1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 390... (Hiltman's)

[Jedrattle]

The flu is kicking my tail!!!  

   I got the tank out for the fuel pump mod. John do you have any links to this mod? The pump, according to FSM, is not serviceable. It looks like it pops apart but I can't get it. I am afraid I am going to break it. If I feel good enough tomorrow I will work on the Tcase. 

[hilton8r]

The flu is kicking my tail!!!  

   I got the tank out for the fuel pump mod. John do you have any links to this mod? The pump, according to FSM, is not serviceable. It looks like it pops apart but I can't get it. I am afraid I am going to break it. If I feel good enough tomorrow I will work on the Tcase. 

Any information on this fuel pump swap would be for a 95 or later ZJ. But, I was told to take some pictures when it was apart, and I could email to Walbro or Denso/Kyosan for more info...

If I understand correctly, you haven't been able to get the pump out of the assembly to snap a picture. I'll see what I can dig up.

John

[Jedrattle]

Yeah, I can't get the pump assembly apart...yet.

[Jedrattle]

 I got underneath of it today and removed the stock trans mount crossmember and skid plate. Then I assembled the new trans crossmember and front lower link mounts (it bolts together).  I welded that to the unibody just as the rain started!!   That's ok my welding helmet broke anyways. I will make some real progress as soon as the weather clears.   

[hilton8r]

I got underneath of it today and removed the stock trans mount crossmember and skid plate. Then I assembled the new trans crossmember and front lower link mounts (it bolts together).  I welded that to the unibody just as the rain started!!   That's ok my welding helmet broke anyways. I will make some real progress as soon as the weather clears.   

Don't worry Jed, I've got you covered!



Thanks for the update. I wasn't expecting the rain either. My yard is already flooded due to a broken sprinkler. Fortunately, I've got plenty of indoor projects!

I haven't gotten any further feedback regarding the possibility of using a '96- '98 fuel assembly in my '94. Anything new with the fuel assembly dismemberment or 231D? Anyhoo, I know I suck at taking pictures, but take a few along the way if it's not too much trouble!

John

[Jedrattle]

 My buddy who works at a junkyard said the `96 up fuel pump assembly is around 100. So I might check that out next week as a possible solution. I haven't touched the Tcase. I have been racking my brain on where to start with it. I have an idea on assembly order, so hopefully it will work. I will have the sub frame kit installed today. When I find my camera I will post pics.

[hilton8r]

I spoke with a guy who didn't have to modify his t-case shift linkage when he swapped in a 231 in his '97 ZJ. I'll put the Novak cable shifter on the backburner for now. Just let me know if the linkage looks like it will be a lot of trouble when you get there.

See if your junkyard buddy happens to have a shifter handle and shift gate out of a 231 equipped XJ. As for the fuel pump assembly, it will need to have a return line fitting on it.

I'll give you a call tomorrow. I have a couple of unrelated questions I want to run past you. I hope you are feeling better. I've still got a persistent cough!

John

[Jedrattle]

Here are some pics of it...


Front suspension.



Rear suspension..



Out with the old Tcase...



In with the new Tcase....



Installed....


I am having trouble with the drive shaft because the case sits soo far back from the crossmember. I may have notch the crossmember to get driveshaft clearence. Hopefully we will have drivelines next week.

[hilton8r]

Thanks for the update this morning Jed! Let me know what you come up with for the front drive shaft.

I wonder if Clayton actually realizes this 231 t-case has Teraflex gears. I did tell them the last two times I spoke with them. I'm fairly certain that one of their project ZJ's had a 231 t-case with Teraflex gears, and I think it was a '93. I don't recall what transmission it had though, so that may be the difference in length.

I can't wait!

John

[Bill Cooke]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it on the trails again. It's only been about 8 years I think..... It now a race to seee who can get his jeep done first, me or John. My YJ is about ready..... You have about 3 weeks I'd say....

The tcase should not make much difference in the front driveshaft. The cases are all about the same with the NP 2** units. The tcase yoke on Patty's is really long and with the CV joint it must go out about 10" before it starts to drop. Not sure what the old 249 yoke looked like on that one. It has a completely different driveshaft style so not many comparisons between the two. I forget if that thing had a CV shaft or just a pain single joint shaft in it. I know it has the actual yoke/ujoint style shaft, not that funky bell style on Patty's ZJ. That helps a lot!

Also, the front axle does not have a crush sleeve in it, if you have to change the front yoke. That should help a lot! When I setup the gears I used the Yukon D30 conversion so it's just shims in there. In case I get hit by a bus or something at least someone else knows that now too.

Keep up the good work!

Bill

[hilton8r]

It's on like Donkey Kong! Jed's wife is planning to plant some pretty flowers in my Jeep if it doesn't disappear soon!

It is a CV style, but the overall length of the CV portion is not very long. We laid it next to a CV drive shaft out of a Toyota, and the Toyota was longer. Jed will give me a call after he talks to the driveshaft dudes...

I forgot about the crush sleeve/shims! Don't get hit by a bus any time soon. I may very well forget about that again!

John

[Bill Cooke]

Don't get hit by a bus any time soon.

I'll do my best.....

[hilton8r]

My Jeep is coming home at the end of the month.

I'll ask Jed to update this thread before then. I haven't logged into MySpace for years. I calculated the percentage of my vehicles that did not run, and entered the following text for my profile header:

85.714285714285714285714286% of my vehicles do NOT run! Of course, I also added "Go Bears"! I'd like to recalculate this percentage at the end of the year. I expect to see a huge improvement!

John 

[hilton8r]

Jeep may come home Sunday if a couple nagging issues can be resolved. Fingers crossed! I don't have much time to test before my Moab trip.

John

[hilton8r]

I just got off the phone with Jed. He called me, and fired up the Jeep. It sounds AWESOME!!!

The fuel guage does not appear to be registering, so he's going to figure that out before installing the tank skid plate and rear bumper. I asked him to drill a pilot hole in the floor to simplify the process when I add a fuel pump assembly access panel.

John

[hilton8r]

The fuel guage did begin to register again. Jed indicated that the motor seems to run rich at idle. Hopefully the ECU will be able to make corrective adjustments in a short period of time under normal driving conditions. I'm going to wire up the air/fuel ratio guage so I can monitor it. I may consider purchasing a high performance 360 ECU from Jegs...

A new yolk had to be purchased to connect the t-case output shaft splines with the front drive shaft.

New bleeder screws had to be purchased to bleed the brakes.

The tank skid plate and rear bumper have been installed. The rear bumper bolts need to be loosened in order to use a come-along to pull the bumper over to the side a little bit for better alignment.

The cross member will be notched today to allow clearance for the front driveshaft. The t-case skid plate will be installed today. A custom bracket has to be welded into the frame rail supports. If all goes well, Jed will haul the Jeep back to me tomorrow morning.


I would like to install a cb and complete the wiring for the winch and front/rear bumper lights. Pictures will be posted soon,

John 

[hilton8r]

A few last minute snags arose Sunday.

The rear brakes wouldn't bleed properly with the Phoenix Systems reverse brake bleeder tool. Jed will come back to this last.

The t-case would not shift, so it was pulled and reinstalled. The t-case shifted until the 4WD indicator clip was connected. The 249 sensor is different than the 231 sensor. The short term solution will be to remove the sensor, and plug the hole with a short bolt/washer to keep the fluid from dumping out. The wiring harness clip will be left disconnected, and tucked up out of the way. I don't care if the 4x4 light doesn't illuminate, and other folks have done the same thing without any other issues. Eventually, I'd like to get a 231 shift gate from an XJ that came equipped with a 231 to correctly identify all of the detents. Maybe I'll get around to sourcing the correct 231 Jeep sensor to replace the 231 Dodge sensor (well, bolt and washer actually). Jed will tweak the t-case shifter linkage today. As it was, it only shifted through 3 of the 5 detents.

The t-case, drive shafts, skid plates, etc... are all installed. It's getting close! Jed has already mentioned that the ECU appears to already be making performance corrections. I don't remember if I mention previously, but the exhaust currently dumps underneath the truck right after the muffler/cat. That will need to be dealt with as soon as possible. I wonder if the loud exhaust will be more annoying than my neighbors Yorkie at 4am. More later,

John

[enafzige]

Alright!  Gettin close!!!  Can't wait to see trail pics!

--Eric

[hilton8r]

Alright!  Gettin close!!!  Can't wait to see trail pics!

--Eric

Pics are coming very soon! I promise!

[Bill Cooke]

Here is an update of this project. It came home, sort of. We had Jed drag it to my house so I could help John get the last minute "stuff" sorted out before his trip to Moab.


As soon as It fired I can tell the motor wasn't running quite right. Turns out the pesky #2 injector was not firing again (bad pigtail on the wiring harness). Wiggled that and it was muy beuno! Got the run down on all the Shaun did and what still needed attention.

We got the brakes bleed. Had to bleed the ABS motor. That's not a fun job! Brakes are passable but still need a bit more bleeding I think. The are just a tad soft. Got the air/fuel gauge wiring, parking brake hardware fixed and a few other odds and ends. Then we test drove it....

It did pretty bad. I will not take more than about 1/4 throttle. It goes really lean after that. Same as before with the 24# injectors in it. 30# injectors are what the numbers called for and the 255LPH fuel pump is more than enough to feed them so I went looking for a vacuum leak. Found one. The main vacuum plug was disconnected. That would do it. That feeds the pressure regulator so it makes sense. Did not improve how it drive though. May have been worse actually. To this pint we have just done my usually test lap around the block. It's about 3 miles and all right turns. We did a couple of laps last night and then brought it back when it started to get dark. I found the vacuum leak this morning and started doing more laps. I was trying to teach the computer the new settings and parts. I did this on the wife's ZJ last year when I put the 5.9L in there and it took about a solid week of this to get it running perfect.

After about 10 laps like this I decided to venture out a bit. Time for a left turn. Light turned green, I got about half way thru and it stalled. Fired back up and chugged a bit then took off as before. Did another left and it stalled again. Did another left and this time I just coasted thru. It shuttered and coughed but stayed running. It went all the way lean as it chugged. Must be a problem with the fuel pump not picking or or delivering fuel when it turns left. So... we may have found our lean problem. I'll drop the tank as soon as I can and report back what I find. I'll also post more pics.

That's all for now. Stay tuned!

Bill Cooke