1995 Jeep Wrangler YJ 4.0L Sahara Edition - Jurassic Park Style

[Bryan]

This is the latest addition to my collection as it was unloaded this morning...

It's a 1995 Jeep Wrangler 4.0L Sahara Edition with only 87k miles and I think two owners from new. Been off the road since 2007. I've a fair few plans for it and lets just say it will not be looking the same as it does now. I've known of this jeep for many years - it was very local to where I live but I just never made any enquiries about it until a few weeks ago.

First on the list of priorities is to get the engine running - currently turning over but no spark or fuel pump. It has some crappy aftermarket immboliser on it so I've traced those wires back to where they were spliced in ready to remove that and put it back to factory to rule that out. Failing that it looks like it might be an ECU issue since I don't get any check warning lights on the dashboard at all.

It also came with ultra cool half doors - which will be nice for the one or two days we get sunshine a year!

I need a front bumper initially for it and also rear bumper end caps. I would also swap the chrome grille for a normal painted one if anyone was interested.

 

[Coog]

Very nice Bryan. The 4.0s are pretty basic so it shouldn't cause you too much hassle to get going again.

 

[Nicky]

Awesome.

Auto or manwell?

 

[saxo_man]

That's very cool. Will look forward to see what you do with this.

 

[Woodcutter]

Very cool!

Looking forward to your updates

 

[Cess]

Proper Jeep. Class

 

[Bryan]

It's a 5 speed manual

 

[jimcupra]

Outstanding with a proper gear box

 

[Bryan]

Are manuals rare?

A few more photos:

Interior (needs a good clean but it's all there in good condition)

Engine bay - again needs a good clean.

I think it may have a faulty crank position sensor since I'm getting resistance across the terminals. Seems to be a common problem with this engine.

If anyone comes across any parts for sale that I might need give me a shout.

 

[Coog]

Yeah cps is common. Not that difficult either, just don't drop the bolt in the bell housing lol. They're handy money on eBay.

I've a couple of spare half shafts from a dana 35 there and a lattice wheel with a bad tyre on it. Might also have a couple of prop shafts lying, can't remember but they'll probably not fit anyway. I've sold everything else off that fits the jeeps.

 

[Bryan]

After 8 years of slumber the big 6 cylinder engine roared into life this evening. I found a Jeep forum last night (http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/crash-course-brain-surgery-replacing-capacitors-ecu-492597) that said the capacitors inside the ECU fail on this model of Wrangler so I set about getting new ones from Maplin today. I had to go to two stores to get three because they only seem to carry 2 in stock!

I got stuck in this evening and set about replacing the capacitors.

These are the three capacitors in question (round things set into the ballistic gel):

The new capacitors (all £4 odd!!):

I had to remove some of the gel on the back to desolder the old ones and then solder the new ones in place

And finally the three new capacitors in place:

The moment of truth.... I put the ECU back in and turned the key and heard the fuel pump kick into life so I knew something had been fixed. I still have no check engine light but it starts so I don't really care to be honest.

(ignore the wonky dashboard fitting - I had most of the clocks in pieces tracing wires trying to find the cause of the problem!)

It runs like a dream and doesn't overheat. I've only been for a spin up and down the street but it drives very well for not moving for 8 years.

 

[corsacj]

Always loved these, will have to keep an eye on the thread!

 

[suckindiesel]

Brilliant! Will be watching this thread these things are very cool, finally market realised this because they make alot more than they used to now (wish I'd bought one a number of years ago!)

 

[Bryan]

I haven't had much time to work on this but I did a bit today. I searched around for a secondhand front bumper but parts are hard to come by for these yokes so I had one made. It's just a piece of 3mm steel folded to the right size. I'll be adding the original spec bumper endcaps because they are easy enough to buy.

I'm hopefully getting a new windscreen surround at some point soon because the current one has too much rust - the only real bad area of rust on the whole thing really.

I've also made a start on wire brushing the chassis, apply rust convertor to bad areas then painting it and body schutzing it.

I also read somewhere that the MOT men don't like the flakey rust on the leaf springs so I've given them the same attention and I'll be painting them black too.

I had it out for a quick spin tonight and it drives well for sitting still for such a long period of time. It seems to crunch a bit going into gear but I'm hoping this is just the clutch needing adjustment/bled after sitting around for so long. Everything was stuck - the handbrake button was stuck in so it wouldn't let the handbrake work properly. I've now freed this off as well so the handbrake works properly.

 

[saxo_man]

**** the leaf springs on my blazer were seriously flaky, never had a bother with two mots, probably cos there was always loads of other things :0
Good work Brian anyway, nice looking yoke.

 

[Bryan]

I went out tonight to do some work on the Jeep and it wouldn't start again. Dead as a dodo - no spark or fuel pump once again. It started perfectly last night so I have no idea what's wrong. I took the ECU to bits again and checked everything and I can't find any problems. I've checked the crankshaft position sensor and it seems to be fine although I do get a resistance reading if I have the terminals from the multimeter on a certain way but not the other.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Bryan]

Despite the fact that it no longer runs once again and now probaby needs another ECU this little number arrived today... Just 4 more to find and then 5 alloys for them as well.

There's a very specific reason why I need these tyres and you might be able to tell from this one photo.

 

[Nicky]

I've used ECU Doctor in England a few times to replace components on boards and test ECU's, and they're not hard paid.

Might be worth a shout to see if there's anything they can do for you

 

[simy]

There's a very specific reason why I need these tyres and you might be able to tell from this one photo.

 

[Rover Repair]

I have only one question. Will you be painting number 18 on the side or number 19?

 

[Bryan]

The new bumper ends arrived all the way from America on Saturday - £15 cheaper than anywhere in the UK even including postage.

And then Mr Parcelforce arrived today with this...

And this...

Ignore the broken windscreen - I'll put my original screen into it when the time comes. It's in much better condition than my windscreen frame and actually the same colour but the whole jeep is going to be painted anyway so this is irrelevant.

Anyway onto the ECU and I plugged it in and turned the key... within 4 turns it fired up. The check engine light works perfectly now as well. If anyone comes across a MK1 Cherokee 4.0 I'll buy the ECU out of it for a spare if they fail this regularly!

This evening after getting it running again I stated into cleaning and blasting the chassis.

Driver's side:

Passenger side:

Overall I think I have one brake pipe that needs replacing, a tyre or two and I'm going to chance the exhaust for MOT (its very rusty but not blowing out anywhere) but ultimately it will need a complete exhaust as well.

 

[Colin_A]

Good luck with this. I always wanted a CJ7 done up like this.

 

[davey-dimples]

Im just going to leave this here....

http://www.jurassicjeep.com/jeep-29/

 

[Mr.Mint]

What are you using to clean the chassis with before using the schutz Brian? I bought an L200 recently and I need to do the same, but I am going to lift the body off for repairs and just wondered what the best thing is to use on them. I have used that Lucas Rust Treatment before and it seemed to work ok, but if there is a better alternative I would definitely use it.

 

[Bryan]

Wire wheel on a grinder and wire hand brush for the awkward areas. I then covered it in that Hammerite rust convertor stuff before blasting it with the schutz. The chassis didn't have any really bad rusty bits on it though - it's faired well for being 20 years old.