Finally Fixed

I finally got the Jeep back...After almost three weeks of repair work on the transmission, exhaust, manifold, clutch, and shocks, my beast is back in working order. It drives awesome now...With a new catalytic converter and welded pipes, the sound is very throaty and there is no more rattle in the pipes...There is also no leakage of fumes into the cabin...Although the Jeep is open all the time, the fumes from the exhaust were creeping up in the cabin and it stunk like exhaust all the time while driving, now its nothing but fresh air!

All the idling problems are gone now as well...The exhaust/manifold gasket exchange and elimination of the O2 sensor on the catalytic converter has put the idle right back where it needed to be...Now I can hear music and have a conversation with someone without having to yell.

The shifter is nice and smooth and everything works like a champ...The shock bushings have eliminated the clanking sounds when I go over a bump; however, the leaf springs are a little squeaky...nothing a little WD40 can't fix!

Now that my yearly budget has been exhausted on this unfortunate circumstance, I must come up with creative ways to continue my progression, so now I am going to rip out all the carpet and start on the floorboards...There is a lot of filth under those carpets along with a carpet pad that is most likely affecting the drain plugs ability to flush out water intrusion...After the carpet is out, a lite sanding and maybe a primer coat before moving on to a spray on poly based liner....

LIKE A GLOVE

Reference the last post, for those of you who are curious to the more specific location of the temperature gauge sensor....You can see the valve cover (has the stripes running down the top on the left side of the picture....The hose you see attached to the plastic valve is the PCV hose and valve (which is just behind the oil filler cap)...You can see the sensor and the red wire running to it just at the base of the valve cover....The other striped metal piece under the PCV hose at the bottom right, is the back of the fuel rail....Check that fitting first if your temp gauge stops working....SAVE YOU LOTS OF MONEY $$$

Easter Gaskets! Finale

So here is the finale...

Multiple Beers, frustrations, and a search for valve cover bolts that was equal to an episode of "24" culminated in a successful replacement of a valve cover gasket...

If you notice the nice new shiny bolts that are on the valve cover gasket, those are the new ones!

Speaking for a moment on the issue of locating valve cover bolt replacements: Don't bother doing a search online for these...No one thought to offer this part...If you call the dealership, they will tell you that it will take a week and they will be in on Tuesday...I went to the dealership to order them and the guy in the parts department gave me the same bolt for free...I went to put them on the valve cover and needed washers because the bolt was not capped....SOOOOOOOOOO!!! I called in a chopper and flew over to Advanced Auto parts to get some bolts...In the search for an appropriate washer, guess what I found?! The actual same friggin bolt as the original one, except it was a stronger version...

Note to those with the same or similar Jeep as mine...If the valve cover bolts have slashes on the top, that means its the USA version of measurement not the metric system...The bolts for my valve cover are 1/4-20 and are capped...Meaning the washer is basically already part of the head piece...You can buy four of these for about $2.50 at the auto parts store...Bring an orginal bolt for comparison and measurement and you should be fine...

When you call around for a simple part like that and ask the person who is supposed to know what the hell you are talking about, they act like it is some major component and cannot be found without ordering....The truth is, it is just a USA standard 1/4-20 one inch grade 5 bolt that you can pick up at the local auto parts shop!

Easter Gaskets! (cont. again)

The instructions in the manual say to clean off the mating surface of the valve cover before applying the new gasket...I started with a paint scraper and screw driver, but after not getting anywhere quickly, I switched to the polishing tool on my almighty DREMEL...

It worked amazingly! The dremel along with some grease lighting and foam engine degreaser worked wonders to assist in cleaning out the interior of the valve cover...Here are some more photos of the progress as the cleaning progressed:

Project One...Mufflers

Okay...So before you send me a bunch of comments about how I did stuff wrong, just realize that I have no idea what I am doing and am only making general guesses about how to do stuff...

This picture is the muffler after I took it off of the Jeep...I assume it is the original muffler from 1991, with a little wear and tear...I consulted some friends and even had the Jeep dropped at a local shop to get a laundry list and quote of how much it would cost to fix things like what you see here...The grand total was somewhere around $1100...I will get into more detail as we go...I really want to see what my savings turn out to be when I learn to do all these things myself...

Instead of going to a muffler shop, I went to an auto-parts store and got me a Haynes repair manual and some parts...I came home with some exhaust clamps, a new muffler and some exhaust extension pieces because the new muffler is 2 inches shorter than the old muffler...

I get up under the Jeep and with bucket loads of elbow grease, I work off the almost 20 year old clamps of the old muffler...One bolt actually snapped right off instead of coming off the threads!

I started thinking to myself that other than the hard work to break loose the old clamps, this job my be easy...I was slightly mistaken in that opinion....

After getting the old clamps off, I realized the pipes were welded together...So I began to try ancient methods (the old hammer trick)....Thought I would just bang it loose...That's what she said!!! :) Just kidding!

Anyway, Joking aside, I ended up trying a powerful Dremel to cut through the old pipes...LOTS OF SPARKS!!! What ended up working really well was a hand held reciprocating saw...It cut right through the pipes and never sparked...

So I then slid under the Jeep, which is nice about a 4-inch lift, you can just crawl under with plenty of room to work..

Once under the Jeep, It took me about 10 minutes to install the new muffler...I didn't have a welding torch, so i used 4 clamps to attach the exhaust extensions and muffler...The only thing I have left to do, is get a clamp hanger to raise the catalytic converter, which is resting on the skid plate...

I turned on the ignition and although it still sounds throaty for a 4 banger...it was much more smooth as you can imagine...