'89 Pioneer - Now what?

[Lowrange2]

First off.... I'm back. I'm not new to Jeeps but I'm fairly new to halfway decent MJ's.

I've had several MJ's in my possession but they've always been beat up 2.5's and I always sell them or part them out to good homes rather than put in the work to fix them up. This one may prove to receive a different fate.

Over the weekend I just happened to stumble across a Craigslist add that had been up for 6 days.

"1989 Jeep Comanche. 4.0, auto, 153k miles - $600"

I thought, there's no way this thing is still available... After 2 days of suspenseful txt messages I pulled up in the guys yard to find this fine specimen of MJ with my name on it. He had a camper top that I gave him an extra $50 for.

1989 MJ Pioneer, Metric Ton, Column shift auto, LWB, 2wd, 153k miles.

It was cheap because it doesn't run. He was driving it and it shut off on him. He parked it and has been throwing parts at it trying to make it run. He mentioned replacing the distributor, ign coil, starter, alternator, ign switch, etc...

Now, I have to figure out what to do with it. For now, I think the plan is to make it run, general maintenance and drive it as-is for a little while.

I part out XJ's as a side job so I have everything in my possession for a 97+ swap and a 4wd swap so that'll probably come along eventually. I have 3 kids so I can't really make it my primary vehicle. I also have 2 other XJ's I switch between driving.

What would YOU do with it?

Now, here's the fun part:

This is what I see when I get to the guy's house.

Nice leaky Dana 44 and 5 leaf packs.

Aweful red interior but soooo clean. If anything, this terrible red interior will be what sparks the urge to do the 97+ swap.

Headed home.

 

[Lowrange2]

Pretty sure the only thing this truck has ever hauled in the bed is pillows:

Needs some door locks.

I've never even seen one of these still in place. Much less working.

Pretty clean engine bay. Needs some touch up and a few gaskets.

Holes where the Old guy PO had cab lights mounted to the hood. lol

A few more pictures I snapped when I got home before I called it a night.

New tires. Cheap tires but new.

Old man mud flaps must go.

Of course the bumper is bent.

Remnants of Pioneer stickerage:

Botched flair painting job. He didn't even try to paint the other side, Thank god.

Anywho, more pictures will follow.

 

[Lowrange2]

I need the knob that goes on the end of the column shifter. Is that a standard GM thing that I can rob off of some old grandma car?

 

[ehall]

how are the rockers and underbody for rust?

 

[Lowrange2]

There is no rust. Not one spec of rust.

Probably most evident in this picture.

Though, I haven't pulled up the carpet yet.

 

[Catch22]

Ugh. I hate you.
I got a $700 one. No rust but its not loved the same way yours is. I'm happy to take it off your hands for $700-800 as is.

 

[Lowrange2]

Ugh. I hate you.
I got a $700 one. No rust but its not loved the same way yours is. I'm happy to take it off your hands for $700-800 as is.

lol, I think I'm going to have to pass on that offer for now.

I hope to get a spend a few minutes cleaning it up over Thanksgiving break.

 

[87manche]

I'd clean it up and keep it forever.

oh wait, that's what I'm doing with mine

 

[old_man]

You need to sell it to me for a grand, I fly out, fix it, and drive it back to Colorado.

And .....knock off the old man mud flap crap.Hasta

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Nice find! If crank no start. I would disco the CKP and reconnect and see if it fires up. CHeck spark and fuel pressure. Otherwise, replace the CKP.

 

[Lowrange2]

Yup, I still haven't had a chance to check it out. The rain yesterday foiled that plan.

I'll put a fuel pressure tester and spark tester on it today and see where that leads me.

 

[Lowrange2]

So, I guess I'll be needing help to get this thing running.

Went out tonight and messed with it for about 10 minutes. I hear the fuel pump priming so that's good. I spin the engine over. It cranks great. No fire. Not even trying.

I've never owned a Renix Jeep. I'm not even sure where to start with this thing.

Looks like the distributor, ignition coil and CPS have been replaced recently, though I have no proof of that.

I'm going to run back out there in a few minutes and stick a fuel pressure gauge on it and a spark tester between the coil and the distributor. I'll report back.

Ideas?

 

[Lowrange2]

Nice find! If crank no start. I would disco the CKP and reconnect and see if it fires up. CHeck spark and fuel pressure. Otherwise, replace the CKP.

Oh yeah, I'll do this too.

 

[Lowrange2]

Alrighty, they didn't take long.

Stuck my daughter in the drivers seat to operate the switch.

38psi at the rail and holds steady.

I put my inline spark tester between the coil and distributor. I got 0 spark.

I can tell that the PO tried replacing the CPS. It appears to be fairly new but it does have some road grime on it so the truck has run since the CPS was replaced.

The background that I'm aware of:

PO had issues with the truck. He said it would run for about 30 minutes before dieing. It would restart after it cooled off. He had is neighbor "mechanic" work on it. He said he had the distributor and ignition coil replaced. That's all I know.

What now?

 

[POSJ]

Go her running today. Had a few issues but everything seems to be on track now. Had an issue with a multimeter that made is seem like we had an open. When trying to track down the break I found these wires:

Cut out the bare sections and spliced in some new wire and it was still shooting bad with the meter...found out the meter battery was dead. Stupid analog meter, replaced the battery in the digital and shot the wires again and everything was good.

Pulled the distributor and tore is apart to get the the stator sensor or whatever you would like to call it. Found that the sensing magnet had come off and was sitting under the rotor.

Replaced the sensor and we got spark(whoooo!). Tried to crank it and it wouldn't start...we figured we put the distributor in wrong and indexed it off a little...We did. After figuring it out we cranked it again and with a little starting fluid she fired up but wouldn't stay running.

Fuel pump is bad. It's a new pump unit we got through RockAuto, so we are going to have them warranty it and hopefully take the turd for a test drive sometime in the next couple weeks. We will take pictures of its first air time at that time.:gee:

This fixed one of my old XJs

 

[Lowrange2]

Cool. I'll check it out. Thanks.

 

[Lowrange2]

IT LIVES!!!

CPS.

 

[POSJ]

Sweet congrats, that is a steal.

 

[Lowrange2]

Cleaned the over spray off the fenders and bed, replaced the fixed windows with some minty wing windows I had laying around, slapped some late model mirrors on it so I can see, replaced the harmonic balancer and belt, window seal, bent the rear bumper back up, replaced the glove box latch, drivers side door lock cylinder, etc... Lots of little things.

Nothing major. For now, I'd like to find a set of nice looking factory aluminum wheels to stick on it and drive it.

I'm fairly certain the TPS needs to be replaced. The engine stumbles any time I have the throttle pedal in a certain spot. I can make the engine misfire on command by pushing the pedal to that spot. It also has the typical oil in the air box issue and I think it's puffing a little smoke but not sure why yet. Gotta get that fixed...

I need the plastic trim piece that sits on top of the rear bumper.

Window seal:

Late model XJ mirrors... Ahhh, I can see so much better now.

I have dummy gauges, bought a cluster to swap the real gauges from.

 

[Lowrange2]

Saw this guy at LKQ. Never could figure out who owned it.

Harmonic Balancer "installer" tool. Didn't know such a thing existed.

This stuff did a fine job cleaning the over spray off the factory paint. (Already had it sitting on the shelf)

Gave it a bath:

It sure is nice to have a truck bed again!

Now, if I could just make the OEM paint a little shinier...