Not too much to report this weekend but I finally got the rear window working. In the video below, it's actually running on my 18v DeWalt drill's battery because I ran out of wire. I'll get some more wire this week and eventually be able to completely check the rear window off the "to do" list. It's really nice to be able to get stuff from the back of the jeep without crawling through the rear doors! The powersteering hose I ordered on eBay came in too, so I'll tackle that next.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
More electrical gremlins...
The Wagoneer has never been easy to start when it's cold. Saturday morning was no different but on the second try, the engine coughed and burst to life but the starter kept running too! Uh, oh! A quick turn of the key to the "OFF" position resulted in the engine and starter combo still roaring along in an awful symphony of high idle and high pitched gear noise. Luckily, the hood was still up from previously topping off the powersteering fluid so I was quickly able to cut the battery cable using a pair of dykes and the engine immediately died. Cutting the cable was a desperate measure but trying to think quickly on my feet I knew it would immediately shut the engine down and also be easy to fix later on. Not the safest thing in the world either, so don't try it at home kids!
After that fiasco, I started troubleshooting the starter circuit to see WTF was wrong with the jeep. Initially, I thought the starter solenoid was frozen in the start position. After further investigation, the solenoid turned out to be fine - it seems that the "START" signal from the key switch doesn't go off when the key is released to the "RUN" position. So, the solenoid was doing as it should but getting bum input from the jeep. I will replace the solenoid just for good measure and will probably just install a momentary toggle switch to start the jeep - a lot easier than tearing into the inner workings of the dash and steering column. While I was at it, I wire wheeled both battery terminals, cleaned up the engine block ground and the starter connections. Hopefully this will be the last of the electrical problems.
After the starter issues, I moved on to the power steering pump. Team member Tom provided a power steering hose left over from a Wagoneer that he parted out on eBay. Upon further inspection, Tom's hose has a nick in it too and will likely leak. It's probably an improvement from what we have right now, but I found an OEM hose on eBay for $9.99 and will order that shortly. I really don't want to leave a trail of powersteering fluid over 1500 miles and a new hose is cheap insurance. I plan to use part of Tom's hose (the flared ends) to clean up the connections on the low pressure power steering hose, though.
Still determined to actually fix something, I moved on to the cantankerous rear window. Did I mention what a poor design the rear tailgate is? You can't open the tailgate without lowering the glass. Naturally, to lower the glass on our jeep you need to have the power window motor working and there is no manual override. The only solution is to crawl in the back of the truck, remove the access panel and pull, push and curse at the window until it comes down. Naturally, this window probably hasn't moved in at least 5 years so it put up a good fight. I powered the motor with jumper leads straight to the battery and it didn't budge the window (too much corrosion and resistance from dry rotted weather stripping). Forcing the window regulator down didn't work either - the motor wouldn't allow the mechanism to backdrive. After gently coaxing out the three motor bolts (who knew my hand would fit in between the glass and the rear of the tailgate?) I was able to slowly start pushing the window down. Here's a cell phone camera shot of it almost down:
And yes, the college sticker on the window is where all four Deer God team members met. Lewisburg, PA is known for two landmarks - Bucknell University and The Big House. We each spent four years at the former and hope that our antics on the rally won't land us at the latter!
After some more coercion and generous lubrication of the weather stripping, the window made it all the way down and I was able to open the tailgate. The power window motor does work but it's not powerful enough to push the window up or down. Hopefully cleaning the regulator and window tracks will allow us to use the motor, but for right now the window is strictly a manual affair with a vise grip locking the window in the "UP" position. Below is a blurry shot of the tailgate finally open - it will be a lot easier to slide a cooler in this way than dragging it through the rear doors and pushing it backwards! I still have no idea how the previous owner put 4 deer in the jeep that way.
After that fiasco, I started troubleshooting the starter circuit to see WTF was wrong with the jeep. Initially, I thought the starter solenoid was frozen in the start position. After further investigation, the solenoid turned out to be fine - it seems that the "START" signal from the key switch doesn't go off when the key is released to the "RUN" position. So, the solenoid was doing as it should but getting bum input from the jeep. I will replace the solenoid just for good measure and will probably just install a momentary toggle switch to start the jeep - a lot easier than tearing into the inner workings of the dash and steering column. While I was at it, I wire wheeled both battery terminals, cleaned up the engine block ground and the starter connections. Hopefully this will be the last of the electrical problems.
After the starter issues, I moved on to the power steering pump. Team member Tom provided a power steering hose left over from a Wagoneer that he parted out on eBay. Upon further inspection, Tom's hose has a nick in it too and will likely leak. It's probably an improvement from what we have right now, but I found an OEM hose on eBay for $9.99 and will order that shortly. I really don't want to leave a trail of powersteering fluid over 1500 miles and a new hose is cheap insurance. I plan to use part of Tom's hose (the flared ends) to clean up the connections on the low pressure power steering hose, though.
Still determined to actually fix something, I moved on to the cantankerous rear window. Did I mention what a poor design the rear tailgate is? You can't open the tailgate without lowering the glass. Naturally, to lower the glass on our jeep you need to have the power window motor working and there is no manual override. The only solution is to crawl in the back of the truck, remove the access panel and pull, push and curse at the window until it comes down. Naturally, this window probably hasn't moved in at least 5 years so it put up a good fight. I powered the motor with jumper leads straight to the battery and it didn't budge the window (too much corrosion and resistance from dry rotted weather stripping). Forcing the window regulator down didn't work either - the motor wouldn't allow the mechanism to backdrive. After gently coaxing out the three motor bolts (who knew my hand would fit in between the glass and the rear of the tailgate?) I was able to slowly start pushing the window down. Here's a cell phone camera shot of it almost down:
And yes, the college sticker on the window is where all four Deer God team members met. Lewisburg, PA is known for two landmarks - Bucknell University and The Big House. We each spent four years at the former and hope that our antics on the rally won't land us at the latter!After some more coercion and generous lubrication of the weather stripping, the window made it all the way down and I was able to open the tailgate. The power window motor does work but it's not powerful enough to push the window up or down. Hopefully cleaning the regulator and window tracks will allow us to use the motor, but for right now the window is strictly a manual affair with a vise grip locking the window in the "UP" position. Below is a blurry shot of the tailgate finally open - it will be a lot easier to slide a cooler in this way than dragging it through the rear doors and pushing it backwards! I still have no idea how the previous owner put 4 deer in the jeep that way.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
V = I * R
Started to delve into the electrical gremlins of the jeep today. I'm kicking myself for repairing the fence yesterday when the weather was warm and pleasant whereas today was really windy and about 20 degrees cooler. The repaired fence gate does provide a bit of a wind break compared to the driveway so maybe it was a smart move after all.
Bought a universal battery hold down kit from Kmart and installed that. Don't have any after pics, but here is a "before":
The brackets are way too big for our battery but it only cost $3.99 so I can't complain. I need to add some additional washers (the ones it came with are pink and even I have to draw the line somewhere) but it's held in place pretty well. The previous owner rebuilt the battery tray and if you saw the rebuilt version you'd wonder what the original one looked like because it's rough! I half expect the battery to fall through the engine compartment any day now (hopefully with the cheapo universal hold down kit still attached).
After the battery hold down, I started to look into the power rear window. The dash on this jeep is actual sheetmetal and not plastic like so many cars of today, so it's somewhat of a bear to pull any switches without lacerating your hands. I managed to disassemble most of the dash and pull the switch down pretty easily. I verified that there is power at the switch but I didn't get much further than that due to other commitments and cold hands. The switch works but is a bit tempermental about making contact in both the up and down positions. I'll try to repair the switch (made by Singer corporation oddly enough- the sewing machine folks) but may have to replace it with a momentary toggle switch. Also found out that the cigarette lighter doesn't work. Probably a fuse as the lighter itself is well worn and all of the ashtrays have cigarette ashes in them, so I bet it worked at one time! The partial disassembly of the dash and the AC ducting allows better access to the fuse panel anyway.
Bought a universal battery hold down kit from Kmart and installed that. Don't have any after pics, but here is a "before":
The brackets are way too big for our battery but it only cost $3.99 so I can't complain. I need to add some additional washers (the ones it came with are pink and even I have to draw the line somewhere) but it's held in place pretty well. The previous owner rebuilt the battery tray and if you saw the rebuilt version you'd wonder what the original one looked like because it's rough! I half expect the battery to fall through the engine compartment any day now (hopefully with the cheapo universal hold down kit still attached).After the battery hold down, I started to look into the power rear window. The dash on this jeep is actual sheetmetal and not plastic like so many cars of today, so it's somewhat of a bear to pull any switches without lacerating your hands. I managed to disassemble most of the dash and pull the switch down pretty easily. I verified that there is power at the switch but I didn't get much further than that due to other commitments and cold hands. The switch works but is a bit tempermental about making contact in both the up and down positions. I'll try to repair the switch (made by Singer corporation oddly enough- the sewing machine folks) but may have to replace it with a momentary toggle switch. Also found out that the cigarette lighter doesn't work. Probably a fuse as the lighter itself is well worn and all of the ashtrays have cigarette ashes in them, so I bet it worked at one time! The partial disassembly of the dash and the AC ducting allows better access to the fuse panel anyway.
Dubs
Been remiss in posting updates about the jeep, so here's a quick post to bring you up to speed:
Pulled the flat left front tire off last Saturday and put the spare on. The spare was really rusty but the tire's in good shape and holds air, so it now has the prized left front position. The former left front has a drywall screw right where the sidewall and tread meet so it can't be repaired. We'll probably buy a used tire and put that one on the right front and the former right front will become the spare. I tried to dress up the spare by wire wheeling it but it still looks like crap. Here it is "dressed up" with the chrome trim ring on:
Pulled the flat left front tire off last Saturday and put the spare on. The spare was really rusty but the tire's in good shape and holds air, so it now has the prized left front position. The former left front has a drywall screw right where the sidewall and tread meet so it can't be repaired. We'll probably buy a used tire and put that one on the right front and the former right front will become the spare. I tried to dress up the spare by wire wheeling it but it still looks like crap. Here it is "dressed up" with the chrome trim ring on:
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