Recent content by SoCal88XJ

Weekend... ugh. Space is so limited! My 68 Camaro has been jockying for priority in the garage for its engine swap for 2 years now, but my Honda VFR is already there on stands mid teardown amongst all my other toys. I know I know, cry me a river. If I can't do it in less than 48 hours, it doesnt...

Bad idle is often a result of a vacuum leak. Check all your vacuum lines, especially the ones the run through the firewall and under the dash. I see more XJ's with leaks there.

I considered that, would run me about $200 bucks. My concern is picking up some other problem like worn plates or bad solenoids. I figure if this is just a pump, I'd rather swap in a new pump for $100 and then have the peace of mind that everything else is reliable, maybe replace the friction...

Lack of pressure is what I suspect, leaky seals in the pump was what I was targeting in on. I guess I need to get a pressure tester and give that a run. I did run trans medic through it with no change. What I don't want to do is drop the trans, replace the pump, and be right back where I...

This problem has slowly grown worse over the last 6 months on my 88 XJ. When the truck has been sitting for over 3 hours, shifting into any gear seems to do nothing but sit and spin in the driveway. If you rev the engine up to 3000 rpms, within about 10-15 seconds the trans will lurch and then...

Mine only does it for 1st and reverse, once it catches it stays firm unless I restart the engine while its still cold, or let it sit overnight. This is what leads me to believe its hydro vacuum or pressure related, like an air leak in the fluid pickup. I'm in southern California where the night...

Thanks to that kind of girlfriend, I got my 88 XJ for $200. I went to go look at it thinking for that price I'd make a truggy, but it was in such great visual shape I thought it would be a waste to cut it up. When I asked what was wrong he went into a long list of charging system not working, no...

Problem seems to be getting a bit worse lately. When the truck is cold, it takes a good 15 to 20 seconds before Drive or Reverse will engage. If I rev up the engine it will catch in a few seconds and all is good. I checked the fluid level with the jeep running and also the fluid is a nice red...

Pulled the switch and the cold idle dropped down very low for a few seconds then recovered. Jumped the wires to the switch and nothing changed. If I disconnect the main wire to the pump and touch it to the battery 12v pos, the clutch engages as it should and begins running the AC. Is there...

My 88 XJ's AC stopped working the other day. I can hotwire the clutch at the condensor to the battery and the AC turns on. However, its not working from the dash and the fuse is not blown. Is there a relay somewhee that I can test for power to help isolate the issue? Thanks!

Maybe someone pointed this out on some page previous to this post, but I found my high idle problem finally n my 88 XJ. The fuel pressure regulator on the front of the fuel rail to the injectors had began leaking fuel accross the internal diaphram and into the vacuum system. You can pull the...

Ouch!!! Thats quite a bill! I got lucky and found my issue which had the same symptom. I discovered that if I tapped on the coil with the truck running it would die instantly, it was so sensative that tapping anything else in the truck would jiggle it back on so troubleshooting was very...

Check the snap in connection from the coil to the control module. It is exposed to the elements, can corrode and cause all kinds of intermittent problems like this. Two torx head screws remove the coil, clean the pins and make sure they are properly arced and not flattented out. Also check the...

FOLLOW UP: As it turned out the entire problem was from my coil/module. The connectors under the coil to the module are exposed to the elements and mine had become corroded with dirt. This was an easy problem to reproduce if the truck is intermittently running. While running, tap on the coil...

As a note, ever since I inspected that crank position sensor plug the problem has vanished. While mine looks as good as you might expect, it seems it still may have been the source of my issues. Thanks for everyones posts, this site really has a good community with a lot of eyes! Got to love the XJ!