Adventures of JeepGirl and Speedracer

JeepGirl And Her Great Adventure With The Great Race

2011-10-20T13:06:00.015-04:00

This past June was a great adventure for JeepGirl and her friends. She was part of the Great Race. Actually she was with the rally staff not a competitor, but she had lots of FUN!

The Great Race started in Chattanooga, Tennessee and traveled the back roads to Bennington, Vermont. The first day we traveled to Athens, TN and stopped for lunch before heading to our checkpoint on the Cherohala Skyway. With all the motorcycles going by it was sometimes hard to know if it was another motorcycle or an antique car coming up the skyway. Our first day ended in Maggie Valley, N.C. at the Wheels Through Time Museum.

The next day would take us through North Carolina via the Blue Ridge Parkway. We made a short stop at the Linn Cove Viaduct welcome center. The view was beautiful and the drive was peaceful. Our checkpoint was just before the exit off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Jumping off Rock Overlook. After we left our checkpoint we traveled to Galax, Virginia for lunch at the Old Cranks Museum. After lunch we traveled the back-roads to Salem, Virginia where we crossed the Natural Bridge.

The next day we traveled from Salem, Virginia to Harrisonburg, Virginia for lunch. Many had brought out their antique cars for a beautiful day and car show. After lunch we traveled through a part of West Virginia and then into Cumberland, Maryland. To get into Maryland we had to cross a toll road. This was the most unique toll road I have ever seen. It was a one-lane bridge that crossed the river and then we came to a small tollbooth where we had to pay fifty cents for crossing the bridge. We had a hosted dinner at the Culinary Cafe' on the Town Center. The Culinary Cafe' is run by the Culinary School of Allegany College of Maryland.

On June 14 we traveled from Cumberland, Maryland to Chambersburg, PA for lunch and then we traveled to Hershey, PA for a hosted dinner at the Antique Automobile Club Museum. While in Hersey we visited the the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum. We also visited Chocolate World and drove by Hershey World Amusement Park, and YES! you can buy any Hershey's chocolate candy you love! The museum was filled with antique cars, motorcycles, buses, and much much more. I enjoyed all of the museum and how every car, bus and motorcycle was displayed. So much history of America is shown in the history of transportation.

On June 15 we traveled to Hazelton,PA where we had lunch at Hazelton Downs at Laurel Mall which is an off-track wagering facility. During the afternoon we crossed the Susequehanna River and journeyed to Binghamton, New York where we had a hosted dinner at the Veterans Memorial Arena.

Thursday, June 16 we head out for Cooperstown, New York and the Baseball Hall of Fame. I am not a big fan of baseball but I still enjoyed going through the museum and learning about a sport that has helped shape the lives of many Americans. It is here you can see the oldest baseball, Babe Ruth's jersey, and a cow dressed as a baseball player.(Yes I said cow.) From Cooperstown we made our way to our checkpoint which we thought was the coolest. We were parked in a hay field!! JeepGirl loved feeling the dirt under her wheels after being on so much pavement We finally arrived in Saratoga Springs, New York where we visited the Saratoga Automobile Museum.

On the last day we would cross the Hudson River, cross more covered bridges and entered the state of Vermont. (Our checkpoint was to be the last one of the day and the last one for the rally.) This is the most northern state we have been in with my Jeep and we would be traveling to Stratton Mountain, Vermont for a hosted lunch before traveling on to Hemmings Motor News in Bennington, Vermont. We had a hosted awards dinner at Mount Anthony Country Club. It was here we learned that the 1911 Velie H1 Racetype (the oldest car in the Great Race) won the event for this year. The driver and navigator were Howard I. Sharp and Doug H. Sharp. I have to admit this was my favorite car, and I was always excited to see that they made it through each day.

Return to Iron Gap Road

2011-05-09T09:32:00.003-04:00

This weekend we returned to Iron Gap Road. This time we brought two lifted Jeeps to explore the road. I had still expected this top be a mild run so I had not brought my usual collection of spare parts or tools.

While Iron Gap is a county road is has not been maintained in years and is pretty rugged. We managed to break both Jeeps on the way back out.

Iron Gap is a beautiful area and we plan to return. Hopefully we will be better prepared next time as well.

To read more and see the pictures hit this link: Iron Gap Rd

Back Up lights fixed

2011-04-20T14:39:00.000-04:00

Jenny's Jeep had no backup lights. Often this is caused by the Neutral safety Switch failing. But we had recently replaced the switch on her Jeep due to it not wanting to start at times.

It turned out that the bulbs were actually bad in both her back up lights. We pulled the tail light housings and installed new bulbs. Now she can she behind her when she backs up at night. And more importantly, folks in her apartment complex can see when she is ready to back out of her parking space.

For instructions on removing the taillight housing, see: http://mikestrawbridge.com/blog/2011/04/how-to-change-taillight-bulbs-on-a-jeep-cherokee/

Cowan Railroad Museum

2011-04-06T10:08:00.000-04:00

Cowan Tennessee is a cute little town between Sewanee and Winchester. It is interesting because it is the place where extra locomotives are attached to trains before they make the long climb up the mountain. There is a tunnel through part of the mountain but, I don;t think you can get there anymore. It is just out of town and I have been there before in a Jeep. However the last time I tried to get there the road was blocked and marked private CSX property.

There are some old train cars and engine son display right in the middle of town beside the rail road tracks. There is also a museum that is open May to October.

For some pictures of our last visit there see: http://mikestrawbridge.com/blog/2011/04/cowan-railroad-museum/

Iron Gap Road Scouting Trip

2011-04-04T12:20:00.000-04:00

We took Janice's stock Jeep Cherokee to scout out Iron Gap road. Jennifer navigated while I sat in the back. Janice got to sample driving on a few challenging rocks while I spotted and Jennifer coached form the passenger seat. we finally stopped at a few bigger ledges that I thought she might have trouble getting back up.

We will take out big tired Jeeps back in a few weeks to see the rest of the trail.

To read more and see the pictures go to: Iron Gap Road Scouting Trip

Transfer case swap

2010-12-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

This week I swapped out a broken transfer case. The chain had stretched to the point that it slipped off the drive gear and broke the bottom of the case allowing the fluid to leak out. Read the rest of the story here: Transfer Case Replacement

XJ List return to Harlan

2010-11-09T10:10:00.000-05:00

After much deliberation, the XJ list decided to return top Harlan for their semi annual meeting. Harlan is always an adventure. Just getting the tow rig to the campsite is exciting. And then the trail from the camp top the mountain is a class three that has some exciting spots.

This year we had the added element of changing weather to deal with. We we arrived, we had blue sky and people were wearing shorts. By the time we made it to the top of the mountain we were in a hail storm. Then it started to snow. We had snow the rest of the weekend.

The normally challenging trails were made even more exciting by the snow and extra slick mud from the freeze thaw effect. Read more at: Black Mountain Adventure

Potty Training Little Jeepers

2010-09-28T15:34:00.002-04:00

Potty Training Little Jeepers

On our last trip to Golden Mountain Off Road Park, I enjoyed seeing a buggy with a car seat strapped in the back. Kids love off roading and they love all the bouncing around at any age. But carrying a diaper bag and finding a place to change a dirty one can be pretty tough on the trail.

So you need to get that little Jeeper potty trained ASAP!

My JeepGirl friends have the solution. Janice developed this method while she was teaching at day care teaching two year olds. She studied all the various methods out there and came up with one that worked for her and her kids. Jennifer has taken the original idea and developed it into a web site where you can learn the tricks and use them on your own little Jeeper.

Using the method will take a bout a week of prep work and a weekend of adventure time with your little Jeeper. This is not anything that we as Jeepers and off road adventurers are not accustomed to.

Check out her site at http://pottytrainingsite.com. She will answer all your questions and even help coach you through the process if you need a little assistance. You can also see her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pottytrainingsite. She is a fellow Jeeper and mother of three so she understands your Potty Training Problems and Frustrations better than anyone.

Check it out and get that little Jeeper out of diapers and into some big kid underwear this coming weekend. Save the diapers for drying out a distributor.

XJ List Spring Fling

2010-05-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Janice, Jenny and I attended the XJ list Spring Fling in Harlan, KY. The off road park in Harlan is my favorite of all that I have been to so far. It has over 7000 acres and over 200 miles of trails.

This weekend, rigs form our group conquered the infamous Lions Den. This is short but extremely challenging trial with shear drops and very narrow passages.

Josh has been building his XJ for the last six months with this trail in mind. And all his work paid off by making it through with just a few scratches on his well designed roll cage.

Jenny got quite a scare after she conquered Rail Bed with her new Lock Right Locker. AS she chose the narrow exit form the trail she slipped her front wheel off the ledge as was dangling about eight feet above a huge boulder. I quickly stabilized her with a winch line form my Jeep while the others put straps in place and Neal Hoover brought up his rig to winch the other end.

After some careful maneuvering, she was back on solid ground with only a leaking power steering pump as damage. She was very grateful to all who assisted her.

Several of the rigs ran Profanity. Jenny's Power steering was really acting up so those of us with her made sure she made it out the main trail and met back up at Middle fork. Evan drove her rig back down the rather scary trail to the campground as she was having trouble steering withe failing pump.

Evan loaned Janice his BMW and she and Jenny headed into town to fetch a new pump while Evan and I pulled the old pump. We had it off well before they got back. But when they got back we realized that we needed a pulley removal tool to make the swap complete. Evan and I went back into town to get the loaner tool. Armed with eh proper implements, we finished up the swap just about dark and settled in by the campfire.

The next morning we headed up to see the vista that the group had discovered the evening before while we were working on Jenny's Jeep. On the way there, Evan broke a transmission line. We were able to pool supplies from the group to make a trail repair right on the spot and continue on.

We had lunch while we enjoyed the beautiful view. I warmed some hot pocket meals on the intake manifold. We also posed for a group photo there.

We then made our way to the lower rock garden to play around some more.

We ended the day with steaks and potato boats cooked over a wood fire. Campfire conversation continued well into the night.

The Red Jeep Saga [Jeep reapirs]

2010-04-22T09:42:00.002-04:00

For the past few weeks I have been working with a Jeep my son bought. This Jeep has been frustrating and interesting at the same time. Every time we think we have it all fixed something new has popped up.

They have all been simple fixes once the underlying problem was uncovered however.

I drove it to my office today and I really like the way it drives. Our plan is to sell it but I may just keep it.

Read the story here: Jeep Repairs

The levitating cell phone

2010-03-23T14:27:00.005-04:00

I remember when I was racing at Cherokee Trails, my co driver Josh had clipped his cell phone to the tray under the glove box in the Jeep. It seemed pretty secure there and had stayed most of the day. However on our second pass on the Oswald Dome stage, there is a series of yumps that I was getting more confident on the second pass through.

As we accelerated down the hill, I hit one of the yumps with a bit more vigor than before. Josh paused in his reading of the notes and I was distracted from the road as he pointed out that his cell phone was hovering in mid air. The impact of the jump had popped the clip loose and sent it up just as the Jeep started to fall down the far side of the jump. The phone seemed to just hang there for what seemed like a very long time before the Jeep landed and his phone crashed to the floor board. We were both laughing so hard that I had trouble making the next turn.

Unfortunately the battery came loose from the camera so we did not record it on the in car video.

To prevent such occurrence in the future, Natalie from MobileFun.co.uk Iphone Acccessories sent me a StayStuck phone pad. This silicone pad is made of an amazing friction material that sticks to just about anything. I have been driving around with it in my street Jeep this week and my cell phone has stayed put just like the product name suggests. I have stuck it on the dash and on the center console and it stays either place just fine.

I have not hit any bumps as hard as those on the rally special stage but I do think it would hold up to those conditions as well.

The sample she sent me also has a really cool feature in that it has a place to mount a suction cup device like a phone holder or a GPS navigation device. I plan to test it further in my off road Jeep to see how it holds up to bumps and dust.

However, right now my mom has it. When she saw it and I told her what it is for, she snatched it up to "test" it herself as she hates having to stick her GPS to the windshield. She plans to use the pad to mount her GPS in a more easily accessible position.

So, it you have trouble with levitating cell phones or just want to mount your GPS or other suction cup mount device somewhere besides the windshield, this is the phone accessory for you. Check them out at IPhone Accessories or go direct to the StayPut Pad link.

This might even come in handy for mounting a camera on the Tail of The Dragon where the law enforcement folks have gotten picky about things mounted to the windshield. If they ever get the rock slide cleared anyway.

Return to Prentice Cooper

2010-01-19T15:06:00.000-05:00

For her birthday I took JeepGirl for a ride in her Jeep. We first went to look at Lula Lake but found it was closed. We made a bit of a round about trip off Lookout Mountain and made our way to the back side of Prentice Cooper.

We entered the park on Halley Rd. This is the only interesting trail I have found in the park and has the ominous looking warning about 4x4 vehicles only beyond this point.

Coming in the back way we found a bit of slippery mud and were surprised by some ice still on the road.

Climbing up out of the creek, I choose to climb over some rocks rather than risk the ice that was close to the edge of the road. We heard a small scrape but ignored it at the time.

We drove on to the top of the hill and headed to the south of the park. Just like every time before we found the gate locked just past the pond. I am not sure when or if they ever open this as it has always been closed when I was there.

We were also disappointed that Lusk point was closed. That was the main reason we had drive up there.

As we were leaving the park by the main entrance we stopped to look at the map. That is when I noticed the rear fender flare was missing.

We compared notes and both realized that the only scrape we had heard all day was back at the creek on Halley Rd. So I turned around and drove back. Sure enough right by the creek was her flare laying in the middle of the road.

There was nothing sticking out that could have hit it. I am guessing that when the tire stuffed in to the fender well, it some how caught the flare and popped it off.

Back home, a few tapes with a rubber hammer to straighten the bracket and then the flare bolted right back on.

Replacing Ball Joints

2009-07-17T11:11:00.002-04:00

I replaced the ball joints on my off road Jeep this week. I am sure they contributed to the breaking of my axle shaft in Harlan. The completre story is here: --> Ball Joint Replacement Jeep Cherokee

Trail Riding at Prentice Cooper

2009-06-24T11:42:00.003-04:00

Prentice Cooper State Forest

This past weekend Mike, myself, our son Will , Jenny and her children decided to go to Prentice Cooper State Forest to check out the Jeep trails. We had visited Prentice Cooper State Forest the day before and checked out some of the trails. We were in our Suburban at the time. Therefore we stayed on the main trail.

The next day we went in the Jeeps. We started out on Persimmon Trail and stayed on it until we came to a dead end. We turned around and tried another way, but we got confused as to where we were on the map. We turned around again and went back to the main trail.

We then found a trail that led to Lusk Point. At this point we were able to overlook the Tennessee River. It was a beautiful sight! We could see Hwy 27 where it goes by the rock quarry at the foot of Signal Mountain. It was here that we decided to eat our picnic lunch.

After lunch we found Haley Rd. This road was the most interesting. When we turned onto the road we found a sign that said only 4x4s were allowed on this trail. It started with a steep downhill leading all the way to a creek crossing. As we made our way down the trail we came to a hill climb. We kept driving until we found Hwy 27. We then turned around and went back to the hill climb.

There was a trail at the top that we took until we came to a couple of trucks. The drivers said there were a few trees down. We turned around and started to head back to Haley Rd. However, Jenny's Jeep started to act up. I don't think she the Jeep Princess) wanted to leave. Mike was able to keep her going as we coaxed her on, and we soon made it back to Haley Rd and Hwy 27 and home.

You can read more here. www.mikestrawbridge.com

Aetna Mountain off road

2008-12-30T13:01:00.005-05:00

This weekend I went with some friends to Aetna Mountain near Chattanooga. The recent rains made the rails very slippy. Even the main road up and down the mountain was a huge challenge to navigate. Places that can be accessed by car when dry were nearly impassable. I was very happy with my Maxxis Buckshots. Since trailer parking is limited and not secure, I drove the 50 miles to the trail head. I did not want to air down too much since I had to drive back. The Buckshots were amazing even at 25 psi.

We met some very interesting folks in he woods and had a great time. I was very appreciative to the guys it he Cherokee who showed us a shortcut out and to the guy in the Toyota who pulled me back straight when I got crossed up in the ruts on the way out.

Here is a video of Jenny playing on a waterfall climb: My favorite part of the video is the narration by her three year old son Hunter.

Jeep No Start update

2008-12-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

I just thought I found the problem when I found the bare wire going to the distributor. The next day when I was needing to leave my office to go to a very important meeting, my Jeep would not start. I used up most of the battery trying different wires and connections that might be bad. I finally borrowed Jenny's Jeep and made my meeting.

The computer was again showing code 54 - no sync. This sensor is mounted inside the distributor. Since I had a spare distributor, I elected to change the whole unit instead of just the sensor.

Working in the parking lot between rain showers, I carefully marked the direction of the rotor for the old distributor. Installed the spare making sure the rotor ended up pointing at the mark I made so that it would be indexed the same as the old one.

I reconnected the wires and even with the low battery, it fired right up.

I am happy to have it going again. Maybe this will cure this very annoying intermittent problem I have had for a while.

More electrical gremlins

2008-12-15T14:15:00.003-05:00

I have been fighting some more electrical gremlins on White Jeep for the last few days. It would suddenly cut of and then restart while going down the road. I had trouble cranking it Friday and got codes from the computer.

Code 54 turned out to be no sync signal from the distributor. Sunday afternoon I went to move my Jeep and it would not start again. finally I had the no start condition at home where I could work on it!

The code 54 was back. After a lot of searching and running the battery down trying to start it, I found that one of the wires coming from the distributor had a bad place in the insulation and was grounding out against the engine. I put some tape of the wire and the engine started right up.

I am noticing that alot of the insulation on the wires near the engine is starting to crumble. That was what had happened to this piece of wire.

Air horns

2008-12-05T15:37:00.003-05:00

I have not had a horn on White Jeep for a couple of years. I had thought there was a wiring problem or a bad relay so I never really looked into it. However, recently, I was testing a horn for a friend and I found that the wire to my horn was hot. The horns just made no sound.

JeepGirl and Harbor Freight to he rescue. For my birthday she got me a set of air horns. I hooked them up last night. I fished the wire from the driver's side horn back into the engine compartment. I hooked it to the positive terminal of the compressor which I mounted where the air box used to be. I had to add a ground wire from the compressor to the body. I stuck two of the trumpets through the hole where the air box normally breathes and let the other trumpet rest under those.

Now I have a real attention getting horn.

Jeep repairs - seat belt latch

2008-12-05T15:24:00.004-05:00

Last night I did a few repairs to White Jeep. My seat belt latch has been giving me trouble for a while. The little spring that forces the catch into the tang of the belt broke. I managed to get by for a long time by just shoving the parts of the spring back to together, but eventually that failed as well. I then stole the spring out of the center seat belt in the rear as the rear seat seldom gets used. However, the driver's side front buckle is slightly different from the rear in that it has a switch in it. I had to cut out the switch to get the rear parts in. This has worked well for a couple of months with the exception of being hard to disconnect.

Yesterday, it failed again. Part of the plastic from the old switch jammed the mechanism and bent the release mechanism.

I have made all the previous repairs with the seat belt still attached to the tunnel because I had not been able to get the bolt loose. Well last night I decided it would be much easier to make the repair on the bench so I used my air wrench to remove the bolt. It came out easily with the torque of the thunder gun.

Once it was out and I could see and move parts around, I cut out the remaining plastic from he switch and made the mechanism work smoother. I had to bend the tabs on the release button back into the proper position. After a few tries I was able to snap the cover back on and have every thing stay in place.

I have thought of buying a new belt but when I found the price was over $200 for the belt, I decided to fix mine again. It is amazing how motivating saving $200 can be.

It is nice to have a seat belt that stays fastened and comes loose when I push the button.

300,000 miles

2008-12-02T13:39:00.003-05:00

My daily driver know affectionately as White Jeep turned over 300,000 miles recently. This Jeep has really been a very reliable vehicle. The oil gets changed occasionally and it gets driven a lot.
It has been raced, rallied, rally crossed , run off road, towed trailers and generally been well used. It has even been overheated severely a couple of times.

Over the years I have had to change the alternator twice. I have installed a half dozen or so sets of spark plugs. Changed the plug wires a time or two. I have changed the rear oil seal once and installed a new harmonic damper and seal in the front.

I have swapped the radiator a few times and had the head cleaned out by the dealer due to overheating issues.

The front control arm bushings were replaced with poly years ago but it is still running the original track bar. I have swapped the front wheel bearings more times than I can remember and installed several sets of high performance brake pads.

The leather seats are getting a bit ragged and I have worn out three steering wheels. The Ac compressor recently quit but otherwise this Jeeps runs and drives great. I could not have asked for a more reliable and fun truck to drive.

Wooly's Off Road Park

2008-12-02T13:10:00.006-05:00

On the day after Thanksgiving, Scott and I were getting bored sitting around waiting for our wives to return form shopping so we took Janice's Jeep to a place near Lewisburg called Wooly's off road park.

We felt a little out of place in her stock Jeep with her Motives Cosmetics ads on the rear hatch but we knew that a stock jeep is very capable of running mild trails.

The folks there were very nice and friendly and told us which trails they recommended. We signed the waiver and paid our $10 entry fee.

I drove around a bit and explored the east side of the park. There was lots to see there. We watched a couple of wranglers tip toe around on some of the rocks there.

As we were getting ready to cross the road to the west side of the park Scott was driving when we spotted the Wranglers working their way down what looked like a tricky hill. I quickly scouted it and saw it was easily passable in JeepGirls Jeep and I waved Scott on. He made it down with very little drama.

In fact remarked how easy it was. So I told him to turn it around a go back up. Even with both sway bars installed, and full street pressure in the tires, he made it up the hill. He only stopped once but a little bump got him over the rock. Not a Neal Hoover bump, just a little bump.

We explored some of the west side of the park but we got confused at a five way intersection. It was starting to get dark so we turned around and I let Scott drive back to the parking lot.

Wooly's is defiantly due for a revisit. It looks like a good safe place for Scott to drive his Woody Wagoneer. There are also some very interesting looking hills that I want to try Scuffy on.

I guess I will have to fix my winch before Christmas.

My Jeep just quit!

2008-10-22T21:21:00.004-04:00

Today I was driving along in my Jeep Cherokee and it suddenly lost power. I looked down and saw the tach was reading zero. I bumped the shifter into neutral and after a few tries, it started back up. I was pretty sure I knew what the problem was, but I did not want to mess with it in traffic. It ran fine after that initial failure.

Later that afternoon when I went to star up my Jeep, it started and then immediately died. I first checked the mounting for the ecu and the plug for the CPS. Both seemed fine.

I then moved to the grounding bolt on the back of the block. Sure enough one of the main ground wires had broken loose. I was able to position the wire where it made contact an the other wires held it in place so I could drive home.

I also found one of the other wires was loose in its terminal so I replaced both with new ring terminals.

Coker Tire and Antique Cars

2008-09-30T13:27:00.003-04:00

Coker Tire Challenge and Antique Cars

During the weekend of September 19, 2008 I was involved with the Coker Tire Challenge in Chattanooga,TN. This event has run for the past three years and is sponsored by Coker Tire of Chattanooga.

This year there were 40 antique car entries. The event ran from Chattanooga, TN to Lynchburg, TN on Friday, September 19. Then on Saturday the entries ran from Chattanooga, TN to Etowah, TN. On this day the entries stopped in Cleveland, TN to have lunch with the National Antique Car Association. There were approximately 350 cars at this event at Westwood Baptist Church. On Sunday the entrants ran in the Chattanooga area.

Each day some of my friends and I helped out by working the checkpoints. These checkpoints were timed and each entrant had a certain time they were to arrive at each point and each entrant received penalties for either being early or late.

If I had to choose my favorite car I am not sure that I could. However, I did enjoy the Antique police car (Car 54) and the Jaguar from Puerto Rico. My friend Jennifer enjoyed the Model A that she got to ride in a the finish.

I enjoyed working the checkpoints, but my favorite part was getting to meet the people and see the beautiful cars. I enjoy events like this and the people involved have a wonderful love for the antique cars and trucks.

Corky Coker and his family did a great job with hosting the event and everyone had lots of fun. Thanks to the Coker family and what they do to help others enjoy playing with the antique automobiles.

For more information about the Coker Tire Challenge or to see pictures from the event go to http://www.coker.com/.

Changing the rear pinion seal

2008-08-19T11:41:00.004-04:00

Last night we replaced the rear pinion seal on Jenny's XJ. Her Jeep has the Chrysler 8.25 rear end. The gear lash of the differential is set partly by the amount of crush on the spacer under the pinion bearing, so changing the seal has the potential to up set the alignment of the gears.

After removing the drive shaft, we carefully marked the nut and the pinion shaft. Then while holding the yoke with a pipe wrench and turning the nut with a socket, we carefully counted the turns required to remove the nut. In our case it was nine turns exactly.

The yoke came off easily with the nut removed. I used a chisel under the metal lip of the old seal to drive it out. After cleaning up all the surfaces, and inspecting the yoke for wear, we installed the new seal.

I used a hammer and a seal driver to press the seal in flat against the differential housing.

We then installed the yoke being careful not to damage the new seal.

We then reinstalled the nut and carefully counted the turns to put it back into the right spot. A little dab of lock tite was put on the threads as a precaution.

After tightening the nut back to precisely the same spot as it came off, I turned it just a little bit more to ensure it was tight.

We then reinstalled the drive shaft and filled the diff with fluid to replace what had leaked out.

A quick test drive shaowed it was all sealed up. No more stinky burning diff lube on the exhaust!

Jeep XJ Fuel Pump Relay

2008-08-11T10:58:00.002-04:00

I have been dealing with a couple of Jeep XJ Cherokees lately that have had intermittent fuel delivery problems. The first one was Jenny's 92 XJ. Occasionally on hot days her jeep would appear to vapor lock. While vapor lock was common on systems where the fuel pump was at the engine and pulled fuel from the tank, the pressurized system of the Jeep should be immune to vapor lock. Jenny's Jeep would also occasionally read low fuel pressure ont he fuel rail and then at other times read the correct fuel pressure. Bypassing the ballast resister would sometimes cure the low fule pressure problem.

Next my son's 91 XJ began havign trouble starting. It would sometimes fire then stumble an ddie only to start right back up. At others times it would simply spin but not fire at all. Testing the fuel pressure at the rail would show fuel and checking spark gave me quite a jolt. But it simply would not start. Sometimes it would seem to start while holding the key in start but as soon as the key was released to run his Jeep would die.

The most annoying part was that after he would call me or my dad to come rescue him, we would get there to check it out and it would fire right up. Pull it in the shop to test it and it would start and run fine every time.

Finally, one day it failed to start while I was there and i had a chance to keep experimenting with it. After quite a bit of head scratching, I found that the fuel pump relay was not always making contact. I swapped his cooling fan relay in to the slot to get him home while I stopped by the parts store to get him a new relay. I picked up one for Jenny's Jeep while I was there.