The SX/4 money pit

[IowaEagle]

Take it easy with the heat and humidity.  Sounds like plenty on your plate!  Have you had the tranny out?  If not, sounds like another issue to deal with.

[Smitty]

I am dreading the thought of pulling the tranny and there is a waiting list to get into the garage.  I have to finish prepping the 69 for paint and shoot the engine bay so I can get the engine and tranny back into that.  The front suspension is out too so I can put in all new poly bushings.  That leaves me with one bay in the toy garage that is currently occupied by the SX/4.  I need to get Skeezix's Cherokee in there for rear brakes as it has 85k on the factory brakes, then the Eagle wagon has to go in to figure out the rear brake shudder then my XJ Wagoneer has to go in for a clunk in the front end.  I think it is a loose trackbar that I recently replaced but maybe not.  I also need to replace the shift motor for the transfer case and put in an antenna.  Besides putting the 69 together after paint I still have the 66 Ambo wagon to get ready for paint and to put all the new upholstery into. 

All that and have a new house built, keep this house ready for showing at all times and have the project cars ready to transport to the new home or storage when we sell.  Whew!!!!!  So, it may be that the SX/4 goes to a shop for the tranny work.  If I can find a good Jeep 727 then I will just swap it out.

[IowaEagle]

Yeah the 727 would be a good alternative.  I know when I had my tranny done I took it to a shop.  Really, it was the most cost effective way to do it.

[Smitty]

Got a chance to work on the money pit for a few hours tonight.  Found that the tranny leak is coming from the seal around the shifting rod.  I don't know if this can be replaced with the tranny in the car or not but I will make a few phone calls tomorrow.  I got the front brakes to bleed up but cannot get the rear ones.  Guess I will have to put the vacuum pump to it to pull it through.  Tomorrow I will pick up the plug wires to do the HEI install and get rid of all the motorcraft wires, box and coil.

Heavy rains right now.  Let's hope no more flooding but the ground is already saturated so it might get interesting again.

[IowaEagle]

Yup, its an in the car service procedure with the valve body removed.  You lucked out there.

[Smitty]

Hey, Skeezix was in Town getting her hair done so I could ignore the honey-do list and work on the SX/4   I managed to get the air shocks plumbed and holding pressure, topped off the rear diff fluid and got all the shifting linkage hooked up and the new shifter in.  I can not get the brakes to bleed even when I put the vacuum pump to them so I have to follow the lines back and see where a blockage may be.  The fronts are fine but the rears are a pain.  I might even have to read the manual as I seem to remember that the proportioning valve may have to be bled or centered first.

I may get real lucky with the tranny leak.  I sprayed everything with cleaner and wiped it down to check if maybe it might be the backup light switch leaking.  they are right next to each other and maybe the switch is the real culprit and not the seal for the shifting linkage.  Worth a try.

Does anyone have an 80 parts car with the 258?  I need the harness from the ignition module to the distributor.  I have my homemade one in there now but the factory one sure looks better.  I let it run quite a while tonight to fully warm up and clear any air bubbles out of the cooling system after changing the radiator and the water pump.   With the new pump it runs nice and quiet and the growl is gone. 

Let's see, bleed the rear brakes, put the guages back in, change the plugs, cap and rotor (or just put the HEI in) and change fluid to test drive.  It is supposed to rain this weekend so i may have more garage time and get this hangar queen out of there.

That's all for now.

[rmedon]

Hope you're right about the leak.  Good luck getting the brakes sorted out.

[Smitty]

You know, one of these days I hope to get a break that goes my way.  I topped off the rear diff fluid the other night and did not have a chance to work any more on the SX/4 over the weekend as relatives showed up unexpectedly (which was fine).  I had to run out to the toy garage this morning before work and noticed a puddle under the rear diff and a drop fell as I looked on in disgust.  Guess it needs a pinion seal.  Tonight the SX/4 gets yanked out of the garage and the wagon goes in to change the idler arm.  I want to get one of these driving so I can enjoy them!!!  Getting real tired of this SX/4

[IowaEagle]

I bet Lynne would take it off your hands.       Don't get discouraged, just keep telling yourself, 20+ year old car, 20+ year old car -- no car payments, no car payments, must keep one away from Lynne, must keep one away from Lynne. 

I get that way once in awhile too, everytime I work on one part I find something else that will need attention.  I need to sit down and do a priority list.

[Gil-SX4]

just think once you have all the small details fixed how much fun you will have.
Is'nt all ways like that you get in to the fixing things mentality are doing great and some one shows up to take you off track.

[Smitty]

Well, it is out of the garage and running and stopping on its own.  Took today off from work and bled out the rear brakes enough to use them but they still need to be done again, put in the new plugs (broke one so only 5 new ones), changed the oil and filter, put the hood back on and pulled it out.  The engine runs great and will accelerate without hesitation.  The tranny will have to be looked at for the leak so I will have the shop do the band adjustments and filter change.  Looks like I will need the rear pinion seal replaced as that is where it is leaking from.  I don't do tranny's or diff gears and this car needs attention to both.  The garage is a total mess and I will spend a few hours putting it back into shape before I run the wagon in for the idler arm and shocks.  The SX/4 does not have tags so I could not take it far but I did run it up and down the road in front of the house just to see how it took off and if the tranny would shift.  Both items passed the first test.  I had hoped to use the SX/4 to go to Kenosha but that looks doubtfull now as it needs a lot of tinkering mechanically and a repaint from where the tree fell on it.  It also does not have cruise and after 8 knee operations (thanks Uncle Sam) I really appreciate having it.

But you never know, another  1 owner, low mileage beauty might just come my way that would beg to go back to Kenosha   Well, working on it anyway.

[Smitty]

Are you really sure it is headed your way??  Fade out to soft cackling laughter hahahahahahaha

Remember, grasshopper, it is not yours until it is yours....

[IowaEagle]

He may be going after that wagon I listed today.

[rmedon]

It's just patiently waiting for it's journey south.

[IowaEagle]

That wagon is one that does bear taking a closer look at.  I think Lynne would be remiss by not having at least one example of all 6 models.