ATTN MJ owners! bench seat and other Q's

My 87 MJ has a trashed bench seat, it's just nasty and has no wiplash protection besides the glass :scared: , How about fitting XJ seats? several locals are parting out XJ's - can get some cheap (a lot of tempting things for the MJ).

Did MJ's ever come with a bench seat w/head rests?

What is my MJ fuel tank capacity? The fuel gauge is acting up, it hangs at well above full, then drops to 3/4 and hangs again then drops below 1/2 etc. I don't know if it is really empty when it gets into the red so I've been topping off every weekend, :dunno:

Any suggestions on fixing the fuel gauge?

You can swap in XJ seats, it has been done, and they were offered from the factory. Take the seat bases off your bench seat and attach them to the XJ buckets with their mounting bases removed.

Tank capacity varies depending on long bed or short, I don't remember the exact numbers, sorry. No suggestions on the fuel gauge problem other than to try a new sending unit.

Good luck!

Lawn Cher' said:

You can swap in XJ seats, it has been done, and they were offered from the factory. Take the seat bases off your bench seat and attach them to the XJ buckets with their mounting bases removed.

Tank capacity varies depending on long bed or short, I don't remember the exact numbers, sorry. No suggestions on the fuel gauge problem other than to try a new sending unit.

Good luck!

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Ditto what he said on the seats, just did it myself.

Shortbed MJs had one size tank -- I think it was 18 gallon. The longbeds had two choices. I think the base tank was 16 gallons, and the larger optional tank was either 20 or 22 gallons.

ditto- 18 for short beds (just replaced mine) and I am pretty sure of the 22 gal. figure for the long beds.

I think my MJ was 23.5 gallons, 91 longbed.

Phil Weeks said:

I think my MJ was 23.5 gallons, 91 longbed.

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Well, you forced me to dig out the owner's manual.

1986 version, so no shortbed. Longbed small tank was 16 gallon, large tank was 23.5 gallon.

MJ buckets will bolt right in and fit better than ones from an XJ. I'm told that XJ seats will sit an inch or so higher than MJs and that could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how tall you are. Some MJ benches did come with headrests. I just upgrade my 86 with a bench from a 91 and got headrests in the process. (I'm not sure if the later years are the only ones with the headrests.) You can try car-part.com and see if they show any seats in a junkyard near you. Don't forget to grab the center console too (including the mounting brackets for it). MJs and XJs have the exact same console. And bucket seatbelts (the female end) have a plastic sheath around them that holds them up. Might be worth the effort to snag those too.
Jeep on!
--Pete

88 project MJ, 86 worker MJ, 89 parts MJ
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/jeepcomanche/

Per the owners' manual for my 89, it's 18 gl.(68.1L) for the standard tank, 23.5 gl.(89L) for the optional tank.

I have never seen an MJ with a bench seat & headrests. Some 'Eliminator' models had factory buckets & console, but :dunno: if they are the same as XJ buckets (with the MJ base.)

<edit> Doh! should have read the entire thread good info Peter. The MJ seatbelt buckles come up through the bench and wont 'stand up' beside bucket seats. <edit>

So my 87 shortbed should have an 18 gallon tank, from that i can deduce by only getting 12 gallons in when I top off the tank (when my gauge needle is sitting in the red indicating about 1/8 of a tank or less) it should have 6 gallons left, I guess I can live with the crazy gauge :confused1 . as far as center console, maybe some day (see below) but for now I'll settle for a cupholder.

One more question, does gas come spilling out of the filler neck everytime you fill up as happens to me??? the pump always shuts off a moment to late when it gets full :gonnablow

btw helpful responses guys! thanks a ton. This MJ has been my dd for the last 4 weeks now, still has lots of issues but gets me to work and does not burn through gas like the XJ. I told myself I wouldn't be tempted to "fix it up" for now but I keep having "ideas" and everytime I see an XJ getting parted out. only priorities and lack of funds keep me in check.

xjblue said:

only priorities and lack of funds keep me in check.

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Ya, lack of funds and having priorities sucks.