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 $$$

A Wonderful Surprise

In the course of messing around with an 18 year old vehicle you more often than not run into other issues that are usually bad ones, this case is an exception to that rule...

When I first purchased the Jeep, I noticed that the temperature gauge was not working on the dash cluster...When I brought the Jeep to Goodyear, they assumed it was that the cooling system was clogged and needed to be flushed...After realizing the cooling system was fine, they then told me that it was a wiring issue and would cost all kinds of money to find the problem...

I can;t imagine how much $$$$ I would have paid to figure out this little issue...The picture you see to the right is a yellowish colored fitting that sticks out just to the right of the valve cover at the rear...I didn't much pay attention to it during the course of my project, but then I noticed a little rubber cap connected to the wiring that was hanging out like a lost child looking for his home...I fitted the rubber cap over the exposed fitting and it fit like a glove....I started to wonder.....WHAT COULD THAT BE FOR????!!!!

I referred to the $30 Haynes Repair Manual and looked over all kinds of photos and things that I thought it could be and then I thought----It is obviously partly electrical, but connected to the main engine block....What the HELL?!!! Then I rememberd the Temp. gauge on the dash didn't work....Holy Crap! Did I just fix that....I looked it up in the manual and sure enough, that is what it was!...

I couldn't wait to crank it up and find out if it worked, but I was still searching for those damn botls...After finding them, putting the valve cover back on, I cranked that beast up...I waited in exhausting anticipation for the gauge to move....Here was the result:

IT WORKED!!!!!!!

The engine ran all the way up to operating temperature...This phot was taken before it reached normal temp...The bottom line; however, was that it worked!!! YEAH ME!!!!

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:

Easter Gaskets!

After finishing the last few projects of this new endeavor I have undertaken, I decided to try something a little more advanced...

I had noticed that the idle had gone back to normal; however, after the engine heated up, it would again go high to about 2000 RPMs...Frustrated, I took the Jeep to a local mechanic near where I work and asked his opinion...A few hose checks and tricks later, he found that there was a vacuum leak somewhere in the throttle body or intake/exhaust manifold.

He found this out by placing his hand over the throttle body and realizing that the engine did not cut out; then he visually inspected the gasket around the intake/exhaust manifold, which was visibly worn and corroding a away...A $300 estimate later, I decided I may try this one on my own...

In order to prepare for this litte adventure, I decided to try something similar but less difficult...I will change a gasket, but an easy one...Lets try the valve cover gasket; that should be easy...I was in for a few surprises to say the least...

Beware the "Idles" of March

So far I have changed the Muffler and now I feel good about myself...Unfortunately, there is more learning to do...I noticed while driving that the engine Idles very high when in neutral...I begin to trouble shoot in my repair guide and using common sense start to check the simple things like the air filter....come to find out, the old air filter was black with oil...I thought it was weird that oil would get into the air box the way it did and through some more research learned that the PCV Valve is probably clogged with gunk... What I learned is that these little pieces on top of the valve cover, pushes blow by air into the intake box...When they get all grimy and clogged, it apparently shoots some of the gunk along with the air, causing some oil on the filter...This thing was nasty...I had purchased a new PCV valve from the auto parts store...but it was the wrong one...So I used some degreaser and soaked it for a while, then used a handgun bore brush and cleaned it out...The end result was this:

A little tip I learned is to remove the hosing from the valve before twisting it on the valve cover casing...I broke the 18 year old plastic hosing, which was full of oil and needed to be replaced anyway...

I noticed when I was playing with the PCV valve that the inside of the valve cover was disgustingly filled with gunk and grime...as sign along with the clogged valve that the oil hasn't been changed in quite some time...That will be done on my next day off...before I put all this stuff back on....

I also swapped out the old air filter for a brand new one...I then removed the intake house that connects to the throttle body to see how the throttle body looked and if it needed to be cleaned...The throttle body was surprisingly clean...certainly not what I expected to see after seeing how gunky everything else was...
Here are some photos of what I am talking about....

To make a short story long...After all this and placing in a new air filter, cleaning out the PCV valve, changing the PCV hose and cleaning out the air box and the intake hose...I hook everything back up and turn the Jeep on and guess what! IT IDLES PERFECT NOW!!!!

I still want to get the engine cleaned up some more...Next on the project is an oil change with some synthetic oil, differential and transfer case fluid changes along with fuel injector cleaning or replacement depending on the level of dirtyness and difficulty...

Just a quick note...If it sounds at all like I know what I am talking about...good for me for fooling you...I have no idea what I am doing...I have been reading forums and repair manuals on this stuff and it is my first attempt at any of this...WITH THAT SAID, IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT...PLEASE OFFER ADVICE....Thanks and take care....

Stay tuned for another episode of Logan's project Jeep!!!