Tomb Raider Rubicon RetroMod

[Zorba]

Gripe: Jeep is apparently a far cry from a company like Porsche, where you can routinely purchase interior trim and other parts directly from the local dealer for a 1990s 911. It may take 3 weeks and shipping from Germany, but they’ll get what you need and it’s genuine Porsche. Having owned a 100 series Landcruiser, even Toyota continues to support that 20 year old vehicle with genuine parts readily available from the dealer. I’m honestly surprised that the Wrangler, with such a huge and loyal customer base, is essentially abandoned by the manufacturer. Moving on…

I feel your pain. Its incomprehensible to me that OEM parts on an 18 year old vehicle are largely unobtainable. I'm spoiled by Mercedes - I have an '85, and its only been the last couple of years that I've had any problems whatsoever getting parts for it. Mercedes will even put old parts back into production if there's a demand for them, and they have a whole department dedicated to "classic parts".

 

[JMT]

I received my new Mopar radiator. It has the ports at the bottom for the automatic transmission, but it works fine for a manual as well. I was surprised it was Made in USA. I took the opportunity to install a new FlowKooler thermostat (very robust and looks quality), Mopar thermostat housing, Mopar temperature sensor, and ACDelco Professional water pump. I also replaced the idle pulley with a new Mopar. All went together with Felpro gaskets and so far no leaks.


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Wow, that cooling system went south. Good job on getting it all back to snuff, and nice work on the heater loop so you can get it back on the road.

 

[josephbelttj]

After isolating the leaking heater core, and replacing the radiator, hoses, idle pulley, water pump, thermostat, and thermostat housing, I thought I’d finally be able to enjoy a ride in the Jeep this morning.

Check Engine Light. Of course.

Now several months ago, chasing down an evap leak was one of the first repairs I completed when I brought home this Jeep, and replaced several dry rotted rubber hoses in the engine compartment with silicone along with the purge valve. The check engine light has been off for quite a while and I assumed it was resolved.

After another session with the smoke machine, I found a plastic hard line in the rear passenger quarter panel area had split where it meets the quick connect. This is one of the hard lines running along the top of the fuel tank.

I cut the split end off the hard line and removed the barbed male connector. I used a piece of silicone hose (now with the male barbed fitting in one end) to splice the remaining hard line to the female side of the quick connect. Reset check engine light and we’ll see what happens.