Back to some more overdue maintenance items on the XJ! Not very exciting, but stuff that had to be done.
First up, drained the oil for an oil change, and tackled one of the most annoying bolts to get to on this thing. There is a right angle oil filter adapter that sticks off the block on the passenger side. There is a big O-ring behind this that gets old, hard, and leaks oil like a MOFO. Mine was no exception. Its a huge T-60 torx bolt off the side that is fastened with red Loctite from the factory, and very limited clearance to get to it.
The trick is to pound a T-60 hex shank out of a socket, stick that in there, and then use a 12mm wrench on the shank to turn it. But it's so hard to turn you need to use a cheater pipe. I rounded off 2 craftsman wrenches, and then snapped this HF stubby.
I used one of my nicer wrenches in the end that I was trying to avoid using, and it finally came off. I didn't take many other photos because this whole process was miserable. The side of the engine, control arms, and axle were all covered in old oil that had been leaking, so I was also covered in it once I was done from trying to contort my arms in there... but it is in and no longer leaking. I don't know how people manage to do this job on their back in the driveway without a lift.
If you're keeping score, that's the valve cover done, and now this oil filter adapter. All that's left is the rear main seal and oil pan gasket, and then hopefully the 4.0L will stop marking it's territory wherever I park. I was planning to do these as well, but had enough of the mess. I'll save them for next year's oil change.
Next up, spark plugs, wires, cap, and rotor. I've never had so much trouble getting spark plug wires off before. Someone clearly didn't use dielectric grease.... so they had to be cut and dismantled. Once I finally got to the plugs, I was amazed this thing had been running as well as it had over the last year, as the plugs were well past due.
Look at that gap. Thankfully, the 4.0L is basically a tractor engine, so it takes a lot to bring one down.
New wires, cap, and rotor all in:
Finally, time for the fuel injectors. I am upgrading to a set of 4 hole injectors, over the factory single holes. Getting the fuel rail off was a bear. Those injectors have been baked in there for the last 23 years and they put up a fight. A ratchet strap and slide hammer may or may not have been involved in their removal, but I yanked it out.
New injectors installed in the rail, and the heat cover applied. As I was discussing with
@zmotorsports earlier, heat soak can be an annoying problem with these, so I am doing the insulation kit from design engineering while I have this apart.
Fuel rail installed back into the jeep. You can also see the heat shield here that sits under the rail, which is included in the kit. There are also 6 individual wraps for each injector, but I left them off for now because I wanted to inspect for leaks.
Cleared the ECU so it can go through the re-learn procedure to dial in the new fuel/air ratios. After one very rough first start, it now runs beautifully. Idles like a brand new car, honestly, and revs up nice and smooth. Took it on a victory cruise to get some ice cream with the family after. Really happy with how it is running!
I also installed a H4 headlight harness from K Suspension. I'm having an issue now where the high beams and low beams are backwards. I am convinced their harness was wired incorrectly.... going to email them Monday to see what they say. It's been a ton of work, but really am having fun with this thing and happy how it is coming together! Really hoping to put some miles on this this summer.
they are not the most sealed vehicles out there, especially after 25 years haha.
