So long story here, but I basically want to thank everyone for their help. This website was my go-to place over the past 6+ months. I've learned a lot and (mostly) enjoyed my time working on jeeper.
99 XJ automatic, 188k miles, had it for 13 years now (got it when I was 17 with ~71k miles).
I've never been a car person, treated it like shit all through college. Let the coolant rust over so bad it clogged the radiator and blew a hose a few years ago. Had it towed and paid out the ass for a junkyard radiator and installation but they didn't even flush the coolant, so it happened again like 6 months later :flamemad:
Then 1 year ago it dies on me while driving down the road. ****ing A. Despite how I treated it, I love my Jeep so I decided I was going to fix it up myself, or be stuck buying a new car. Knowing nothing beyond basic oil changes, I went to Googling and found this website.
That particular problem just ended up being ignition coil boot corroded and broke off at the distributor cap. So, thankfully an easy fix. I replaced distributor cap, spark plugs, oxygen sensor, and upgraded to 4-hole fuel injectors.
Then I decided I would try to track down some of the other noises and problems I've ignored over the years. That was when I started realizing, holy shit my Jeep needs EVERYTHING fixed....
Over the next few weeks I replaced:
motor mounts, transmission mount, distributor, valve cover gasket, front fuel line, and starter motor
Then 6 months ago, I decided to replace my harmonic balancer, cracked exhaust manifold, and upgrade my battery cables that were completely corroded out. Well, turns out replacing the harmonic balancer would require removing timing cover as there was a new HB PN that required the existing oil slinger be removed. So shit... this job just got way more complicated.
Over the past 6 months, I ended up replacing all at once...
exhaust header, timing chain, timing cover, harmonic balancer, all mains cabling (DIY), ignition coil, upgraded to 156A alt, water pump, thermostat+housing, radiator, cooling hoses, fan clutch, aux fan, fuel injector connectors, and then cleaning the shit out of just about every ground, connector and dirty spot I could find.
My jeep was completely disassembled and I had taken over the entire garage. My whole family was wondering what the **** I was doing, and my GF thought I was in over my head...
Well the other day, I finally got it put back together enough to give it a test start. AND ****IN RIGHT that shit started on the first try! :worship:
I just had to post my victory story here, and also say thanks to everyone for helping me along the way. The whole process was google, post, google, post, try, fail, google, try again, next part...
Already got my next projects planned out... I've got the addiction ::cheers:
99 XJ automatic, 188k miles, had it for 13 years now (got it when I was 17 with ~71k miles).
I've never been a car person, treated it like shit all through college. Let the coolant rust over so bad it clogged the radiator and blew a hose a few years ago. Had it towed and paid out the ass for a junkyard radiator and installation but they didn't even flush the coolant, so it happened again like 6 months later :flamemad:
Then 1 year ago it dies on me while driving down the road. ****ing A. Despite how I treated it, I love my Jeep so I decided I was going to fix it up myself, or be stuck buying a new car. Knowing nothing beyond basic oil changes, I went to Googling and found this website.
That particular problem just ended up being ignition coil boot corroded and broke off at the distributor cap. So, thankfully an easy fix. I replaced distributor cap, spark plugs, oxygen sensor, and upgraded to 4-hole fuel injectors.
Then I decided I would try to track down some of the other noises and problems I've ignored over the years. That was when I started realizing, holy shit my Jeep needs EVERYTHING fixed....
Over the next few weeks I replaced:
motor mounts, transmission mount, distributor, valve cover gasket, front fuel line, and starter motor
Then 6 months ago, I decided to replace my harmonic balancer, cracked exhaust manifold, and upgrade my battery cables that were completely corroded out. Well, turns out replacing the harmonic balancer would require removing timing cover as there was a new HB PN that required the existing oil slinger be removed. So shit... this job just got way more complicated.
Over the past 6 months, I ended up replacing all at once...
exhaust header, timing chain, timing cover, harmonic balancer, all mains cabling (DIY), ignition coil, upgraded to 156A alt, water pump, thermostat+housing, radiator, cooling hoses, fan clutch, aux fan, fuel injector connectors, and then cleaning the shit out of just about every ground, connector and dirty spot I could find.
My jeep was completely disassembled and I had taken over the entire garage. My whole family was wondering what the **** I was doing, and my GF thought I was in over my head...
Well the other day, I finally got it put back together enough to give it a test start. AND ****IN RIGHT that shit started on the first try! :worship:
I just had to post my victory story here, and also say thanks to everyone for helping me along the way. The whole process was google, post, google, post, try, fail, google, try again, next part...
Already got my next projects planned out... I've got the addiction ::cheers:
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