Brand New To Me 1990 XJ (build and Question thread)

wikun

wikun

Observer
Troubleshot

Well today I was looking for tires. I called like a million shops looking for used tires, when I happened upon a hole in the wall Jeep off road shop. I talked to the owner and he said that he had a pair of 235/75/r15s for me and that I should bring the jeep down so that he could look at my project. When I got down there we talked a little about the ticking noise and we started it up, lo and behold he said that the ticking is a rod bearing or two. It sounds like a ticking when in the cabin. But under the hood it is a knock. I am learning sounds. :wings: So we talked about fixing it and he said you can do it by yourself. And even though he has the parts, he told me to buy from a parts store because they are cheaper. I really like this shop. If anyone wants to know the name, PM for it. So tomorrow I will be doing all rod bearings and possibly the oil pump (need to price everything.) I will be documenting this job, because I got my camera guy coming over, so yall can expect a write up on it. Also my exhaust manifold came in, so it looks like I will be selling it. If anyone is in san diego, and needs a manifold for 87-90 I6, hit me up. It comes with the gasket. I will let it go for what I payed, plus shipping if applicable. $130.00 So, till next time. :smiley_drive:
 
T

timgr

Observer
wikun said:
Well today I was looking for tires. I called like a million shops looking for used tires, when I happened upon a hole in the wall Jeep off road shop. I talked to the owner and he said that he had a pair of 235/75/r15s for me and that I should bring the jeep down so that he could look at my project. When I got down there we talked a little about the ticking noise and we started it up, lo and behold he said that the ticking is a rod bearing or two. It sounds like a ticking when in the cabin. But under the hood it is a knock. I am learning sounds. :wings: So we talked about fixing it and he said you can do it by yourself. And even though he has the parts, he told me to buy from a parts store because they are cheaper. I really like this shop. If anyone wants to know the name, PM for it. So tomorrow I will be doing all rod bearings and possibly the oil pump (need to price everything.) I will be documenting this job, because I got my camera guy coming over, so yall can expect a write up on it. Also my exhaust manifold came in, so it looks like I will be selling it. If anyone is in san diego, and needs a manifold for 87-90 I6, hit me up. It comes with the gasket. I will let it go for what I payed, plus shipping if applicable. $130.00 So, till next time. :smiley_drive:
Click to expand...

Sounds like you found a good place for advice!

What are you planning to do about your rod bearings? A 4.0L will have a cast iron crank (as opposed to a more expensive forged steel crank). The cast iron is roughly the same hardness as the bearing material, and generally when you hear a rod bearing, the crank surface has already been damaged. Just keep this in mind if you are planning on just replacing the rod bearings. If you see visible damage on the crank journals, replacing the bearings won't be successful. :coffee:

Regardless, you'll want to Plastigage as you assemble. Good luck! :smiley_drive:
 
wikun

wikun

Observer
Well, here we go

Well, this weekend I pulled the oil pan and started to assess the damage. As soon as the fella that owned the shop said that it was a rod knock, I went "Doh!!! :smilies27 " When you are in the Limited it sounds much more muffled and sounds incredible close to what an exhaust lea would. A ticking. Anyway, I figured that I would buy stock sized bearings and while I was in there change the rear main. Got the pan down, and did an inspection. Pan was beautiful. Very surprised. Screen also looked good. I wiggled all the rod ends and #1, 4 and 5 were bad. I bought a whole set and some plastigage. Got them off and started to replace, the crank is in dire need of machining. The journals feel lie the Himilayas. All ridged up. So I checked the clearance and said screw it, at least I can drive it, but I will still have the knock. Anyway, I replaced the main seal, got the pan back up fired, craned it, then plugged the coil back up and it fired right up. Sounded better. But now I am losing a crap ton of oil. Obviously replaced it wrong or the wrong part. Autozone has a dual lip and a regular one. I bought the dual lip. The haynes manual, I feel is really ambiguous with where the liquid soap, motor oil and rtv go. Next I went up with the pan, and wouldn't you now it, snapped a bolt. Only one though.....Epic Fail:mad:

So.........This weekend I am going to base to the hobby shop to pull the engine. I am going to put it on a stand and flip it to do the work. I am buying the crank kit from oreilly's and some new seals. I may need a new rod or two because of stretching but we will see.

It needs to be said that if you do not have more than 2 1/2" of lift, or a car lift, I would 100% pull the motor to do the rear main, the bearings or anything inside. Getting the pan to clear the front axle = hard
Doing the bearings = easy
Rear main = easy if you can decipher the haynes manual
Getting the pan back on without smearing RTV EVERYWHERE = dang near impossible.
Can it be done? Sure. Would I do it again without a lift, nopers!!!

Anyway, so this weeend I am going to do a full bottom rebuild, under the supervision of some experienced shop workers. :snorkel:

Onto some pics :
me.jpg
Greasy doing the pan going back on.

under1.jpg

under2.jpg

spar_plug.jpg

O , I have a question though. I want to now, if you can swap in an HO engine into a Renix jeep. Now here is the tricky aspect. Can you use the HO long bloc with the Renix harness. Yes I now, why would you ever do that, but it is easy and cost effective. Guy selling his HO engine for $200, running 100,000 miles. Just wanted to pose the question. Take it, talk it out and run with it.

Have a good week guys. :smiley_drive:
 
T

timgr

Observer
Wikun, I am not an expert on the Renix vs. HO stuff, but I would think it depends on what the meaning of "swap" is.

I'm sure you could do it if you change out enough stuff. The main change is in the design of the cylinder head for the HO. I'm sure your Renix-style manifolds will not bolt on to a HO head. So you need the HO manifolds, and I would expect you'd have to keep the HO injectors and throttle body. Then you'd have to make the Renix sensors and ECU work with the HO parts ... sounds like you'd be better off to do a full-on HO conversion, ECU and all.

You should be able to use the HO engine as a short block if you wanted to go that way. But all you would get is an undamaged crank from that ... none of the performance advantages of the HO would carry over if you transplanted just the block/crank/rods/pistons etc.
 
Black Dog

Black Dog

Makin' Beer.
If you were going to do an engine swap this would be a great opportunity to get a stroker short block. If you shop around they really don't cost too much more than a regular displacement short block. Or you could get the short block and stroke it yourself and safe some cash. No matter what, the HO will outdo the renix for sure.
 
wikun

wikun

Observer
That is what I was figuring. This has always been my budget build. However the one caveat to that is that fixes can be no shadier than stock. So I was just wondering if it was possible basically sensor wise. It makes sense. In 91, they completely switched to the chrysler computer system. Fair enough. 2 weekends from now the engine is coming out and I am swapping in a new crank, bearings, front and rear seal, and obviously pan gasket. If I could spend a grand it would all be gravy. I am dead set on sticking to the Cheap Jeep mindset. :sombrero: In the mean time, I bought 3 yards of headliner material, and some permatex headliner adhesive. If anyone in the San Diego area is in need of Headliner material, I found a great place!!!! PM me if you need the business name. I got most of the trim off, minus the rear seatbelt mounts. I need to get some torqx bits. I also got the hood off (injuring myself in the process), sanded and primed (first coat).
 
That One Guy

That One Guy

Adventurer
Haha, I'm sorry, I had to say it. You said get a short one, stroke it yourself and save some cash. If that's not a that's what he said, I don't know what is.

On another note Wikun, I think you should post the names of the businesses you had a good experience with in your thread. Always good to support local businesses in any way you can.
 
wikun

wikun

Observer
Roger...I didn't really know if it was acceptable. UFO is the business that I bought the headliner from. They are here in National City, Ca. They have like 20 different headliner colors and they are 60" wide and 12 bucks per yard. The best I have found on both the internet and locally. Internet is usually 14 to 18 a yard and you have to look for something over 54" for the xj. Not bad if you ask me. :wings:
 
wikun

wikun

Observer
Thanks for all of the inputs. I was really trying to gauge the cost effectivness of it, since a running HO motor can be had for roughly the same as what I am going to spend to rebuild the bottom end. Anyway, I was reading back through the post and realized that I left out one of the businesses that I found locally. I was shopping around for a new crank and was wondering if they did any machining. To the point these three guys that work at this shop are awesome. If you can drive your jeep to them, they will look at it, give you an opinion, tell you what to fix, and then tell you to buy the part somewhere else if he knows that the part that he has in stock is more expensive than what you are looking for. HARDROCK 4x4 here locally in San Diego. Just an overall great shop. They are also a Jeep and Landcruiser junkyard/dismantiller. So hard to find items, call him first.
 
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