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Hardest Fix On Your XJ?

kdailey4315

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pacifica, CA
I've been doing a bunch of work on the XJ this weekend and it got me thinking What's the hardest thing you've done to your XJ? In the grand scheme of things XJ's are very easy to work on but there are some things that have you cursing after a while.
 
crank position sender. even after you drop the transmission cross member and use 4-5 feet of extension. its only 2 bolts. ive been told by mechanics its all but impossible. only took me like 4-5 hours.

troubleshooting the renix 87-90 4.0 you have to back probe every sensor there is no check engine light no obd its all charts and diagrams

cracked manifold... they all do it just a matter of when. good solid weekend project to replace it.

the biggest problem of all is money. never enough. followed only by time.
 
The hardest thing I ever had to troubleshoot on my 99 XJ was Death Wobble. Hands down..

The fix itself wasn't difficult, but finding the damn thing sure was!
 
I've done clutch, cps, rear springs, both diffs and the one thing that gave me the most trouble and had me the most P.O.ed, Swapped a factory tire carrier and rear bumper from a parts XJ to mine. Broke almost every bolt on both bumpers and on every clip nut the clip was rusted off so they just spun and no room to get vise grips in there or a sawz all. Got like 16 hours in the swap even with a whole can of PB Blaster and a couple weeks of spraying it.
 
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Crank position sensor on a 96 5 speed.I never dropped the crossmember but used a cut off open end wrench.It's a job for a skinny guy with long arms.
Door hing pins are also fun.
 
I can tell you the one I'm least looking forward to is gonna be straightening out the uni-body where the bumper bolts on. The side of it is caved in so my bumper is crooked...
 
Mine was relatively easy but still a pita... It was replacing a stock oilpan on my 89 renix. It i came up and punched a hole in it with a rock. I started at the junk yard with just a ratchet and some extentions thinkin hey it will just come down no problem... Nope they were stuck like glue, 3 hours later i went home said screw it and bought a new dorman one... Guess what mine too was pretty much glued to the engine. Ahh!! After 2 hours I broke it free then time to scrape off old gasket, I'm covered in oil and when I go to bolt up the pan, the lip on the pan is a little tight in spots so I had to find a thin walled socket... All in all it was just a huge pain for a simple tAsk, oh and the first gasket got cut in half when i put it in wrong... So I have 3/4 1 piece gasket and then I had to piece in a new rear seal. And I STILL have a small oil leak ... Lol but at least the pans fixed :gee:
 
I would say that the first time I had to take my front hub bearing units off it was probably the most difficult thing I've had to do. those things were stuck fast. took much pb blaster, a 3 lb sledge, and a couple of chisels to get the thing off.

while I had it off, I sanded out the rust from the seat. now they come off easy.
 
It can be difficult to work on some of the stuff in the very rear, like the gas skid and the tow hitch and the rear leaf bolts. All that stuff is heavy and awkward and it goes together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Also anything on the floorboard, since you basically have to remove the whole interior.
 
I would say that the first time I had to take my front hub bearing units off it was probably the most difficult thing I've had to do. those things were stuck fast. took much pb blaster, a 3 lb sledge, and a couple of chisels to get the thing off.

while I had it off, I sanded out the rust from the seat. now they come off easy.

for future reference for anyone reading this thread, take the top and rear bolts out leaving the front one only turned back in a couple of threads, start the jeep, and have a buddy hold the end of a 2x4 between the bolt head and the inner C, and use the power steering to turn the knuckle. they pop right out every time.

:cheers:
 
The most aggravating so far has been hands-down replacing the leaking O-rings on the 4.0L oil filter adapter.

All thanks to the "genius" designer who only put 2 inches of clearance between the torque bolt on the adapter and the uni-body/motor mount. That bolt is almost impossible to get too without dicing up your knuckles, and yelling "Who the F*&K designed this shit to be "serviceable"?!?
 
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I had a rear main seal that was stuck, absolutely would not move.... after about 6 hours of messing with it, i scrapped the motor.
 
I had a rear main seal that was stuck, absolutely would not move.... after about 6 hours of messing with it, i scrapped the motor.

Did you loosen all the crank bearing caps and give the crank a wiggle? That usually helps to free up stuck rear main seals.
 
Did you loosen all the crank bearing caps and give the crank a wiggle? That usually helps to free up stuck rear main seals.

Yup!, i wish it was that easy! I had a 1/4 of play between the crank and the bearing caps!

I had just done one, on an engine stand, about a week prior, went smoothe as silk, 'THIS IS EAAASY!, Way over rated!'

I kinda regret scrapping the motor, it was a 236k motor. It didnt deserve to go out like that...
 
Trying to fix a snapped off weld nut in the sway bar bracket. Finally had to out-source it to a fab guy up the street. That one sucked.
Also, it sucked over sizing the track bar axle side bolt. This was more painful than it had to be, I was "too smart" to buy the correct tooling / drill bits.
It also sucked removing the cross member studs when I went to 7/16" bolts down there.
And when my leaf spring bushing self destructed because the bolt was SO seized to the sleeve. Didn't help when I put the ingersol on it for a while.
Basically, if it was underneath on top of inside or near my Jeep it was a rusted, broken pain in the ass.
 
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