The 1300 dollar fixer upper surprise project

[tougeagle]

Ordered GB Remanufacturing #8008 fuel injectors for a 5.2L, they're the same size as the oem injector seals for a few years on the 4.0, and should work. I knew those Fel Pro ones included in an upper gasket kit I purchased would be a bit too thin, but I went against my better judgement . So for future reference for you efi guys, use those instead of the Fel Pro injector o rings.

[tougeagle]

Fuel injector o-rings sealed up, somehow. I put a little more gas in the tank, after running out (had maybe half a gallon), and I guess the added pressure sealed them. However, the car won't start, still. I'm going to rent a compression gauge and fuel pressure gauge when I can (extremely broke for a while), and use my multimeter to rule out the last few bugs.

I can resistance test the injectors with the multimeter, to see if they function, test the fuel rail to rule out the stock rail mounted fpr I swapped to. I can compression test to rule out the engine timing (I know my rings are good, everything was recently rebuilt, shortly before I purchased the car) which would be a nearly free fix, and much easier to do this time around. I'm not sure if I would be able to test the cps, and that's one that worries me, because new ones are expensive.

I know everything else works, the fuel pump, coil/dizzy, ignition circuits, alternator wiring, all sensors (except cps), etc, along with the ecu, starter (obviously).

[tougeagle]

i 99% certain those cps are tested in resistance. not sure what it is supposed to be however

If by CPS you mean CMP Camshaft Position Sensor or CKP Crankshaft Position Sensor, then no. They are both three wire hall effect style. They switch the reference voltage(which is oddly 8v on this vehicle) on and off.  You typically test them with a labscope. But you should be able to back probe and test with a voltmeter during cranking.

Do you have spark? Don't light the inconsiderate person up checking with all your fuel leaks though!

I do have spark, I checked voltage to coil. The coil came off a running vehicle I so I know I can rule it out. After having stewed on it all day, I think it's the fuel pressure regulator, more than anything. When I've depressed the valve on the rail to bleed air out, gas came out under pressure, but definitely not close to the 39.5 psi it's supposed to be at. After keying the ignition and running the pump, I hear gas flow through the return to the tank, and checked the rail after that. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that's it because it came from a junkyard jeep that didn't have a scratch on it, meaning something caused it to stop running...

[tougeagle]

must have thought of the old renix system for test procedures, sorry

No worries. I'm positive it's the fuel pressure regulator, I hear fuel bleed back to the return line immediately during and after priming, while it should only be doing it momentarily during.

[tougeagle]

IT RUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It starts and runs!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe the difference, without even having driven the car yet, I can already tell that old 258 is WIDE awake now. The throttle response is ungodly, and it gives off a nice, slightly lopey, deep low rumble at idle.

[tougeagle]

Thanks! Though, now I'm out of a starter XD

Starter detent wore out and it stayed engaged until it fried. At least it's a manual so just a lil push out of the garage and the driveway will do the rest

[IowaEagle]

Its alive!

[tougeagle]

Its alive!

That it is! Though, it's got a few bugs Starter solenoid acted up, kept the starter engaged and fried my alternator. It's pulling very low vacuum, around 13inHg, and after having eliminated all other possibilities, realized the engine timing is probably off a tooth. It's also running very lean, so I need to get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Unfortunately I'm drowning in bills so I can't work on the car at all for a few months. When I do though, I'm gonna make sure everything's cleaned up and in order. I'll probably upgrade to a 120 amp alternator, and get a reman Eagle clutch master so my pedals can move back up to where they're supposed to be.

[tougeagle]

at least it runs

Yeah. It's still a long way away from being legally driveable though. sometimes I feel like she's mocking me when I stand in the garage smoking a cigarette thinking about how much work I have left to do still....

[tougeagle]

haha yeah my race motor for my truck is doing the same thing right now

Pretty soon she'll have a toothless grin when I take off the bumper and radiator to get to the crank damper. Last time she looked like that it was like she was begging "drive me, driiiive meee"

[tougeagle]

Finally found the last of my rechargeable batteries, so I was able to use my decent camera again, and I snapped some pics tonigiht.... lots, actually. Some of these pics were from a while back (camera's been dead until tonight) while others are newer. I also included pictures of my PDC, starter solenoid and alternator wiring, for those of you that are trying to help me get my starter hooked to the PDC.

These first few are pretty old, but important progress...


The pilot bearing size difference. The one I'm using is on the left in the picture.


Flywheel before pilot bearing installed. The bearing is definitely a tight squeeze, but it fits.  I used a little 400 grit sandpaper on the flywheel surface to take off some of the gloss.


These were taken tonight:


I miss the white valve cover, but I'd rather have a valve cover I can actually find pcv valves and grommets for.






I mistakenly believed the coil connector wire (black wire) was supposed to be hooked to ground, but it's supposed to be hooked to the gray wire instead, which (if I recall correctly) is a 5V signal, while the other coil wire is hooked to the 12v red/black wire in the harness. More pics of that later.


Alternator


The PDC, with only the essential relays/fuses needed to run. I pulled the relays and fuses needed for the starter to avoid exposing voltage to wires with cut ends, though I'll install them again when I can figure out how I need to wire the starter...


All wires shown on my fingers are coming from the bottom of the starter relay slot in the PDC


Current starter solenoid wiring (4.0 starter). Black/green wire on - post of solenoid goes to starter. The main power wire goes directly from + battery cable. I really really want to get rid of this thing, it caused me to fry my alternator thanks to sticking.


The black/red stripe wires and heavy gauge solid red wires are connected to circuits running through the fuse slots needed for the starter and relay, red wire with fuse installed is hot at all times.


Gray/blue stripe tach wire hooked to tach wire (green behind dash, yellow in pic).


Fuel pump and filter. Redneck customs zip tied fuel filter... It works though!


Exhaust outlet, only for now


Piping to bellhousing, muffler just out of frame on the left.

Hopefully the pictures of the starter solenoid and PDC wiring will help out, I'm almost certain some of my colors are different from those listed in some diagrams.

[tougeagle]

Finally decided to hook up my aftermarket fuel pressure regulator again, this time properly, on the return side of the rail, and cranked the pressure to around 47 psi. Engine still pulls low vacuum, though it doesn't putt anymore and it idles smoothly. The valves rattle above about 2500 rpm, and there's no top end, so it's obvious at this point that the engine timing is still off. On the bright side, I no longer need injectors, my alternator works (had the charge wire hooked to the wrong post on the starter solenoid), and I've narrowed it down to just one thing. Now to get the time off to do it.....

[tougeagle]

I deleted the instructions in this thread on replacing the clutch master cylinder with a cherokee one, because I realized what I did was pretty botched work. I'm going to do it the right way and get a remote reservoir kit (summitracing.com) and adapter fitting for compression to metal lines (advanceadapters) - which txjeeptx told me to do in the first place - so I can bring the brake and clutch masters back against the firewall correctly. I learn something new every time I work on the car, and get a chance to reconsider what work I've done to it previously.

I also picked up a new steering wheel for it, though I'm not going to show it until my car's registered

[tougeagle]

I haven't updated for a while, I've been trying to work out how to get my car mobile again after trashing my diff. Pay attention to those leaks.....

The last minute step in getting my car driving:
Wilwood remote master cylinder kit: 55$
Advance adapters TJ replacement hose with adapters: 80$

Comes with the proper adapters, a nice long hose and just about all hardware needed. I got the 4 oz reservoir, they have a 10oz available for the same price.
I'll have pictures of it and the mounting/routing configuration in the engine bay after I replace my injectors.

A price breakdown of my project, starting when I had everything rigged with a 2100 to current, much cheaper than you might expect. All includes shipping, does not include maintenance items (gaskets, etc), only upgrades.

MC2100 carb + air filter adapter and all hoses/hardware, etc: 350$
HEI distributor 80$
10.5mm plug wires, still in use: 55$
   
The HO EFI conversion
1992 Jeep 4.0 H.O. motor, longblock 20$
Leak free 4.0 exhaust manifold 40$
7120 head cleanup and machining: 210$
1995 4.0 manual trans wiring harness and computer 65$
AX15 external slave trans/bellhousing + shifter 315$
External slave cylinder 10$
Stock clutch master remote reservoir kit (a requirement) 55$
Advanced adapters stainless braided clutch line with included adapter 80$
Clutch, proper pilot bearing, etc 120$
NP249 transfer case 100$
1993 Dakota speed sensor + "adapters" 25$
1995 4.0 02 sensor 40$
Trans mount fab hardware 30$
Axle bracket hardware FREE (leftover parts)
Crank position sensor 5$
Bored TB 30$ (new rotary tool )
2.5" midpipe-back exhaust +- 170$
Fuel injectors 100$ (orig were approx 35, proper approx 65)
4.0 starter 10$ (later purchased new one, discovered faulty wiring)
New starter solenoid FREE
4 new forged U-joints 50$
Grand cherokee slipyoke 25$
Front axle U-bolt yoke conversion + yoke tool (a godsend) 90$
4.0 cam - included with 20$ longblock
45k volt 4.0 ign coil 45$
Fuel pump 165$
Fuel line 30$
4.0 Flywheel manual trans 45$
high flow thermostat 20$

+-1900 dollars. I didn't ever realize it was that much until just now, wow...
BUT, that's still a grand less than what most performance stores sell their EFI kits for, and...
I got an AWD, 2.72 low range, center locking differential (in low) transfer case, an AX15 with 80k miles on it, a brand new clutch and pressure plate, a 4.0 head swap, with fully machined, clean head, 4.0 cam, bored tb, improved injectors, a brand new, higher flow, custom welded exhaust system, and GREATLY increased power and gas mileage. And some shops will charge that much to replace a timing belt, lol.

The cost of my mistakes so far has risen to over 1000 dollars, hopefully it won't go higher >_<
I DID offset some of the cost of this project by selling off my older parts, which helped me out by about 500 dollars, more or less, so far. If I had not been able to sell my parts, this project would not have been possible, and I would have abandoned it.

Once I get my injectors in and axles replaced, I'm going to give Caroline a good thorough cleaning followed by many extensive photoshoots. She's not showroom quality, but she is beautiful and unique.

[DGeagle]

A very very cool project, one that is reasonable for many people to do too! Good work and can't wait for the pics and some more info on how she drives and how much power its making.