Hardest Fix On Your XJ?

Hardest fix has been the never ending need to do list, and not being able to drive it. 1 tank of gas so far, 6 month project.

trouble shooting a renix that was running really rough and going through ungoddly amounts of fuel ($30 in two days of idling in the driveway trouble shooting) replaced every sensor all injectors, a cheap tune up, then a top dollar tune up, fuel pressure regulator, eliminated all but three vacuum lines, rebuilt the under hood wiring harness and replaced all crimps with solder, compression tested good, replaced motor anyways, that included new motor mounts, clutch and slave, also new exhaust and cat.

what fixed the problem? a $30 used ecu.

- Installing my BDS LA lift kit - I got the joy of taking off every stubborn factory bolt which had never been removed, all in one glorious weekend. It was Busted-Knuckle-fest-2012!!

- Cutting off the LCA pockets on the unibody was a SOB! Those things are like 3 layers of metal thick in some spots! My sawsall got so hot in the gearbox area I had to wear a thick leather glove to not burn my hand! I think it was 1 hour of solid cutting per side to get those cut off without putting a scratch on the unibody frame "tube". :smsoap:

Non-StopXJ said:

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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Hehe, yea I was not too happy doing this job either, or driving to every auto parts store in town and pouring over their O-ring assortment boxes to find the right size O-rings for the bolt - a couple places had the large inner base O-ring, no one had that bolt one.

For me, it was the evaporator core replacement... Namely because I cross-threaded the passenger-side lower dash support weld nut upon re-assembly. Went and bought a helicoil kit, realized I couldn't get the drill in there at a good angle without pulling freaking everything back apart... So I just carefully re-tapped the nut, installed the bolt (was VERY gentle when torquing it), and left it for the next owner to worry about.

The *first* PITA I encountered with my XJ taught me a huge, huge amount about working on these vehicles... Rear upper shock bolts. Sheared 3 of the 4 bolts, and thanks to advice here I managed to knock them out pretty quickly with an pneumatic chisel. Fished in new nuts with a telescoping magnet and called it a day.

That experience made me very, very cautious when removing the rear leaf spring bolts. A couple days of PB Blaster and torch love, followed by a high-powered impact wrench (very, very glad I didn't cheap out on that tool) made quick work of them. Prior to heat and PB Blaster, I used a floor jack and a 24" breaker bar to attempt to loosen them. I realized it was a misadventure when the breaker bar was deflected almost 30 degrees and not turning the bolt.

The most tedious job I've done thus far was due to idiocy - when redoing my entire steering, my dumb ass spun the steering wheel around and around like a child (yes, alcohol was involved), thus destroying the clockspring. Went to Pick 'n Pull and got a new clockspring, and despite it being pulled from a vehicle whose wheels were straight, I followed the FSM procedure for centering it... And broke it (their definition of "slight resistance" is VERY understated). Went back out to Pick 'n Pull and located another '97+ XJ that was not listed in their inventory, but had cruise control. I carefully checked its alignment, pulled it, and taped the f*cker to keep it centered. By that point I had become *quite* proficient at pulling the steering wheel and managed to install it in the parking lot in a hair over 8 minutes (yes, I timed myself).

Many more repairs remain, but I've loved my XJ for teaching me the less-than-elegant solutions to problems that will arise on all vehicles. As such, working on friends' cars is always a damn breeze thanks to these tricks.

1st CPS was difficult, but by the 3rd got the hang of it. Last Saturday spent more time driving to NAPA for a CPS than installing it.

R&Ring the Transfer Case from Rightseatsis' 2001XJ was problematic. There was one (there's always one) located on the passengerside that gave me fits, I even dropped the exhaust. Tried a socket, door hinge wrench, ratcheting wrench, and finally a little stubby wrench to get that sucker off.

Last year my 2000XJ gave me fits changing the RMS and after 3 attempts, finally stopped the drip. It's been 18 months without a problem, hopefully it can go many more months and miles.

Transfer case sucks to remove on an auto... on a manual the bolts are more accessible. Yet another reason to swap in an AX15

Rear leaf springs, ALL of the bolts were rusted to the sleeves and tore the rubber. Then I had to spend $75 at the dealership for 6 replacements and 2 nuts. THAT was by far the hardest thing I had to do...

So far with my latest jeep... Running audio cables for an amp has been the hardest thing I've had to do I don't think jeep left any room for any more wires behind the dash! I had to put a flashlight in the CD player hole.. Then crawl under the dash and look for light at the end of the tunnel, before I could see under the dash I had to remove the bottom plastic piece... I ended up tearing apart 1/2 my dash to get a set of RCA cables and the remote turn on ran, 3 hours later its all back together and I still have speaker wires to run, FML

Tedious but the most rewarding repair was soldering in a new female pigtail for gauge cluster right hand terminal.

Previously, I had cleaned the pins on the cluster first and plugged 'er back in, and within 20 minutes the Tach, air bag and speedo fell off and the 'no bus' made its cameo appearance. Check the connection with another cluster I knew worked and it did the same thing. Got deep into this forum, found the part number for the terminal pigtail and mustered the energy and patience to tackle it today.

Checked all the connections with a multimeter before wrapping them up and then plugged in the cluster as a quick check and everything worked without hesitation. Buttoned everything backtogether and road tested for two hours. Success!

The decision to only do the one came from an observation I made at the Pick and Pull while pulling other dash components. I came across a 2000 that had the repair done by the dealership on the right side only. I then reviewed what was failing against the wiring shematics and it generally pointed to the connection on the right side. So I choose to start with that one which was the harder of the two to get to.

Confidence now restored!

so far would be installing a long arm kit on a bent axle by my self with no air tools. i wanted to go back but i already cut off lower arm mounts.

kastein said:

get an angle grinder. They are way more awesome. I'm trying to think of analogies but most of them aren't PG enough for this family site.
I never go into a repair without my angle grinder and dremel within arms reach now. Dremel for shit that is real tough to get near, angle grinder for when I can just wildly chop at something till it isn't a problem anymore. There is nothing more awesome than replacing a front XJ shock by splitting the stem nut in half using a dremel on both sides, and an angle grinder to cut the bolts on the bottom in half. So much easier and faster than taking the old one out with wrenches...

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This is interesting. Is there a photo anywhere of how you'd use the dremel to "splitting the stem nut in half using a dremel on both sides" (I have no idea what that means, and tried to Google it), and how you'd use the grinder to cut the bolts off the bottom? Are you just cutting off the top bolt in the engine compartment? For the 2 bottom bolts, are you chopping off the top side bolt head, or are you chopping off the bottom side nut? Are you destroying the nut itself, or just cutting off the excess bolt thread so there is less turning to do? Is this what you're talking about? Cut off the excess bolt so there's less thread? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1QiW7D9_LU Are the bolts cut off lengthwise or down the middle? I am going to search for a video on how to cut bolts with a dremel and angle grinder. Like with everything, I am sure there is a right way to do it that may not be obvious to anyone who didn't grow up in a mechanic family.

Wow? Really?

bimmerjeeper said:

This is interesting. Is there a photo anywhere of how you'd use the dremel to "splitting the stem nut in half using a dremel on both sides" (I have no idea what that means, and tried to Google it), and how you'd use the grinder to cut the bolts off the bottom? Are you just cutting off the top bolt in the engine compartment? For the 2 bottom bolts, are you chopping off the top side bolt head, or are you chopping off the bottom side nut? Are you destroying the nut itself, or just cutting off the excess bolt thread so there is less turning to do? Is this what you're talking about? Cut off the excess bolt so there's less thread? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1QiW7D9_LU Are the bolts cut off lengthwise or down the middle? I am going to search for a video on how to cut bolts with a dremel and angle grinder. Like with everything, I am sure there is a right way to do it that may not be obvious to anyone who didn't grow up in a mechanic family.

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I looked but did not see one. You split the nut sideways on two sides, 180 degrees apart. This does the same thing on one side:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_34573_34573?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Hand%20Tools-_-Nut%20Splitters-_-150244&ci_sku=150244&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CJyq26Dy1LQCFQSf4AodclQApA

Cutting a bolt is done under the nut, parallel to the nut face, and 90 degrees to the bolt's length. So there is nothing left holding the part in place. Best way I know to describe it. Like in the dremel photo, but under the nut.

Plugging in the blower motor.

Ecomike said:

I looked but did not see one. You split the nut sideways on two sides, 180 degrees apart. This does the same thing on one side:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_34573_34573?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Hand%20Tools-_-Nut%20Splitters-_-150244&ci_sku=150244&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CJyq26Dy1LQCFQSf4AodclQApA

Cutting a bolt is done under the nut, parallel to the nut face, and 90 degrees to the bolt's length. So there is nothing left holding the part in place. Best way I know to describe it. Like in the dremel photo, but under the nut.

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I won't even hardly look at bimmerjeeper's post anymore, his questions are pointless if he would just troll and use the search feature!...

Honestly? It's a tie between replacing the CPS and the Alternator. Neither were difficult in theory, but the CPS is a huge PITA to get to, especially in the dark.

I'm still working on the Alternator. Once I was able to get the old one out (felt like one of those 3D puzzle games) the new one went in no problem. When tightening up the adustment pulley, I snapped the adjustment bolt! Now I need to go to a JY and pull the bolt and the nut it and the pulley seat into.

Getting my jeep back up and running has been an ongoing saga since Oct 31!!! Cat, muffler, plugs, wires, rotor, dist cap, air filter, TPS (which I swapped again bc it wasn't the problem, CPS, alternator, now the adustment bolt.

With the exception of the wires/rotor/cap, this is the first time I've done any of these repairs, and 85% of the time I'm stuck doing it in the dark, at night, in New England haha

play nice

So far, heater core... not a "hard" repair, just friggin tedious... the dilemma in deciding which heater core to go with (OEM, NAPA, Brass core, Copper core...), might as well change A/C evap since I'm there.. while I'm at it, new liquid line & accumulator.. oh, need a A/C line disconnect tool.. get the refrigerant evacuated..

Now, the fun begins.. didn't remove the steering wheel, & afterwards wished i did.. twisted & ratchet strapped the dash out of the way.. "AHH! CAN'T DISCONNECT THE STUPID LIQUID LINE".. stupid nut behind the engine block.. one stupid plastic screw/bolt stem, that mounts the HVAC box, just spun & stayed on the firewall till after I removed the HVAC box.. didn't want to pay ~$60 for foam seals (wish I did), so I had to salvage what I could on the outside of the box (the ones the seal on the firewall, need to be partially removed to split the HVAC box) & made my own for the Evap & HC..

Taking my time, taking reference pictures, bagging/labeling every screw, plus having another set of hands, re-assembly was a cinch. Everything worked & I HAVE HEAT!

Now, I gotta do it to a WJ... :tear:

Aren't those damned stud/bolt stem things a party? I have been without heat for an entire year now because every time I look at it, I decide I'd rather go slam my hands in a door a few times... I have all the parts, including spare bolt stem things, I just really don't want anything to do with replacing the stupid heater core.

One of these days I'll probably get some motivation together and do the heater core, rhinoline my floors, put the carpet back in, patch the small rust hole in the rocker, and install my new-to-me rear shocks all at the same time. Until then, it's a ghetto ride.

kastein said:

Aren't those damned stud/bolt stem things a party? I have been without heat for an entire year now because every time I look at it, I decide I'd rather go slam my hands in a door a few times... I have all the parts, including spare bolt stem things, I just really don't want anything to do with replacing the stupid heater core.

One of these days I'll probably get some motivation together and do the heater core, rhinoline my floors, put the carpet back in, patch the small rust hole in the rocker, and install my new-to-me rear shocks all at the same time. Until then, it's a ghetto ride.

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I'm always waiting on the nice weather to do my floors. Seriously, this spring I'll be doing them. So from now until then I need to learn a bit of welding.