Lumpskie's 1989 Grand Wagoneer Build

Mitch502

Explorer
I drove the Wagoneer to the top of Mt. Evans yesterday (14,164ft at the parking lot) and it did great. I'm really surprised how well the carb handled the altitude! I'm feeling pretty lucky that I ended up with such a reliable old rig.



Have you tested your RTT yet? That thing looks so cool.

Not yet

I've been up in it alot the past week setting things up, moat of which are in the thread. Hoping to test it later this month or next at the latest.
 

lumpskie

Independent Thinker
I topped off the oil, AFT, and coolant. I lubed the window tracks and pulled off the roof rack. I'll get the Waggy washed today and it should be ready for Ouray. Only 4 days till we're on the road!
 

trust

Adventurer
sweet waggy!! I sure wish I still had my 83 Cherokee these days and/or one of the J 10s I had.... Are you happy with your Alcans by now? I have a set on my Scrambler and just love them, Ive never ridden in a solid axle 4x4 that rides as well as it does.
 

cowboytwang

New member
This is a great thread, and a '89 Grand Wagoneer just came up for sale in my neighborhood. I may need to sell something and go get it. It looks a bit rough but they said it runs good and everything works. If not I do have a rebuilt 360 and a newly built 727 in the backyard.
 

lumpskie

Independent Thinker
sweet waggy!! I sure wish I still had my 83 Cherokee these days and/or one of the J 10s I had.... Are you happy with your Alcans by now? I have a set on my Scrambler and just love them, Ive never ridden in a solid axle 4x4 that rides as well as it does.
I love my Alcans too! They ride well, flex great and handle loads awesome. I'm convinced that they will be good for 20 years of use.


This is a great thread, and a '89 Grand Wagoneer just came up for sale in my neighborhood. I may need to sell something and go get it. It looks a bit rough but they said it runs good and everything works. If not I do have a rebuilt 360 and a newly built 727 in the backyard.
Thanks! I really like the '89 model year because lots of the problems/weak points of the earlier generations have been fixed. Throwing a rebuilt AMC360 and TF727 into one gives you a pretty reliable and really fun rig. I love watching it brighten people's day. Even the foreign tourists in Ouray got a kick out of it, taking pictures as we ambled down the road!
 

lumpskie

Independent Thinker
So, the Waggy is doing something weird with oil pressure. When the oil is cold, the pressure is normal. But, once the oil gets warm, the pressure is reading about 10psi low. Any ideas on what could be causing it? (I already changed the oil and filter but that didn't seem to help)
 

Mitch502

Explorer
It's normal for oil pressure to drop when the engine gets warm. I'm sure you know that though. Is it still within a safe range?

Only easy thing to do is check the sending unit to see if its going bad or has a dirty connection.

If it looks like a safe operating range, I'd just watch it closely. Oil pump, sending unit, thinner oil, hotter operating temp, or bad connection is about all I can think of. Unless the gear inside the dash for the guage is stripping out....some newer cars like GMs have steppper motor issues, the gear strips out.

Report back for sure!
 

lumpskie

Independent Thinker
It's normal for oil pressure to drop when the engine gets warm. I'm sure you know that though. Is it still within a safe range?

Only easy thing to do is check the sending unit to see if its going bad or has a dirty connection.

If it looks like a safe operating range, I'd just watch it closely. Oil pump, sending unit, thinner oil, hotter operating temp, or bad connection is about all I can think of. Unless the gear inside the dash for the guage is stripping out....some newer cars like GMs have steppper motor issues, the gear strips out.

Report back for sure!

Thanks for the info, Mitch. I'm going to check the sending unit connections this weekend. The only thing that had me concerned was the fact that my cold oil pressure shows up as normal. Only my hot pressure is 10psi lower than normal. Because of that, my worry is that it's not gauge related but oil pump related. I put almost 15,000 miles on it this last year so, that might be the case.
 

Zeiderman

Adventurer
If you go with a new sending go with Echlin from Napa, it's easy and cheap, cheap enough to do since your there anyways. If I'm not mistaken I think warm pressure is fairly low to begin with maybe 13-15, verify this though. Mine runs low as well. Have you gotten the FSM from oljeep.com yet? You should, I will see if it's in there.
 

mtbxj87

Adventurer
What oil do you run? You need to verify the sending unit isn't false by checking it with a good mechanical pressure gauge.
 

Zeiderman

Adventurer
OK, so according to the 1989 FSM the 360 should run 13 @600, and 37-75 @1600, lots of varying post on low oil pressure for the 360. But, please don't soley take my word for it. Just doing a search of the FSM led me to 9-179.
 

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