Grin's WJ Build Thread

[xj-grin]

So I threw an incredibly old XJ Rancho steering stabilizer under there this evening - much improved, but still a bit sloppy. We'll see if the new one on the way is any better.... FWIW, driving a 545re equiped vehicle without a speed sensor is, well, interesting. The tranny shifts randomly, sometimes into neutral, and the engine tends to die on corners. I'll dig into the t-case swap tomorrow and hopefully be back in business on Saturday, for reals!

 

[xj-grin]

I finally got to the tcase rebuild today, but first a cautionary tale... this is what happens when you run a 27 spline output with a stock slip yoke, 35s, and fill the case with gear oil:

not recommended. :laugh:

So I cleaned the mf snot out of the case to get rid of all the metal dust and gear oil, what a PITA. But the bearings and seals all seemed OK, and they got seriously lubed during the buildup (I like engine assembly lube for this, cause its so damn sticky). I was then was ready to swap in the loooooong 5-45rfe compatible input gear, along with a 6-gear planetary setup - old and new pictured here (the one on the left is the longest gear used in XJ/TJ apps):

Then I hit the "hunt-all-over-town-for-parts-noone-has" wall, as I searched for some fork pads -- the gear oil melted the shift fork pads into a blob, and noone in town had shift fork pads, only mode fork pads - then I figured out why, as I saw something I have never seen in my MANY prior NP231 rebuilds: a shift fork with the pads incorporated into it -- apparently chrysler redesigned this part, the parts dude at Perkins was surprised as well. see below:

With that in hand, I was ready to roll (3 hours later) along with some fresh pads for the mode fork:

All cleaned up and ready to re-seal the case:

Sealed up with the SYE installed:

Now I have a new problem - I have three flat pins on my VSS, and three round pins on the pigtail I'm using to tie into the ABS sensor and steal a speedo signal:

If anyone has one or the other lying around (in the springs) to make this work, it would be much appreciated. :cheers:

I also need the VSS retaining screw dealy that isn't pictured here, if anyone's got one:

I also managed to get the full-time NP247 out this evening - the input gear acts as a seal to the back of the 5-45fre tranny, so if you pull it out on an angle (like say it might be at to get those top two bastard bolts), you get a mouthful of ATF, which tastes like shit BTW... ask me how I know. :gag:

With some luck (and electrical blessings), she'll be buttoned up and ready to roll tomorrow.

 

[Frank Z]

Chris,
Wise choice on the 6gear planetary....beef is good!!

I've got the round pin VSS in the garage, come and get it.

 

[xj-grin]

I thought you did, and just left you a VM -- you planning on being around in the AM? Fairly early?

 

[Frank Z]

I'm up at 5:30am.

 

[kastein]

Crap! After all that, the stuff I sent you wasn't the right parts? :doh:

Sorry about that man.

Looks like it is coming along nicely otherwise!

 

[xj-grin]

no problem, Ken -- I swapped VSS units with Frank, and now your pigtail is perfect! Now, if I could just figure out the wiring... I'm following post no. 4 here:

http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22581

but I'm not following what he did at the CAB harness -- that and the wires from my ABS sensor are both solid, so I'm not sure which is signal and which is power... I suck at all things electrical...

 

[xj-grin]

alrighty -- enough online searching and you learn some stuff... the black is the 12v, the brown is the speed sensor signal to the computer... but I won't know if it works or not until I get the rear driveshaft shortened by about 3" and the front one lengthened by the same -- bummer, I got them cheap and had ballparked the measurements, but the 231 v. 247 front lengths are quite different, and I just blew it on the rear -- off to Driveline Services tomorrow! But, the tcase is IN:

I forgot to mention yesterday that the WJ tells what range it is in with the cable shifter, so there is no indicator to fill the plug on the XJ 231 case -- I cut the end off of a 18mm bolt I had lying around that was the same thread pitch, slotted it for a screwdriver, and slipped it in with a little RTV to fill the hole -- forgot to take a picture before it went in, so use your imagination, and forgive the crappy photo:

I also now have a 247 for sale, if anyone is yearning for a non-viscous coupler full time case... CHEAP!

 

[Stang5lgt]

That is one sexy WJ! Keep up the good work.:thumbup:

 

[xj-grin]

Gracias -- just picked up the modified driveshafts... its POSSIBLE I'll be driving her to work manyana!

 

[xj-grin]

need electrical help...

So, any of you folks wiring gurus? (Ken...) I just took the WJ out, rear driveshaft only, and she drives really well, but still no speedo... I'm following this link, post no. 4:

http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum//showthread.php?t=22581

here's what I've done -- I wired my 12V from the rear ABS sensor (black, lt grn later in the harness)to the orange on the VSS (12V), and the "sensor" wire (brown, lt grn w/dk blue stripe later in harness) to the orange/white, and grounded the ground from the VSS to the chassis -- no signal. I think what I'm missing is this:

On the wiring to the existing wheel sensors, the solid wire is 12v, the striped is the return signal. I just used the existing wiring to the driver's rear sensor for power and signal, and ran a ground to the chassis. I cut the striped wire from the sensor at the CAB harness (Light green\blue I think), the speed signal out (dark green\yellow), and connected them. Viola!, works like a charm.

but I'm too electrically incompetent to figure it out... HELP! :helpme:

 

[in4aride]

i kinda got to drive this a bit......


i need a v8. that was soooo nice to drive. feels so tall compared to mine tho with the plush seats and all...


super cool rig!

 

[xj-grin]

thanks, man. The power when its properly geared should be really nice. It drives better now that you had a few minutes with it! Thanks again. FWIW, mike offered to throw it on the rack for me so I could check my driveway alignment skills and make some more adjustments at home -- instead he aligned it for me, and gave my brakes a quick pull on the vac that really improved the pedal feel. My driveway toe was acceptable, but my driveway caster measurements were, well, off a bit...

 

[in4aride]

haha, ya not what we were thinkin :gee:

glad its better. the brakes are a bit better too?-awesome! glad i could help bud

 

[Kiefer316]

:thumbup:

 

[xj-grin]

Minor updates (pic-less) -- still stymied by the speedo issues, but may get under there with some "instruments" this evening and see where I have power and where I don't...

Crazy, but WJ's have no factory battery tie down -- got her secured with some O'Rilley parts the other night (new red-top, since my less-than-one-year-old-POS-srilankan-made-walmart-garbage decided to eat shite in the sub-zero weather...)

Dropped the tire pressure from 35 to 28, and with Mike's alignment, she now drives pretty damn nice. I still need to adjust the rear axle, as it is offset about an inch to the driver's side, but the gas tank has to get elevated in order to have enough room to make the adjustment, perhaps this weekend.

Dropped into Front Range Muffler yesterday, and once the gas tank is out of the way, they should get me set up with a turbo muffler and full exhaust, so I won't sound like I'm headed to the strip every time I start her up -- I'll have a Flowmaster 70-series for sale here shortly...

Still a little front trimming to do, but otherwise seemingly rub free.

This weekend may be gas-tank raising, rear-sway installing, bump-stopping time...

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Minor updates (pic-less) -- still stymied by the speedo issues, but may get under there with some "instruments" this evening and see where I have power and where I don't....

Well, glove-up and practice safe "probing"........... :laugh:


The rig looked good when you stopped by the other day Chris...... and I kinda liked the way it sounded......

 

[xj-grin]

The rig looked good when you stopped by the other day Chris...... and I kinda liked the way it sounded......

you would, as a Duster owner I don't mind a little rumble, but the Flowmaster with no pipe behind it is a bit much... particularly the drone at highway speeds... I'll have to find a time to swing by without the other half sometime soon and we can chat. :yap:

 

[in4aride]

i thought it wounded great too.
there are a few 20" or so ledges here but nothine enough to get ya all flexered out on.
ill let ya know if i see anything, all the good spots are on GOG between 25 and barnes.....

but like i have said before. if you can, use a highlift ro roll the body of the jeep to the side the front tire is raised on to act like rear tire on lean side is pushin body back over....(make sense? just flexing the front end is not TRUE flex. GL

 

[xj-grin]

I could use the hi-lift, Mike, although one of the remaining shortcomings of the WJ (to be rectified) is a lack of jack points that won't fold like a taco... I'll find a place to twist it up.

as posted in my other electrical help thread:

I win! Never, EVER, trust a Jeep wiring diagram... I have been working on this using this diagram to tell me which ABS wires are sensor and which are power, to wire to the VSS itself:

With some help at www.mallcrawlin.com this afternoon, I get directed to this diagram, indicating I should be connecting pin #3 and pin #5 under the hood to complete the connection at the CAB:

which I stared at for a while, and then did some searching in my own FSM, which led me to this diagram:

See what the little Chrysler/Jeep bastids did? Some WJ's have LG/BL as a power line on the left rear ABS with the LG as the signal, some have it the other way around... It just depends on which wiring diagram you look at, and apparently which jeep you have - I had mine exactly backwards, through no fault of my own the whole freaking time . This, in addition to my previous discovery that my jeep used a WT/OR wire to get the signal to the PCM from the CAB, while others have a DG/YL wire... unbefreakinglievable. Anyways, it works, now I just need to get that 30 tooth speedo gear so it will be accurate!

I actually may have a 30tooth gear in my garage somewhere from my old XJ case... hmmm.