clark

I've been traveling a ton for work and haven't had much time to wrench; however, I did re-visit the dealer last Saturday and I now have a new ignition cylinder and a working key. Dash is reading just over 61k miles; although I still haven't started her yet.

Before I could start wrenching, I had to get the Jeep from my trailer into the garage. To make this process easier, I installed a d-ring shackle in the floor so I could winch the Jeep off my trailer. It was fairly simple, but I was really nervous about the Jeep shifting around when coming off the trailer or having too much momentum - which could result in damage to my house, causing my wife more grief about this project. To combat this, I let the air out of the front tires so it wouldn't roll as fast. It was still a little sketchy, but it worked. Next time, I'll leave my truck attached to the trailer to provide added weight and leverage, as front of trailer rose at least 3' off the ground as Jeep rolled off.




Here's how she sits in the garage currently. I started pulling the plugs and as you guys know the driver side bank is a PITA to access. I also pulled the fenders and hood to provide a clean workspace. If anyone needs a driver quarter panel (white) in good shape, let me know.

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Since I'm being patient with the first start-up, I figured I'd do ahead and change fluids/filters while I'm digging around. Wrote myself a note between wrench sessions so I wouldn't make too many dumb mistakes...




I'm traveling again this week and wknd, but my intention is to finally start her up St Patrick's Day. If/when she purrs like she should, I'll start ordering parts.

First parts on the list - steering gear box, XRC fenders and new hood.
Next task on the wrench list - pull the front axle and calculate damages. It's pushed at least 10" to the passenger side, so not sure what's salvageable.

I've been talking to a member on this forum about a set of axles. No deal yet, but I am in the market for rubicon or better axle set with 4.88 or 5.13 gears and lockers. If you know of anyone that went to 60s/tons and is selling, please let me know!

More to come next weekend...

Jahamm88

Watching! Not that I need a project but I've often thought of either a flood salvage or rollover project. My intention would be to bring back to daily driver stock. thanks for sharing

jedg

Thanks for the update!

clark

Well...finally started her up this week. TONS of smoke....from engine bay and from exhaust...notice the precautionary fire extinguisher in the driver's seat.





After a few minutes, the smoke dissipated. The 3.6L idles; however, there's definitely an internal issue.
Here's a quick video of the "noise"... Anyone with super-hearing want to take a guess at the issue?

Mr.T

It sounds louder than normal to me, but can't make out anything. Since it rolled, maybe it ran a while upside down without oil pressure. Thinking oil pressure would be good to know -- Does the 3.6L have an oil pressure sender, perhaps readable with an OBD scanner?

clark

When I let it idle, oil pressure read 43-45, which I believe is in normal range. It is definitely louder than normal, so I know there's an issue. It never threw a code on the dash, which surprised me. I plan to hook my OBD scanner to it this weekend and see if it provides any additional detail.

jedg

Louder than normal.. perhaps exhaust... cracked exhaust manifold or one of the joints.. thought I would think you'd get a CEL based on one of the O2 sensors detecting more/less O2 in the exhaust than expected if there were an exhaust leak between the last O2 sensor and the head....

clark

My scanner is reading a 'pending fault' - PO452, Evap Emission Control System Pressure Sensor Low Input; but no other issues.
It's still smoking a little in the engine bay, but haven't found the source yet. Not sure if it's burn off or if there's a leak.

clark

PARTS!!!!! My credit card and the mailman hate me, but digging all of the new parts arriving every day!

clark

Haven't had much time to wrench, but I did take an hour or so today to check the condition of all the packages that arrived. Plus, the boxes took up so much space, I needed to get them on the jeep to gain some space back in the garage. It's a weird problem to have - too many new parts in boxes taking up space.

Parts List:
Topfire Fury Hood
Gladiator Grill
XRC Fenders (front and rear)
XRC rails
Stock gearbox (junkyard find)

Nothing here is close to final - mostly a test fit / garage clean-up.
Here's the hood right out of the packaging -

Topfire FURY hood


Quick mock-up of front end

Parts are just barely attached here and definitely not in their final place. I noticed today the plastic housing that holds the headlight is cracked on the passenger side. I'll add it to the list of items to replace.

My April weekends are booked, but hopefully I can find a few random hours to start installing the XRC fenders. I will say this, the XRC fenders were superbly wrapped. Lots of bubblewrap, tape, plastic, etc...If the packaging is any indication of the quality, this should be good!