Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN

[spankrjs]

Picked up my new/removed my old bent front driveshaft. Hard to take pictures but it definitely bent in multiple locations. This is @bigwalton fault, he stared at it so hard on the dunes in Michigan that is just bent!!!





Actually, pretty sure I remember exactly where this happened while in Mason, TX. Never noticed the damage there, or at home when I had all the suspension out doing maintenance!!! It is not too good for the pinion bearings/front output shaft bearings to keep running a bent shaft. I told myself I would install a new shaft as soon as I got home from MI, then before Hot Springs, then....... Made it a New Year's resolution LOL. Called my driveshaft guy first thing this morning, picked it up this afternoon, great service!!!

Remove old, clean up yokes and hardware, install new, and grease!!!



Took it for a test drive down the road with the front hubs locked, got up to 55mph, no more vibration. Put it in 4wd in the yard, good as new!!



That's it for now!!

 

[mhinchliffe]

Did you bottom it out on something and bend it? Inquiring minds want to know.........

 

[spankrjs]

Did you bottom it out on something and bend it? Inquiring minds want to know.........

Was backing off an obstacle and the front driveshaft made heavy contact with rock out cropping. Lot of weight on the front shaft. Should have got a tug backwards, but impatient me powered back down off it. So, weight on shaft, rotational torque, bent shaft. I can't remember the tube sidewall thickness of the old/new shaft but it is thick. Took more then a little impact to damage it.

I always tend to bend/damage front shafts, better then the rear!!!!!

 

[spankrjs]

Heading up to Hawk Pride ORV Park in north Alabama next weekend. Have two minor issues I am trying to address.

Will start with the first, hopefully easier repair. I had a minor gear oil leak from the passenger rear drive flange. Pulled the wheel off, pulled the cap off, resealed. Thought that fixed it. Well, a few days later I was puking some gear oil out the rear axle vent. Part of this was due to me probably over filling the rear differential a few weeks ago. But, the OEM plastic cap vent thingy felt like it was sticking a bit, too.

So, pulled rear axle vent hose off, blew it out, made sure the axle fitting was stopped up, and installed a new breather cap thing:







Not exactly OEM in appearance, not too concerned about that. Hope that fixes this minor issue, should know after a 20 mile highway run.

 

[Belizeit]

Here’s the one I used on mine.

 

[spankrjs]

The second issue is more annoying, and I still have not figured it out.

I will pretty consistently, but not always, get a low "belt squeal/whistle sound" primarily while decelerating, from around 1,500 RPM to idle. Sometimes the sound will continue for a few seconds once the engine hits base idle speed, then stops. It is not a loud sound like a loose belt or when you stuff the steering and get the PS pump belt to squeal, but it is there. Not all the time, probably 90% of the time when you decelerate. No sound at start up or shut down, or if you rev the engine to over 4k RPM. Sometimes I can hear the sound while driving at a steady speed/RPM. It is not a power train/wheel bearing noise, it is engine RPM related. Not clutch related, either.

Both drive belts look good, not that old at all, no contamination that I can see. All the pulleys are smooth, too.

It is going to seem like I am throwing parts at the problem to try to solve it, but I am not. I just keep finding issues, and NAPA seems to have life time warranty on all their stuff, so here we go......

I first speculated that maybe the fan clutch was making noise. So, I pulled it off:



Note how I left the belts on, this is important later.

I noticed some slight seepage from the shaft seal on the fan clutch, so swapped on a new one.



Absolutely no change in my noise issue.

So, let's pull the front of the engine off!!



Earlier, when I changed the fan clutch, I left the belts on. I pulled the belts, there was some slack present in the water pump front bearing. I could rock the fan assembly side to side.

So, let's swap on a new water pump. This is the water pump I installed in a NAPA parking lot on the way home from the Rausch Creek National in Pennsylvania a few years ago. While I was in there, I swapped in a new thermostat, too.



Gotta remove some stuff:



Not too many tools:



Much easier at the house/yard vs a NAPA parking lot!!

While the belts were off, I checked the PS pump and alternator. PS pump feels fine, alternator spins free, very minor noise from front bearing noted.

So, water pump fixed it right? Nope. Drove back to NAPA to turn in the damaged water pump, nosie still there, no change.

Well, time to start pulling belts off one at a time to eliminate accessories!!! On this '83 I have two separate V belts. Both drive the water pump, one drives alternator, the other drives the PS pump. So, you can pull one off at a time and the water pump is still spinning.

I started with the alternator for a few reasons: it is the front belt, it is easier to remove, and the front bearing was suspect.



So, belt off, drove home, no noise, success!!! Besides the very minor bearing noise, this alternator quit self exciting about a year ago. So, I warrantied it out, installed a new alternator. Went for a drive, nosie still there!!!

Installed a new belt, noise still there!!!

No misalignment, front pulley is still bolted tight to the harmonic balancer. Balancer and crank spin true, no wobble. Everything is spinning fine and true.

I finally sprayed a very small amount of Silicone spray on the belts while the engine was running. Went for a drive. At first, noise seemed to be worse. After about 10 minutes, noise is almost gone. Who knows...........

I will probably swap out the PS pump for shits and giggles, after that I am out of parts to swap.

 

[spankrjs]

Belt noise this morning on the way into work, same sound/RPM range. So, went home and did this:



The PS pump that was in here is only a few months old but it has been making noises since I installed it. So, put another new PS pump in, test drive, no noise so far

Hopefully that fixed it, I guess I will see. I could have started here since the PS pump did exhibit symptoms, glad I went the long way around and caught all the other issues.

Parts these days just aren't worth a crap. The PS pump only a couple thousand easy miles, water pump 3 years old maybe 20k on it, alternator 2 years old.........

 

[spankrjs]

The new PS pump is working better than the replaced unit, no noise from it. I still got the belt noise once, before the engine reached operating temperature first thing this morning. Brief drive to get lunch, no noise.

Might have to take a closer look at the harmonic balancer, see if it has any visible evidence of damage. It is a Hesco part that works with the Mopar MPI front mounted crank position sensor, costs around $200, so not just going to swap on a new one

 

[spankrjs]

Did something easy first tonight:



1 - 6 left to right, all about the same, around 25k miles.

Still having belt noise, stopped by a local shop to let a guy I know take a look. Harmonic balancer looks good, but noticed this on the alternator pulley:



See how high the belt is riding in the pulley, should look like this:



Simple enough, swap alternators. So, do that, fire it up, here metal hitting metal in a cyclical pattern!!

So, on the alternator with the correct pulley the external fan is slightly larger and hits the alternator bracket!!!!



So, swap pulley and fan from alternator #2 to #1, install, and it won't charge any more!!! Swap stuff around again, finally have a combination that charges, belt fits, and no noise so far!!!

Fingers crossed for more testing tomorrow!!!!

 

[spankrjs]

I "think" the noise is gone

Regardless, plan on taking it up to Hawk Pride, guess I will find out, but not too worried

 

[spankrjs]

Made it to Hawk Pride and back with no major issues, but of course last minute drama!!!!!!

Did a quick interstate drive of about 20 miles at 75mph to see if everything was good to go before I packed up and headed up to north Alabama. Of course not!!!!!!!!!!!!



Yep, pumping gear oil out the rear axle vent hose. So, went back to the last dummy (me) who worked on this: I had a very minor seep from the Ox Locker cable, barely noticeable. So, I drained the 80w-90w and refilled the rear axle with 85w-140w gear oil, which is safe to use on an AMC20. I was thinking the slightly thicker oil would seep less. Problem, and this is pure speculation on my part: the OX differential is a full case, like an ARB or Detroit. You can not see the side gears/spider gears/axle shafts. What I think is happening is the thicker oil easily goes through the differential and down the axle tubes, BUT it can not easily drain back through the differential and into the case. So, drained out the thick oil, put back in 80w-90w, no more pumping gear oil out of the vent line

Left home around 5;30pm, MUCH later than I hoped, but I was on the road!!!



I don't need no 392!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Trying to make up time, drove with it pegged from south of Hattiesburg, MS, all the way to West Point, MS, on I59/Highway 45. For the record, Scrambler drove great, BUT it drank 15 gallons of fuel at these speeds!!!! 183 miles, 15 gallons of fuel, 12MPG, I usually run 70-75mph and get around 14-15mpg, so not terrible.

Anyway Jeep did great, but I di have to fix my buddies motorhome on the side of the highway somewhere in Alabama (blew a tiny coolant hose on top of the Cummins, opened the the bed hatch easy to get to engine, used a spare piece of CJ heater hose I had and 5 cases of bottled water to refill radiator!!!!!!!!!!)

Made it to Hawk Pride late, was dreading setting up tent that late, but lucked out with my own bed in a brand new RV when some guy backed out of trip at last minute!!!!!!!!!! It is better to be lucky than good sometimes (on RV repair and RV bed!!!!!)

 

[Bad Karma]

12mpg is what I get doing 80mph with the LS...

 

[spankrjs]

It was a fairly steady rain all day Friday, but went out to hit some trails. The last time I was at this park was for the National Scramble back in 2015. A Scrambler/Jeep like mine used to be able to run 1,2, and 3 level trails (might have to bypass or pull cable on some spots on some of the 3's but not terrible). Now, due to erosion/use/time/ and big ass monster buggies, I would almost say all the 3 level trails are out of my capabilities. Drove a few trails Friday morning, jumped in a buggy Friday after lunch once the rain started coming down.

It rained all day Friday, Friday night, quit Saturday morning. The rain made even the access roads challenging, so i was having fun!!!



Not gonna get much traction on rocks like this!!!!!!



I do love my 4:1 low range, I was able to drive around like a little tractor and not sling mud all over, Was feeling great, on a trail, went to pass between two washouts, and a cave in:









I was wondering why it quit moving LOL!!!!!!!! A quick tug forward from Mr Warn, all good. No picture, but about 30 minute later got stuck in the mud and had winch out, again. Not like a mud water hole, just grease mud about a foot thick with a solid bottom. I did not feel like covering the Scrambler in mud so winched it about 40 feet, back on the road.

And when the "big boy's" bead locks don't lock the bead, Scrambler to the rescue with a spare tire delivery!!!





Anyway, had a blast, Scrambler did fine, now over 78,000 miles since I rebuilt her:



I still need to swap in a new thermostat, the one I installed from the spare parts bin is sticking a little bit upon initially reaching operating temperature. I also need to reseal the drive flange covers on the rear hubs. The RCV slugs work perfect, but the covers were designed for I am assuming stock Dana 44 wheel hubs. My Warn wheel hubs have a slightly larger ID, so I need to find some slightly thicker O-rings. They don't drip oil, but after a long highway road trip I usually have a little "spin art" on the outside of the rear wheels coming from behind the OEM wheel center caps.

That's it for now!

 

[spankrjs]

12mpg is what I get doing 80mph with the LS...

I don't need no stinking LS either

 

[2tall]

Looks like a good time. Maybe one day I'll pop my pavement princess's cherry and join you on one of those trips.

 

[spankrjs]

Finished the post mud riding clean up (except inside the Rubicon Express U-bolt skids, they are still packed solid with mud):



Was I leaving the XXX movie theater, I'll never tell

Parked outside a house we built, HVAC issues from hell, but was a nice day for a picture!!



Changed the thermostat, good to go there. Rear drive flange seal no longer appears to be seeping, but I did order some new o-rings, but I might get a slightly larger OD o-ring, too.

That's it for now

 

[gpassida]

Finished the post mud riding clean up (except inside the Rubicon Express U-bolt skids, they are still packed solid with mud):

Great pics! And nice job cleaning up all that mud. (I hate mud cleanup)

 

[spankrjs]

More witching this weekend, this time in Baton Rouge LOL. Snatch block and ViAir air compressor getting a work out!







Helping old buddy JeepAddict out!!

More moving tomorrow then back home tomorrow night. New thermostat working fine, rear hub drive flange seal leak seems to have fixed/minimized itself. Power steering box started leaking out of the seal where the steering shaft connects. Seems to have stopped for now, I'll throw some Lucas in it tomorrow.

That's it for now!!

 

[spankrjs]

More urban cowboy today!!









Last load:



Yeppers, less than 6 month old power steering box still pissing out fluid from the rear seal. It for some reason did not magically fix itself over night.



Two days of non stop winching, airing up tires, loading trailers, unloading Jeeps and big Jeep parts. Hauled 7 or 8 non running Jeeps, can't even remember everything still a blur right now LOL!

Topped off the PS fluid level with some old fluid. Drove it 30 miles on the interstate on the way home and stopped to check, was already barely on the bottom of the dip stick. Topped it off with some equally old Lucas PS stop leak, drove 50 miles and checked, still full. I stopped right before I got on a long bridge, if the fluid would have been low I was just gonna cut the damn belt off with a knife to keep from seizing up the PS pump, causing the belt to break, and potentially ripping the front mounted crank position sensor. Didn't have to do that. Drove it the approximately 150 miles home at 75-80 with no problems. I'll check the fluid level tomorrow before driving it to my real job LOL!!!

Cracked 79k miles on this one since the rebuild. That's it for now!

 

[spankrjs]

Decided to try to install a new input shaft seal tonight:



This NAPA kit will fit a 1983 Jeep Scrambler PS box:



The kit contains these parts, I only needed/wanted the actual shaft seal, bottom part:



So, this would be easier with the gear box out of the vehicle. BUT if I pull this particular POS box I will not reinstall it. You are supposed to torque this round disc piece to 20 foot pounds, I am just going to snug it back up like it was before. So, do this at your own peril.

I removed the steering shaft from the input shaft, easy enough. I then used a punch and hammer and removed the thin dust shield lock ring piece (top of picture). I then used a large "L" shaped pick/punch, inserted it into one of the dimples in the threaded disc piece, and tapped it loose. This is the lower part in the picture below. It is supposed to be torqued to 20 foot pounds, which would take a special or home made tool. I could have/should have marked it and the housing but I did not. I'm just gone put it back like it was before.



The leaking input shaft seal. It goes around the shaft and inside the metal housing piece that surrounds the shaft:



To remove the old seal I used a hand screw driver and screwed in a drywall screw. No need to drill a hole it is only rubber/plastic. Grabbed the screw with vice grips and popped it out.



And then this is where it went sideways and ole RedneckRay got pissed off like a MF'er!!!!! Even though I shouldn't have, cuz sometimes $hit just sucks!!!

So, my seal kit will fit a 1980-1986 OEM PS steering box, no doubt. BUT apparently this POS rebuilt unit was assembled just by grabbing random parts off the floor. I have no idea what vehicle this box came out of, and of course there is NO number on the seal. All I know is that the seal OD AND ID are larger than what a 1980-1986 CJ7/8 would have used.

I wanted to just change the seal to make it easier/faster for me AND try to help the NAPA warranty claims issue BS. Well, if NAPA can't get me a seal in a day or two I will pull this POS box out, reinstall the old seal, get my money back, and just buy an aftermarket box and be done with it.

So, public service announcement:

Don't buy a Cardone steering box (what all the parts stores carry). Sure they have a lifetime warranty but how frequently do you want to change out steering boxes??