1988 Laredo

[grizzlybear310]

Hey all, I'm back and I guess I'm hooked on these Jeep things.
Just bought a 1988 Cherokee Laredo today with 104,000 on the clock.
Power everything and it all works.
Couple quick questions about it.
I had it running and went to take the oil fill cap off the valve cover to check for blow-by and noticed it sucking on the cap when I removed it.
Is this normal for the 4.0's?

Well used my 1988 on my daily run yesterday and it ran great. Not as peppy as the '96 but ran good.
A little low on the heat output but have a new thermostat for that. One with the purge hole from the dealer. Will put it in tomorrow.
Only other thing I have noticed is when I first start it up, it will puff some smoke and also after coming down a hill where it has to hold it self back, when I give it the gas again, some more smoke.
Not a lot, but you can see it. Guess it's time for some valve guide seals.
Maybe with only 104,000 on the clock, has not been drove a lot and maybe they have become dried and brittle.

Well there was no oil in air box and air filter neither
Am in process of trying to get the valve cover off.
Man that rear bolt is a pain.
Also, what's this stuff about burping the air out of the cooling system?
It has the closed system on it.
That's all for now.

Well got the valve cover off and man what a mess.
Looks like it has never had a oil change.
Lots of crude on the top of the head and in valve cover.
Also, some dummy had put a solid rubber plug in the front breather that goes over to the air box.
That did not help matters any for sure.
I don't want to remove this head, so how is the best way to get this crude cleaned off?
Just scrape it and pick it out of there?
Any ideas?
Thanks.
Lester

[GunnyJeep]

to clean the crud from the valve cover I used brake cleaner and a non matellic brush - make sure that it is completely dry (which is why I like using brake cleaner).

for Burbing your system

raise the rear of the Jeep (floor jack under the rear pumpkin or hitch is best way) about a foot

on your manifold at the very back outboard of the last fuel injector is a temp sensor (2 wires going to it) remove that then start filling your system through the pressure tank - you will hear air coming out of the temp sensor hole just fill until you see the rad. fluid coming out - put the sensor back in and you are done.

but would suggest installing a 91 or newer open system - easy mod that takes about 1 - 1 1/2 hours to do.

[sharky88]

on burping...can i do it by parking my xj on veery steep hill and whiile warm(i have a hill a few blocks away) perform the sensor removal on the head? or should i do it cold?should teflon tape be used? my xj88 was hissing at the cap then leaking now it erupts spewing coolant down into a small puddle. wait ten mins then drive home 20 mins it doesnt do a thing and neve goes over 210! i keep the coolant level at full using the mark in the bottle. no oil in coolant or visa versa. i hope i just jhave a crap cap/air in sys. new cap fromdealer doent fit tight so usiing the old cap . help.