WJCO's Build Thread, 1999 WJ

WJCO said:
Update on my heating problem. I had kinda forgot about it until the other day. It was 75 outside and I was sitting at idle for about ten minutes with ac OFF. I just happened to look down and noticed the gauge was at 3/4. Turning the heat on brought it back down as usual.

So today it was a similar temperature outside and gauge was normal. I'd already been sitting at idle for about ten minutes. I decided to turn the AC ON (last year this duplicated the symptom almost immediately). I sat there at idle for ten more minutes and it never acted up. WTF?!

So yet again I'm stumped. In about a month when the heater isn't really necessary, I'm going to bypass the leaking heater core and bleed the system and see what happens after a few weeks. If the issue is fixed, I'll run some kind of heater bypass valve that I can turn on and off (I really don't want to pull the dash and fix the core). But if the problem persists with the core bypassed, then I'll gamble and replace the radiator.
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Pulling the dash is not fun on any vehicle. I don’t blame you for wanting to just bypass. I hope that works for you!
 
Ugh, sorry to hear you're still having issues with that. Chasing nagging issues is aggravating. That awning is really cool BTW!
 
Replaced my spark plugs today just for preventative maintenance. It's got 150k on it so I don't know if they've ever been done. Sure doesn't look like it. Center electrode on almost everyone is burned down to almost nothing.

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WJCO said:
Replaced my spark plugs today just for preventative maintenance. It's got 150k on it so I don't know if they've ever been done. Sure doesn't look like it. Center electrode on almost everyone is burned down to almost nothing.

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Looks like they needed to be replaced...spark plugs sure don't look the same anymore in new vehicles...
 
WJCO said:
Replaced my spark plugs today just for preventative maintenance. It's got 150k on it so I don't know if they've ever been done. Sure doesn't look like it. Center electrode on almost everyone is burned down to almost nothing.
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Man, good thing you did this :thumb:
 
Brute said:
Looks like they needed to be replaced...spark plugs sure don't look the same anymore in new vehicles...
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No kidding. Newer ones can be really strange looking.

sipafz said:
Wow, those are some huge gaps!
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wayoflife said:
Man, good thing you did this :thumb:
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No kidding. I had zero symptoms, just wanted to do it before trails open. Sure glad I did. OEM spec is .040 and these old gaps were .080 to .100.
 
WJCO said:
Replaced my spark plugs today just for preventative maintenance. It's got 150k on it so I don't know if they've ever been done. Sure doesn't look like it. Center electrode on almost everyone is burned down to almost nothing.
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Probably something I should do also. Good PM goes a long way!
 
Stotch said:
Probably something I should do also. Good PM goes a long way!
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Took me about 2 hours total. Wasnt hard at all. I did the back two cylinders first to get the hardest ones out of the way. And unbolting the oil dipstick and moving it off to the side gives you a little more room on the right bank.
 
WJCO said:
Took me about 2 hours total. Wasnt hard at all. I did the back two cylinders first to get the hardest ones out of the way. And unbolting the oil dipstick and moving it off to the side gives you a little more room on the right bank.
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Removing oil dipstick is good tip. I found it also is easier on right bank if you remove the inner fender liner.
 
WJCO said:
Replaced my spark plugs today just for preventative maintenance. It's got 150k on it so I don't know if they've ever been done. Sure doesn't look like it. Center electrode on almost everyone is burned down to almost nothing.
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Did she run better after the swap?
 
TrailHunter said:
Did she run better after the swap?
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About the same. Idle seemed a little smoother, but it didn't seem to drive much different. I only test drove it like 2 miles though.

HighwayTrout said:
You think your heater core is sucking in air causing the gauge to spike?
Seems like you chased that gremlin to hell and back already.
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I'm thinking maybe, or it's creating just enough of a leak to not allow the system to pressurize correctly. My gut feeling is that it's still the radiator though. Because this heater core has been leaking about the same amount for 2 years (not leaking much at all) and this cooling symptom didn't start until this last nine months ago or so.
 
WJCO said:
Took me about 2 hours total. Wasnt hard at all. I did the back two cylinders first to get the hardest ones out of the way. And unbolting the oil dipstick and moving it off to the side gives you a little more room on the right bank.
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Slimebones said:
Removing oil dipstick is good tip. I found it also is easier on right bank if you remove the inner fender liner.
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Cool, thanks for the tips!
 
WJCO said:
No kidding. I had zero symptoms, just wanted to do it before trails open. Sure glad I did. OEM spec is .040 and these old gaps were .080 to .100.
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Wow that's a crazy amount of gapage! I replaced mine last year when I hit around 95k miles. Wasn't sure if the PO ever did it. My gaps were around .50. Good thing you changed them.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
Looking great, Doug. That awning is awesome. Sucks to hear you're still having heating/cooling issues. This summer hopefully it'll all get resolved! :thumb:
 
WJCO said:
I'm thinking maybe, or it's creating just enough of a leak to not allow the system to pressurize correctly.
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^^ This. I had a small pinhole leak in my t-stat housing last year and I had the symptoms you do. It would run a little warm at speed and at idle it'd spike.
 
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