What did you do to your WJ today?

Brand new guy! I put my 4 day old to me '04 up on stands to remove the formally Quadradrive now only Dualdrive transfer case and install the on it's way 242HD case.

Chasespeed said:

Not to knock your progress.......

But, I'm more interested in that bobber in your avatar....

Chase

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That's my current other project, '74 ironhead sportster I built from 3/4 of one bike, parts from about 6 others and an assortment of home made parts and parts scavenged from other sources.

EisBlade said:

Looks like a nice goal to achieve. I'd be interested in knowing what those LED lights are on the front bumper and just how effective they are. I'm also looking for a LED light to add to the rear hatch door for when I go camping, something I can turn on when the door is open so that the lights are facing downward.

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I got 2 LED lights from HF. look just like a house light switch and cover. Can be mounted with screws or the included self adhesive tape, runs off 4 AAA batteries. Pretty bright and the batts seem to last forever, I used them in my Suburban camping vehicle and I have one under the hood of my Crown Vic and they work real good for what your describing. Super cheap and sometimes free with a coupon.

Pulled the front driveshaft off for inspection. As luck would have it I see the drivetrain Gods have looked upon me and blessed me with a normal d/shaft, u-joint on one end and double cardan CV on the other.:grin2: My 242 t/case showed up and of course that luck wasn't there, it was not an HD as advertised. So back it went and hopefully I'm driving to Toledo Sat to pick one up that I have absolutely assured of is out on an 03 4.7L with Select-Trac, at least that is what I see in the pics he sent...

ChrisHager said:

I've been using Torque Pro for years. It's absolutely fantastic!

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I second that. I have used it for awhile now and find it to be very accurate.

Got it up on stands for the front axle removal. Seems my front diff is shot, I can rotate the d/shaft without it engaging at all AND my oil pan leaks like a net. I know I can pull the pan without removing it completely but seeing I have to get into the axle also I might as well pull it out completely.

Got the front axle out for the oil pan removal and got all the stuff on the pass side out of the way for the valve cover (cam cover) gasket replacement. Curious to get the Vari Lok diff apart if it does come apart. I know it's not a repairable item, but I am curious to what failed inside to cause it to be completely disengaged.

Stripped my front axle down to the bare case. The carrier bearing races have a definite wear pattern and under a magnifying glass there appear to be small "smears". The axle seals were leaking also, I am going to go through it with new bearings and races, seals and ball joints. I am going to replace the upper arm bushings mounted to it also.

Carrier bearings and axle seals arrived and I finally found the time to get the oil pan off, what a PITA! It was really stuck good to the windage tray/gasket. Noticed quite a bit of smuck on the oil pickup screen and of course when I tried to pick it out of there I promptly poked right through the screen !!%[email protected]!!^%$!!! Maybe it's for the better, the replacement one at least in the picture looks to have a bigger inlet hole on the bottom. Now with the axle removed the exhaust removed and the pan gone I can see just how bad the valve covers were leaking, both sides of the block at the back are covered as well as the back sides of the heads.

That reminds of years ago I had a Suburban that ran out sometimes when the gauge said 1/4 full, sometimes right at E, sometimes at 1/2 tank. I got into the habit of pulling the gas cap and shaking the truck, I got pretty good at determining how much gas was in there by how much sloshing I could here.

Axle seals installed, carrier reinstalled and a fresh gasket for the cover. Ball joints, UCA bushings in axle housing and wheel bearings next.

ilikejeepssrt8 said:

Not stopping anyone else.... even willing to help

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I'm building a 545ci Ford for my Crown Vic, maybe when that's done I will take you up on that. A friend just picked up an SRT Scat Pac Charger for himself AND a Hellcat for his son, yeah he's loaded, lol. His Scat Pac hauls a$$, I can't imagine that engine in a WJ, must be a blast.

Uniblurb said:

Good deal my below ground write-up helped and glad your fault codes are now gone! :thumbsup:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f310/jeep-wj-ground-write-up-info-4192594/

Nothin' like missing grounds or disconnected ones and you probably headed off even worse future electronic problems in fixing them.

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Count me as another that found your write up helpful. I am in process of a 242HD swap, oil pan replacement and front axle refurbishing all at once. When I saw the torn away exhaust ground and the one on the trans mount was also swinging in the breeze, both locations I would not expect to find a ground I might add, I wondered how many more there were. Your write up was most helpful in that regard, thanks!

At one time in my career I did under hood packaging and electrical harness routing. Even in '98 I was amazed at how many grounds were needed and space constraints made most of them very hard to get to, living in salted heavy Detroit I remember thinking how I felt sorry for the poor sucker who has to deal with these in 15 years.... And here I am now, lol..

What I did? I messed around trying to get some small gunk out of the pickup screen on the oil pickup, and like a dumba$$ I poked through the screen. Though it seems it was not secured very good under the hood opposite the pickup hole, so maybe a blessing in disguise..

If you have 2 people you can use the pump to drain it. Disconnect the return line from the cooler and point into a suitable bucket remembering your going to have about 3 gallons. Have someone start the engine and let it idle, the fluid will be coming out of the return line at a pretty good clip. At the FIRST HINT of the air bubbling through the line have the person shut if off. That part is important, have a signal or word to yell when the air appears that won't be misunderstood, like a bondage safe word. This will empty the trans and most of the converter also.