2002 Bella Blue, WJ Build

Right Side Valve Cover Gasket Replacement, 2002 4.7L WJ

Edit: I should really update this post. There is a better way to do this. Hint: unmount the TCM (or disconnect if you prefer) and fold the whole wiring harness on top of the engine. And remove coolant overflow reservoir for more room (easy to remove).

Finally got some WJ garage time to finish replacing the valve cover gaskets. Last weekend I did the passenger side. It was not an amusing ordeal.

PARTS LIST

TOOLS LIST

1) Remove battery.
We are going to need to remove the battery tray to find enough room to work. So the battery must come out. My terminals are factory; I use a pair of 1/2" wrenches to loosen them.

2) Remove battery tray
There are three 10mm bolts and one 10mm nut holding the tray in place. One of the bolts is hiding behind the Power Distribution Center (the fuse box). You will need a deep socket to remove the nut next to the A/C Accumulator.

1. Open PDC and remove two 10mm nuts securing the output harness to the front of the box.
2. Use screwdriver to disengage PDC from the plastic clips holding it to the battery tray.
3. Lift PDC to gain access to the 10mm bolt securing the battery tray to the fender.
4. Remove two 10 mm bolts securing the battery tray at the forward end.
5. Remove 10mm nut securing battery tray to fixed bolt near the A/C accumulator.
6. Disconnect radiator reservoir tube from radiator and reservoir. The tube is zip-tied to the battery tray, it was easier this way for me.
7. Lift, twist, pull the tray up to gain access to the bottom of the tray. Be careful with the PDC.
8. Disconnect battery temperature sensor from the bottom of the tray.
9. Disconnect moisture drain tube from the bottom of the tray.
10. Remove tray from the vehicle.

3) Remove serpentine belt from A/C compressor.
We are going to move the compressor anyway, might as well take the belt off now to get better access.

1. Using the 15mm socket and the breaker bar, push the belt tensioner to the right (clockwise) to loosen.
2. Slip the belt off the A/C pulley.
3. Gently rock the tensioner back, do not let it snap.

4) Disconnect heater hoses.
You can try to complete this job without disconnecting the hoses. Good luck. I could not find enough room to work and waited until my irritation level was too high to do this step cleanly and in the right order. Learn from my mistake and do it now.

1. Drain the radiator/cooling system.
2. Use slip-joint pliers to disengage the heater hose clamps from the engine block.
3. Twist the hoses to break the seal, then pull free.
4. Disengage the hoses from the plastic standoff attached to the 10mm bolt/stud on the oil fill spout.
5. Remove the plastic standoff from the spout.
6. Disengage the hoses from the plastic support bracket arching over the valve cover.
7. Remove the plastic support bracket. Mine fell apart, but some guiding force led me to buy a replacement from the junk yard last week so I was ok.

5) Remove oil fill spout.
The oil fill spout sits between the valve cover and freedom. It has to move.

1. Remove three bolts and one stud holding the fill spout to the block. These are 10mm IIRC.
2. Give the spout a gentle tap to break the seal if it does not want to move.
3. Remove the PCV hose from the PCV valve on the side of the spout.

6) Disengage the wiring harness from the fuel injectors and ignition coils.
The plastic locking clips holding your injector connectors on will probably break if they are old like mine were. I had to replace all of the connectors on the driver side and 3/4 of the connectors on the passenger side, so now I have 7/8 brand new connectors. I should have done them all but that last one in the back on the right bank was really hard to get to, and it was actually in pretty good condition so I left it.

1. Just unclip everything.
2. Wrap a bungee cord around the harness and secure to an anchor point (such as the underside of the hood) to keep the harness up out of your way, as much as is possible. It will still be in your way.

7) Loosen the valve cover bolts/studs.
There are rubber grommets holding the all the bolts and studs. They probably won't come all the way out, which is a good thing so you can keep track of them. The two bolts in the back are ridiculously difficult to reach. You cannot even see the rear upper bolt, you are going to have to feel your way. The rear lower is not much better, but you can see it ... barely.

1. Use your 10mm sockets, ratchet, extensions, u-joint, and breaker bar in whatever ingenious fashion you can to get at all the bolts. It can be done. A 10mm wobbly deep socket would be a golden ticket here if you have one, I do not.
2. The rear lower bolt is nearly impossible to reach. I got at it with my 10mm open-end wrench. Somebody recommended a 10mm box-end gear wrench. I have one, but could not find the range-of-motion to make it work. Broke it lose with the open-end wrench, rotate 1/12th of a turn, flip the wrench, another 1/12th, flip the wrench ... eventually it got loose enough that I could just barely reach it with my fingers and remove it that way, otherwise I would probably still be there.
3. The upper rear bolt is invisible. I used a mirror to find it, then braille to get the socket in place. This was seriously ridiculous.
   

8) Move the A/C compressor.
I tried to do the job without moving the compressor. The plumbing is in the way. It must be moved.

1. There are three bolts holding the compressor to the block: two 15mm (on the front) and one 13mm (on the side next to the valve cover). Remove them.
2. Disconnect the electrical connector.
3. Disengage the clip holding the alternator power cable on the back of the compressor.
4. Carefully pull the compressor up and gently rotate it over toward the fender to lay in the area vacated by the battery. You may need the pry bar at this point, go easy with it.

9) Remove the valve cover. Clean it up. Add color if you want.
Finally! Lift and remove the valve cover. The wiring harness and heater hoses are still in the way and will give you trouble, but it will come out. Here is what it looked like in my WJ before I removed the heater hoses and moved the A/C compressor. It did not come out, you can see the plumbing in the way.


Finally free of the engine compartment! Make note of where the studs and bolts go so you can put them all back in the right place.


Three coats of foamy Gunk cleaner and then final rub down with carb cleaner gave me this beauty:


I decided Bella needed some color. So two coats of primer and two coats of engine enamel.


After drying overnight, I covered it with newspaper and tape to give it some protection during reinstallation. Would not want to scratch it up too badly.


10) Replace the gasket and the 12 grommets.
My gasket was brittle and crumbling. Yeah, needs replacing. When putting the new gasket in, put a few dabs of the Ultra Black RTV here and there to hold the gasket in place so it does not fall out upon reassembly.


11) Reinstall the valve cover
Go ahead. Piece of cake. Just slip it right back in there where you got it from. The wiring harness is still in the way in the back. So are the heater hoses. Have fun. LOL. I had to wedge the cover under the wiring harness and pull up with strong force to gain the clearance needed in the back. But it did go in eventually.


12) Reassemble.
Checklist. Put it all back where you found it. I will double check torque specs.

1. Replace A/C compressor. Put a dab of grease on the upper bracket to help. Torque 3 bolts to 33 ft-lbs.
2. Use thumb wheel ratchet (or fingers) to start valve cover bolts in the threads. Do not cross-thread. Torque valve cover bolts to 105 in-lbs.
3. Replace oil fill spout and four 10mm bolts. The bolt with the stud is furthest to the left (closest to the fender). Be sure to replace the gasket, there is a new one in the kit!
4. Reattach fuel injectors and ignition coils.
5. Replace plastic heater hose standoffs.
6. Replace heater hoses and attach to block.
7. Reattach PCV hose to PCV valve on oil fill spout.
8. Replace serpentine belt.
9. Replace battery tray. Reattach battery temperature sensor and fluid discharge tube. Reattach radiator reservoir tube.
10. Reattach PDC to battery tray.
11. Reattach wiring harness to PDC.
12. Replace battery.
13. Refill cooling system. Use 8mm allen wrench to remove the plug at the top of the block, fill with coolant.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Front Control Arm Replacement, 2002 WJ

Being the way life is, it has been hard to find time to spend on my suspension repairs. But I did manage to squeeze in some days in the last ... has it really been almost two months since my last post in this thread? Well, what you gonna do.

Replaced the lower and upper control arms and the axle side bushings on the upper. Mistakes were made, but all is well now. There really isn't much to it. Here are the notes I think were relevant.

PARTS LIST

TOOLS LIST
1) Raise and support
Loosen the front wheel lugnuts. Jack up the vehicle and support the frame on jack stands. Remove wheels. Place a suitable jack under the axle differential to hold in place. We will be using this jack to raise/lower the axle, NOT the vehicle.

2) Disconnect sway bar, remove links and shocks
The sway bar is connected to the axle via end links which are attached just in front of the spring perches. We need to disconnect this monster so we can move the axle around. Please don't try to do this with the sway bar connected, it is just really not worth it. These are 18 mm fasteners, if I am not mistaken. Remove the bolts. The sway bar can now freely rotate. If you plan to replace the links (I did), swing the sway bar down to gain easier access to the top bolts. Remove the links.

The shocks are connected to the rear of the spring perches with a pair of 10mm bolts with 13mm nuts. The top of the shock is attached with a single 13mm nut; you will need a deep socket for this. You don't need to completely remove the shock if you don't want to, you can let it hang there from the top nut and annoy you while you work, but removing it is my recommendation.

3) Remove spring and isolators, clean the perches
Drop the jack under the axle to let the suspension droop. It won't droop far enough to drop the spring (not in mine anyway). Put a bottle jack under one side of the axle and raise it up, which will droop the opposite side. Jack it up until the spring drops out. Remove the lower rubber isolator (top too if you plan to replace like me). The metal spring perch is now exposed and is probably dirty, rusty, etc. Clean off the rust using the wire brush/wheel as much as you can. Get the surface as clean as you can. Coat the perch with some rust inhibiting paint of your choice and color. Maybe use a dust mask to avoid breathing all that crap.

4) Lower control arms
These are pretty easy. Bolt/nut in the front, bolt/nut in the back. They aren't too tricky. I don't have much to say about them. 21mm sockets is what you will need. Here is what my bushings looked like, old ones on the right, new ones on the left. Not terrible, but definitely old, cracked, and worn.



Getting the bolts back in will probably require some axle manipulation. This is where that jack under the differential will come in handy. Adjust as needed to line up the holes. You will probably have to mess with that bottle jack too. I tried using a ratchet strap but it frankly did not move the axle much ... probably because I had the sway bar connected on one side like a fool. Attach the body side first.

Torquing these down was fun. I think it was 115 ft-lbs on the axle side, 120 ft-lbs on the body side. I used a two-foot cheater pipe to hold one side while I torqued the other like so:


DO NOT TORQUE UNTIL THE VEHICLE IS ON THE GROUND WITH THE SUSPENSION UNDER FULL LOAD. That's rather important.

5) Upper control arms
Such a pain. Why is the axle side bushing on the axle and not the control arm? Headache.
Here is the driver side UCA prior to removal, view from behind. Note the axle breather tube is clipped to the control arm.


The axle-side bolt has a T50 torx head with a 15mm nut. Thanks for that T50, Jeep engineers. Body-side bolt is 13mm head and a 15mm nut. For this one, you need to hunt for the head which is hiding behind a rubber grommet in the fender well. Recommend using a 13mm deep socket and a 6-inch locking extension so you don't risk the socket falling off the extension inside the fender void.


Remove the two bolts and the control arm. My axle-side bushing was pretty well worked over, no wonder the ride was a bit harsh.


Removing the axle-side bushing cannot be described as easy. The inner metal sleeve on the passenger side basically just slid out when I pushed on it. I generally followed the advice of the Vortex garage guy (look him up on Youtube) and used a drill to remove the bushing rubber and a reciprocating saw to weaken the metal outer bushing sleeve, and then worked the edges with a center punch until the sleeve popped out. Reinstalling was not terrible. I had stored my bushings in the freezer for weeks so they were very cold and shrunken for installation. Used a ball joint press to shove it in there. Even after removing the spring isolators, the perches were almost not in the way. Yeah, annoying but doable.

Just like the LCAs, installation will require some axle manipulation. Attach the body side first. Sweat, grunt, push and pull your way to victory.

One final note: the Detroit Axle UCAs I bought did not have accommodations for the axle breather tube. I pried the clip off the old UCA and drilled a hole in the new UCA in about the same spot. Believe it was a 7/16". Installed the old clip.



DO NOT TORQUE UNTIL THE VEHICLE IS ON THE GROUND WITH THE SUSPENSION UNDER FULL LOAD. That's rather important. And then torque the UCAs to 45 ft-lbs.

(Edit: I forgot to mention that torquing the driver side front bolt was nigh impossible with the jounce bumper in place. Probably the best thing to do is remove it before trying to torque. What I did is tightened the bolt as best I could with the suspension loaded, then jacked up the body just enough to gain clearance to the T50 head. It helped that my bumper is horribly crushed and needs to be replaced like everything else. YOU should remove the bumper before torquing down the UCA, because that bushing will live a very short life if you don't.)

6) Springs, shocks, sway bar
Yes, you need to put it back together now. Spring isolators, springs, then shocks, then sway bar end links. Torque the shocks to 35 ft-lbs (let me double-check that) you can do this while suspended. Torque the end links to 65 ft-lbs (let me check that) WHEN THE VEHICLE IS ON THE GROUND WITH THE SUSPENSION UNDER FULL LOAD. That's rather important. Put the wheels back on before you lower it to the ground, that is important too.

And that's all I've really got to say about that.

Ball Joint Replacement, 2002 WJ

Memorial day weekend! Did I go do summery trail things with my WJ? No, I put her back in the garage so I could replace the front ball joints. Why? Because a complete suspension overhaul is not complete without it. And I am not going to lift it on the 16 year old ball joints that were in there. Despite never having done a ball joint replacement in my life, this was not that bad.

Is anybody even reading these? I don't know, but maybe it will help someone someday.

PARTS LIST
TOOLS LIST
1) Raise and Support
Jack up the front and support both sides with jack stands. Remove the wheels (3/4" lug nuts).

2) Remove Brake Caliper and Anchor
Remove the brake caliper by removing the two 17mm slide pin bolts. Hang the caliper from the spring with a sufficiently strong wire, bungee cord, or whatever other idea you come up with, just DO NOT allow the caliper to hang from the brake hose. Then remove the caliper anchor from the steering knuckle by removing the two 18mm bolts. Set it aside.

3) Disconnect ABS Sensor
The ABS sensor is routed above the axle boot and attaches to a bracket held in place by the upper ball joint retaining nut. It is bolted to the back of the steering knuckle with an 8mm bolt. I used my 1/4" ratchet with 6-inch extension and u-joint to get at it. Remove the sensor and set aside with the hanging caliper.

4) Disconnect Bearing Hub and Remove Axle Shaft
I have seen write-ups and videos that say you need to remove the 36mm axle nut at this point. That is only true if you are replacing the bearing hub as well. I did not replace the bearing hub, so skipped that part. We can remove the axle and the bearing at the same time.

There are three 12-pt 13mm bolts that secure the bearing hub to the steering knuckle from the rear. Odds are that these are pretty well frozen in place, so you might want to try soaking in some penetrating oil before loosening. Once you get the bolts out, you may also have a chore separating the knuckle from the bearing. Good luck with that, I did not have that problem. Pull the axle straight out through the knuckle.

5) Remove Ball Joint Castle Nuts
Cotter pins first, then the castle nuts. My factory upper was a 22mm, I don't know what the lower was because I did not have a socket that fit (sorry), but it was bigger than 1". I used an adjustable wrench which worked fine to remove it. The ABS cable bracket is attached to the upper, make note of how it is oriented so you can put it back correctly.

Tip: do not completely remove the castle nuts! Leave them on the end of the shaft so that when the knuckle drops, it doesn't completely fall off and smash your toes.

6) Remove Steering Knuckle
This is where the fun begins! First, support the tie rod by securing it to the sway bar with a strong bungee or whatever device you choose. We do not have to remove the tie rods from the knuckle, but you can if you want. Either way, support the tie rod first so it does not just hang there.

The ball joint shafts are tapered and press fit into the steering knuckle. Disengaging the taper requires the ball joint separator (pickle fork) and a suitable hammer. I used a 2-lb mini sledge. Wedge the fork in between the knuckle and the UBJ axle flange. Pound away at the end of the fork until knuckle separates. There may be a very loud bang when it releases.

My left side separated no problem. My right side held on like a hellish bulldog. I had the fork rammed in there as far as it could physically go from 3 different angles and no joy. Hit the knuckle with a propane torch for maybe 20 seconds trying not to start a grease fire, and tried the fork again to a loud bang when the taper let go. Remove the knuckle.

7) Remove Upper Ball Joint
Here is where things get really interesting and the pictures begin. The UBJ must be pressed upward to remove from the axle. Place the receiver cup (OTC 313967 shown, standard cup from OTC kit is better) on the top and the pass-through remover adapter over the UBJ shaft on the bottom, like so:


A closer view.


Use a 1/2-inch ratchet and 21mm socket to tighten the clamp. As you go, the clamp will rotate clockwise until it contacts the axle, so make certain the brake line is not pinched in between there, or you will be replacing brake lines too. Double-check to make sure you are not screwing up. It will get pretty tough to twist that ratchet; I used a 2-foot pipe over the end of my ratchet to make things easier. When it gets bound up really tight, strike the edge of the flange with a heavy hammer to shock the joint into moving. Proceed until the joint housing slides out.

The nice thing about the OTC 313967 receiver is the window, so you can see if the joint is moving. The bad thing is that there is not much clearance between the receiver wall and the UBJ outer lip. I had to hold the receiver cup in a vice and work the joint out from the other end with a punch because the UBJ was bound up inside.

8) Remove Lower Ball Joint
Flush with success from the UBJ, the LBJ is a cake-walk. The clamp shaft actually passes through the space vacated by the UBJ. The LBJ presses downward to remove, so place the receiver cup on the bottom with the pass-through adapter for the shaft. Like so (notice I did not use the 313967 receiver):


9) Install Lower Ball Joint
The axle flanges on the WJ have a slight taper (do all Dana 30s? I don't know), so we will use the OTC 313970 installer to do the job. Place the widest part of the tool on top of the flange. The installer cup will push on the LBJ lip from underneath, like so (I marked the wide part of the installer with a white line):


We want the housing to go in square and true, so make sure to get it all lined up as best you can. Tighten the clamp until the lip is flush with the flange. It should look something like this:


Don't forget the boot! Pack a little grease into the rubber boot and slide it over the LBJ shaft.

10) Install Upper Ball Joint
You have done well up until now, but don't get cocky because you aren't done. Press the UBJ in from the top. I put the rubber boot on first because doing it afterward looked next to impossible. Install the grease fitting after the joint is installed. Place the 313970 installer underneath the joint and the installer cup on top. Get it straight and true (easier said than done). Pictures:



11) Install Steering Knuckle
The hard part is done, now we put things back together. Replace the steering knuckle on the ball joint shafts. Do not forget to put the ABS bracket on the UBJ shaft before you install the nut! Tighten the LBJ castle nut to 80 ft-lbs. I used a 15/16" socket for this; the replacement nut was smaller than OEM. Tighten the UBJ nut to 75 ft-lbs. After reaching torque, line up the notches in the castle nut with the hole in ball joint shaft to allow the cotter pin to pass through. If the notches don't line up, tighten until they do, do not loosen. Secure with cotter pins.

You can fill your joints with grease now.

12) Install Axle and Bearing Hub
Slide the axle shaft back through the housing. Try not to drag it along the bottom, there is a bunch of crud in there. Rotate the shaft until the splines line up and the axle slides all the way in. Secure the bearing hub to the steering knuckle with the three 13mm 12-pt bolts. Torque to 75 ft-lbs.

13) Install ABS Sensor
Route the ABS cable back through the support bracket and secure to the rear of the knuckle with the 8mm bolt.

14) Install Brake Caliper Anchor and Caliper
Replace the caliper anchor and tighten the 18mm bolts to 75 ft-lbs. Replace the caliper and tighten the caliper slide pins to 21-30 ft-lbs.

You are basically done now. Put the wheels on, lower it to the ground, grease up the joints if you haven't already and away you go.

Hope you found this helpful.

Rear Axle Bearing and Seal Replacement, 2002 WJ

In this chapter, I change the left rear axle bearing to replace the leaking seal. About 6 months since I did it last and it's already leaking. This time I bought some Timken bearings, thanks to my Jeep brothers in this forum. Maybe this one won't leak.

Instead of doing a bunch of words and a few pictures this time, I am doing a bunch of pictures and a few words.

PARTS LIST:Evidence of the leak:


Step 1: Disassemble brakes. Remove brake calipers. Two 18mm anchor bolts.


Hang caliper from the spring with whatever device you have.


Remove rotor.


Remove ABS sensor, 8mm bolt.


Step 2: Remove axle. Four 14mm retainer nuts.



Attach slide hammer.


Give it a whack or two, the bearing will separate and release the axle.


Slide out the axle shaft.


Change the slide hammer end piece to extract the inner bearing race. One whack job.


Step 3: Remove old bearing retainer. FSM says to use a drill press and a vice. I don't have one, so I used the angle grinder technique. Cut part of the way through the retainer ring. Take care not to score the axle or ABS tone ring. Try to avoid the retainer plate too.


The retainer ring will fracture upon cooling if you cut it deep enough (mine did).


If the ring doesn't fracture, smack the groove with a cold chisel. That ought to release the retainer. Slide it off.


Step 4: Remove bearing and inner race. Use some pliers to remove the roller bearings. Then slide off the seal and retainer plate. The daring soul could continue cutting with the angle grinder to remove the bearing race similar to the retainer ring. I am not so daring. Instead, attach bearing separator behind the inner bearing race.


Position axle in press. Note: setup shown is not optimal, but it worked for me.


Bearing removed!


Step 5: Install new bearing. Pack the bearing with grease (Timken came already packed). Grease up the seal cavity. Assemble parts: seal retainer plate first then seal, cavities toward bearing, then bearing. Note orientation of bearing. Edit: sad news ... I keep looking at this photo ... I think I blew it on the bearing orientation. That will make future service a bit harder but hopefully not impossible ... I was being so careful too! :facepalm:


Press bearing on. I used the bearing separator, but not strictly necessary.


Now press the retainer on. I did both retainer and bearing at the same time last go around, this time I followed the FSM recommendation: one at a time.


Step 6: Install axle. Slide the axle back in. Line up the gap in the retainer plate with the ABS sensor hole.


Install retainer nuts, 45 ft-lbs. Install ABS sensor.


Now put the brake rotor back on, remount the calipers (75 ft-lbs), mount the tire (100 ft-lbs) and you are good to go.

Update (2019/01/01): 6 months later and still no leak! But the other side is starting to look a little greasy. Ugh.

Update to Rear LCA Replacement

In an earlier post, I wrote about replacing the rear lower control arms (https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f310/2002-bella-blue-wj-build-thread-4239282/#post39694594). The job itself is easy enough. Getting a quality replacement part is not.

The Mopar control arms that I bought from Rock Auto were complete garbage, they only lasted a few months. She started lurching around when I would apply or remove throttle while cornering. It started small and just kept getting worse, to the point where it began feeling downright dangerous. Not knowing what else to do, I tried putting the old rear lower control arms back on. Result? Problem solved.

The bushings on the replacement control arms looked fine at first. Then I stuck a screwdriver through the inner metal sleeve and gave it a little pry, which opened a big gap between the sleeve and the bushing rubber (no pic yet). The sleeve had delaminated from the rubber.

I ordered a new pair of axles (with bushings) from Detroit Axle. I put this brand on the front and have had no problems yet, so I will give them a try on the rear.