I have no solution!

[techno1154]

Some things,...little things that become a nuisance and wish they will all go away. With over 300,000 miles, I guess some things have reached the end of their useful life.

The RPM gage have a hard time going pass 3,000 even when the XJ is doing 75 MPH in 3rd gear. This is going on for quite some time. My Scangage displays the correct RPM.

I need to get a good/better brake pedal pad. I doubt the junk yard will have a good one.

The engine run up to 1500 RPM after about a 20 minute drive. A quick blip on the gas pedal return it to proper idle speed. It is just a pain in the you-know-what having to do that to prevent it from creeping through a stop light.

The D44 in the rear have a wheel bearing going bad. There is noise that increases with speed. There is about a 1/4" of up and down movement on that side,...right side and none on the left side.

The radiator which is more than 10 years (all copper brass) have developed a slow leak under pressure evident by having to top off the recovery bottle every week and coolant puddle on the right side under the radiator.

Those are just a few of the things that bother me at this time. I do enjoy the old girl on my daily commute or for a long drive in the country side.

[Heavyopp]

So why the title -- every problem you listed has a solution -- none of them difficult

[Anak]

But there is no way around the second law of thermodynamics. It's a law of nature.

[Heavyopp]

Originally Posted by Anak

But there is no way around the second law of thermodynamics. It's a law of nature.

You made me search -- If I understand correctly then the OP will get his wish -- They will all go away...eventually

[techno1154]

Originally Posted by Heavyopp

So why the title -- every problem you listed has a solution -- none of them difficult

OK. Help me out here. List a few suggestions. Be realistic.

[Green XJ Jeep]

Originally Posted by techno1154

OK. Help me out here. List a few suggestions. Be realistic.

Other than the tach issue (clean all grounds) and cleaning the throttle body every part you listed is either available fron the local auto parts store or from Quadratec

[dan1977p]

Originally Posted by techno1154

Some things,...little things that become a nuisance and wish they will all go away. With over 300,000 miles, I guess some things have reached the end of their useful life.

The RPM gage have a hard time going pass 3,000 even when the XJ is doing 75 MPH in 3rd gear. This is going on for quite some time. My Scangage displays the correct RPM. Get a used or new cluster

I need to get a good/better brake pedal pad. I doubt the junk yard will have a good one. Any autoparts store or the internet will have replacement pads

The engine run up to 1500 RPM after about a 20 minute drive. A quick blip on the gas pedal return it to proper idle speed. It is just a pain in the you-know-what having to do that to prevent it from creeping through a stop light.
Probably a vacuum leak, but could be IAC or another sensor. Cruiser 54 has some great info to help diagnose these types of problems

The D44 in the rear have a wheel bearing going bad. There is noise that increases with speed. There is about a 1/4" of up and down movement on that side,...right side and none on the left side. Replace it and the shafts if they are jacked up

The radiator which is more than 10 years (all copper brass) have developed a slow leak under pressure evident by having to top off the recovery bottle every week and coolant puddle on the right side under the radiator.
Replace with OEM radiator.

Those are just a few of the things that bother me at this time. I do enjoy the old girl on my daily commute or for a long drive in the country side.

Added suggestions in bold inline. All in all, sounds like one saturday and your problems are fixed. I'd do more with that many miles like a compression check just to see if it's worth fixing or if it's time to look at a complete rebuild/replace of the motor

[Heavyopp]

Originally Posted by techno1154

OK. Help me out here. List a few suggestions. Be realistic.

Over 2000 posts here on this forum, cared enough to be a member, and 300,000 miles on your XJ -- you have to have tools and know somewhat how to use them

Maybe it's your location that makes things difficult -- "In the Islands" does amazon deliver to you? May I ask where "in the islands" is? Just curios and maybe a little jealous

anyway -- the above suggestions have you covered -- I'm not even sure I would be bothered by a bad tachometer -- If I had that many miles on my XJ I would know the rpm range by the sound of the motor -- if it bothers you, which it seems it does, change out the cluster -- the sender is good if the scanguage can read it

The only other that isn't straight forward is the RMP runaway at idle -- Does sound like a vacuum leak -- just need to find it then it should be a simple fix

[techno1154]

Originally Posted by Heavyopp

Over 2000 posts here on this forum, cared enough to be a member, and 300,000 miles on your XJ -- you have to have tools and know somewhat how to use them

Maybe it's your location that makes things difficult -- "In the Islands" does amazon deliver to you? May I ask where "in the islands" is? Just curios and maybe a little jealous

anyway -- the above suggestions have you covered -- I'm not even sure I would be bothered by a bad tachometer -- If I had that many miles on my XJ I would know the rpm range by the sound of the motor -- if it bothers you, which it seems it does, change out the cluster -- the sender is good if the scanguage can read it

The only other that isn't straight forward is the RMP runaway at idle -- Does sound like a vacuum leak -- just need to find it then it should be a simple fix

Much more helpful post. Thank you.

My two major problems are 1) the increased RPM when hot and 2) the D44 wheel bearings. The others are minor and non issue,...

I have spent hours on this forum and other forums reading about RPM rise on the 1996 XJ when hot. Every suggestion listed have been checked and double checked. None of them are issues/causes on my XJ. Beside the usual gasket and vacuum leaks does anyone have some real life suggestion?

The XJ D44 and other rear D44 with the semi-floating axles seem to be plagued with loose/problematic wheel bearings. i.e. the outer race is loose in the axle tube. Many here have ran/used to run the 1980's XJ D44. How do you deal with this problem?

By-the-way, I bought the XJ in 2000 while living in Jefferson City, MO. Moved back home in 2006 and worked on several islands there. I am actually from the Caribbean islands. I moved back to the US in 2011 and live in North FL. The location indicated is misleading.

I was a heavy equipment mechanic from 1971 to 1979 and a marine mechanic working on high speed power boats from 1979 to 1986 than I made a drastic change I career. My XJ remained in South FL for the years I was in the islands.

I appreciate the contributions from all who contributed. If only I could get that axle taken care of so I could concentrate on a fast idle solution.

[dan1977p]

If your vac readings are close cold and hot, it's possible your O2 sensor is out of whack. Wiring harness issue, sensor itself or exhaust leak could trick the computer into throwing more fuel into the cylinder causing a high idle too. Clogged cat too, maybe. Cat and exhaust leak can be diagnosed with the vacuum gauge.

[techno1154]

Originally Posted by dan1977p

If your vac readings are close cold and hot, it's possible your O2 sensor is out of whack. Wiring harness issue, sensor itself or exhaust leak could trick the computer into throwing more fuel into the cylinder causing a high idle too. Clogged cat too, maybe. Cat and exhaust leak can be diagnosed with the vacuum gauge.

There is a crack on the manifold collector. It have been that way for many years now and is almost indiscernible. I see no spike in fuel consumption recently. The cat is good, the O2 sensor about 3 years and 30,000 miles. I will look at the O2 sensor wires to see if they are the culprit. I do not have a vacuum gage,...I think the Scangage could help a bit here.

[Bent]

When you say brake pedal pad are you referring to the rubber tread pad on the brake pedal?

[techno1154]

Originally Posted by Bent

When you say brake pedal pad are you referring to the rubber tread pad on the brake pedal?

Yea!

[Heavyopp]

Originally Posted by techno1154

Much more helpful post. Thank you.


The XJ D44 and other rear D44 with the semi-floating axles seem to be plagued with loose/problematic wheel bearings. i.e. the outer race is loose in the axle tube. Many here have ran/used to run the 1980's XJ D44. How do you deal with this problem?


.

This brings up a problem I had with a front dana 44 I have on a 95 suburban -- the inner wheel bearing in the hub would spin loose causing a groove to be worn in the hub making the race even looser

I had to replace the hubs which was easy enough on a front axle -- the new races where then glued in with a loctite product designed for pressed in parts -- Loctite 648 retaining compound is what I used

I don't have a ton of miles on it after the fix and I won't try and remove a race just to see if it worked but I can say this for certain -- I used and old race to press in the new race, while doing so I got some 648 on the old race and didn't know it -- I laid that race down on my press -- a week later I needed a hammer to remove it -- that 648 did what it is supposed to do

[deesiexj]

Techno, looks like this would be the brake pad you're after: https://goo.gl/nQ1NaN

Also heard nothing but good reviews of the Mopar HD radiator in hot environments. P/N 52080104AC, available several places online (rockauto had the best price I found).