I have had this Jeep for a week and took it on an 8 hour round trip for a guy's camping trip. It performed well, less a few issues.
137k, automatic, pretty much fully stock, and really clean. I think she was a pavement princess.
First, I named her Caroline after my Grandma. My Grandpa Earnest, Caroline's husband, was a WWII vet, 101st Airborne and fought and was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. I think vehicles should have female names, so she is named Caroline and not Earnest. But I thought it was cool to tie her to my family and WWII. I am the grandson of a vet and she is the grandson of the jeeps that help to win the war. Ok, I loved my grandparents and am a little nostalgic.
First, I get that sweet smell when the heater is on. Nothing wet yet on the passenger side. I am thinking heater core. I plan to pull a vacuum on the coolant system and see if it holds. If it does not hold, I will bypass the heater core and check again. The looks like a huge PITA, so maybe a winter project.
RMS is leaking - I knew this when I bought it. May just do it or may pay some to do it. Does not look like too bad of a job, but not sure yet If I need to remove the exhaust on mine to drop the oil pan or not.
After about 2.5 hours of driving, I got a P2098 code. I cleared it and ran with my scanner plugged in. It came back pending after a while but never triggered the CEL. About 2.5 hours on the way home I got the CEL again, same code. The prior owner had replaced the rear upstream o2 sensor. It looks like it is an NGK (the correct one) based on the wiring harness and design of the sensor on the outside. The other 02 sensors look older. Need to research this more and see how I want to attack it.
Shocks and stabilizer are original - plan to replace.
Drag link the tie rod look to be original. Plan to replace with the ZJ upgrade.
I think the Ball joints are "ok" but need to test them closer. Will also do them if they show enough play.
Will check track bar bushings too.
She drives really well - some or maybe all of this is overkill right now. I always think things can drive better, but that gets me into trouble like when I rebuilt 100% the steering and suspension of my 3rd gen cummins and it really did not drive much better. Caroline is already light years ahead of that rig.
Clean up and undercoat with fluid film or something similar
There is a quarter size rust spot on the driver side fender. Need to get that fixed.
I really think these old rigs are built to last. A big part of owning them for me is getting to work on them and make them better.
Sorry to ramble. This is mostly for me to document what I am thinking.
137k, automatic, pretty much fully stock, and really clean. I think she was a pavement princess.
First, I named her Caroline after my Grandma. My Grandpa Earnest, Caroline's husband, was a WWII vet, 101st Airborne and fought and was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. I think vehicles should have female names, so she is named Caroline and not Earnest. But I thought it was cool to tie her to my family and WWII. I am the grandson of a vet and she is the grandson of the jeeps that help to win the war. Ok, I loved my grandparents and am a little nostalgic.
First, I get that sweet smell when the heater is on. Nothing wet yet on the passenger side. I am thinking heater core. I plan to pull a vacuum on the coolant system and see if it holds. If it does not hold, I will bypass the heater core and check again. The looks like a huge PITA, so maybe a winter project.
RMS is leaking - I knew this when I bought it. May just do it or may pay some to do it. Does not look like too bad of a job, but not sure yet If I need to remove the exhaust on mine to drop the oil pan or not.
After about 2.5 hours of driving, I got a P2098 code. I cleared it and ran with my scanner plugged in. It came back pending after a while but never triggered the CEL. About 2.5 hours on the way home I got the CEL again, same code. The prior owner had replaced the rear upstream o2 sensor. It looks like it is an NGK (the correct one) based on the wiring harness and design of the sensor on the outside. The other 02 sensors look older. Need to research this more and see how I want to attack it.
Shocks and stabilizer are original - plan to replace.
Drag link the tie rod look to be original. Plan to replace with the ZJ upgrade.
I think the Ball joints are "ok" but need to test them closer. Will also do them if they show enough play.
Will check track bar bushings too.
She drives really well - some or maybe all of this is overkill right now. I always think things can drive better, but that gets me into trouble like when I rebuilt 100% the steering and suspension of my 3rd gen cummins and it really did not drive much better. Caroline is already light years ahead of that rig.
Clean up and undercoat with fluid film or something similar
There is a quarter size rust spot on the driver side fender. Need to get that fixed.
I really think these old rigs are built to last. A big part of owning them for me is getting to work on them and make them better.
Sorry to ramble. This is mostly for me to document what I am thinking.
