Old Girl

[tjmotter]

My '90 XJ Laredo just crossed the 200K mark and I felt that this event deserved some recognition.

- Original 4.0L engine and trans. Still has great compression, doesn't burn or leak oil and runs perfectly

Over the years, I have been slowly restoring/upgrading it including:
- New shocks/springs with a bit of lift
- Rear diff upgraded to limited slip
- Body sanded to bare metal, and repainted to the color of my first XJ ('93 Sport with Hunter Green Metallic)
- Interior refreshed, carpet dyed back to its original color and all interior panels repainted
- rear view camera connected to a 6.5" in-dash DVD player
- locks that slam open/shut
- windows that fly up and down
- repaired temp/compass console
+ too many other upgrades/changes to mention

 

[Saudade]

Outstanding!! My '88 crossed that mark a few years ago. Don't drive much theses days so have no piled on a bunch more.

It does look great!!

 

[Numbers]

Beautiful! Paint looks awesome.

 

[jeep n 4:low]

Looks good

 

[Phil]

How did you fix/improve the windows?

I ordered a new window motor from rockauto but the existing one (1989) is riveted in and I did not feel ready to drill them.

And did you do the “Greg Smith” door lock relay upgrade or something else?

 

[tjmotter]

I did do the Greg Smith door lock relay but changed the factory doorlock controller out for a Bulldog aftermarket unit.

The windows are a similar problem. The biggest issue seems to be that the ground isn't strong enough so what I did for all 4 doors was to install 2 weather proof relays. I used weatherpak connectors to inject this solution without cutting any cables and the only wire I have to splice into is the window power wire going into the switch. I documented the circuit in the following thread and posted a youtube video in it showing how fast it is now. The key change is that at the point where I mount the relays, I scraped the paint down to bare metal and used it for the two ground connections.

'90 XJ Power Window improvement

My power windows sucked. The Passenger side was the worst and not only would it not have enough "oomph" to fully close the window but I would have to fiddle with the button a dozen times to "help" it work through some dead spots. Most posts recommend changing the window motor but I tried...

naxja.org

If this isn't enough, let me know and I will pull a door card off to show what the circuit looks like.

HTH
Todd

 

[Anak]

I The key change is that at the point where I mount the relays, I scraped the paint down to bare metal and used it for the two ground connections.

If I may add a bit of advice on this point: Don't leave a ground contact as just shiny, bare metal. Over time that will rust. Get your shiny metal, but then add a dab of conductive grease. The conductive grease I use is Ox-Gard, but there are others. As far as I can tell conductive grease is most commonly used to deal with aluminum wiring, thus you are most likely to be able to find it in the electrical section of a hardware/home improvement store or at an electrical supply house.

 

[my2monkeys]

Sweet XJ you have. My daily driver also has original motor and trans. and burns no oil between changes.

 

[asymptonic]

Jealous. '98 with 234k. Will look into those window motor refreshes, mine only work okay if the battery is really charged.