Newbie,with some questions

I'`ve owned my Jeep since last April, and what an interesting experience its been. I bought it when it had 217k on it. The motor has a slight knock. It used to be a Cabletron vehicle that was sold to the previous owner and then sold to me. Assuming they bought mass quantities, they went cheap and did not get gauge clusters. They got idiot lights. I put in a gauge cluster from a Wagoneer. The tach, speedometer, and voltage gauge work. The oil and temp do not. Right now I have a Sunpro temp gauge and nothing for the oil. And my electric fan is hooked up with a toggle switch because for some reason the fan stopped working about 3 weeks before I put in the new cluster. I checked the fuse, replaced the underhood relay, and it still didn't work until I hooked up a switch direct from the battery. Is there anything else I can test? Its rather annoying having to flip the switch everytime. I hit a deer one night coming home from work and demoslished most of my front end. The only thing that really survived were the fenders and the bumper. The header panel was cracked in 3 different places. All pf the front end trim pieces(headlight bezels, grille) were smashed. My ac condensor and radiator were forced into the engine compartment and bent one of the clutch fan blades(not enough to hurt anything), and destroyed the electric fan. I replaced everything that was destroyed with the exception of the ac condesnsor. Will not running the Ac condensor foul anything up? And last question, I don't beleive my 4wd is working properly. I beleive I have the Comman-Trac, on my 4wd shift indicatior I have 2h, 4h, N, 4l. Occasionaly I can feel the 4wd engage in 4l, but not in 4h. I don't have the mechanical skills for some things and 4wd systems happen to be one of them. Any help or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'`ve owned my Jeep since last April, and what an interesting experience its been. I bought it when it had 217k on it. The motor has a slight knock. It used to be a Cabletron vehicle that was sold to the previous owner and then sold to me. Assuming they bought mass quantities, they went cheap and did not get gauge clusters. They got idiot lights. I put in a gauge cluster from a Wagoneer. The tach, speedometer, and voltage gauge work. The oil and temp do not. Right now I have a Sunpro temp gauge and nothing for the oil. And my electric fan is hooked up with a toggle switch because for some reason the fan stopped working about 3 weeks before I put in the new cluster. I checked the fuse, replaced the underhood relay, and it still didn't work until I hooked up a switch direct from the battery. Is there anything else I can test? Its rather annoying having to flip the switch everytime. I hit a deer one night coming home from work and demoslished most of my front end. The only thing that really survived were the fenders and the bumper. The header panel was cracked in 3 different places. All pf the front end trim pieces(headlight bezels, grille) were smashed. My ac condensor and radiator were forced into the engine compartment and bent one of the clutch fan blades(not enough to hurt anything), and destroyed the electric fan. I replaced everything that was destroyed with the exception of the ac condesnsor. Will not running the Ac condensor foul anything up? And last question, I don't beleive my 4wd is working properly. I beleive I have the Comman-Trac, on my 4wd shift indicatior I have 2h, 4h, N, 4l. Occasionaly I can feel the 4wd engage in 4l, but not in 4h. I don't have the mechanical skills for some things and 4wd systems happen to be one of them. Any help or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Wow...You do have alot of questions! Welcome! First off - get a FSM (Factory Service Manual) Ebay, Techauthority.com or google for it. They are out there - this is a indespensible tool you will need most often!

If you put in a guage cluster you will have to change out the sending units for the oil and temp - they work different then for the idiot lights. The coolant sensor in the radiator probably has gone bad hence the fan stop working. Look for it I believe on the left side of he radiator between the upper hose and the tranny line if you have one. Not running with an A/C condensor will not hurt anything - unless you want to sweat to death in the summer time - of course with it not in there your A/C wont work. If your clutch fan blade is bent - REPLACE IT. It is now out of balance and will ut wear on the bearings plus a unseen crack could have formed and when you least expect it will sling the blade into the radiator - most likely when your 3 hours from home. I am not too familar with the Command Trac - if it is vacumn operated make sure you dont have any leaks anywhere - after the damage to the fron end you might have damaged the vacumn cannister - again the FSM comes in handy here.

Hope this helps alittle bit. I know the others here will chime in if need be! Again welcome to the Jeep family!

Thanks for the info. I have another question :banghead: :banghead: . I've been to several sites that sell sending units, all of I've seen are ones that say W/O gauges, or for european models. So far none of these sites have mentioned whether the europ. sending units are for gauges or if they are for idiot lights?? I'm also going to try to find a FSM like you mentioned. Thanks again.

What year, and model is it? Size engine?

I would look around. I dont know about the euro parts.

Sorry about the wait in replying(computer was down for maintainance purposes). Its a 91 with 4.0 HO. I'm going to go to the dealer probably tommorow and try to purchase the sending units. On to the sending units. I've located the oil pressure sending unit. The temp unit though, is that located above the manifold or below? I see something that might be it, but I can't say for . Is this it?sure.http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/160139possibletemp.JPG

Sorry about the wait in replying(computer was down for maintainance purposes). Its a 91 with 4.0 HO. I'm going to go to the dealer probably tommorow and try to purchase the sending units. On to the sending units. I've located the oil pressure sending unit. The temp unit though, is that located above the manifold or below? I see something that might be it, but I can't say for . Is this it?sure.http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/160139possibletemp.JPG


Yep thats it.
The Temp sending unit. You will get them at the dealer, Autozone has them! Coolant switch is a TU108 Oil Pressure Switch is OP67871
Napa: Oil Pressure Switch - ECHOP6762 CTS - not listed.
OReilly: CTS - WT422 Oil - S4185




Great writeup here:
http://www.jeepin.com/features/gaugeswap/index.asp

Says in that you do have to change out the oil and temp sending units.

Cool! Thanks for the part numbers too. I gotta return something at Autozone anyway, so I'll swing by there. Thanks for the help, Po Pilot!

No worries. Glad to be of help! I would make sure that you have them double check on the Coolant switch. On their website it asked for guages or lights and the # they gave me was for the one with gauges.

In regards to the 4WD problem, check the front axle disconnect on the passenger side on the back side of the differential. It will have 3 vacuum lines going into it. Make sure there is no vacuum leaks there ( should hear slight hissing noise if there is ). If no noise is heard pull off the hoses one at a time with the engine running and in 4WD you should hear a psst noise when you pull them off. I had to replace the whole actuator as it was not engaging the axle fork all the way ( this is what is behind the plate bolted to the axle housing), and it would slip out of 4WD. There is a collar on a fork that connects the outer axle to the inner axle, makes it so the axle isn't turning constantly while in 2WD ( less wear and tear ). If you pull the actuator out check the snaprings inside also, mine also broke a snapring which caused the shaft to slide but the fork did't move. Hope this helps, good luck and happy wheeln'.

Hi, with the enclosed cooling system and the problems so many of us have had with running hot I found it better to just wire the electric fan into the fuse box so that when the key is on the fan is running. That way you don't have to worry about it kicking on and off because they just don't seem to want to cut most of the time. USe a test light on the fuse box until you find a hot terminal when the key is on and no power when the key is off. I did this a few months ago and it's working great.

Cheers,
JR

PS Make sure you have a big enough amp fuse to run the fan!