Jeep – Page 9 – The Jeep Guru

November 2, 2009September 8, 2010

Golden Mountain Off Road Park

For Halloween, Janice, Jenny and I decided to visit Golden Mountain Off Road Park for their Halloween ride. We really had no idea what to expect. We had seen pictures of other off road parks that had Halloween rides and expected to see lots of rigs decorated for the holiday.

Jenny had decorated her Jeep for a spirit contest at Caleb’s school so she left part of that in place. She and Janice also dressed as Bunnies. Her son Caleb dressed as the Black Knight.

What we first noticed when we drove through the gate was the beautiful fall colors. It was easy to see why someone named it Golden Mountain. The landscaping around the many pavilions was very nice as well. I am not sure what this place used to be but it was something really nice.

We waited at the vacant pay booth for a while. Finally I decided to call the phone number listed. The fellow said he was doing some work on the toilets and would be right down. He was very friendly and when he found that it was our first visit, he gave us a map and told us the general layout of the park and which trails he recommended we start with. He then informed us that we had the whole park to ourselves and he did not expect any one else to come.

We parked in the huge gravel parking area just inside the gate and I unloaded Scuffy while Jan and Jenn found the restrooms. The restrooms are located in a big building that overlooks what used to be a stock car dirt track. It has more recently been used for motor cross racing from the looks of it.

The guy had warned us that it would be slippery on the muddy trails. Well, with that warning in mind we set out for trail 1 marked “easy.” We made it a few yards up the trail before we found out just how slippery the mud is there. No worse than Harlan or Aetna but no better either. The “easy” trail was now quite a challenge.

Jenny got hung up on the first few rocks and had to take time to air down before she could go further. I made it to another set of rocks and my lockers just allowed me to get scarily sideways before I called it quits and let the front end slide back down the hill.

Easy trail? What else was in store for us here?

We then took trail 3 also marked easy but at least it was flat. Off to both sides was lots of fun looking hill climbs that would have to wait for a drier day. We soon intersected trail 2 and followed along to an interesting pavilion in the middle of nowhere. It looked like it had a fishing pier but there was not really much of a lake there now.

We followed trail two on further and came to a ledge that reminded us of the one on trail 15 in Harlan. Remembering to keep up momentum going into it we both made it up just fine. Trail two ended at a gravel road beside a beautiful lake and more picnic pavilions. We walked around the area for a while before following the gravel road down to the parking lot to get our rain gear.

Bunnies at the picnic pavilion by one of the many lakes. — Bunnies at the picnic pavilion by on eof the many lakes.

This time we took trail two up the hill. I tried in vain to stay out of the big rut on the down hill side of the climb but I eventually gave up and hugged the rut to the top. Once at the top I realized I was in two wheel drive. Jenny made it up just fine.

Running between trails 2 and 3 is trail 16. It looks like a rock garden. It reminded me of Pinball at Harlan just about one third as long. The rocks were slick form the mud but I really enjoyed the small climb. Janice and Jenny took turns riding with me as I ran the trail two more times.

I then tried to run another upper part of 16. This trail looked easier but it was not. The rocks were larger and there was more mud between them. After banging on my rock rails a few times I finally backed out and we went exploring again.

The park is really compact so you are never really very far from lots of fun trails. It looks like there is plenty of variety for every body from stockers to buggies with plenty of fun stuff in between for trucks like mine.

We drove back up two and this time took the other loop of the gravel road. This lead us to the camping area which has RV hook up as well as lots of space for more primitive camping. There is also a huge and I mean HUGE picnic pavilion there. It has restrooms, a full industrial kitchen in the concession area and a beautiful fireplace. There is even a bar.

Beside the pavilion is a monster playground for kids. We took time to walk around this area and explore before heading back to the trails.

We then took trail 2 again and attempted to loop back to the part of 1 where we got stuck in the morning. The trails were drying out and the easy trails were in fact easy. The moderate ones were still difficult and the difficult ones impassable.

At the top of the hill on trail one we found a spot marked difficult. Jenny and I both drove between the rocks. I think you are supposed to go over them but we had fun running the trail our way just to say to ours selves we ran difficult trail in the mud.

Coming up trail one we had crossed some ruts that we really did not want to go back down through so we scouted the top of the hill and found trail 21 with connect down. The top of the hill was the only place in the park where the trails were not perfectly marked. However with the aid of the map I quickly figured out where we were.

We drove down trail 21 and took a few minutes to walk around on trials 22 and 23. I don’t think I will ever run 23 in a Jeep but 22 looks very interesting. I will have to give it a try some day.

Late in the evening we decided to head out. We really did have the whole park to ourselves all day. It was fun that way but I really hope the owners get more business in the future to keep the park open.

I think Golden Mountain is now my favorite place to go off road. The park is small but there is a lot to do there. Lots of trail variety and the fall colors were simply beautiful. I am already looking forward to returning.

More photos are on Facebook

How to Jump the Fuel Pump Relay on a Jeep Cherokee XJ

September 12, 2009September 15, 2009

Jeep Cherokee Stumble and Stall

Yesterday, I traveled to Nashville to check out my son Will’s Jeep. He had called complaining of a severe stumble and stalling in traffic. I remembered that this was a problem when I bought this Jeep for him.

When I first arrived, his Jeep would not start. I was finally able to start the Jeep but it did not idle correctly.

I took it for a test drive and found that the idle air controller was sticking and allowing the engine to stall in traffic. Unless I was really alert when decelerating, the engine would stall.

I made my way back to his apartment and used carburettor cleaner to clean the idle air control circuit in the throttle body. After a few squirts the valve started controlling again and was able to catch the engine when it slowed down.

I noted that there was a lot of oil sludge in the throttle body so I checked the vent from the valve cover and found it partially stopped
up. The connection at the manifold was also clogged. I used the carb cleaner to clean the tube and the connection.

I never experienced the stumble but I suspected it was caused by the ECU connection. I removed the big connector from the ecu and wired down the connector. If I had had some contact cleaner handy, I would have sprayed the contacts before re-seating it. The folks at Hesco say there is a common failure of the ECU due to over tightening of the connector bolt. The circuit board cracks here or the threadsert pulls out of the board.

I put just a small amount of torque on the bolt as I tightened it back in place. We let the engine cool a bit and then took it for another test drive. It ran fine taking us to dinner and back. I hope this will cure it for a while.

I also showed Will how to do these checks himself if it does act up again.

July 17, 2009September 8, 2010

Repairing my ball joint press

I bent my Harbor freight ball joint press while pressing in the bottom joint. I did not notice that it got a little crooked and I kept pressing. I should have pressed it back out and started over, but I kept going. I hoped just a little more pressure would straighten it out. It did, but my press frame bent in the process.

Despite assurances by my millwright friend that it could never be brought back to parallel, I was able to straighten the c clamp in my Dad’s press.

I pressed each end slightly and measured the distance between the two sides of the press. I had to over compress a bit as it would spring back slightly when released. I suspect it has lost some strength in all the bending but I think it will still be strong enough to do the other two ball joints if I am careful. If not, Harbor Freight has them on sale now.

June 26, 2009June 26, 2009

Throttle Body Cleaning

Cleaning the throttle body on a Jeep Cherokee.

One of the most common questions I see on Yahoo Answers is about a Jeep that won’t idle. They complain that it dies at traffic lights or won’t start.

Often the cause is simply a sticking idle air control valve. This valve mounts to the side of the throttle body and allows a small amount of air to bypass the closed throttle plate to regulate the idle speed. The valve is actuated by a stepper motor controlled by the ECU.

I don;t know why but using fuels high in ethanol seems to make this gum up. It makes no sense to me since the fuel does not pass through the throttle body – only air. However, I have noticed that on many of the Jeeps I have serviced, high ethanol equals a sticking throttle body.

Cleaning it is simple. Remove the rubber air inlet tube. Locate the slots int he back of the throttle body. Spray throttle body cleaner in the slots. Do it with he engine running and you can make the valve cycle while spraying the cleaner in. This will help get it unstuck.

Here is a video of how it is done: