Just my build—daily / weekend fun

lulzpwndyah

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 3, 2020
Messages
329
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Hello all who are interested. I will be going over my build here and what it entailed.

I bought a 2005 Wrangler SE with a 4.0 and a 42RLE. This Jeep was bought from a dealer auction through a friend I thought I got a great deal but it turned out I did not get such a great deal and therefore the journey of my build begins. I got the Jeep with a salvaged export only title - I knew i'd have to pass smog and an inspection so first thing I did was figure what all of my CEL codes were. I had a few O2 sensor codes and others. I replaced all 4 O2 sensors and this did not clear my codes I did some reading and found out I might have a bad PCM found Wranglerfix and I used their PCM which cleared the codes. After an oil change and spark plugs being changed I had no more CEL. I drove the Jeep for about 300 miles and I blew the engine. Something internally destroyed the spark plug in cylinder 5 by hitting up against it. When I pulled the plug it looked welded.

I had to save up money for a couple of months after going over my options I decided a brand new engine would be the best option if I wanted to ensure I'd keep this Jeep for years. I replaced it with a Jasper 4.0 . After the 4.0 was installed I had a few weeks of getting everything just right. My OPDA was bad so I replaced it with a crown unit. I got a misfire on the new engine on cylinder 5 so I replaced the Coil pack and it purr'd like a kitten... after that I got 2 CELs for my Cats... I took it to a muffler shop and got two CARB registered pre-cats I left the 3rd cat alone but I'll be replacing this in the future with a straight pipe and a quiet muffler if possible.

I also ordered the DPG Super Ultimate OME hybrid -

  • 4-OME Sport Series Shocks
  • 4-OME Coil Springs, (your choice of coil rates)
  • JKS “Quicker” Disconnects
  • JKS 1.25″ Body Lift
  • JKS 1″ Motor Mount Spacers
  • JKS Adj. Track bar (front)
  • JKS Adj. Trackbar (rear)
  • DPG 2″ Extended Bump stops (Front & Rear)
  • JKS Adj Rear Swaybar End Links
  • Full Currie Control arms set
I got this installed a week ago by a Jeep shop as there was some fabrication that needed to be done due to the accident the jeep was in that ended it at the salvage yard. One of the LCA brackets was bent so I had it grinded off and a new bracket welded in place. While I was having my suspension installed I also had my ring and pinion replaced I went from the 3.73 to 4.88 Revolution gears. I have plans of upgrading my Dana 35 to a super but no funds at the moment.

My transmission looks like it was rebuilt at one point so that's a plus it shifts nice and easy after replacing my PCM I believe the PO thought the hard shifting was due to a bad transmission but it seems like it was actually the '05 PCM problem.

Anyway after owning my Jeep for 8 months I was finally able to pass smog and dmv check and get it registered in CA.


I will be adding pictures soon and will continue to update my progress on the build... Additionally I will add some pictures of the stuff i've worked on myself.
 
Currently, I need to install a Mopar radiator as I didn't replace the radiator when I got the new engine installed and that radiator blew up on me this past weekend up in the mountains.... I got a burn on my back from the hot cooland but I had a good friend who lived near by deliver me a radiator on the side of the road and I replaced it with a Duralast this is just temporary as it was all that was available at the time.

before I replace the radiator though I will be fixing my front driveshaft as it's giving me vibrations... The angle is perfect but the mechanic that installed my lift said the driveshaft might need to be rebalanced or replaced because of the accident it was in might have knocked it off balance.

My rear driveshaft is at a perfect angle.

I also got the U-joints done and a Currectlync installed with my suspension.
 
I'm currently having a problem with the Jeep where it feels like it's going to stall when i'm tapping the gas pedal in reverse.

I bought a Mopar TPS sensor that I will be putting in tomorrow hopefully it alleviates the problem. I already tried cleaning the throttle body by spraying cleaner into it until it turned off and repeated a few times but it still happens.
If this doesn't fix it I will try removing the throttle body and replacing the IACV as well.

Luckily I started a new job this week that has a Jeep dealership 10 minutes away.
 
Put a new TPS sensor in today because I kept having a rough idle and weird issue when switching between gears where the engine would feel like it was going to stall and then would surge in rpm and accelerate on it's own... so far so good runs way smoother than before.
 
I believe I have also found what was causing the terrible terrible TERRIBLE squeak while driving.. It was fortunately not as bad as I thought it would be... it was the hood latch... every time the hood bounced it would scrape against the other part that holds it in. I jumped up and down on every corner and side until I faintly heard it and i knew that was the sound.
 
I like that you're taking on a lot of maintenance items up front and going into this with the right long-term mentality. Keep up the good work!
 
I like that you're taking on a lot of maintenance items up front and going into this with the right long-term mentality. Keep up the good work!

Thanks man :)
I'm really going for reliability with this build. I want something that will last me for years to come and all i'd have to worry about will be maintenance schedule. I guess you could say i'm returning it to it's former glory days with quality upgrades.


It doesn't look like the best Jeep out there... far from it... but I'm sure I have a better mechanically working Jeep than most on the road right now. I should try to get my pictures up today. I have some from when it was being sold.
 
Here are the pictures that I got prior to buying it from the dealer auction.

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Well I checked my cables this weekend for any breaks or kinks as i'm getting P0157 and P0057 with new O2 sensors but I couldn't find anything so I dropped it off at a shop to have them go over the wiring harness... I will also be putting in a Tom Wood's front driveshaft this week if some things i'm selling go through.

Other than that my Jeep is pretty much mechanically sound with no problems.
I have been eyeing a fastback style cage in my Jeep which would require me chopping the rear frame and welding in new tubes. I know it won't be as structurally sound but I don't plan on doing too many things that will cause a roll over.

This is a 90% daily driver and 5% occasional trails/camping driver. the last 5% is being broken down lol
 
I've also been thinking about doing the sound deadener but I don't know that i'd get too much out of it for $200+

I guess we will see when I straighten out my vibrations so I can actually see how loud it is with no vibrations.