The Jeep Guru – Page 92 – Jeep Performance Improvement Ideas

July 13, 2010September 8, 2010

Tybee Island Lighthouse Museum

For my parents 50th anniversary, we made a family trip to Savanna, Georgia and Tybee Island. While there, we toured the Tybee Island Lighthouse Museum.

The drive along Hwy 80 provides and interesting view of the narrow channels and grassy marshes that make up the area. At times, the road was very busy and always windy. We enjoyed looking at the boats of all sizes and the long wooden walkways to the private docks on the canals.

The Tybee Lighthouse has 178 steps that we climbed to take in the view from the top. This is still a functional lighthouse, although the electric light bulb means that constant maintenance is no longer needed. The light house keeper’s homes are now on display.

The entrance is through the gift shop where you may be greeted by one of the two Tybee Island Light House cats. There is a white one named Michael and a yellow one named Miss Kitty. Michael just lay there and yawned at us. Miss Kitty wanted to be petted. The signs there warn that the cats do not always want to be petted however and that visitors should use caution when approaching the cats.

The 178 lighthouse steps are steep and the circular nature makes it hard to pass people who are climbing in the opposite direction. It seemed best to wait on one of the landings to pass. The view from each landing provides a different perspective as you climb so they are good places to stop anyway.

The view from the top was well worth the effort to get there. There is a narrow platform that goes around the top of the lighthouse where you can get a view of the surrounding area. You can see the beach and the shipping channel that the light house marks. You can also look out across the island and see the homes and condominiums that make up the north end of the island.

After climbing the light house, we toured the former keeper’s home. Before 1933, the light house had an oil lamp that had to be refueled often. This meant the keepers had to be onsite to constantly climb the stairs and keep the oil light burning. The renovated homes on the site are where these people used to live.

One of the homes is now a movie theater and the other has been restored to see what life might have been like for the keeper and his family. The home is furnished in period fixtures and decorated with old toys and curios that might have been found there.

The distinctive black and white stripes of the Tybee Island Light house were first put there in 1916. The black at the top helps the light house be visible in the day time from the sea. In 1965 they changed the paint scheme but it was restored in 1999 to the 1916 pattern that has become the Tybee Island Lighthouse we are familiar with.

The light house is closed on Tuesdays but open other days of the week. It cost $7 to tour. There are various discounts available. Parking is ample and free in the Museum parking lot. You can also park across the street in the beach parking area but you have to pay the parking meters there.

The ticket price also includes the Battery Museum across the street. I seemed to be the only one in my family that expected to see batteries in the Battery Museum. It is actually an old fort designed to protect the island and the river from enemy attack. I don’t think it was ever used for that as most attackers simply went somewhere else to enter Georgia.

Inside the battery however are several interesting old photos of Tybee Island or Savanna Shores as it was know previously. In the 1920’s and earlier Tybee was a playground for people looking to escape. Before Hwy 80, there was a train track to the island playground. There were huge resorts, dance clubs and carnival type places on the island. Not much remains of the former glory days on the island now.

After our tour of the museum, we hit the beach right behind the Battery museum. For lunch, we noticed the local Shriner’s Lodge was selling hot dogs. So, we ate hot dogs and chips on the back bumper of our Suburban while every one changed into their swim clothes.

The beach is accessed by a wooden walkway across the marsh grass. The sand is nice and wide with plenty of space even on the busy Forth of July Weekend when we visited.

For more information about the Tybee Island Lighthouse Museum see: http://www.tybeelighthouse.org/

July 12, 2010November 15, 2010

Removable Doors for Jeep Cherokee

Making Jeep Cherokee Doors Removable

Removing the doors on a Jeep Cherokee not only add to the open air feel of the Jeep Cherokee of road but it also greatly increases the visibility. Making the doors easily removable and replaceable can be accomplished by modifying the door hinges. Because this modification reduces the strength of the door hinge in a crash, it should only be done on off road vehicles.

At least a few hours before you begin, remove the inner door panels and spray penetrating oil on the bolt threads inside the door. This will help get them loose with the torx bit and reduce the chance of stripping a bolt head.

Remove the speaker from the door and disconnect the wire. If you have any other electrics in the door also disconnect the wires to these.

Remove the rubber tube that covers the wires. Remove the pin from the limiting strap on the door. You may want to remove the limiting strap entirely from the door or just push it in out of the way.

There are six bolts that hold the door to the hinge. They have a T40 torx head. They are often very tight and you will need a quality torx bit to get the out. I have twisted quite a few bits removing door bolts.

The outer single bolt on each hinge is accessed with the door open. The other two bolts will require either a very short torx bit or you can access them from inside the fender well if the fender liner is removed and the door is closed. There are two holes in the hinge for this purpose. (Thanks to Brian Klotz for teaching me this trick.)

Support the door and remove the bolts. Take care to keep the shims and backing plates in order so they can be put back in the proper places. Set the door aside in a safe place.

Now, use a grinder and a cut off wheel to cut off the lower ear of the hinge. Knock it off the pin with a hammer. I use a heavy open end wrench to distribute the blow to both sides of the pin. If you can’t drive it the entire way off, knock it down enough to get a cut off wheel in the slot and cut the pin.

Discard the lower part of the hinge. Pull the upper part of the hinge off. If, the lower pin came out intact, cut it to the length of the hinge so that it no longer sticks out the bottom. If you had to cut it to get it out it is already cut at the right place. Cut the upper pin at an angle so that it is shorter than the lower one. Make it about an inch long.

The backing plate has a flange on the bottom that will interfere with putting the doors back on. To make it easier, cut the flange off of the bottom just below the pin. Make about a one inch wide opening.

Put the backing plates and shims back in their original positions and bolt the hinges back where they came from. Use the paint marks to help line it back up in its original position. If you have trouble putting the door back on, move the hinge toward the outside to give more maneuvering room. Use a ¼ inch drill to open up the hinge holes to allow them to slip in and out easily.

To make hooking up the wires easier you can add quick disconnect plugs to the lines. Reinstall the speakers and inner door panels.

To put the door back on, hold the door from the inside so you can see the hinges. Drop in part of the longer lower pin. Then maneuver the upper pin in place. Be careful because the door is heavy.

Make sure the door opens and closes properly. If not, adjust the hinge mounting as necessary.

Enjoy the open air feel. Enjoy being able to see where your tires are. Be careful of the limbs and mud in your face!

See my earlier article on Jeep Cherokee door removal here.

Note that the dome light fuse may have to be pulled and the door chime removed as the striker will not be depressed with the door removed.
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July 9, 2010July 9, 2010

How to repair a broken door hinge on a Jeep Cherokee

One common failure point on the Jeep Cherokee unibody is the point where the driver’s door attached to the pillar. Often, the heat affected zone around the weld will crack allowing the door to pull loose.

It is best to make the repair before the hinge breaks completely loose. However, most don’t make it to me until they have completely separated.

Jeep has a repair kit available for this common failure. There is also a Technical Service bulletin to at describes the repair and the use of the kit. You may wish to check out this method before proceeding with the following procedure.

My preferred method of making the repair is to reweld the hinge in place. This can be accomplished with a small wire feed welder with minimal welding skills.

To access the hinge, you will have to remove the fender. If this is an off road Jeep, then you will not likely have to deal with the flares and inner liner. However for most, these parts will have to be removed as well.

There are three fasteners that hold the fender under the front fiberglass header. So, begin by removing the header. The front piece is held in place by two nuts on either side and four nuts along the top radiator support. You will have to remove the head light surrounds to access the nuts on either side.

With the header loose, slide it to the side. There is usually enough slack in the headlight wiring harness to move it enough to access the three fasteners. If not, remove the air box to access the connector. Remove the three torx head bolts securing the fender. I prefer to remove the three that hold the fender to the angle piece as it makes the fender easier to remove.

Remove the plastic rivets that attach the flare to the air dam. I have not found a way to reuse these so just cut them with a pair of dikes. There is also a sheet metal screw that holds the fender to a brace near the front. Remove this screw as well.

Next, remove the bolts along the top of the fender under the hood. There are two more inside the door opening. If the torx head strips while trying to remove these, you can drill the bolt head off using a ¼” drill bit. Use a good quality torx bit to minimize the chances of stripping the bolt.

There are two more bolts at the pinch seam at the bottom of the fender. Since these are exposed to salt and dirt, they rarely come off in tack. Save time by cutting them out with a cut off wheel. They can be replaced with any ¼ inch bolt and nut.

Separate the inner fender liner and pull it out. Often but not always, the liner will be attached to the bolts that hold on the flares. These small bolts are easily broken so use lots of penetrating oil and be very careful when taking them out.

With the liner out, you can see a brace that holds the fender. Remove the bolt from the flare connector to remove it. Carefully lift off the fender.

Now you can access the hinge mounting area. Close the door and make sure it is securely latched in the proper position.

If the hinge is not completely broken away, you can tap it back in place with a hammer before rewelding. In the more likely event that it is broken completely loose, you will have to compress the weather stripping to get the hinge into the proper position before welding.

One way to press the door into place is to use a 2×4 plank about eight feet long. Pad one end and place it against the door just below the mirror. Use a ratchet strap to pull it against the door. I hook one end of the strap to the free end of the board and the other end to the T slot in the unibody frame rail just below the door. Be careful to tighten it only enough to press in the hinge and not so much as to dent the door.

Use a grinder and wire brush to remove as much paint as possible from the weld area. You likely will not be able to get it perfectly clean but remove as much as possible for a smoother weld.

Now, tap the hinge into its correct place and weld. Mimic the factory weld by putting most of the heat on the thick hinge and only enough on the thin sheet metal to get good penetration. Start on areas that you were able to clean and work into the areas that still have paint. You will get some splatter but the paint will burn away and make a secure weld.

Once you have a good weld, let it cool and paint the area to prevent further rusting. Reinstall the fender, inner liner and front header.

July 8, 2010July 8, 2010

Jeep MAP sensor error

Clearing MAP sensor code

Yesterday while I was repairing the door hinge on a friend’s Jeep Cherokee, I noticed it had been running rich. I checked the ECU codes and found code 13 and 52. 13 is an unresponsive MAP and 52 is O2 rich.

I first swapped in a spare MAP, cleared the codes and started it up. I got he same rough idle and soon the same code in the Check Engine light.

With the engine still running, I pulled off the vacuum line and noticed there was no vacuum. The line looked fine. I pulled off the other end and found vacuum at the manifold. The line was obviously clogged.

As I was walking to pull a spare off the parts rig, I noticed a tiny spot on the bottom of the line that was melted. I never found the source of the melting, but the Jeep ran much better after replacing the plastic hose. The MAP and Rich codes cleared up as well.

July 2, 2010September 8, 2010

How to change the power steering pump on a Jeep Cherokee

Begin by removing the air cleaner box. There are three bolts in the bottom that are access by removing the filter. Be careful when separating the various air line form the box.

Begin by breaking loose the high pressure line. This is a 5/8” hex on most Jeeps.

Remove the low pressure return line as well.

Loosen the jam nut on the belt adjuster under the pump and loosen the drive belt.

Next remove the three bolts on the back of the power steering pump.

Remove the pivot bolt on the front of the pump.

Remove the bracket and pump as an assembly.

Use a pulley removal tool to remove the plastic pulley from the pump. Most Auto parts stores have these as loaners for this job.

Put the two halves of the puller together over the groove in the pulley and the tool. Slide the sleeve over the two halves. Turn the bolt to press off the pulley.

Now remove the bolts that hold the pump to the bracket.

Bolt the new pump to the bracket.

Press the old pulley onto the new pump using the press in the kit.

Thread the stud into the treads in the pump shaft. Place the pressing washer over the stud. Turn the nut to press the pulley into place.

Mount the bracket back on the engine and reconnect the lines.

Adjust the belt tension

Replace the air box and filter

Reconnect the air lines

Fill the reservoir with new fluid but do not start the engine.

Note, if the old fluid looked contaminated, milky or black; you may want to flush the system before continuing. Follow the instruction in the pump kit.

Turn the wheel from lock to lock

Check the fluid level and top up if needed.

Start the engine and again rotate the wheel from lock to lock slowly.

Check the fluid level again and refill as needed.

Check for leaks and correct any you find.

Replace the cap.
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