The Volts stop here

Installed the eBay battery disconnect tonight. A few quick turns and the jeep is electrically turned off. Pretty slick and it only cost $5.75 shipped! Here's a blurry pic:
A lightly used tranny pan, new gasket and new filter are being shipped from Las Vegas so I'm once again waiting for parts. On a brighter note, Maryland's Rockfish (striped bass) Season starts tomorrow so I'll be pursuing another hobby while waiting for the UPS man.

Test Drive #1

After adding a gallon of gas to the jeep from a jerry can, I took it out on a test drive this afternoon. It's been pouring down rain here so I didn't go far - just about a 1/2 mile or so in my neighborhood. All the lights work (still not sure about the dash panel lights) and the wipers (with brand new wiper blades) work great. Aerosmith even came on the radio as I pulled out of the driveway but turning up the stock 2 speaker radio louder than normal conversation results in awful distortion.

Here's a few thoughts after driving it:

1. The steering is very power assisted and very numb. A sports car it ain't. I've driven moving vans with more road feel! But unlike moving vans, this truck does have a certain amount of charm - it's fun to tool around in.

2. Brakes work well with strong pedal feel but this is still a pretty heavy truck with discs up front and drums in the back, so we'll need to drive like grandmas or we'll get in trouble. Got a bit of noise from the drums on one stop, so we'll do a thorough brake checkover before the rally.

3. Still not sure about the 4wd lever - put it in 4wd HI and the 4WD light went out so I presume that's really 2wd. Putting it in what appears to be 2wd leaves the 4wd light on even after driving it a bit.

4. It rides rough. I helped my brother in law move a few weekends ago and he mentioned his high school buddy had a 79 wagoneer and it was ridiculously rough, even with new shocks. Ours is the same. Hopefully 3 more guys and some junk in the back will smooth things out.

5. We've eliminated the various leaks to just the tranny pan! It's about a 3 or 4 drip a second leak and seems to be coming right from one of the pan bolts. The jeep still leaves a pretty healthy trail of ATF behind it, so that's highest priority repair item right now. The pan is in awful shape, so I think a replacement pan and gasket are in order, rather than just trying to tighten up all the pan bolts.

5. It will stall if it's not warmed up. I was driving up a slight up hill and it died when I stepped on the gas. I chalk that up to lack of use and the fact it probably hasn't been over 15 mph in at least a year. Once it warmed up a bit, I had zero driveability problems.

Saw this stuff on TV - Temporary Car Spray Paint. We initially weren't going to paint the jeep because we want to resell it, but this temporary paint may change everything!

On the Road again....

The Jeep made it out of the back yard under its own power! And here's photographic proof:
At first, the jeep was idling really fast and I presumed that the choke was stuck so I stepped on the gas and then quickly released the throttle hoping that may free it. It didn't but my cell phone rang so I turned the jeep off. My dad was the caller and immediately chimed in "Did you try stepping on the gas and then pulling your foot off really fast?" Yes, we do think alike. His second tidbit of sage advice was to never underestimate the power of copious amounts of WD-40 to get linkages working again. After I got off the phone I sprayed everything down and sure enough, that unstuck things and the jeep idles nicely now. Thanks Dad!

I'm happy to report the power steering hoses aren't leaking and the pump is noticeably quieter now. You can turn the wheels lock to lock at idle with little effort and the engine doesn't stall. We still haven't gotten the jeep up to operating temp so while it idled I tempted fate and turned on the defroster just in case it started to overheat and I need to cool the engine off. Well after 30 seconds of blowing dirt, sawdust and cobwebs everything is working fine and warmish air started coming out the vents. Antifreeze didn't come shooting out the vents so at least for now it appears the heater core is fine. Memorial Day in NYC is typically rainy so we'll probably need the defroster at the start of the rally. The temp gauge works on the jeep but I turned it off before it made it to the center part of the green section because the gas gauge still doesn't work and I'm not sure how much gas is in the jeep.

Still not sure what phantom load is on when the jeep is off, but I've been disconnecting the battery after running the jeep each time and that seems to be working. Probably will buy this for the rally: Battery Master Disconnect

While the jeep was running I moved it back and forth from the driveway into the yard, back into the driveway, etc at least 5 times. I was by myself and learned a long time ago to never drive something you can't push easily without feeling comfortable it won't immediately die on you. The jeep hesitates a bit when cold, but once it's warm it climbed up the curb from the lawn to the driveway by just barely touching the gas. After putting the jeep away and disconnecting the battery, I cleaned the windshield inside and out and then called it a day.

Update

It's been awhile since I've written but some work has been accomplished on the jeep so here's a rundown:

Power Steering hoses - Ordered a high pressure hose on eBay from someone in Fort Lauderdale. It came in 3 days and fit perfectly. Ordered the low pressure hose from the local Pep Boys and it took 10 business days! Granted, I understand parts for 82 Jeep wagoneers aren't exactly a frequently requested item, but I think it's an interesting commentary on the state of the world when you can order something from an anonymous person online and have it show up faster than patronizing your local auto parts store. Pretty sad really. I'm just happy to no longer have to call the Pep Boys parts counter daily and keep asking to do a "special order trace." I know quite a few people in the parts department by name now and wonder if they were really bidding on eBay power steering hose auctions too! Installed both hoses on Saturday and topped off the power steering reservoir. The Pep Boys hose included extra o-rings so I put one on the high pressure hose too. Was going to check for leaks but got caught up in Easter weekend family commitments so I called it a day. While hooking up the hoses, I had to remove the coolant overflow tank for better access and realized one of the "brain boxes" on the fender had a loose ground, so I reconnected the ground. The great thing about the jeep is that when things are bolted to the fender, they are bolted to the fender! You reach under the wheel well to find the bolt. No fluff, no trim pieces, fascias or molding.

Right front turn signal - When we bought the truck this whole assembly was hanging out on its wire harness like an eyeball from an optic nerve in a horror flick. The tabs holding the assembly to the sheet metal are all broken so one sheet metal screw through the body holds it in place now.

Tags / Title / Insurance - Got Maryland historic Tags for the jeep. The last three digits of the tag are "4LO" so hopefully the jeep gods will shine down on us and grant us good luck. Going to add the jeep to my EZ Pass account for the trip to the starting line in NYC, I can't wait to see other motorists complain that we're in the Express EZ Pass only lane!

Rear Window - disregard the last post, it's broken again. The bottom frame of the window was really rusty and finally gave up the ghost. It's fixable but no longer a priority. A ratchet strap through the bottom of the window to the roof rack holds the window up for the time being - very classy.

Rear Window

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.

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.

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.

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:

Baby Steps

They say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. In the jeep world, that journey actually starts with the click, click, click sound of the starter solenoid and a dead battery. Such was the scene tonight when I went to check on the jeep and start creating a "to do" list. Upon further investigation, I found out that the battery wasn't dead - just a case of corroded terminals. A good cleaning of the battery posts and terminals and the jeep was back in business. It really doesn't like to start when cold, but once it's going it quickly settles to a nice idle and doesn't die. Sorting out the malfunctioning automatic choke probably isn't worth the effort for our purposes. Once she's warm it starts quickly with a quick blip of the key and holds really good oil pressure.

Once running, I backed the jeep up a few feet and then attempted to drive it up my set of ramps. Wet grass and a flat left front tire proved a bit too much to get the old beast up to the top of the ramps. While the tires were spinning, I noticed that the throttle response isn't exactly sports car like, but it gets the job done. No stalls, but not much fire breathing power either.

Rather than give up with the ramps for the night, a quick throw of some levers and a trip outside to lock the hubs and I idled up the ramps with aplomb in 4wd high. At least I think it's 4wd high - the tranny lever and the transfer case lever have so much slop in them it's all a guessing game! The 4wd light on the dash came on and the front axle seemed to be grabbing so that worked for me. The left front hub is a bear to lock up but I don't think we'll be using 4wd much for the rally! I still can't figure out how to get the truck out of 4wd - you need the magic touch to find the sweet spot with all the backlash in the lever.

Once up on the ramps, I was able to take some shots of the underside of the truck. Crawling from front to back I was surprised to see that the jeep still has the OEM steering stabilizer - it's in pretty good shape and will definitely help keep us right behind the sport bikes at Deal's Gap. Yeah right.

Speaking of sport tuned suspension, here's a pic of the right front shock absorber:
Here's a pic of the passenger side frame rail - some surface rust here and there but overall it's in decent condition - just don't scrape too much of the undercoating off!Here's a pic of the frame rot on the driver's side near the rear door:This is probably the worst of any area on the frame. We may choose to beef it up with some angle, flat bar or a sectioned piece of scrap channel. The gas tank is immediately behind this frame rail, so welding will have to be approached VERY carefully. Here's a pic showing the height of the frame rail:And here's a pic showing the width of the frame rail and the flange holding the gas tank. It's a crummy shot, but the frame rail is about 2.5" wide. The frame is mostly C Channel but is boxed in various places for extra strength.Here's a pic of the forward part of the driver's side frame rail - much better condition:
Moving on to the tranny - here's a pic of the tranny pan. The rust is really not as bad as I thought and only leaks a small amount. We'll replace the pan and add new fluid as cheap insurance though.
A shot of the crossmember under and aft of the transmission. You can see some fluid puddling but it's not the torrent that the previous owner talked about.One more tranny pan shot:
Here's a shot of the gas tank. Seems a lot sturdier than the driver's side frame rail would suggest and I couldn't find any signs of leaking. When we get the truck on 4 jack stands we'll do a better inspection and see if we need to reinforce the tank mounting. The bottom of the tank is rough but the sides seem to still have factory undercoating on them.
Here's a pic of the puny catalytic converter:I was glad to see that the previous owner subscribed to the "baling wire" exhaust repair school! Rest of exhaust system is rusty but no big holes and no loose hardware or hangers.

Before calling it a night I checked the alternator voltage as the truck idled with all the lights turned on - a healthy 14.7 volts! That's good news and hopefully will keep the battery juiced up on our trip. Last but not least - the horn works too!

What's in a Name?

Why is your rally team entitled "Deer God" you may ask? Well, here's the skinny:

"Dear God" is generally the first thing out of anyone's mouth after looking at the underside of our jeep AND the previous owner loved hunting. Loved hunting SO much that when the power window for the rear tailgate didn't work, he drug 4 deer through the back doors! Couple those two thoughts together, and "Deer God" was born.

New Home

The pre-purchase inspection went pretty well so we met the owner in person today. The seller was very forthright and honest about what works and what doesn't work on the truck. Items that need immediate attention are:

1. Leaky power steering pump
2. Leaky transmission pan
3. New battery tie down (Thanks for the battery, Tom!)
4. Replacement of 1 or 2 tires
5. Lots and lots of rust. Driver's side frame rail looks like swiss cheese!
I'm sure we'll find more issues once we look closer but that's what is on our plate for right now.

The owner reassured us he'd take $250 for the jeep as we discussed previously over the phone, so we decided to buy it. I can't stress enough what a great guy the previous owner is - he provided over an hour of commentary on what he had done to the jeep, what the problem areas were, etc. He even gave us an oil filter!

Due to the leaky power steering pump, questionable tranny pan and questionable tires, we had to borrow a trailer to get it home. Thanks for the use of your dually and trailer Joe!

Below are some pics from the trip home, a keen eye will spot the power steering fluid leaks!

We Bought a Car!

Here's a copy of the craigslist ad that started it all:

baltimore craigslist > cars & trucks > 1982 jeep wagoneer

1982 jeep wagoneer - $350

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Reply to: sale-XXXXXXXXX@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-02-05, 11:45AM EST

1982 jeep wagoneer 4 wheel drive 258 6 cylinder. Auto, rusty frame and other minor repairs needed. good drive train, would make a good parts or farm vehicle. Clear title. $350.00/BO

Sounds like a winner, huh? What could possibly go wrong embarking on a 1500+ mile trip in this AMC beauty? We'll keep you posted! The seller wasn't available today but gave us permission to take a peek at the truck in his yard while he wasn't around.

Anyone who's a fan of craigslist should watch this film before buying anything on craigslist:

24 Hours on craigslist

Attached are some pics from our "pre-purchase" inspection: