1981 Dark Grey SX/4

[Stewartz]

Hi all, finally get to start this thread - I purchased JSK's Dark Grey SX/4 Sport about 2 months ago. Ended up having transport issues and delay after delay. However, last weekend it finally made it to me! I have never before owned an Eagle, but in person it's an  amazing machine.

I will begin posting updates and progress pictures as I get her back to life. I'll start the log now, beginning with an email I sent to Jerry.



- December Saturday 8th / Sunday 9th -

Drained the old gas out, it looked like black coffee and didn't even smell like gas anymore! Probably the nastiest stuff I've dealt with in a while. After getting that done, put some fresh gas in, popped off the fuel filter and turned her over, in turn that pushed all the old nasty fuel from the lines until nice clean fuel was spewing out.

From there I could get her to start with fuel into the carb, would idle but die quickly. Took apart the little valve with the needle, found it clogged with that green slime you mentioned. Cleaned that up and it still wouldn't idle. Ended up checking the fuel filter, fuel was feeding to it fine, but the end into the carb was barely flowing. Bought a new fuel filter, started her, idled perfect. Made sure I filled the coolant up, it was empty. Let her run for a good 20-30 minutes.

Turned it off and took a break. Came back out for a test drive. Started up perfectly, hopped in and went to the sandwich shop. Very responsive, no lag, shifts great -  However I was getting a strange vibration which at first I thought was a sticking brake, but wasn't positive. Made it home and called it a night. I couldn't believe the attention I was getting at stop lights, people were giving me the "What is that" look.

Woke up on Sunday, decided to go on a little run to diagnose the issue. Made it about 2 miles with the shake when I heard a clank and the vibration went away...not good. I got out to take a look and found the rear drive shaft had disconnected and it was flopping around on the exhaust. Ended up slugging it back to a Napa parking lot, heated it up a bit only pulling with the 2 front wheels and it vomited some coolant out. I called a tow and had her dropped at my mechanic and she is still at the shop being inspected. Fixing the driveshaft for sure, getting a new radiator and any other needed fixes.

[eaglefreek]

Welcome. That stinks about the rear shaft. Luckily it didn't happen on the highway. I don't know how long you drove it with the rear shaft out, but doing that can ruin the viscous coupler in the transfer case in a very short time.

[Stewartz]

Yeah I agree, highways around here are insane. The Napa was about a mile...hopefully didn't screw it up!

[JSK]

Great progress in such a short time, Stewartz! And I'm awfully sorry about that driveshaft -- we replaced those differentials (with 3.54's) over a year ago, and I drove it about 1/2 mile at the most since then (with no vibration) ... I can't tell if the bolts just backed out (as in, we forgot to tighten them?) or if the u-joint broke ... or i wonder if it could have somehow been damaged during transport? In any case, I sure hope it's a simple repair.

Crazy -- all that daylight you can see from the left rear wheel-well, no? Hah. What a cool car. After seeing the photos of your other cars, I'm confident that you will have this car looking AWESOME.

Sigh -- bittersweet seeing your rapid progress. I KNEW I was only a day or two from getting her daily-driveable... at least she went to a good home and since I get first dibs on her if you ever sell her, I'll let some hope stay alive in my broken heart!

(clarification - fyi - the entire rear end assy came from my black 4-cyl car. The FRONT differential has the original assembly with the ring & pinion gears having been swapped --on the same day-- with the 3.54 r&p gears from the 4cyl car. The 4cyl car has Select-Drive, and yours is without Select-Drive, so it was easiest to just swap those gears from the front.)

Like I said before, if you ever have any questions that I might help with, don't hesitate to ask. Drive her for both of us!

[txjeeptx]

I bet the rear driveshaft had the wrong type of u-joint installed at the pinion yoke. The later Jeep D35 pinion yokes have small tabs cast into them to retain the Jeep-style u-joint. Eagle M15 yokes do not have these tabs, and rely on circular clips on the bearing cups to retain them and center the cross on the yoke. Use a Jeep-style u-joint in an Eagle pinion yoke, and its difficult to get the cross centered on the yoke during installation, and no matter how tight you get the straps, the cups will eventually sling outward some, causing vibration and eventual failure exactly as seen in the pictures.

Nice lookin car. Always an adventure with a new project.

[BenM]

I bet the rear driveshaft had the wrong type of u-joint installed at the pinion yoke. The later Jeep D35 pinion yokes have small tabs cast into them to retain the Jeep-style u-joint. Eagle M15 yokes do not have these tabs, and rely on circular clips on the bearing cups to retain them and center the cross on the yoke. Use a Jeep-style u-joint in an Eagle pinion yoke, and its difficult to get the cross centered on the yoke during installation, and no matter how tight you get the straps, the cups will eventually sling outward some, causing vibration and eventual failure exactly as seen in the pictures.

I swapped an 87 rear with an 82... I stared at that thing for a while. I put new straps on it. I finally went to NAPA and asked about other sizes of caps. I saw the dang thing with the inside clips and about knocked my own brain out slapping my head. I know I have seen a u-joint like that before, but it had been too long.

At some point AMC stopped using the one oddball on the rear axle. I suspect lots of left over stock. Using a different one on each end is fine when you have two, it makes sure you can only re-install the drive shaft one way. It's confusing when you have four and only one is different.

[Baskinator]

My eagle's rear yoke has those tabs to hold in the u-joint end caps, but I didn't realize it until installing the new ones. All four that I had bought were the same, but one should have been different. The new caps were too long and wouldn't fit between the tabs, so I couldn't install them at all. I ended up using the new joint with the old caps, since those two were still perfectly fine. Never was able to find a correct replacement, but it's been going strong for about 4,000 miles now, no issues.

If your rear yoke doesn't have those tabs, I'd have to agree with these guys. The smaller caps could easily slide out without the tabs to hold them in place.

[mudkicker715]

they all should be the same. and they are called 1310 u joints. which is a very common part number

[Stewartz]

Thanks for the info everyone!

Not to worry Jerry, I was surprised too at such a quick fix! Either way hopefully will be up and running in the next few weeks.

This is the outcome of the inspection;

- Both rear brakes need to get replaced. Leaking fluid all over.
- Fan free-spins
- Rear Ujoint need to get replaced
- Yoke needs replaced

My mechanic said he might have trouble finding some parts, so I'll be sure to relay him this info.

[Stewartz]

Awesome sounds great. I'll definitely take you up on that offer.

I live near San Diego for about two more weeks. Moving back up to Oregon after the new year. I'm from Bend.

[Stewartz]

Yeah not too bad of a drive. We will definitely have to get together.

Any word on that yoke?

[txjeeptx]

The yoke is an off the shelf part if you don't care about it matching the Eagle's original. Just use the yoke for any Jeep XJ, YJ, TJ, ZJ mid 80's thru late 90's with a Dana 35 rear end.  Get a new seal while yer at it.

Yeah, they're all 1310 joints, but some are "finished out" different than others. The earlier Eagles had u-joints that had circular clips near the seal on the u-joint's bearing cups that sit in the pinion yoke. Those clips served to retain the cups as the shaft rotates. A later redesign of the yoke for the AMC Model 15 rear end becoming the Jeep Dana 35 was the addition of tabs on the yoke that served the same purpose as the circular clips did in the previous design. Mix them up, and you get a failure. Can't find an Eagle yoke? Get a Jeep yoke and use the Jeep-style u-joint, which is much more widely available. Many parts-counters probably have the wrong u-joint listed for Eagles, if they even have it in their computer.

If the yoke doesn't have retaining tabs in the center of the saddle where the u-joint bearing cups sit, then its an early design, and has to have the u-joint with circular clips near the cup seals.

[Stewartz]

Ok sounds good! You might as well hold onto it, I'll be in Oregon by Friday. Maybe I can make a trip over to Brogan if you're around.

Txjeep, I guess he figured it out lol. He should be calling me tomorrow to come pick her up. Switching to a jeep part would be the best bet though for future issues.

[Stewartz]

Got her back earlier this afternoon.

Repaired everything important ... except the fan clutch. Was fine cruising down the highway. Sitting in traffic was a different story, overheated. Limped into my driveway and went to AutoZone. Bought a fan clutch and spent entirely too long putting it in!

Hopefully AutoZone gave me the right one. My test drive went perfect, no overheating, so I'm guessing it will work.

[JSK]

I was getting ready to write you to get an update! Glad to hear you got her back from the mechanic (are you up in Oregon already?? I thought your mechanic was down in San Diego...). Great to hear that your test-drive after the fan-clutch was successful. I reckon my 15 miles of driving over the last 5 years weren't enough to reveal the flawed clutch... how did the mechanic do for you? Did you get a new radiator or repair the old one? Was the drive-shaft ujoint issue easily resolved? Are you liking how the torque is with those 3.54 gears? Isn't it a riot to drive and park and maneuver? 


            ...do you want to sell her back to me?     

                                 W A A A A A A A A A H H H     

hahahah - seriously though - fill me in! Do you have the carpet and interior back in yet? I sure hope there aren't any more "surprises" awaiting you...