89 BII

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I edited my post. The inspection plate is located under the engine. It is attached to the front of the transmission. I'm assuming you have an automatic.

 

[McWillies]

I edited my post. The inspection plate is located under the engine. It is attached to the front of the transmission. I'm assuming you have an automatic.

Yeah it's an auto. Found a thread of a guy who had an XJ with loose torque converter bolts like you are saying I might have. Seems fairly straight-forward. I will get my brother to help me out. I'll post tomorrow afternoon after I have had a chance to take a look. Thanks for all the help.

 

[JerryC]

Have him listen to the front of the engine too. A bad motor motor mount can sometimes let the engine move enough so the the fan hits the fan shroud.

 

[McWillies]

Hehe... I got a little story to tell.

I got around to working on it but instead of letting someone look and see where the sound was coming from, I just went straight to working on it. Started out with the inspection plate. There was a small inspection plate about the size of a phone that had 1 bolt and 1 "rivet" holding it on. I got the 1 bolt out but I still couldn't swing it downwards out of the way because there was another bolt on the outside of the bellhousing blocking it. I took that out and then I could swing it freely. I got it out of the way. Come to find out, I still couldn't truly see the flexplate teeth, there was another plate behind the small one. The starter and part of the bellhousing seemed to be in the way. I had to change the starter about 2 months ago, so I know how big of a pain in the ass it is to take out and put back in. After a lot of googling I asked my dad to come help, he's a mechanic (hehe). We couldn't see the actual teeth but we could see the bolts relatively easily, enough to put a socket wrench on 'em. 3 of the 4 bolts (hopefully there was only 4, that's all we could find) were loose. 2 were really loose. Took the 3 loose ones out and put some threadlocker to keep them from coming loose again. Got that all done and tightened the plate back up. Finally it was the moment of truth to see if the noise had stopped. Cranked 'er up, slowly shifted to reverse. My heart sank... The noise was still there. I just kinda laughed because I was pissed but it was also kinda funny we did all of that and it wasn't the issue. My dad came to take a look, told me to crank it up and shift into reverse so he could hear the noise (he had never heard it up until this point). He got underneath the truck and listened. He found where the sound was coming from... One of the welds holding my heat shield to the cat had broken loose.......

I'm lucky I went ahead and started working before looking for the sound though. At least we found the loose bolts on the flexplate before they turned into a huge problem. So now I will just have to deal with the sound until I can go up to my grandpa's and tack it back in place.
I also went ahead and unplugged the a/c compressor.

Hope everyone enjoyed.

 

[McWillies]

Sorry I didn't get any pictures but it was kinda hectic and you really couldn't see anything.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've heard of people using very large hose clamps to hold the shield to the cat. Something like from flexible dryer hose.

 

[McWillies]

I've heard of people using very large hose clamps to hold the shield to the cat. Something like from flexible dryer hose.

Might do that, not sure if I can weld metal that is rusty like that (very rusty), do you know? I'll look into it, thanks.

 

[McWillies]

Been researching different shocks, trying to find out which ones I want to get. Bronco graveyard is a great site, has almost anything I can think of. Does anyone know if their JBG shocks are any good? I was also looking at AutoZone and found Gabriel branded shocks (ProGuard model specifically) that are about $5 cheaper per shock, anybody have any experience with them? I want to get some nice shocks that will last me a while without putting too big a dent in my wallet. The Gabriels also come with all the hardware needed to mount, unlike the JBGs. Just realized it shows they are in stock at my local AutoZone too, so I wouldn't have to wait for shipping. Seems a little too good to be true, so if they aren't good quality, tell me so I don't get too caught up in all the conveniences.

 

[McWillies]

Couldn't connect to TRS yesterday, was the site down or something?

Anyways, I got some stuff done. Decided I would try to use hose clamps to fix the rattling heat shield, but AutoZone didn't have any big enough. I found this other stuff, I think it was called Muffler-Cast Bandage. Was a PITA to put on but it seems to have stopped the rattling for now (knock on wood). After doing that I remembered that my brake lights had been coming on and felt squishy, so I checked the brake fluid. The master cylinder was bone dry. Ran to the gas station and picked some up, poured it in and as it mixed with the old fluid, it started turning brown, so I need to change that soon. Looked at my broken door handle (ds interior). Didn't fix it but I figured out a way I can still use it if I push on it right. Figured out how the tilt steering wheel worked too, been trying that since I got the thing. My headlights are horrible because they point too far downwards, I was looking at the adjusters yesterday. What does the silver long stick adjuster do? Left and right? Where is the up to down?

Out of time, talk to you guys later.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[McWillies]

The exhaust bandage seems to be holding up. I'm unsure of one thing though. If anyone has used the stuff before, maybe you can help me. When I put the bandage on there, It said to use a little metal wire to hold it in place (it came in the package). I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave that metal wire there forever or take it off after 24 hours (the hardening period).

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

It's there to hold the bandage until the epoxy cures. Leave it or remove it, doesn't matter.

 

[McWillies]

Ok, I'll probably take it off. Don't want it flying off and hitting someones car or something.

 

[JerryC]

Shocks, I have Gabriel HD socks on mine. There was a big rebate on them and I picked them over the standard shocks because of the heavier wheels and tires. They were crazy stiff for the first couple of thousand miles and now are a little to stiff for my taste. Too harsh on small bumps, is what I mean. If I was to do it over I'd get the regular duty shocks.
If you can wait, watch for sales on shocks, it's pretty common to see a 4 for the price of 3 sales and sometimes better than that.

 

[McWillies]

From what I can see, the HDs are more for 18 wheelers and heavy duty vehicles so I can see why they would be harsh on a BII. There are different models of the regular duty ones, would you happen to know any differences in those models? They have the ProGuard model which seem to be a mid level shock.

 

[JerryC]

Took a look at my shocks today, they are actually Gabriel Ultra's.