The Jeep Guru – Page 79 – Jeep Performance Improvement Ideas

February 18, 2011February 18, 2011

Noisy water pump XJ

I have been hearing a rattle in my 91 Jeep Cherokee for a while now. I thought it was in the exhaust at first. But as it got louder, it was clear it was coming from the front of the engine.

I pulled off the idler pulley but the bearings in it were fine. I replaced it and reset the belt tension. The noise as defiantly coming from the front of the engine.

I got my mechanics stethoscope and began listening. The noise seemed to be the loudest at the water pump. I have never had a water pump bearing fail with out it leaking first. But that sure seemed to be the case this time.

I tried to ignore it for a day but the noise just got worse. I stopped by Autozone and verified that I had a warranty on this part that I had replaced in 2007 according to their record. I picked up a new pump and some antifreeze.

I was still skeptical but when I removed the belt and turned the pump by hand I could feel the bad bearing. I removed the pump using the procedure I have practiced way to many times.

I put the old pump in the vise and the noise was very clear when the pump was rotated.

I installed the new water pump and refilled the radiator. I found leaving the heater hose off the water pump allowed the air to bleed quickly.

Once I started it up it ran nice an quiet. The only casualty was that I broke by fan shroud while moving it around to get to one of the bolts. I will have to fix that before summer.

I took the old water pump back to Autozone this morning and got my money back. It was a very simple exchange. They had all the info in their computer.

If you want to get a 4% rebate on purchases from Autozone, use this link to buy online and pick up at the store. http://tinyurl.com/6fpp7se

February 17, 2011February 21, 2011

1979 Jeep Wagoneer

I am working on a Jeep Wagoneer. It was delivered to the shop Saturday. It arrived minus the front drive shaft which looks like it broke and damaged the transmission pan on the way out.

The Jeep has the Borg Warner Quadratrac transmission so it won’t move unless both axles have traction. There is an emergency override that is supposed to lock the center differential but switching the switch in the glove box has had no effect on the transfer case. I suspect vacuum lines are loose or broken.

I got the missing parts and reassembled the drive shaft last night. I was hoping to be able to drive it into the shop. Well after a lot of effort to get the drive shaft in place with the truck on the ground in front of my shop, I found that the truck still won’t move. It looks like the damage to the transmission pan has caused it to loose all the fluid.

I guess I will have to drag it in to the shop and remove the pan to repair the leak. The engine runs rough when it revs. Maybe bad gas or maybe a clogged filter.

UPDATE: I put the Jeep on the lift last night to look at the transmission leak. There was no fluid it he transmission so even with the front drive shaft installed and the engine running, the Jeep would not move. I used my XJ to tow it in front of the barn door and then let it roll into the stall.

It took me a while to find all the cross member bolts and get ti out of the way to see the damage. It looked like on corner of the pan was simply bent down. However when I dropped the pan, I noticed that part of the sealing flange of the transmission is missing. The drive shaft did quite a bit of damage on its way out. I was able to straighten the pan, but I am still considering options on how to make it seal.

UPDATE: The Wagoneer was running well and the transmission repair was holding so I took it back home. The owners seemed happy to be able to drive it for the first time since they bought it.

February 10, 2011February 10, 2011

Dealing With a Defiant Child

I have been learning about dealing with a defiant child from Caleb. He is a smart boy who is very insistent about having things done his way. It does not matter if his way is inconvenient or even impossible; he insists that things be done in his certain way.

For example, he cannot drink his tea if the glass is too full or not full enough. He will simply go thirsty and complain if his glass is not filled to exactly the arbitrary mark he has set. Making the situation even more difficult for those around him is that he rarely communicates this need before the drink is poured. His explanation at that “you should have known.”

He has absolutely no respect for any authority. His own desires are more important than any rules that are placed on him. He has no trouble making friends because he is outgoing and outspoken, but he has trouble keeping these friends because he is absolutely insistent on having every thing done his way. He is a terror to teachers and church workers who have him in class because he refuses to follow any rules other than his own.

He has been kicked out of schools and other social groups because of his unsociable behavior. Even his own father will have nothing to do with him due to his defiance and overall disruptive behavior.

He has been to a variety of doctors and social therapists and given several acronyms as to what is wrong with him. However none has yet developed a plan of how to deal with him.

Only one teacher has been able to deal with him and even she has days when she can’t handle him. She is a Sunday school teacher at a Unity Church. She accepts him just the way he is and practices non judgment. He responds well to her loving acceptance. However even she cannot get him to comply with the rules that the other children easily follow.

I have noticed what seems to be a flow in the process used by most people who try to deal with Caleb. They try to change him. He is very determined in his way that he will not be changed and soon there is an impasse. Those who try to accept him as he is and try to find ways to work with him seem to have more success in getting him to conform. However, he will always find ways to exert himself and continue to demonstrate his ability to control a situation.

If he finds himself in a situation where he has lost control and he is forced to submit to some authority that has temporarily overpowered him, he will shut down and hide. He often carries a blanket with him even on the hottest day so that he can cover his head and face if he encounters a loosing situation. If he can’t use his blanket, he will remove his shirt and cover his face. He will become violent if forced to interact when he is trying to hide from the situation.

He can express love and affection at times. For example, he recently shared his lunch money with a girl in his class who did not have enough. He loves to share snacks with the neighborhood children. But he will not share his toys. He will however leave them scattered around when he is done playing with them.

He picks who he is affectionate to. He is not influenced by the opinions of others. He sees no duty to show love and affection to even his mother. He is not motivated by a desire to please others.

He shows some signs of autism in that he does not recognize social cues. However it may be that he recognizes them yet fails to take social cues into consideration when choosing his actions.

When dealing with a defiant child like Caleb one is faced with two choices: engage in a battle of wills to see who is stronger or accept him for how he is and adjust to compensate.

Deep down all of us have the same desires as Caleb. We want things to go our way. We want to choose our own actions regardless of how others feel. We want to hide from authority when we are not allowed to do what we want to do. However most of us have decided that the benefits of getting along in society out weight our desire to express ourselves freely. By looking at how we are like a defiant child rather than how we are different helps in learning how to deal with one.

When we try to accept him for who he is and try to adjust our own behavior to compensate, we will have more success. However it is very difficult for most people to be able to set aside their own ego long enough to see that letting him have his way briefly will go along way toward achieving mutual goals. Setting clear rules with tangible consequences in advance seem to work very well with Caleb. However, consistent follow through is required as Caleb will test to see if the rules are consistent.

Overall, he responds well to people who accept him and are willing to work within his self imposed rule system. However he will tell you that he does not like rules. He means that he does not like other people imposing rules on him. By looking for ways to work together and avoiding unnecessary confrontations, the defiant child can be guided toward mutual goals.

February 8, 2011February 9, 2011

Replacing a Clutch in a Datsun 620 pickup

Scott’s little Datsun pickup has had a long and happy life. The speedometer quit working a long time ago so all we know is that it has well over 300,000 miles. Recently the clutch started slipping so he brought it home for a clutch change. There was also a noise when he depressed the clutch so we thought it might have a bad input bearing on the transmission as well. We were prepared to reinstall the old four speed that was pulled years ago to make room for a five speed.

We began by securing a clutch kit. The kit came with a new disk, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bushing and an alignment tool. We were somewhat surprised that the local parts store had the kit in stock for this old truck.

We put the truck on the lift and removed the drive shaft. The drive shaft is in two parts so I separated it in the muddle and left the rear part attached to the rear differential and just removed the front section.

Next, we supported the transmission on a stand and removed the cross member and mounting pad.. Then we had access to pull the speedometer cable. There were two sensors on the side of the transmission so we disconnected the wires and labeled them. Then we disconnected the shift lever from the transmission. We should have done this from the top before lifting the truck, as you will see later. We also removed the clutch slave cylinder.

Next we pulled the starter. Again this would have been easier before lifting the truck. Scott used a ladder while I assisted from below. We measured the position of the torsion bars and then loosened them to get the ends of the bolts out of the way. They block moving the transmission backwards.

Next we removed the bolts that secured the transmission flywheel cover. Ten we used long extensions and a flex joint to remove the four bolts that hold the transmission to the engine. With these out, we were able to slide the transmission back from the engine. We were not however able to remove the transmission from the truck. There is simply not enough room to get the transmission over the center part of the frame and past the flywheel with the pressure plate in place.

At this point we checked the input shaft to see if we were really going to have to change the transmission. It seemed fine; in fact it felt tighter than our spare, so we elected to leave it. Since we could not get the transmission out of the truck it seems a good choice. We still could not remember how we had swapped the transmissions years ago.

We then removed the pressure plate and inspected the flywheel and disk. The disk showed very little wear and the flywheel still had the machine marks from the last time it was resurfaced. We were not sure why it was slipping or where the noise was coming from.

After careful inspection we saw where the pressure plate was contacting the clutch disk when released. That was likely the source of the noise he occasionally heard. Also, the throw out bearing felt a little rough. We elected to change all the parts in the clutch kit since we had them just to be safe.

Pulling the pilot bushing became the next challenge. One tool I have never added to my collection is a pilot bearing puller. Scott went to town to get one from the Advance Auto loan a tool program.

While he was gone, I looked at how to get the transmission out. It was in the way of extracting the pilot bushing. I finally realized that it was hitting the floor of the cab and that there was a panel around the shifter that could be removed to get more clearance. I lowered the truck and removed the center console and the plate around the shifter. It would have been much easier to remove the shifter from this side. With the panel removed, the transmission could be tipped up and there was just enough room to remove it from the truck.

With the transmission out of the way we focused on pulling the old pilot bushing. We set the tool in place and followed the instructions carefully several times. Each time the tool would pull out and the bushing stayed in place. We finally compared the puller to the new bushing and quickly saw that there was no way it could catch the end of the bearing. The fingers looked bent or simply miss shaped. I put the fingers in the vice and reshaped them to fit. I also ground off a little of the face to get a better grip on the bushing.

The next time we tried it, the bushing pulled out easily. We tapped the new bushing into the crank and moved on to he next step.

We set the clutch disk in place makes sure to turn it the correct way round. There is a story that floats around all our family reunions on how my Uncle and Cousin installed a clutch disk backwards so we made sure that we did it right.

With the disk sitting on the alignment tool, we set the pressure plate in place and carefully brought down the bolts evenly and torqued them to specs. Next we pressed the old throw out bearing off the sleeve and pressed on the new bearing. We installed it on the fork and snapped the fork in place in the transmission.

Then we lifted the transmission into place. At least we tried to. There was simply no room to get the transmission past the center part of the frame with the pressure plate installed. We looked at every option and finally decided to remove the pressure plate and se the transmission up before installing it.

There is plenty of room to work inside the bell housing of the transmission. But the pressure plate needs to be slipped over ht input shaft before the disk is set on the alignment tool to have enough room to get it in. We retorqued the pressure plate bolts and then prepared to slip the transmission in place. We used the supplied lube on the input shaft before installing it.

The transmission easily slid into the clutch disk and we reinstalled the mounting bolts. Every thing went back together easily with the exception of the slave cylinder. I had to loosen the bleeder screw to get the piston to retract. Once I did it fit easily.

As we were putting up the drive shaft, we noticed that one of the U joints was rough. I pulled it out and replaced the joint while Scott finished up the center console replacement.

We reset the torsion bars to the measurement that we made before and put the transmission mount and cross member back in place. Reconnecting the speedometer cable was simply a matter of aligning the key and slipping it in.

With it all back together, the slippage and the noise was completely gone. In the process of removing and reinstalling the transmission we also swapped the old fluid for synthetic. Scott says the shifting is greatly improved in the old transmission.

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February 7, 2011February 22, 2011

Jeep Parts, Supplies and Tools – Recommended sources

One of my favorite suppliers of Jeep parts is Crown Automotive. They carry most of the parts you would normally go to the Jeep dealer to get. The parts seem to be excellent in quality and I can get then quickly form the Georgia Warehouse. You can only get Crown parts from a Crown Distributor like me. Most of the stuff that Quadratec sells, I can get from Crown. Hit the contact button to the left and let me know what you need.

For parts that I need right away or are so cheap that shipping eats up any savings, I buy from my local Advance Auto Parts store. I use the web site to get exactly what I am looking for. I can buy online and pick up the parts at the store to take advantage of internet only specials.

I also shop Ebay for Jeep parts both new and used. Recently I got the exhaust system I was looking for at a substantial discount over the catalog cost. I even ended up purchasing from the same vendor just from their Ebay store instead of their website.

One of the old time standbys for parts and tools is JC Whitney. I have been buying from them for many years. They used to have paper catalogs where you could find all kinds of parts and tools not available anywhere else. Now with the internet, you can find the stuff other places, but JCW.com continues to be a great resource.

For Jeep tires, I buy from Tire Rack. I have tried buying from other suppliers but I always need up back at Tire rack. Their price, shipping and speed of delivery make them my number one choice. They have low cost street tires and high dollar performance and off road tires. For any type tire, I now shop Tire Rack first and last.

For other hand and specialty tools, I have been surprised at what I can find at Amazon. I generally think of them as a book seller, but they also carry a lot of specialty tools at good prices. I have included Amazon links to many of the tools I reference in my articles so you can see what I am talking about.

For performance parts, wheels and exhaust, I like to use Summit Racing. They have lots of stuff that no one else has plus they have great prices. They have fast shipping and a great return policy.

For Diablo 2011 Wheel Styles
Rage | Reflextion X | Chrome Rims w/ paintable inserts
URL: http://www.customwheelzntires.com