Jeep – Page 11 – The Jeep Guru

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016

XJ List Spring Fling 2016

XJ List Spring Fling 2016
Harlan, KY

This year’s spring fling was one of the more interesting ones for me in a while. I was happy to get away for the stress of work and just be in the woods with no access to my work computer or cell phone for a few days.
The prediction had been for rain so I think we all planned more for leisurely trail riding and hanging out at camp. Neal and Frosty built a huge shelter so we could hang near the fire in the rain.

It also provided nice shade during the sunny times. We also had a couple of EZ ups for shelter as well.

Evan and I arrived Thursday noon. Neal, Frosty and Derek were already there. We made it out onto the trails Thursday afternoon.

Evan is now wheeling the chop top long arm XJ that Josh built. As a training exercise, we headed to lower rock garden. We made our way there via, trail 45 up the mountain from the Harlan County Campground. Trail 45 is becoming quite a challenge itself.

We then took trail15 with is not too bad when dry and dusty. I managed to find the elusive 15 connector that we always seem to miss and dropped us down to trail 20 to get to lower rock garden.

We watched Evan begin to explore the capabilities of his new rig. About five minutes in he found the limit of the tie rod. Both front tires got a good bite while the rear was hung and just toed in making a big arch in the tie rod.

We removed the tie rod from Evan’s Jeep and used a winch and Frosty’s metal working skills to get it straight enough. We made some calls for spare parts to be delivered by the later arrivals and then headed to Killin’ Time.

I had never run this trail before. It is a short run just above the lower rock garden. The change in terrain in such a short distance is amazing and one of the things I like most about Harlan. While the rock garden was flat and dry, Killing time was steep and sloppy wet.

Neal hopped in an powered through the mud and up and over the rocks on his 38” swampers. My 33” Buckshots required finding some more gentle lines and eventually the winch cable to get up some of it. This was a very fun run for all of us. We attracted quite a crowd of spectators in the parts that can be seen from the parallel road. This viewing point is another thing that makes this a fun trail since once you exit you can come back and watch those behind you run.

We then headed back to camp and enjoyed our set up.

The next morning, we used a piece of water pipe donated by Adam to sleeve Evans bent tie rod.

We then made a decision to go explore some trails that we have missed in the many years we have been going to Harlan. According to the map, we saw there was a middle downhill trial leading out of middle fork that I had never run. I lead us onto that one with no promises on not getting lost.

I managed to lead the group to a nice lunch spot close to where I thought we were on the map. After our on trial lunch, we moved on to Your Turn. We dove in knowing that we could likely not make the exit. Your Turn is nice and wide so there are multiple lines. None of them are easy.

We worked Evan and Derek over the big ledge in the last third of the trail when we caught up with another group of Jeeps. They had gotten stopped by a tree across the trail even before the impossible exit. They chose to take a bypass to the right that involved a long narrow winch run.

We chose the left exit. All of use but Derek had to winch past a big rock with an under cut. When my winch stopped working at a critical moment, Red turned his rig around and set up to winch me and the rest up the last few feet. His new synthetic winch line got a lot of use this weekend.

Derek was able to go wide and powered over the rock. We waved him on to the last point where most of us had also winched. He carried more speed than any of us had and ended up on his side.

It took a bit of rigging but we were able to get him back on his wheels pretty quickly. His exo cage saved him from any new damage. But somewhere along the way he developed a brake line leak that slowly consumed his brake fluid.

We then looped back around to the entrance and continued exploring new trails. Next was trail 8. It does not have a name like some of the tougher ones. But it is coded orange (difficult) on the map.
I soon found out why as I headed up. The trail has some very long very steep climbs. They would be much tougher if it had been wetter. Eventually we all made it to the top.

Then we decided to try T_R_O_U_B_L_E. I have wanted to run this one for a while also. But were had never seemed to be able to find it. It was right at the top of 8 so no trouble finding it.

The gate keeper is a steep dusty climb with a undercut rock right at the top. The ruts were deep enough for me to drag my diff. I tried hopping out of the ruts at the last second to hop over the rock but it did not work. I had to call for assistance in pulling my winch cable to make it over the ledge. Frosty got behind the wheel of Evans rig and tried the right side line. He needed up getting scary sideways and we winched him to safety.

Kim then drove Frosty’s Toyota up. Just as the trail got really steep at the top she stalled and then found neutral. She took a scary roll backwards several feet before getting it stopped.

After seeing our struggles the rest of the group decided to bypass and meet us at the end of the trail. I explored an unmarked short cut that took us right were we wanted to go and we made our way back to middle fork and then down the mountain.

End Part 1.

November 15, 2015November 16, 2015

2015 XJ List Fall Crawl

Harlan, KY

Once again, the XJ list met for its semi annual outing in the Harlan, Ky. We had to change campsite this time due to Rock Buggy race scheduled at the new race track in our normal camping spot. We stayed in spot 4 instead of 3 at Harlan County Campground. This might have been a nice spot out of the wind but recent logging had made it a muddy mess with barely enough room for tents and tow rigs.

We made the best of it with big fires each night made with scrap left from the loggers. As usual, the stars were amazing under the dark night sky of the back country. While the view was not great, being in the cove blocked the worst of the wind.

On Thursday, we had a small group and took a run at Mason Jar. We made an interesting observation that this group had only manual transmissions. Normally we have about an even mix of autos and stick shifts. However, in this group, everyone got to exercise their left leg.

The Toyotas played on the big rocks at the entrance while the XJs took the scary and still challenging left line. Took us about an hour to get the first fifty feet into the trail. We soon picked up the pace and noticed the trail has changed dramatically over the last ten years. Places that were hard are near impossible but there are new passages that have their own challenges. We all took various lines just to see what they were like.

Neal had a break in his air system so he had to run most of the trail with open diffs since his ARBs require pressure to lock. I got hung on a rock and needed a short tug with my winch. However when I got the cable good and tight the winch failed. Would not go in or out. I was seriously stuck until Frosty turned around and gave me enough of a tug to release the clutch and free the winch.

We made it back to camp just after dark. We built a huge fire to ward off the cold and clean up some of the logs.

Friday we had a few more rigs. We headed up trail 15 and had lunch at the helicopter pad. We played on the White Tail climb until Brian broke his rear yoke and had to be rescued. He drove back to camp in front wheel drive via the paved road stopping at a junk yard to get parts along the way.

The rest of us headed to lower rock garden and made a few passes on the beginning. Frosty and Dean played on the waterfall near rail bed and Frosty ended up breaking an axle shaft.

We then hit Fish Fossil. I had to back out of this trail last year so I was excited to lead the group in this time. Still with no winch, I was determined to make it. Neal’s expert spotting helped me get over the little water fall in the middle. However the long climb at the end was rutted too deep for my 33″s. I had to try to straddle the ruts. My first three attempts had me sliding into the ruts and having to back down. We finally sent a winched jeep up to give me a tug.

I hit it again and this time held on almost to the top. Just a few feet from the top I slipped into the rut again. More throttle from my 4.7 storker motor was probably not the best choice but I was giving it a go. Then there was a snap and the left front wheel stopped turning. Thinking it was just a U joint, I tried again. Then the front wheel gained LOTS of camber.

I accepted the cable and as I was drug to the top the wheel was separating more and more from the Jeep. The lower ball joint was gone. Is was nearing dark so while the other made their way up the hill, Evan made a rally racer run taking me back to camp to get the trailer. We made the long drive around the mountain to come in form Evarts.
With lots of help and some ratchet straps I got it on the trailer and made the long run back around to camp.

I figured I was done for the weekend and even wondered how I would get it off the trailer when I got back to the shop. In the daylight I saw it was just a ball joint and not the axle C. Scott had his ball joint press and as a group we had all the tools I needed. I picked up some ball joints from the parts store in Harlan and an hour later I was back on my wheels ready to ride. Thanks to all who helped me wrench, hammer and press the new parts into the damaged axle end.

We headed up the trail 45 which has become quite a challenge in its self. It took awhile to get every one to middle fork. We then decided to take the easy way (20) to lower rock garden. Along the way one jeep took a bad line through a wash and ended up on its roof down an embankment.

We spent the rest of the day recovering the Jeep and getting it back to camp. This extraction was an amazing feat of team work and recovery skills. No one was injured and the XJ made it way back to camp on it wheels. It ran most of the way but having lost most of its vital fluids during its long time upside down it suffered some drivability issues. We got back to camp just after dark again.

We made our usual delicious steak and potato boats. After that there was wood chopping demonstrations and other “manly” games.

Once again the events of the weekend showed me the benefits of good friends and working as a team. These are the reasons I enjoy wheeling with this particular group.

September 29, 2015

Jeep XJ Stumbles and Stalls

Jeep XJ stumbles and stalls

For quite a while now Jenny’s 1992 Jeep Cherokee has had a stumble or hiccup while driving. We have tried changing a lot of parts to make it go away. New crank sensor, fuel pump etc.

On her last off road adventure the stalling got so bad as to be dangerous. At one point the Jeep would not go into reverse without stalling. It became very noticeable that whenever the engine shifted positions it would stall.

We checked all the wring connections that could move and they all seemed fine. We were close to ordering a new distributor.

We made one last investigation and found that moving the main harness that comes from the firewall to the engine would stall the engine. There are no connectors in this bundle so it was a bit of a surprise to find trouble in this loom.

I pulled off the cover and cut off the tape. I began pulling on individual wires to see which one caused the stumble. We soon narrowed it down to the green wire that was spliced to six others.

This turned out to be the power wires for the six injectors. The factory crimp was covered in heat shrink and looked in good condition. Even after removing the heat shrink, there was no visual indication of a problem. However tugging on the wire caused the engine to stumble or stall.

To repair, I cut out eh splice and stripped back the wires. I tinned them with solder. I added a short section of wire and soldered all seven wires to the new piece. I then covered it with tape to insulate.

The engine now runs smoother indicating that even when it was working some injectors were not always firing. So far the hiccups on the interstate are gone and there have been no stalls off road.

September 21, 2015

Renix no spark

A few weeks ago I went to start up Scuffy my 1988 XJ and it would not start. The starter spun but the motor would not start. A quick check showed no spark.

I suspected a broken wire but I did not see anything obvious. I began with the usual suspects and checked the connection for the CPS and the ground wire by the dip stick. These both seemed fine.

I then went to check the distributor wiring and found a wire pulled out of the plug. I am not sure this was before or after I unplugged the connector to check it.

I decided to then drag the Jeep into the shop for better diagnosis.

I put a scope on the CPS and it read the correct 500mv. However the wire looked in really bad shape so I ordered a new one. I also ordered a new distributor since the wires were falling out of the connector.

When they arrived, I installed them and expected the engine to fire right up. No such luck. I still had no spark. I hooked up a test light and confirmed the injectors were firing so the computer had to be getting its input signals. Just to be sure, I cleaned the C101 connector at the firewall anyway.

I then started to focus on the coil. I removed it from the ignition control module and tested it. It made a spark out of the system. I pulled the ICM and took it to autozone to be tested. The tech seemed to be unfamiliar with the test procedure but he eventually figured it out and declared the unit bad. He happily sold me a replacement.

I installed that and again no spark. I began to suspect a faulty ECM output. I checked the trigger wire which is yellow and could not detect any pulses. I used a test light to simulate the pulse at the ICM and sure enough the coil would fire.

I was really dreading puling the ECM from under the dash because my racing seats and roll cage make access difficult. However, I needed to test continuity of the yellow wire from the ECU to the ICM.

I began on the engine side since it was easier to access. I began pulling off the wiring harness cover and running my hand along the yellow wire. I soon found where it had been chewed in two.

I quickly spliced the wire and the other one near it that was also cut. The Jeep started right up.

I did leaner several things about the Renix system that I did not know before. It has several differences from the Mopar controller I am more familiar with.

The CPS (crank sensor) on the Renix system has two wires while the Mopar has three wires. The Renix CPS generates a voltage due to eh starter teeth passing the sensor on the flywheel. There is a missing tooth where the coil fires.

The Cam position sensor in the distributor has nothing to do with firing the coil. I have trouble wrapping my head aroun dhti sone but it seesm to be true according toe h Renix control manual. The cam sensor signal helps the ECU determine which of the missing teeth is for Cylinder 1. If the compute can’t get a reference signal it just makes up something. If it guesses wrong, the engine will still run just not as well as if it guesses right. So maybe my broken distributor wire explains why sometime my engine would feel off power and others times run fine.

The Renix coil is fired by a transistor pack under the coil. This pack gets a 12V pulse from the computer when it is time to fire the coil. Timing, dwell etc. are all controlled by the ECU.

The Renix injectors get a 12V pulse to fire and use a common ground wire for all six. The opposite is true for the Mopar that feeds all six with 12V and grounds the one that it wants to fire.

January 2, 2015January 30, 2017

Mississippi Hill Country Trail

I ran through Sam Correro’s Mississippi Hill Country trail. I was based in Pontotoc for my annual trip to pay land taxes so I took a couple of days to run the trails.

Due to the recent talk of gang activity in Batesville, I picked up the trail in Paris with is between Pontotoc and Batesville.

I used the maps for planning and then used the rally style tulips in the Jeep. I cut the strips and taped them down to my old Stevens road rally reader board. I used my Terratrip rally odometer for mileage. Having a resettable odo is very helpful for following the instructions.

It appears that he used GPS to get his mileages as I had a little trouble finding a factor to match his numbers. The errors I had are consistent for a rally measured with GPS. The GPS chooses a straight line between readings for mileage measurement while the Terratrip follows the curves in the road. For straight sections and square turns this matches fine. When the roads are curvy error creeps in. However, the error was always small and easy to dial out.

Instead of staying overnight at the end of the southbound run, I turned around and drove part of the course back north. The last part is kinda dull so if you plan to turn around I suggest doing so after hitting the pavement near the end of the southbound run.

I did skip one section of road that was marked as rough and dangerous. The road was really muddy and steep. Since I was alone with little recovery equipment I elected to take the bypass marked on the map. When I found the other end, I set up my odo to match and continued following the route.

On the northbound leg, I again stopped short of Batesville and headed due east to Pontotoc. I ended up finding the town of Taylor which was worth the trip just to see that.

Even having grown up in north Mississippi, I was surprised at how rural the state is. Sam’s route follows many forest and farm roads with very few houses along the way.

I wish I had made more photos of the various “No Trespassing” signs I saw. The was everything from the hand painted misspelled signs to the fancy laser cut stainless steel signs on the hunting lease lands. I got the feeling that the principal philosophy was:

This land is my land
This land is not your land

Pictures are below