Project: Parts XJ

[KPTHEMP]

So the story begins, I was looking for a cheap donor XJ to convert the project Lasr 2.0 to 4wd when I stumbled across this;

2000 XJ, NP231, AW4, 4.0L, upcountry suspension, full skids, trailer tow pkg, tow hooks, LSD and best yet, only 65kmi, thats right 65,326 miles, and its from the original owner of course.

only glitch it just needs a tune up.... or so he said...

so, I throw a code reader on it and get a misfire P0301, no big deal, swap the dead injector out, change the plugs test the coil pack, good to go, WRONG! what the heck??? next up compression test, of which cylinder one fails with varying compression of 0-80, while the rest are are 165-175. ok, maybe its a stuck valve, seafoam , Mopar CCC and... no improvement. Ok pull the head and find this...

Looks like a rat has been chewing on cylinder number one, The ring was partially seized in the area of the missing chunk. Alright no problem, I'll go to napa and grab a new piston, rings and bearings. Wrong again! no parts available in Hawaii, Thankfully I log on to Rockauto and BAM! good to go, parts are on the way and expected to be here today, only cost an arm and leg to ship.

In the mean time, i cleaned up some of the other engine parts, I'm thinking this jeep didn't get an oil change all that often, most of the piston oil rings and seep holes were clogged up.

Simple green is amazing stuff, let soak for about 20-30 mins then scrub clean with a scotch bright dish sponge.

BEFORE:

AFTER: (no.1 not cleaned, waiting on new piston)

and the gunk that was on the pistons:

simple green worked so well on the pistons, tried it on the intake manifold:

also tried something called TRR (toilet ring remover) to clean the rust inside of the coolant reservoir, worked great.

Before:

After:

and so it begins...

 

[Ghost]

Nice find even though you had to do some major work on it.

 

[Tacedaddy]

hopefully that "tune up" goes well LOL
how much did this one run you?

 

[200SportXj]

Awesome, nice lookin truck.

 

[KPTHEMP]

Parts arrived!

got new sealed power piston from rockauto.com pressed on, thanks to local machine shop called "Teds automotive machine shop":

got the new rod bearings and installed them, (new one on the right, 4 old on left):

pistons cleaned up with new rings back in there home:

reassembly:

together at last, fingers crossed:

used this for the first time too, and yes its really purple oil:

started it up and first time go, runs like a champ !

Thanks to MWR and uncle sam --> :wantyou: for an awesome place to work on the Jeep:

P/O had disconnected the heater core hoses, tried reinstalling but core is bad, started leaking out the bottom like crazy, thats gonna be a fun project, at least its cheap on amazon. also threw some Prestone Super radiator cleaner for seriously neglected systems, hope to remove some of the rust build up in the new radiator.

also installed a VDO electric fan, P/O said the small ass fan that was in there (the kind found in an early 90's XJ) came like that from the dealer, I told him someone must have swapped it out and stole his when he had the radiator replaced or he was lying to me.

other than that, so far its going good.atriot:

oh yeah, also picked these up for $60(one chipped, cosmetic), going to get them installed with 2 new tires, for the front (currently the rear are new, and the front are worn down):

 

[dave92cherokee]

got the new rod bearings and installed them, (new one on the right, 4 old on left):

Has being that far out for this long affected you that bad or is the pic upside down? Looking good though you always seem to find killer deals whether here or wherever you are.

 

[KPTHEMP]

Has being that far out for this long affected you that bad or is the pic upside down? Looking good though you always seem to find killer deals whether here or wherever you are.

rotation failure, pic upside down, Fixed !

should read as follows:
"got the new rod bearings and installed them, (new one on the right, 4 old on left):"

 

[dave92cherokee]

Lol no prob definitely looks good. Might have to try that toilet ring remover on the coolant and washer fluid bottles in the jeep.

 

[KPTHEMP]

Had a weird issue yesterday, went on a drive and after about exactly 50 miles of driving on the rebuild motor, it started giving a cylinder one misfire again, checked compression and it was back down to 70 in the number one and 155-165 in the rest :gonnablow. so i tried some liquid head repair and "Restore", thinking maybe the rings weren't seating right and nothing, actually it got rougher idle and continuously kicked on the CEL almost immediately upon startup. so i let it sit over night and started it up this morning, and it still had the same stumbling idle:gonnablow. so i located another engine on CL for $400 out of a 2000 XJ. Then I went back out to start his one again and still the same, misfire #1 cylinder, ok thats it i said, took it for a ride pulled off to the side of the road and revved it up to about 4500rpms like 5-6 times and BAM! J/K no Bam, actually just the opposite the stumbling idle went away and it started running like a champ again :confused1. What just happened ??? I'm thinking valve was sticking and it cleared it self, took it for a spin and its been running perfect since, hopefully it stays this way.


Got these yesterday, nothing like a new set of treads:

and a good time to replace these::scared:

much better::sunshine:

Only in an XJ atriot:

 

[PacificEd]

Have you been watching Emeril?

 

[draco9936]

Keep us posted , curious about motor. thanks JB

 

[KPTHEMP]

lol, yeah BAM ! got ya!

so another 100 miles and still running good, got a slight stumble at idle more like a vacuum leak and the computer tripped the CEL for P0456 and P0442, which are small and medium evap leaks, possibly bad gas cap and/or bad fuel pump/seal. I'm thinking bad pump because when I disconnected the fuel rail for the engine work there was no residual pressure in the line. Investigation continues... I'll keep ya posted.

 

[KPTHEMP]

Did up the headliner yesterday, tired of looking at the backing board.

Before:

removed and cleaned up:

the new foam backed headliner material thanks to Keystone Bros. local store:

the new material stretched out and glued down:

holes cut out for accessories:

reinstalled and the low mileage XJ becomes new again:

drove around some yesterday, worked great the suddenly that misfire came back and now its acting up again, tried some seafoam and smoked out the neighborhood, but no improvement, CEL is still back on, investigation continues, still waiting on locating a leak down tester or buying my own.

 

[KPTHEMP]

Well, its still having the same misfire, no luck with the snake oils, was hoping to free up a stuck lifter or valve. I did another compression test and was only getting 70 in cyl #1 and 155-165 in the rest. I bought a Leak-down tester and confirmed that the intake vale on the number one cylinder was bad. Tried rotating the valve with the head on and repeating the leak down, but got the same results. Pulled the head and inspected it, no obvious sign of damaged valve or crack and the valve appeared to be seated all the way but when I flipped the head over and filled the valve area with water it leaked like crazy. Took it to a machine shop and they are gonna look it over and do a valve job if it don't have any cracks. What a shame with only 65kmi and so many problems. He should have the head done by Friday, I guess we'll go from there.


also, Thanks to Tyler at Rock Solid for being my long distance Mechanical adviser.:repair:hone::callme:

 

[KPTHEMP]

Rebuild 2:

Got the head back yesterday, had sent it out for repair, didn't really want to save the 0331 head but, it was still in good shape at 65kmi and no signs of trouble, and it out weighed the cost of getting a replacement shipped to Hawaii. The head was slightly warped and was decked .007, magna fluxed and had complete valve job.

Head reconditioned:

and fresh paint (not the color I wanted, but at $10 a can, it will do):

got the block cleaned up again and wrapped the headers:

reassembly:

all back together:

cylinder #1 passed leak down this time:

also wrapped the injectors (trying to keep things cool, gonna add hood vents soon and intake):

also changed the trans case and diff fluids, royal purple all around, and cleaned up some of parts, I HATE corroded/rusty things.

Before:

after(this will buy me time to get back to the mainland):

before:

after (again just looking to buy time to get back and get it cleaned up right, sandblast, powder coat):

I put about 40 miles on it today, so far its good, threw a code for a P0121 throttle position sensor, maybe just dirty, its done that once in the past too, but now that its not misfiring anymore that TPS may actually be bad, gonna clean it and keep and eye on it.

KPatriot:

 

[NDMstang65]

Are the rings going to seat with that synthetic oil? I've always been told that is a big no no on new parts and sticking things back together and they will never seat.

 

[KPTHEMP]

They seem to be seating just fine so far and recent compression is about 160-165 on all cylinders now.

I also have to say that there is a huge noise difference between running Royal Purple and Mobil one, the RP is much quieter and smoother.

 

[KPTHEMP]

More goodies arrived yesterday and today...

I have some plans to make the intake more functional and appealing, I don't really care for the stainless/chrome look under the hood.