Yes we tried ether. No luck. We have compression, we have spark, we have fuel and fuel pressure. We have taken the fuel rail and injectors (with new o rings) from the running motor and installed them on the newer motor. We installed the throttle body from the running motor. We switched the coil from the running motor. New plugs and relatively new wires. We installed a new crank senor. We are able to see the timing mark at TDC with a timing lite, this was after we put the crank on zero degrees and removed the distributor cap to confirm that the rotor was pointing to 1. We tried several shots of ether. It simple will not pop. Quite frustrating! Fred will be leaving after lunch tomorrow. The pressure's on.
After dinner, a quick call to Rick brought us back to basics. He told us to rerun the TDC check again. We did and found that we had set the wires on the exhaust TDC. Once we got that fixed, it fired right off.
The new engine appears to have a stuck thermostat, so that will be taken care of in the morning. The starter bendix is not acting right so that will have to be worked on too. The new clutch is so light, I thought it had run out of fluid. It works just great. The motor sounds a lot tighter than the old one. Maybe it does have just 100k miles. We will see as I ring it out in the days to come.
I just wanted to offer further proof that I was there.
Now that I'm home, I can't believe how fast the time went.
Nothing like working on a project with a good old friend and a little home made wine.
What a fun way to spend a few days. Sure am glad I didn't have to stay to clean up
and put away all those tools.
Fred,
I edited the previous post and changed the picture to a permanent one and added the video.
I also changed the thermostat this morning and still have the same problem.
The engine gets real hot but the radiator water stays cool. When I put the thermostat in, the coolant in the engine was right up to the lower lip of the thermostat hole. I guess there could be an air pocket somewhere. Hmmmm...
I noticed your video clips are kinda large given their length. Have you ever used Windows Movie Maker? It comes free with Windows XP. It should be on your Start Menu --> All Programs. I was able to reduce the clip down to a 1.5mb file with minimal effort. Movie Maker also makes it super easy to add titles/credits/dates into your video. It's also very easy to string clips together, add a little music underneath, or whatever.
video 1: (1.5mb) I just imported your AVI into Movie Maker, dragged it down to the bottom (the timeline), and then went to File --> Save Movie File.. and selected the "My Computer" option.
video 2: (2.5mb) Same as above, but I added a quick title and some credits.
There is a little bit of quality loss, but not bad enough to worry about.
Thanks, Dave, I'll try the Movie Maker next time.
The overheating problem appears to have been air in the system. I put a floor jack under the front end and raised it as high as it would go then started her up and revved the engine some to get the water circulating. At seemed to work. Now the temp gauge doesn't go into the red. It does ride higher than it did before the engine swap. It may be due to a difference in the temperature senders. I'm going to drive her to Wheels4Hope tomorrow and check the actual temperature with a meter we have.
I also found the fourth injector connector spring clip today. I know Fred was concerned about that. It was amongst some floor sweepings.
I pulled the new crank position sensor and put the old one back in. It works just fine, so I'm going to return the new one and use the refund to defray the cost of a new radiator. This one is pretty cruddy.
I put the old motor on craigslist yesterday for $175 and have had two inquiries already. It must be a rare collector's item. I removed the intake and exhaust manifolds and plan to sell them separately. The spare flywheel cleaned up very well and it will go on craigslist as well.
Anyway, I took her out for a test drive this evening and she runs pretty well. I tested the clutch and she will spin the rear wheels so I guess it is OK. The only concern I have is with the high operating temperature.
I've put several hundred miles on the new motor now with no problems. The motor is running great. It pulls noticeably harder than the old one, is quieter and smoother and starts better too. I'm not crazy about the feel of the clutch release, though. It's not as smooth as the old one. I hope it gets better as it wears in. Either way I won't miss checking the clutch fluid reservoir.
I swapped temperature sensors with no change in the reading, but when I settled down and thought about it I realized that the difference is surely the change from the 180 degree to 195 degree thermostat. Duh!
A guy stopped by on Monday and gave me a check for $175 for the old motor. I ran to the bank and verified and cashed it and he will be here tomorrow to pick it up. He has an '86 Comanche that blew a motor and was very happy to see mine come up on craigslist. I hope she runs as well for him as she did for me.
At this time I'd like to thank my out of town pit crew for all the help, support, and good times. I hold my glass up to you Fred.
I had a great time, especially when we got the timing right.
Also enjoyed the tour of the WXO wine cellar and saw first hand
the making of the "Farmwood Estates 2006" fine red wines.
She doesn't seem to be phased by anything. She starts reliably every time except for her traditional long cranking time. (Nobody's perfect.) I've used 4WD and low range at Nine's Auto Wrecking several times while pulling parts for Wheels4Hope. Nine's has some mud bogs that last a long time after it rains. The motor's doin' great. Doesn't use any oil. I gave her her first oil change on the new motor last week. The sticky clutch has gotten no better or worse. I've just gotten use to it. I'm not gonna pull the motor again to try to fix the clutch. The next time I buy a clutch, I'm gonna get the best one I can afford. No more el cheapo clutches for me.
She is doin' so well, that I'm thinking of treating her to new carpeting (maybe rubber carpeting) in the spring. The smell that hits you when opening the door for the first time each day in hot weather is testing my tolerance. I've also been threatening to crawl under and weld up the parking brake cable bracket that's torn loose. Ya gotta treat a girl right if she treats you right.
I finally broke down and worked on the parking brake for this high class machine. One of the two brackets that guide the cables to the rear wheels had pulled completely out of the floorboards. I was going to simple go underneath and weld it back on, but when I looked up at the hole, I could see carpeting and welding didn't seem like such a good idea. So I pulled out all the seats and carpeting. What a mess! There was a big hole rusted through on the RH rear floorpan and rust in other major areas due to the damp moldy carpeting. Anyway I tried to weld the bracket into place, but the first time I hooked everything up, the tension on the cables pulled it back out. I'm not the world's best welder. So I drilled a couple of holes and bolted it back on with 1/4 bolts. Now it's good and solid. You can see where I welded the bracket to the new floor patch to make it extra solid.
Next, I turned my attention toward the big hole over the muffler. I looked through all my accumulated junk, but couldn't find some good metal to patch with. Then I thought of the junk PC carcasses I had in the basement. A side cover from the old sturdy PC turned out to be a great patch. Check this out =>
For now I will be riding sans carpeting and passenger seat 'til I figure out what to do about replacing the carpet. I don't want to put a $200 carpet in a $100 Jeep. Sorry Nellie Belle.
Yes, I think some really nice RED SHAGGY carpet would make Nellie Belle look classy! Maybe some artifical turf in green. OK, I'm not helping, but a coat of flat black rust proof paint and some inexpensive mats would work just fine or something. grins.
As a side note about shag carpet in vehicles.
A long time ago my father had a Chevy van he bought in Arizona.
It had shag carpet everywhere. (you know the style).
Needless to say, shag carpet once lit on fire burns FAST.
I think some rhino lining (like a pickup bed) and some rubber mats.
It will be indestructable then.
I finally patched up all the holes in the floorboards, painted over the whole thing with some special rust stopping paint and checked for water leaks.
When I was sure no more water is coming in from the outside, I went to work on the old carpeting. It was all stinky from being soaked in water for a long time, so I sprayed it with bleach solution and then Fabreeze. Finally a little scrubbing and vacuuming and back in she went. It's still a little stinky, but much better than before. I still have the console to patch and install, but it won't be long before I can get back to the real reason I started all this in the first place. The parking brake still doesn't hold well even after I secured the broken bracket and adjusted the cable. I guess I will pull the rear wheels and see if the rear brakes look like they need some attention.
Seems like a lot of work for a junky ol' Jeep, but I like her and she serves me well.
