X-country trip in '90 XJ: crazy?

I'm considering driving the '90 XJ w/139K miles from SoCal to Boston-- yeah, some 3,000 miles.
Yep, still has the original cooling setup that works with routine babysitting.
New harmonic balancer, fuel injectors, brakes, tires-- leaks a little trans fluid-- shocks are crap-- you know the deal.
Can anybody suggest a list of issues to be checked out before I head out? I trust the XJ-- just don't want to ask it to do the impossible.
Thanks for any advice.

grease every zerk, change the belt if it's old, do a tuneup and change the tranny/tcase/diff fluids

Id fork out the 220 and put in a 3 CORE GDI Radiator first.. and youll be great if you do that along with what was mentioned above

Never fear. I have a 90 2 door with 210K and would not hesitate to do this. Regular maintence is the key, as long as it has been maintained, hoses and belt are good, go for it.

Rev

If anything a new water pump would be more in order then a new radiator But flushing the cooling system might be a good idea

Kejtar said:

If anything a new water pump would be more in order then a new radiator But flushing the cooling system might be a good idea

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Agreed. Before a long trip is not the time to do any major work.

Rev

Speed_racer said:

Id fork out the 220 and put in a 3 CORE GDI Radiator first.. and youll be great if you do that along with what was mentioned above

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Where is a GDI 220!? I can't find one for more than half that price. I wouldn't spend the money on a high core radiator since all your miles are going to be at highway speed and airflow won't be a problem.

Make sure your water pump is in good shape as well as your rad hoses. You may want to plunk down the money on some new shocks. I had to drive the same distance in a lifted YJ with rancho 5000s and it was a terrible few days.

i'm still torn over which rig is going to Maob with me... i agrre with the "no major work" approach. you know the rig best.. do all the small stuff and make sure you still have a low balance on the credit card before you leave... good luck on your trip.
mike

radiator

Think I will throw down for the radiator considering I'll be crusin up some long hills. And yeah I'm too old to be sitting on the old shocks.
Water pump and hoses are pretty new. Serp belt brand new.
Any more thoughts I'd appreciate it--

clean out your TB, check for crap and cracks in your distributor cap, run through and check EVERy vacuum line and grease your electrical connections.

Just do a complete lube job and tune-up. I'm going to be delivering an '88 with 165,000 miles from CT to Montana shortly, and then when I get home I'll be doing the trip again in my '88 with 236,000 miles to get me to Moab.

Re: radiator

DeathByXJ said:

Any more thoughts I'd appreciate it--

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Yeah, don't forget to stop and smell the roses along the way!











Last summer I took a road trip from Burbank, CA to Albuquerque, NM. It ended up lasting 4 months and I saw a lot of neat stuff along the way.

Good Advice

Handlebars said:

Yeah, don't forget to stop and smell the roses along the way!

Last summer I took a road trip from Burbank, CA to Albuquerque, NM. It ended up lasting 4 months and I saw a lot of neat stuff along the way.

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Check out Handlebar's album for some incredible pics!

Need new shocks? Man, that sounds like a great excuse to add a couple of inches.

Re: Re: radiator

Handlebars said:

Yeah, don't forget to stop and smell the roses along the way!
Last summer I took a road trip from Burbank, CA to Albuquerque, NM. It ended up lasting 4 months and I saw a lot of neat stuff along the way.

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Sure throw that in our face again!

j/k I'm just jealous as hell. It's a great suggestion though.

Tour around, stay off the Interstates and see America.:us:

I drove my 87 with unknown miles (over 146k) from florida to vegas, farmington, grandcanyon, etc, and back. Beat the track bar up on I10 through Louisianna(concrete(sp) slab roads) and started to leak around the waterpump as we got back to florida. 33" mt's 3.55 4.0 aw4. with a 33 spare on the roof. Made it from Ocala Florida to San Antonio Texas in 24.5 hours straight driving( sort of straight, had a 2 year old and 6 mos pregnant wife, we made a few stops).
Double check fan clutch and take spare belt. I have an extra starter under the back seat and a selection of sensors in the glove box that i snagged at the local picknpull.

About 3 years ago I moved to a new town. i htought I was going to pull a trailer until I found out the company would move me. I had been doing all the scheduled service.

I replace the cooling system to include radiator, radiator hoses, heater hoses and heater control valve, thermostat, and radiator cap. My plastic pressure bottle was still good but i replaced it 2 year later. I also filled the system using distilled water and coolant. Craig H has a good write up on cooling system maintenance.

I also installed a new fan belt, and a fan clutch for the mechanical fan. You might be smart to carry your old one or buy 2 new fan belts. If it broke in route you may be 100 miles from a parts store.

So change engine oil and lube the chassis. Only you know if you have been doing the axle and transmission lube chages on schedule. If you don't know how long then change them before the trip. Learn from my experience and use NON-syntheric Dextron in your transmission. I lost 3 mpg when I put in mobil 1 ATF in the transmission.

On the suspension I changed the shocks. I recommend you spend the extra money and buy the Monroe Reflex shocks. You will think you have a new vehicle once you install them.

Check all your fluids to include washer fluid, brake fluid. Also have your brakes checked if you are unsure of their condition.

Might be worth it to pay a mechanic you trust to give it a once over. If he has the test set he can check all the engine sensors to make sure it running right. Even 1 mph loss would cost you major $ for a coast to coast trip. He might catch a suspension problem.

Finally, before I left it was time for a tune up. You may want to install new spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor. I paid $32 for a set of Mopar wires at my dealer this year. Hear the performance parts are less expensive at the dealer than the standard parts. Either way do a tune up.

1997 young and "naive" (stupid) packed up my 88 (all original with 165,000 miles) and drove, fully loaded, Southern US up California coast to Seattle roughly 3500 miles without a hitch. * months ago went from Fort Collins, CO to Atlanta, GA for Christmas with 187,000 mile a ticky lifter, a 4.5' lift, 32's and poor compression I had to stop in Kansas because it puked up 2 quarts of oil on me. Mechanic friend and new Jasper motor await. With those carrots dangling I limped it there and it has been a rebuild project ever sense. I wouldn't hesitate to drive these little boat motors across the country!

All the above is good advice...you know what you can afford.

Martin has a good point on the MPGs...the difference between 20mpg and 15 is 50 gallons on a 3000 mi roadtrip...

alex, i think you should be the 'official' photography!!