how do i get my jeep back?! (running please)

[thechief86]

6 month engine rebuild?!(with pics, finally)

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ok, so i've had some bad luck from my fsj that past year or so, but nothing like some of you on here, what with wrecks, being stranded and all that noise. last summer, my 360 in my waggy crapped out on me at 114,ooo miles. i thought i was gonna hafta sell my poor jeep, but then a kind member on IFSJA.org called me from Germany, and told me where i could go in south carolina and pick up his old motor for FREE!!! it was a very kind gesture, but the engine had been sitting within 5 miles of the beach, and had not been covered up or anything, and i assume had corroded a bit inside. i installed it anyway, got it running, and it ran pretty good, for about 2 or 3 weeks. then it started rattling really bad, and misfiring. the rattle was so loud that it drowned out my flowmaster, and my stereo! so after some bargaining with my wife, i decided to have the original engine that i pulled out rebuilt. so i did some shopping around and found a guy about 30 minutes away that said he could rebuild it for around $1200!
i decided then and there that i would bring it to him. So after i got married on october 17, 09, i came home from my honeymoon, and dropped the jeep and the motor off to him on Halloween. he said i could pick it up after christmas...... Soooooo, here it is at the end of march, and he hasn't finished it. he is pretty close to being done with my engine, but hasn't even moved my jeep from the spot where i parked it on halloween. i'm seriously hoping that he'll get it done soon, but it definitely seems like if he works on it at all, he only messes with it for about 10 or 15 minutes at a time. i took it to a mechanic in the first place because i didn't feel like messing with it, and didn't really have time, but i think i could have certainly had it running again by now
anyway, enough complaining, here are a couple pics of my jeep, and some engine progress.... oh yeah, it's his shop, not mine, so ignore the mess.

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae52/grandpajeep/DSC00301.jpg

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae52/grandpajeep/DSC00302.jpg

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae52/grandpajeep/DSC00318.jpg

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae52/grandpajeep/DSC00319.jpg

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae52/grandpajeep/DSC00320.jpg

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae52/grandpajeep/DSC00327.jpg


oh yeah, and i'm pretty sure the price has jumped up to somewhere around $2000. still not bad, but more than i expected....
forgive the crappy cellphone pics, it's all i had handy.
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[thechief86]

my jeep is the waggy on the left, btw.

[thechief86]

so nobody said anything, but i'll update this anyway. i went to the guy's shop, and told him i need my junk back by the end of the week or i'm gonna tow it home and finish it myself. so we decided that i'm gonna spend all day thursday, and maybe friday gettin the rebuilt engine slapped in there and running, and i'll be driving it to memphis saturday.(i hope) i've been without a car for the last 2 months, because on top of this situation, i dunked my xj, and have been trying to get the motor i swapped into it going, and i'm havin some electrical issues... maybe i can use the waggy to tow it home:(

[Don]

I think all the beer cans and beer packages all over that garage explain why your Waggy isn't back together. Is this a professional garage, or just some guy that does this work on the side?

[thechief86]

well, he claims to be a professional garage. it isn't near his house, and is his only source of income. i've never been there and seen him drunk, or even drinking, though. his son, however is his help, and that guy stays stumbly. he has a ton of customers, but most of them only need small repairs, and maintenance. when all is said and done, though, he hasn't upcharged me for any parts or machine work, and he's only charging $600 for the rebuild and install, which has me at $1800, not including the $300 i payed for a carby and intake elsewhere. not too bad, but took forever.....

[Don]

well, he claims to be a professional garage. it isn't near his house, and is his only source of income. i've never been there and seen him drunk, or even drinking, though. his son, however is his help, and that guy stays stumbly. he has a ton of customers, but most of them only need small repairs, and maintenance. when all is said and done, though, he hasn't upcharged me for any parts or machine work, and he's only charging $600 for the rebuild and install, which has me at $1800, not including the $300 i payed for a carby and intake elsewhere. not too bad, but took forever.....

So is it running and driving? I'm confused.....:confused:

[thechief86]

no. last year i swapped in a used engine, which runs like crap. so, i drove it to him like that, and brought the original engine to rebuild. he's finished rebuilding it, and it's ready to install, but he hasn't started removing the crap donor engine yet. so on thursday and friday, my days off, i'm gonna go help him, and i don't plan on leaving friday without my jeep. there is no reason we can't have it running in two days, with both of us(or at least me, lol) being experienced mechanics. technically, it runs and drives now, but rattles so loud that from inside, it drowns out my flowmaster 40 series and my stereo.(still has the crap donor engine that was in it when i took it to him.)

[Don]

If that rebuilt motor runs as good as it looks, you are going to have one sweet Waggy... I have never owned a Waggy....... I pointed one out to the Wife, it appeared to been sitting for years, and her only comment was "over my dead body"..... I'm going to miss her. :rolleyes:

[thechief86]

i have another pretty nice one that i'll sell for $500, if you want it. it has a small wiring problem, but it runs good, as long as you hold the key in the 'start' position. when you let off, it dies. it's dark blue, with a straight body, but the interior needs a bit of work. i have a couple friends that want it, and one of them would prolly sell it for a grand after he got it running and spruced it up a bit. at this point it goes to whoever has cash first, because i'll be broke after i pay this guy for my waggy engine.

[Don]

i have another pretty nice one that i'll sell for $500, if you want it. it has a small wiring problem, but it runs good, as long as you hold the key in the 'start' position. when you let off, it dies. it's dark blue, with a straight body, but the interior needs a bit of work. i have a couple friends that want it, and one of them would prolly sell it for a grand after he got it running and spruced it up a bit. at this point it goes to whoever has cash first, because i'll be broke after i pay this guy for my waggy engine.

One day, there maybe a Waggy in my garage, but now is not the time :(

[thechief86]

i hear ya. they're gettin hard to come by, though. i can't believe i tripped over 2 in the same year! i kinda regret trading my ol' cj for the white one, but i'll get another tent to drive one day.

[thechief86]

ok, so i got the engine out of the waggy today, and swapped all the accessories over to the newly rebuilt one, so i should be ready to swing the new one in first thing in the morning! i'm hoping we have it running my 5 or 6 tommorrow! i ended up going to the shop, commandeering a bay with a lift, and started pulling the engine out myself, and next thing you know, people started helping me! i'm gonna go back at 9:30 in the morning and get started again!

[1fastR]

Did you get it running?

[thechief86]

yeah, kinda. we got it running, but after it warmed up, it started ticking:( mechanic played it off as an exhaust leak, so i drove it away, figuring i could fix the exhaust leak a little later on. it broke down 100 yards from my house, because it had no oil pressure and chewed up the drive gears for the distributor, like i told him it probably would. i've had that problem before with amc v8's, but he didn't think it would be a problem. i hate being right.:( the next morning, i talked to him, and he sent a wrecker after it, and says he'll try to fix it.
i don't know how long i should wait before i ask him about it again, because apparently with him, things go wrong when people rush him....

[Don]

yeah, kinda. we got it running, but after it warmed up, it started ticking:( mechanic played it off as an exhaust leak, so i drove it away, figuring i could fix the exhaust leak a little later on. it broke down 100 yards from my house, because it had no oil pressure and chewed up the drive gears for the distributor, like i told him it probably would. i've had that problem before with amc v8's, but he didn't think it would be a problem. i hate being right.:( the next morning, i talked to him, and he sent a wrecker after it, and says he'll try to fix it.
i don't know how long i should wait before i ask him about it again, because apparently with him, things go wrong when people rush him....

When you say "broke down", describe what and how..... This ticking, did it turn into a knock? Exactly how is he planning on fixing this?

[thechief86]

heck, i'm not sure what he plans to do. the tick, i think was a lifter that was extremely pissed about not getting any oil. as far as broke down, when it chewed up the distributor gears, it jumped time, and shut off, after a loud backfire. i lost my phone, so i have no way to call him, and unless i get my xj running in the next couple days, or my wife can loan me her car, i have no way of getting to woodbury to talk in person.:( i'm gonna spend all day tomorrow working on my xj and see if i can get it running right, then i might be able to mess with him that afternoon. i guess he'll hafta replace the cam and lifters, and likely the pushrods, and maybe those aluminum rocker pedestals that amc thought were such a great idea. then he'll hafta hook up a mechanical oil pressure guage, since the stock one isn't working, and find a way to make sure the engine gets oil pressure before i can drive it again. i was looking forwar to regearing and installing my lockers this weekend, but ended up sharing the wife's PINK toyota corolla for a few more days.....

[StoneyRedneck]

Is the mechanic going to cover the cost of fixing it? sounds pretty irresponsible of him to let that thing leave in that kind of shape.

[Don]

Here is the deal, either the jumping off time was the start of the chain reaction, or it was the result of another issue such as a seized crankshaft, or connecting rod. :eek: Tearing the engine apart for inspection will be the only way you know for sure.

[amp]

Here is the deal, either the jumping off time was the start of the chain reaction, or it was the result of another issue such as a seized crankshaft, or connecting rod. :eek: Tearing the engine apart for inspection will be the only way you know for sure.
x2
sounds more likely.

[thechief86]

the engine isn't locked up, and i pulled out the dizzy, and just as i suspected, the teeth on the gear were fubar, so jumping time in this instance doesn't mean that the cam locked up, or that the chain even jumped a tooth or anything. it just means that when the cam turns, the dizzy doesn't because there isn't enough contact with the drive gear teeth anymore. the drive gear in my old engine is good, and the dizzy is under warranty at o'reilly, so that's covered, but i don't know what dude has in mind for the lifters and all that. but you better believe he's covering the charge, because i have no money, and at this point no car. i do however have a step-mother-in-law who happens to be a lawyer, so i'm not worried about paying the guy anything more than i already have.

[Don]

the engine isn't locked up, and i pulled out the dizzy, and just as i suspected, the teeth on the gear were fubar, so jumping time in this instance doesn't mean that the cam locked up, or that the chain even jumped a tooth or anything. it just means that when the cam turns, the dizzy doesn't because there isn't enough contact with the drive gear teeth anymore. the drive gear in my old engine is good, and the dizzy is under warranty at o'reilly, so that's covered, but i don't know what dude has in mind for the lifters and all that. but you better believe he's covering the charge, because i have no money, and at this point no car. i do however have a step-mother-in-law who happens to be a lawyer, so i'm not worried about paying the guy anything more than i already have.

That distributor gear also turns the oil pump, so the question becomes how much damage was done by running you engine without oil? IIRC, it's a pretty good drive from your house to the shop.... the lack of oil was an issue at the shop, but you drove to within 100 yards? of your house before motor died?

[thechief86]

ha yeah.... it's about 10 miles from his shop to my house. oh well, it's his problem. he shouldn't have let an engine with no oil pressure leave his shop. i had planned to drive it to memphis this weekend, and he said it would be fine:eek: good thing it died where it did!

[Don]

ha yeah.... it's about 10 miles from his shop to my house. oh well, it's his problem. he shouldn't have let an engine with no oil pressure leave his shop. i had planned to drive it to memphis this weekend, and he said it would be fine:eek: good thing it died where it did!

From your house to Memphis would have been a L_O_N_G walk :eek:

[thechief86]

ha! you ain't lyin! i called dude today, and he says that the timing cover was warped, and since the timing cover is also the oil pump housing on these motors, it messed stuff up. he's gonna try to have me on the road again by wednesday. he's kinda slow, so he might have meant next wednesday, or a wednesday next year sometime, i'm not sure....

[YJason]

Whats he going to do about all the metal in your new motor?

[thechief86]

ha! i dunno! like i said, it's his problem! he's gonna change the oil, i guess!

[thechief86]

oooooooooook. so i finally got my jeep back from ol' dirty mechanic fella. it runs kinda ok-ish, but he didn't hook up the throttle-valve linkage for the transmission, because it wouldn't reach the carby. the throttle cable wouldn't reach either, but he did rig that with a piece of wire and a hose clamp. so i made a small bracket for the throttle cable so it would reach, as well as a new piece of linkage for the transmission throttle valve. things are getting better, but i still have some bugs to work out:

1. the carb cuts out if the truck gets sloshed at all, such as crawling over a small log on the trail behind my house.(edelbrock 1406 carby on performer intake)
2. throttle valve needs to be properly adjusted to correct shift points, and downshift sensitivity, which i have no idea how to get it right.
3. i have some pretty gnarly exhaust leaks, it think where the manifolds connect to the down pipes. much worse on the driver side than the passenger side.
4. stock oil pressure guage reads between 0 and 5 psi, so i'm assuming that the sending unit is stopped up. i drove it 100 miles, 60 of it on the interstate at 70, so if it had no oil pressure, i'd know for sure by now.
i would love some advice from anybody, but preferably from people who know something about fsj's, mopar 727 transmissions, or edelbrock carbs. i can deal with the oil pressure guage meself, and probably the exhaust leaks, too. but i don't wanna make the carb worse, and i don't wanna screw up my transmission. i've been shifting it manually since i got it back, because it seems a lot happier that way. this is the first automatic transmission i've ever had in my own car.


the transmission at this point is better than it was when i got it back, but it is still shifitng way too early, and isn't downshifting like it should, and sometimes feels like it didn't go back into first at low speeds, so it tries to take off in second sometimes. it was completely fine before the motor swap, and i would like to think that with the proper adjustment, it would be again.