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.
No comments:
Post a Comment