'll do fine

 

[jace11]

Had the AC charged since replacing condenser and evaporator core last Fall...no leaks!!! Frigid air just in time for Summer

I'm in the process on needing to replace the evaporator core! Are there any guides you followed to remove the core from the behind the dashboard?

 

[Deb'nKJ]

For this particular relay/switch it controls both turn signals and hazard lights. All you need is a screw driver to to disassemble the climate control unit and remove the radio. It’s a total of (6) screws.

Thanks, I was wondering where it was (not realising it was combined with the hazard switch - so, something else I've learned )

 

[Deb'nKJ]

AGAIN
If you set your mind to it, look at each thing before you start , take your time, breath deep and don't get excited, you'll do fine

Thanks for the encouragement - but not sure I share your optimism (or confidence in my ability, which has taken quite a hammering lately)

By way of a small diversion, knowing it has to be done to access valve covers, I removed the battery tray, in hope I'd find that 10mm socket. What a performance, even though someone's been in there before so the front nut's missing & the tray's been butchered but complicated by the LPG (CNG?) conversion. Still, a minor triumph - something I badly needed.

 

[Noclutch]

AGAIN
If you set your mind to it, look at each thing before you start , take your time, breath deep and don't get excited, you'll do fine

Tommudd quick question for your earlier year kj’s did you change the rockers to the revised rockers with smaller oil weep hole or did you retain the oem rocker style?

 

[tommudd]

Tommudd quick question for your earlier year kj’s did you change the rockers to the revised rockers with smaller oil weep hole or did you retain the oem rocker style?

All of mine are OE , just like Jeep built them

 

[Noclutch]

All of mine are OE , just like Jeep built them

Thank you and are riding on the original rockers still?

 

[tommudd]

Thank you and are riding on the original rockers still?

Yes 04 had over 234,000 went it went to it's new owner
The 03 has over 187,000 and the 05 somewhere over 140,000

 

[nohitter64]

I'm in the process on needing to replace the evaporator core! Are there any guides you followed to remove the core from the behind the dashboard?

There is a How To thread that I followed...I think it us for replacing the heater core. Tools that I didn't have bought wound up buying: a good puller to pull the steering wheel, A/C coupler spring release (flanged plastic split rings) and large torx socket for the seats. Otw, get a box of ziploc sandwich bags, a Sharpee marker, and masking tape to mark screw locations and the types of screws removed. Take pictures but i found using the marker on the interior of the dash helpful for routing wires and knowing what screw went where.
And don't forget to screw the connector for the main umbilical by the hood release...that was the missing link for me to get it running again It is a housekeeping/note keeping exercise, be patient and label/bag those screws!

 

[nohitter64]

So my AC compressor is now leaking...only 6 years old. . Any brand recommendations? Looking at the Denso but there are less expensive ones...

 

[Noclutch]

Thank you again. I finished replacing the valve cover gaskets and oil filler neck gasket on the 04 with 162k also replaced a camshaft position sensor and did the oil change. Finally got around to working in the 04

 

[JRB]

No lift or bigger tires yet, just planning for the future while I have some time to do it now, pounding over the pinch welds.

I don't have all tools with me, so it's between the 2 lb brass and a 8 lb sledge. The sledge is working, got the pass side done, but wishing I had my 4 lb'er with me!

 

[tommudd]

No lift or bigger tires yet, just planning for the future while I have some time to do it now, pounding over the pinch welds.

I don't have all tools with me, so it's between the 2 lb brass and a 8 lb sledge. The sledge is working, got the pass side done, but wishing I had my 4 lb'er with me!

I have a 3 pounder than has done over 70 sets of pinch welds, heavy enough to do the job but light enough to throw clear across the road when you mash your finger LOL

 

[sleazy rider]

Are you saying you had a Thor thumb afterwards?

 

[Deb'nKJ]

Went back to removing front drive shaft (Step One in replacing diff) - & hit another snag (even though have now accepted that, unlike anything else I've ever worked, on a KJ requites vast amounts of dismantling just to get at what you're working on so have changed my mindset accordingly). However, I think the time has come to start a thread for this job, the problems I am encountering &, hopefully, the solutions, so all the info is in one place.

Before putting my mind to that, by way of a diversion, why I didn't start this yesterday when, ordinarily, I'd have more time.
(1) discovered that my local Steam Fair was on, after a 2 year break
(2) by parts XJ has been sitting on the drive with the back up on ramps for several years now; while it has no e-brake or drive shafts, it is level, one back tyre is flat & the other very soft so the chances of it moving seemed pretty remote - or so I thought! However when I came out the front door I found that during the night it had defied the laws of physics & rolled down the ramps, wedging an old liftgate that was propped up against the front bumper against the garage door. All of which meant I wasn't going to be working on anything until I'd salvage the situation with what I could lay my hands on that wasn't in the garage; basically, a bottle jack, electric tyre pump, the KJ's battery (fortunately on charge in the hall), a length of rope & a running XJ with some semblance of a front recovery point: all in all an interesting one-man exercise which, in the event, was nothing like the drama I feared - &, apart from a bit of paint transference, no damage to anything

 

[tommudd]

Are you saying you had a Thor thumb afterwards?

Not me, my son when I was teaching him how to do it, had only been in the USA 2 days at this point, never worked on any thing mechanical before, and around me less than a month total LOL
Learned quickly
His first week here in the US from Tanzania , we did 2 KJ lifts, 4.10 front and rear diffs in the 03 I had just bought ( he said later he did not think it would ever run again LOL

 

[profdlp]

Thanks for the encouragement - but not sure I share your optimism (or confidence in my ability, which has taken quite a hammering lately)...

I know the feeling. Lately (not Jeep-related) I feel like I really need a victory or two to get my "can-do" spirit back. I know it sounds like new age hippy-dippy nonsense, but the only way through it I can see is to keep plugging away. In the past when I've been in this situation there usually comes a time when things just start working out right again. Not sure why the down periods start or what actually makes them go away, just that they usually do. Sure wish problems could be spread out a little more to make them more manageable...

 

[turblediesel]

I know the feeling. Lately (not Jeep-related) I feel like I really need a victory or two to get my "can-do" spirit back. I know it sounds like new age hippy-dippy nonsense, but the only way through it I can see is to keep plugging away. In the past when I've been in this situation there usually comes a time when things just start working out right again. Not sure why the down periods start or what actually makes them go away, just that they usually do. Sure wish problems could be spread out a little more to make them more manageable...

It's just your turn.

 

[klc]

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[02blue]

So my AC compressor is now leaking...only 6 years old. . Any brand recommendations? Looking at the Denso but there are less expensive ones...

You get what you pay for. Installed a Denso on the wife's 08 Sienna last year and no problems. It was the OE brand for that vehicle. Cost about 100 bucks more than the next in line but didn't want to take a chance and this van lasted over 320k on the original.