Quirks of the 97 model

PCO6 said:
Mine are 03 & 04 and I'm not very familiar with the early ones. I believe production began very early in 1996 and I've always found it odd that they were (I think) known as 97s.

So my question really is did the earliest of the TJs have heater control valves?
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No, no heater control valves. Must be a Wrangler thing to not have them because they didn’t in the YJs either.

96 XJ was a weird year indeed. Still looked old and had all the old styling, yet legally had to be OBDII so it got some newer electronics. It’s getting hard to find them or parts for them. If I got an XJ I’d probably try to stay 97+ I’d think. I think the looks of the 97 were highly improved, the 96 and earlier look “old” to me. Not in a bad way though, just would rather the later version.
 
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PCO6 said:
Did 1996 TJs have a heater control valve and were they discontinued in 1997?

I ask because on an XJ that is what happened and it may have been a "Jeep thing" across the board. If you want to ditch the HCV on a pre97 XJ it's common to use 97+ heater hoses which were designed for no HCV.

EDIT: btw ... for XJs, 1996 is considered an oddball year. It was the last of the original body and interior style but it was also a change year for several mechanical, electrical, etc. items many of which carried on into the 1997 model.
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No TJ of any year or build date has a heater control valve.
 
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machoheadgames said:
I think he’s speaking in terms of year models, which he would be correct about, since there was no 96 model year. Because there were also tons of 95 YJs built in 96, but are also still 95s officially.
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Are you sure about that? That would mean they were running two assembly lines and I don't see that happening. There are lots of early 96 build date TJ's running around.
 
machoheadgames said:
I think he’s speaking in terms of year models, which he would be correct about, since there was no 96 model year. Because there were also tons of 95 YJs built in 96, but are also still 95s officially.
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I understand that.

But part of this thread relates to the fact that the earlier built units like mine have differences than later built units.

Yes they are a 1997 model year. No argument there.
 
mrblaine said:
Are you sure about that? That would mean they were running two assembly lines and I don't see that happening. There are lots of early 96 build date TJ's running around.
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Yes, they made almost double the amount of 95 YJs vs 94. And in many of the 95s they got the updated TJ engine, as well as the hood bumpers and a few other things (I think a real rear bumper instead of bumperettes).

In the 94-96 part manual, there is an engine parts package dubbed “1996 engine parts”, any YJ built for that got the TJ engine. Not sure the day the 96 engine parts thing started but it was in the later half of the 95 run, probably early 96 or late 95. But they definitely continued to make them in 96 for at least part of the year.

Those guys have to buy belts and pulleys for TJs because the parts stores still haven’t gotten it right. They also have the stamped steel valve cover vs aluminum as well as the 0630 head vs the 7120. In short, it’s a mess.
 
machoheadgames said:
Yes, they made almost double the amount of 95 YJs vs 94. And in many of the 95s they got the updated TJ engine, as well as the hood bumpers and a few other things (I think a real rear bumper instead of bumperettes).

In the 94-96 part manual, there is an engine parts package dubbed “1996 engine parts”, any YJ built for that got the TJ engine. Not sure the day the 96 engine parts thing started but it was in the later half of the 95 run, probably early 96 or late 95. But they definitely continued to make them in 96 for at least part of the year.

Those guys have to buy belts and pulleys for TJs because the parts stores still haven’t gotten it right. They also have the stamped steel valve cover vs aluminum as well as the 0630 head vs the 7120. In short, it’s a mess.
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I just don't seeing it being that far into 96 when we have Feb 96 TJ build dates and they had to shut down and swap the line over. Maybe late 95 at the most or they are a lot faster at swapping the line over than I think they are.
 
mrblaine said:
I just don't seeing it being that far into 96 when we have Feb 96 TJ build dates and they had to shut down and swap the line over. Maybe late 95 at the most or they are a lot faster at swapping the line over than I think they are.
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I don't know for sure what day production stopped on one, switched, and began on the next,...google tells me all 1995s had to cease production by Dec 31, 1995 to comply with the new OBDII standards, so maybe I'm wrong or misremembering. I know for sure they had two sets of 95 YJs though, 1996 engine parts version, and not. They must have introduced that mid year 95 or something.

Whatever it is, they definitely made nearly double of them so they must have sped up production. They made 120K 95s and 75K 94s. Of course when I say double I am ballparking, it's not really double but it is 60% production increase for the one model year. I guess getting rid of old parts probably had something to do with it, since they all went to the lots to be sold anyways, however long that took.
 
machoheadgames said:
No, no heater control valves. Must be a Wrangler thing to not have them because they didn’t in the YJs either.

96 XJ was a weird year indeed. Still looked old and had all the old styling, yet legally had to be OBDII so it got some newer electronics. It’s getting hard to find them or parts for them. If I got an XJ I’d probably try to stay 97+ I’d think. I think the looks of the 97 were highly improved, the 96 and earlier look “old” to me. Not in a bad way though, just would rather the later version.
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The first "Wranglers" we got in Canada were the JKs ... only YJs and TJs up to then but that's another matter.

Lots of people might agree with you about a preference for the later XJs. I prefer the early ones but that's just me. I have a 87 MJ and a 88 XJ so last of the AMC Jeeps and first of the Chrysler Jeeps with some weird transitional things. Both are from the RENIX period so a whole different set of problems. No one could even spell OBDII back them.
 
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PCO6 said:
The first "Wranglers" we got in Canada were the JKs ... only YJs and TJs up to then but that's another matter.

Lots of people might agree with you about a preference for the later XJs. I prefer the early ones but that's just me. I have a 87 MJ and a 88 XJ so last of the AMC Jeeps and first of the Chrysler Jeeps with some weird transitional things. Both are from the RENIX period so a whole different set of problems. No one could even spell OBDII back them.
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That's fair. To clarify, I would not turn down one because it was older than 97, if the price and condition were right. I just prefer the later looks better and the highly refined interior. The older ones aren't too bad, but they are definitely old timey, even in good condition. As I said though, there is some coolness to that too. I like the lighting of the later models better: parking lamps, tail lamps, etc. Grille too.
 
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I have a dumb question. Notwithstanding the non-model year of 96, how did the 97s have any quirks at all if they were the first year of TJs? They were what they were. :)
 
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PCO6 said:
I have a dumb question. Notwithstanding the non-model year of 96, how did the 97s have any quirks at all if they were the first year of TJs? They were what they were. :)
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If you create a poll and get enough votes, I'll change the thread title to "Peculiarities of the 97 Model". 😉
 
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PCO6 said:
I have a dumb question. Notwithstanding the non-model year of 96, how did the 97s have any quirks at all if they were the first year of TJs? They were what they were. :)
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The quirkiness comes from them not being the same throughout the model year. There are 97's with the later hood safety latch that you release between the hood and grill after you lift it. Early ones have the release down inside the grill. That is a single year quirk.
 
So here's my 97 evap canister...

IMG_20211207_130555612.jpg


And here's my PDU...

IMG_20211207_130610401.jpg


Haven't found the build date of my TJ...it's a 97...also the FSM says the third brake light wire is TN for tan and it's actually white with a tan stripe.

Let me know if anyone wants something chased down

-Mac
 
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macleanflood said:
So here's my 97 evap canister...

View attachment 295085

And here's my PDU...

View attachment 295087

Haven't found the build date of my TJ...it's a 97...also the FSM says the third brake light wire is TN for tan and it's actually white with a tan stripe.

Let me know if anyone wants something chased down

-Mac
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Which motor? Is the door jamb VIN sticker still there?
 
macleanflood said:
No door jamb vin sticker. 4.0
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There is a date on the build sheet, but that doesn't necessarily correlate with the build date of the Jeep. Are there any other dates specified on other parts of the body? You could look at the mold date on the plastic parts, specifically the defroster cover, there is month and year molded into them.
 
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