What did you do to your TJ today?

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I think that's supposed to go on the windshield to keep the bugs off. :unsure:
 
Technically XJ work, and I didn't technically do anything as I'm back out of forced retirement as of yesterday (aka Silicon Valley layoffs), but XJ Buddy has 3 of his 4 crossmember bolts stripped out. He bought some helicoil inserts out of the bin at Ace Hardware, since he already had the M10x1.5 tap. Some of you already know where this is going. He texts me, tells me it's not working. And after texting for about 45 minutes on the telephone we finally arrived at the truth of the matter and discovered that you have to drill that hole to 13/32 and then use the M10 STI tap. So I tell him the whole Thread Repair Helicoil Massacree with the four part harmony and he stopped me right there and said "kid, I'm just going to do this at 7/16 since I already have the tap for that."

Of course he did't actually say that, he texted that. Because had we spoke, I would've told him to turn over the paper, because on the other side, in the middle of the other side, in capital letters, quotated, read the following words: "kid, you gotta use a 11/32" bit to tap that for 7/16". And instead, he ended up on the group W bench, where they put you if you can't follow basic instructions, burn women kids houses & villages and stuff like that. Because some time later he texted me and said "kid, this 7/16" tap won't cut threads on this 7/16" hole, I'm about to break the tap". And friends, XJ Buddy was literally about to break the tap, he just didn't know it.

So now he's got the right bit, the right tap, and the right bolts, and hopefully enough meat left on whatever is up inside the unibody to allow for 7/16" threads. They first showed signs of trouble during a wide river crossing in Disney, OK. Somebody radio'd ahead that his skid plate was hanging. Of course XJ's don't have skids from the factory (afaik), so it was actually his transmission crossmember. That's more pounding & ratchet-strapping in 18" of water than I need to do again.

And the only reason I'm telling you this is because you may know someone in a similar situation, or YOU may be in a similar situation, and if you're in a similar situation the only thing you can do is sing a bar of the Thread Repair Helicoil Anti-Massacree and walk away.
 
Finally got a nice day to pull the newest engine from the back of my jeep. Pulled the harness off and broke a couple things like the oil pressure sensor fitting. I also found a strange coil spring inside the lower radiator hose. Is that a thing? I’ve never personally seen it but there’s a lot I haven’t lol now to clean it up and replace a couple things and check out the rest of everything and wait for a nice couple days to get the swap done.

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The spring is indeed a thing. It prevents the hose from collapsing under suction.

Interesting, it had little bits of what looked like cotton or some other material stuck in little bits to the crusty ass coils. I have new hoses for my other engine being rebuilt. I’ll have to look into a new spring though or go without because I don’t know if this one will be worth cleaning up and reusing.
 
I wouldn't go without, especially if the hose is old. As they get old, they get soft and are even more prone to collapse. If they collapse, it can easily restrict the flow enough to overheat. A new hose should come with the spring, but some aftermarket hoses do not, so caveat emptor. You might try Summit or Jeg's for a spring. I know that I recently bought some for a small diameter hose that was kinking due to bend radius in a custom application. I think I got it from Summit.
 
Finally got a nice day to pull the newest engine from the back of my jeep. Pulled the harness off and broke a couple things like the oil pressure sensor fitting. I also found a strange coil spring inside the lower radiator hose. Is that a thing? I’ve never personally seen it but there’s a lot I haven’t lol now to clean it up and replace a couple things and check out the rest of everything and wait for a nice couple days to get the swap done.

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You have one engine being rebuilt, one in the Jeep, and this one.

I've debated the spare tire, but never thought of spare engines.
 
This light came on during my drive in to work. I checked under the hood and the engine was there.

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What are my options?

A small piece of electrical tape.
Remove the bulb.
Hemi or LS swap.

I suppose it's an O2 sensor that I could have replaced easier a couple weeks ago when I had all the skid plates off. I'll spin the wheel with the code reader tonight and see.
 
This light came on during my drive in to work. I checked under the hood and the engine was there.

View attachment 405686

What are my options?

A small piece of electrical tape.
Remove the bulb.
Hemi or LS swap.

I suppose it's an O2 sensor that I could have replaced easier a couple weeks ago when I had all the skid plates off. I'll spin the wheel with the code reader tonight and see.

LS
 
I wouldn't go without, especially if the hose is old. As they get old, they get soft and are even more prone to collapse. If they collapse, it can easily restrict the flow enough to overheat. A new hose should come with the spring, but some aftermarket hoses do not, so caveat emptor. You might try Summit or Jeg's for a spring. I know that I recently bought some for a small diameter hose that was kinking due to bend radius in a custom application. I think I got it from Summit.

I have brand new Gates branded hoses for the radiator. They are pretty solid but I’ll look into a spring for the new setup.
 
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