Update

I am still waiting on parts and finding little things to fix, I will make some posts later on. I have not had much time to update the blog due to excessive travels.

Thanks

Neutral Safety Switch

You know your neutral safety switch is going bad when your reverse lights do not come on unless you hold your shifter as far back as you can to get them to work if they turn on at all. It is a cheap part from the dealer, I beleive I paid under $30.


The Neutral Safety Switch is located right above the ATF pan on the outside of the drivers side section of the transmission, it is angled to the front of the vehicle. Here is an image of what it looks like.

The image is not real clear, but it is just to give you and idea of what it looks like on the outside of the vehicle. It is the switch that has a connector and wires coming out of it.


In order to replace the NSS:
1) Unhook the battery and drain the tranny fluid
2) Undo the connector on the outside of the switch
3)Am not sure of the size (I beleive it is 1 inch) but use an open end wrench to loosen up the switch, a deep well socket will not work in this location.
4) If you did not drain your fluid, expect a rush of ATF coming out
5)Place new sensor in and replace the tranny pan
6)Replace lost tranny fluid and hook the battery back up


Notes:
1) Since you're in there, get a tranny fluid filter and replace it
2) It is pretty tight but not a difficult job, have some patience.


Disclaimer: You can use these instructions however you choose, but I am not liable for anything you do. Please feel free to link to them from other sites, but you must get my permission first before copying them off of this site to elsewhere.

Clean Your Throttlebody!

Throttlebody cleaning is probably one of the best things to do for any of your vehicles and is very easy (atleast on the Jeep). There are three sensors on the OBD-II Jeep throttlebody, they are manifold absolute pressure sensor (MAP), idle air control (IAC), and throttle position sensor (TPS). It is placed between the intake manifold and the air inlet tube and has linkages connected to it. As the throttlebodies become dirty they will restrict air esspecially when it comes to the IAC, it will clog the small inlet that allows air to enter to keep your motor running while idle because the butterfly is completely closed. Symptoms of a dirty throttlebody include difficulty to start and a rough idle that does not hold constant. Other factors can also play a role on these however a simple cleaning is a good place to start.

There are a couple ways of cleaning your throttlebody. You can go the less labor intensive way of just spraying carb cleaner in it or remove it from the intake manifold completely (this is my methodology). I clean all the sensors as well as the butterfly and the inside of the throttlebody with carb cleaner with some paper towels and get this result. My throttlebody isn't too dirty anymore, I do it roughtly ever 10k-15k miles. The first time I did this I had 100k miles on the jeep and it was black and I was amazed that the throttlebody can be that clean.

What you need (4.0L)
10mm socket
tamper-proof torx
carb cleaner
paper towels

1) Remove the air inlet tube, disconnect the sensors (remember which connector goes to what sensor) and disconnect the linkage cables, they take alittle work but once you figure out how each comes off they are not hard.
2) Remove the 4 bolts holding the throttlebody onto the manifold and lift the throttlebody off.
3) Remove all sensors and the butterfly, this can be done by undoing the two torx screws and rotating the butterfly valve to wide open throttle and shake it out. You can remove the whole thing but remember how the spring works before you pull out the shaft, its tricky to get back together if you're alone.
4) Spray carb cleaner through the throttlebody and wipe clean.
5) Additional option: If you have tamper-proof torx, you can take the chamber off for the IAC (it is a little maze and will help when cleaning). It involves removing four torx screws.
6) Give the IAC a good cleaning, spray down the needle and giving it a good wiping. I like to spray some extra below and swish it around and pour it out.
7) I also like to give a small spray in the inlet of the MAP. The TPS typically doesn't not require much work but you're welcome to wipe that up too if it is dirty.
8) Reinstall the butterfly, sensors, and chamber. The butterfly can be tricky to get back in if you're alone as well, its not easy to hold the throttle open full and drop in the disk.
9) Reinstall on the manifold and put air inlet tube back on.

Notes:
1) Remember how the butterfly was oriented, put a mark on one half of the topside so you can reinstall how it came out, it is no necessary to remove this part but it does make the cleaning process easier, leave it in if you don't feel comfortable removing it.
2) It is also a good idea to reset your computer but is not necessary.

Disclaimer: You can use these instructions however you choose, but I am not liable for anything you do. Please feel free to link to them from other sites, but you must get my permission first before copying them off of this site to elsewhere.

Can't See? Change Your Headlights!

Jeep Headlights are notoriously horrible in the 93-98 Grand Cherokees. The beam pattern developed has a terrible spread and the light output is minimal. You can do one thing though to help yourself out! Recently, I decided that my fogged up headlight was too much and I went to price new OEM headlights from the dealer and well, it was just too expensive to pay $90 for a single light and I also needed a new passenger side turn signal housing. I went and did some research and decided the Ebay ones would suffice. I took an economical standpoint to this, if they are cheaper and would fog after 4 years instead of 8 years like the OEM headlights and at $40, well, I could supply myself for the next almost 16 years with Ebay headlights and still spend double for OEM in the long rong. Here is my result!

Not only does it give the jeep a newer look (my opinion) but it helped out regaining some of my lighting back while driving on the backroads at night here in Pennsylvania. Do not forget, Jeep lighting is terrible so even though it helped me, my lighting is still not that great. However, I have added a few comparison pictures to give you an idea of what the fogged light looks like against the new light.

Yes, the drivers side doesn't look as fogged as the passengers because it is newer, the passenger side came with the Jeep 12 years ago.

In order to change the housings, it was not at all bad, very easy so that even a novice can do it. My procedure:

1) Remove headlight bulb (I bet someone would leave it in and accidently pull the wires out)

2) Remove front grille (There are 4 screws, two at the very top and two inside the slots)

3) Remove corner marker (One screw at the top and you will need a long skinny torx-driver and remove the screw between the side marker and turn signal housing)

4) Now you will need some force and just pull as hard as you can to remove the headlight, it is held in by 3 balls and its very tight.

5) There is one ball clip that is on the aftermarket unit that doesn't like the ball. My way around this was that I was never using the old headlights so I broke the area holding the clip on the old unit and broke the actual clip on the new unit and replaced that way. It is very difficult to get them out otherwise without breaking stuff.

6) Install, it will take some pounding with your fist but you'll know when they are locked in.

7) Reinstall all surround light housings, bulbs, and grille

8) Reaim

Note:

Do this where you can shine your lights on a wall with your old lights and mark where you get your highest intensities this way you can properly reaim your headlights after you install your new housings.

Disclaimer: You can use these instructions however you choose, but I am not liable for anything you do. Please feel free to link to them from other sites, but you must get my permission first before copying them off of this site to elsewhere.

Up Next in lighting: Upgrading the 9004 Bulb to a 9007 Bulb.

Exhaust

Todays topic I would like to discuss are headers. Over the years there have been many different styles of headers produced for the 4.0L motors that are pre-02 when the mid-model revamp took place. Chrylser decided to add pre-cats to the motor thus making it difficult to produce a header for the 4.0L. Years ago I had to make the decision because like many others that have the 4.0L probably had their exhaust manifold crack within 5 or 7 years. My Jeep was ran for years with a cracked manifold and I decided it was time to upgrade my exhaust so I did my research and decided to go with the Mike Leach Headers (see Previous Work for image) with 2.5" exhaust including a Magnaflow high-flow cat and Flowmaster 50 SUV series. There are many companies out there who make a great header such as banks, doug thorley, edelbrock, and gibson. It also just so happened that Mopar Performance produced a header developed by Mike Leach, and it just so happened, that is the header I purchased. These headers are true performance using a long tube design in a tri-y form that end up running all the way to the bottom of the motor.

Only problem with these headers for those who want the most out of their 4.0 is that these headers have not been produced for years and are not very common. There is hope, if Mike Leach can get 20 people to be interested and put money down, there is a chance he will produce another batch, if you would be interested, contact Kolak on Jeepsunlimited and express your intrest.

Another addition I made while doing the exhaust and having the motor torn down was to do a common mod involving updating the intake manifold. Mine was done using an intake manifold from a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.0L. The air ducts are designed with less bends and an increase in the volume that the manifold is able to hold. The volume in the new manifold is 4.3L which is an increase from the 2.6L held by the older style of manifold. I have attatched a picture of the differences between the years, the one on the right is the new updated version. I have also attatched what it looks like installed.

If you are wondering, this is a direct bolt on, you can also use the newer updated fuel injectors however you will need to make it work by either soldering in new connectors or filing down the hold down and use wireties or use your creativity to keep them held down, I opted to reuse my injectors. Here is a great write-up that holds alot of information regarding this mod.
Intake Manifold Swap

My personal opinion regarding the exhaust on my Jeep is certainly a great one. The sound that the Flowmaster 50 SUV Series produces has a mean rumble and doesn't sound bad or have an annoying drone. The mod was done years ago and I have since then forgot what it felt like before but the feel of the power increase was certainly worth the money. My gas mileage went up 1-2mpg as well which is a pleasant surprise.

The Jeep Wave

Well, most people know about it but it is rarely ever upheld by any drivers of Jeeps other than the offroad crowd, I am talking about the Jeep Wave. This is an older tradition among the Jeep drivers where when they would see another Jeep, a wave was given. When I first learned how to drive, I would wave and get a wave back. Now, has this become forgotten because Jeep is now more of a vehicle for the less enthusiastic about the brand? Do they owners no longer take pride in the vehicle they drive or are they stuck up? Or is it just ignorance of the existence of the Jeep Wave? I think it would be great if the Jeep Wave became as common as when I was first learning to drive. I know this is still a common occurance with the Wranglers in which if first started, but it seems as if the Grand Cherokees are at a price point that the Cherokees were at when I first started driving. So maybe a younger, more eager crowd could restart this?

Well anyways, here is a link to the explanation of the JEEP WAVE.

I do see this as a common thing between vette drivers and bike riders.

Previous Work

I have had a life with my jeep before my lift, however the lift was always first priority that would constantly be surpassed by other projects. My current list of mods include:

Mike Leach Headers

Full 2.5" Mandrel Bent Exhaust

Flowmaster 50 SUV Series

Waag Brush Guard

Hella FF75 Driving Lights

High Flow Cat

Fog light with High Beam Mod

Performance Distributors Ignition Upgrade

Old Man Emu Steering Stabilizer and Shocks

High Flow Thermostat Housing

K&N FIPK w/ custom heatshield

A few things that I use religiously and am now probably biased:

Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil

Mopar ATF+4 for tranny and transfercase

Amsoil heavy duty gear oil from 4x4 oil (This guy is great to deal with)

Champion Truck Sparkplugs

ALWAYS OEM sensors

Mopar limited slip additive

I went to get a picture of the Mike Leach headers and here they are:

This image is taken from nagca.com under their how to section, I was unable to find my pictures of the install. It is the only long tube tri-Y header for the Jeep developed by Mike Leach who at one point was the big shot for Mopar Performance before they shut him down. The have not been in production for years so there is slim chance of finding them now unless someone parts out their motor. For a short time, these headers were also produced under Thorley however I am unsure if they are still produced to this day.

The rest of my mods are easily seen on the outside or are common mods that most have seen in some shape or form before. When I get time, I will take some pictures and upload them to give a glimpse inside my engine bay.

My Lift

I will produce a list of what I have purchased and where from, then as time goes on and I get them, I will write something about them.

Riddler Dif Covers for D30 and Ford 8.8 from Moon Works Offroad
JKS adjustable track bar F & R from Kevin's Offroad
Rubicon Express Monotube shocks from Kolak (ask for contact, he has everything you want at great prices)
Cragar V-5 Wheels 15x8 w/ 3.75" Backspacing from Summit Racing
Ford 8.8 from eBay
Rubicon Express front adj control arms from friend
Rubicon Express rear adj control arms from Kolak
Extended Stainless Steel brake lines from Iron Rock Offroad
Ford 8.8 axle swap brackets from Mad 4WD
Dana 30 ring & pinion 4.10 gears
BFG KM2 M/T 32x11.50x15
JKS quicker disconnects from Kolak
Tranny cooler & inline filter from Summit Racing
Heavy Duty Tie Rod from Iron Rock Offroad

There are other little parts purchased as well such as u-joints, center caps, tie rod ends ect...

As I get them or have time, I will write about each product and why I went with it and something nice about the vendor. Typically the vendors I purchase from are hardcore jeep people who you can trust they will know what you are talking about. The customer service for all the people listed is top quality and if they mess up, they are all quick to mend situations. These vendors come highly recommended by myself and many others in forums.

Info I have gathered from my list includes:
Jeeps Unlimited
Jeep Forum
Jeep Horizons
Mall Crawlin (I would suggest only going here for information unless you are very serious about your lift, then I would say its ok to join otherwise you will be flamed.. but great place for high lift information!)
Vendors are always helpful in getting you what you need as well.

Introduction Part 2

To let you more into my world, and while I am at work, I will introduce you to my dog, Toby. He is a 10 month old Japanese Chin and a wonderful pet to myself and my girlfriend. The Japanese Chin is a very cat like dog and oddly enough, all people which whom I have met that state they dislike dogs fall in love with Toby. The breed is spectacular and very well behaved, commonly very mellow dog and quiet Toby loves everyone he meets and all animals he meets. The Japanese Chin has the reputation of being the most cat like dog, and like cats, he loves jumping at flies trying to catch them and eat them. And if you dislike the dog smell, this dog is great, he doesn't smell like a dog! He smells clean and has smooth silky hair. If I were looking for another dog, this breed is #1 on my list.
This is 3 month old Toby when we brought him home from the airport.











This is 7 month old Toby stealing the drivers seat in the Jeep you will learn to know and hopefully will inspire you to enjoy your own 4x4. Just because you do not have a jeep doesn't mean you can't be inspired.

Introduction

I have been in the works of building up my 98 Grand Cherokee, also referred to as a ZJ. In my opinion, I think these are the nicest of all the grand cherokees, but I am biased! The model I am working with has been in my family since brand new in 98, it has a 4.0L inline-6 and 172k miles. As I get parts for my build, I will update and write a blurb about them, if you have any questions about what/why I'm using a specific part or who supplied them, I will gladly answer and lead you in the right direction if you're interested in doing this to your Jeep. In the end I will have a 4.5" lift with 32" tires and I will be doing this leading up to the final lift. So for now, here is my Jeep.

Other things I enjoy include building computers and playing Call of Duty 4. Maybe when I have nothing to write about I will include something interesting about either or... but until then, this is my CoD4 style.

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