Secondhand Tin Can.

[Keith1138]

I recently bought a stock 2000 Grey jeep cherokee sport 4 liter to use during college and wheel afterwards because my 1997 ZJ was just to bulky to me had been through alot. I have add a 2 inch curt receiver hitch to the back of my xj and I have a d-ring hitch and tow strap that stays in my xj just incase.

I'm gonna be going to college in banner elk nc. So I'm gonna be dealing with snow and steep mountain roads.

 

[Keith1138]

The first thing I want to do is add a 6 coil transmission fluid line cooler to my return line to help keep my transmission cool while climbing the mountains around my school. I had to replace my return line because the 8 inch rubber section in the aluminum line rubbed into a pulley. I'm wondering what's a good brand that comes with everything I need for the instalation perferably?

The second thing I want to do is add a bypass switch for my electric fan so I'm able to cut it on to help keep my engine cool. But I still want it to preform it's automatic tasks it does now except for the whole cutting off when im moving and not using my ac. I have some what of a clue on how to do this but not really. So if anyone has done this please give me some advice and instruction it will be greatly appreciated.

The third thing is I need to add a recovery point on the front of my xj because it didn't come with factory tow hooks but I've heard those weren't that good any ideas of what I could use or was i missed informed?

 

[Keith1138]

Well my thermostat went out and was causing it to over heat. So when I went to replace it i ended up cracking the thermostat housing so after a 30 minute fix turned into 2 hours because I had to to get a new housing and gasket. But now it is running running fine and cool

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[leakedd]

Where do you go to school at?

nevermind, should've read first post.

 

[Loganwayne]

Orileys has a good trans cooler pick whatever size you think you'll need and go with it

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[Keith1138]

This past Saturday i took her up old nc 105. She did great through some of the bigger ruts and wash outs. I even played on some on the smaller rocks in on of the pull offs. I did end up putting her in 4wd full time because I would take the most challenging route through the washouts because I wanted to challenge myself and practice wheel placement and due to the fact the gravel was very loose in some places. Also to get practice driving it in 4wd. I highly recomend this easy and beutiful ride.

 

[Cribb]

beware of heat sync. It's common with the 2000-2001's. I have a 2000 It's not a huge problem, but it happens after you cut it off. The engine bay temp will climb for about 15 min after you cut it off due to the precats (I think) on the headers in these models. I logged my under hood (not engine temp) running at ~140F on a hot summer day while riding at hwy speeds. As soon as I parked it, the temp climbed to almost 200F. This vaporizes ethanol gasoline in the fuel rail. So, you may have adequate cooling while operating with fresh fuel pumping through the rail, but cut it off to run in the store for a snack and come right back and crank it up, you'll notice rough idle for a while and will probably through a code. It'll go away after you purge the fuel. My codes were always cylinder 3 and/or 4 injectors.

This also happens when I wheel in hot temps. Engine temp is fine. Under hood temps are high. I guess the fuel is moving so slow, that it is exposed to the heat long enough to cause a problem.

The only two things that I've seen help is jack up the rear of the hood a bit to let the heat escape. I may add vents later and drop it back down. Also, 100% gas (no ethanol) works fine. Our jeeps were designed before they put this crap in the gas and in volatilizes sooner or at cooler temps than 100% gasoline. Therefore it wasn't a problem when designed, but it is now.

Adding the fan control that you're talking about is a good idea and having a timer on the fan for after you cut off the jeep for 2-3 minutes will help purge the under hood temps after parking.

If you already knew all this, sorry to waste your time, but just wanted to warn you and share what I've seen (right or wrong in theory). If you haven't seen it, it's all over the web and there's a bunch of solutions. Wrapping the fuel line and injectors with heat shield did not work for me, by the way.

Good luck and have fun!


PS: By the way, I haven't done the fan mod yet, but I'd like too. Here's one of many videos on it.

 

[Keith1138]

Thanks for the information. I really want to do the fan thing to help avoid the heat sync. The thing I'm un sure about is the wiring a switch. Because I don't have that much expirence with wiring and installing switches

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[olerusty92]

Wiring the fan to a switch is easy all you do is cut the power wire from the fan and wire it to the switch then run another power wire from the battery to the switch

 

[Keith1138]

Its been awhile since i've updated this. Due to the fairly dim headlights on my Cherokee and wanting extra light when i need it but not blinding on coming traffic all the time. i watched on amazon for a fairly nice light bar to go on sale and ended up buying a 20 inch nilight one and the wiring harness for less than 40 bucks and mounted it on my front bumper

 

[Keith1138]

My jeep started doing jeep things about a month and half ago. The throttle Position Sensor started to go out so it would die if i took my foot off of the gas and the valve cover gasket was starting to leak a little. So my cheap college student self ordered a tps sensor for 10 dollars and bought a good rubber valve cover gasket off line for about 20 dollars. Well the new TPS didn't even last till i got back to campus from nebo (an hour drive). So i ended up going and getting an OEM one for about 45 dollars and it works perfect and shifts allot better. A big thank you to Jason W. for guiding me through removing my throttle body and cleaning it along with replacing my valve cover gasket. I end up installing the good TPS in the parking lot about a week later. Now it runs amazing. I have been extremely impressed with the Firestone Destination A/T tires i got put on over the summer. They have been amazing on gravel, mud, dirt and little bit of snow i have driven through and are extremely quiet on the road. They are going to get put to the test when the heavy snow rolls in this winter. I'm hoping to have a CB and front tow hooks on my jeep by the first of the year

 

[Keith1138]

Got my CB installed today at first i was going to try to mount it above my rear view mirror but i ran into allot of issues so i just mounted it on the passenger side of my center console. I got the Uniden pro505XL and a four foot firestik firefly antenna. So the CB isn't taking up much room on the passenger side. I'm currently in the process of trying to get it tuned properly. i mounted the antenna on the back passenger side of my jeep so it is sticking about a foot and a half past the top of my jeep and ran the coax cord behind the plastic paneling of the passenger side

 

[Keith1138]

Finally got my front tow hooks installed. It was pretty simple hardest thing was shifting the brackets on my bumper over to allow them to slide over the tow hooks brackets. And yes me and a budy installed them in a parking lot at my college. Next step will be rock sliders and a gas tank skid

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[Keith1138]

 

[Keith1138]

Its been awhile since i posted or worked on my jeep. Its hard to find the money and time at college. After saving up since January by putting money aside i finally saved up enough and ordered a gas tank skid plate and solid diff covers. i figured with me planning on only going 33's or 32's i need stronger diff covers since they where going to be fairly low and this way i can start doing a little bit more challenging stuff with out as much worry of breaking major parts. I order a tomken gas tank skid through quadratec it should be here by the end of this month. I think the ladys in the mail room at campus are starting to dislike my packages because they are getting heavier... I hope to get these installed here in the next week i need to go get a H14 socket in order to do it.

 

[Keith1138]

Finally got my new diff covers installed the gas tank skid should be here this week. I would like to thank Jason again for the help and guidance with installing them. The 8.25 gave us a little fuss but nothing to bad. The dana 30 went right on. I had a blast riding with Adam and Chris at the Flats this past weekend with the Carolinia Trailblazers. I learned a good bit even though my cherokee stayed parked.

 

[Keith1138]

So my Tomken gas tank skid came in about a week after my diff covers did. The post office at school wasn't so happy about the 40lb package. The installation was really easy except my low profile hitch no longer fits on my jeep with the skid so i am looking for a normal square tube hitch. The skid sits just a little bit lower than everything else so it rubs going through some deeper washouts. I am hoping to be able to install a 3.5 Rubicon Express super ride lift kit by July along with new OEM steering kit for ZJ V8. Really don't know how much lift it is going to add because my suspension is sagging allot right now.

 

[Chris_Keziah]

Talk with Adam and I before you order any lift kit stuff. We may be able to make some stuff or just already have it.

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[Keith1138]

After going to shift from 4lo to 2wd it was my linkage time to go over the rainbow. So I ordered an azzy design linkage. Got it installed today with few problems besides trying to get in adjusted correctly. Going to do a final test tomorrow to make sure i got her correct. I also found a great a deal on a new hitch and got that thing installed today. I have slowly been gathering parts to finally lift my xj. I have collected a hack n tap sye, front drive shaft with new u-joints, shocks and soon a steering setup from my brother inlaw. Next week I am going to purchase the actual lift kit. Stand by for build pics and write ups in the next few weeks.

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[Keith1138]

So I got permission to use the matinence shop at work to install my lift. Everything up front when great until i went to undo my track bar snapped the bolt off on the axel. So drilled that out and replaced the nut and the bolt. After got the front all done besides my front sway bar. The rear is where it went all to shit broke off all four upper shock bolts. Went to undo the front bolts on the leaf spring they didn't budge so that's when one of the matinence guys looked at the situation and said let's soakem in pb blaster over the weekend. So right now my jeep has Carolina squat and is locked in the matinence shop for weekend until Monday rolls around for round 2.

The picture is the front installed with out the tire or sway bar

 

[Keith1138]

I would like to give a giant shout out to the mateince guys at work they were giant help today finishing up my jeep. Got everything installed lift kit wise except my sway bar links. I need to fix my steering wheel it's off by 90 degrees. I do get some vibrations between 30 and 35 mph from my rear drive shaft. I am hoping it will go away once the rear settles but if it doesn't I will install my sye earlier than planned. Next on the list is upgraded steering including steering box brace and larger tires.

 

[NickMaul]

Oh shit. It all goes downhill from here. Lift looks well done. If it were me just throw some rock sliders on, get some wheel adapters and JK rubicon take offs and one lunchbox locker and start wheeling.


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[Keith1138]

Dam how did you know my plan. I'm now in the process of looking for rock sliders. Then wheels around late fall. Locker and frame stiffeners next summer

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[WillnFox]

Looks Good Keith.
Dirt Bound Offroad has good sliders for a great price.

 

[iwaxmyjimmy]

I welded in some of those hooligan rocker replacement sliders. It stiffened up the guys XJ a good bit. His had some rust issues mainly from the previous owner. Might be something to look into.