Jeep Super Fans

Mike Strawbridge


Failure to start falls into two categories:

The engine will not turn over – the starter motor will not run

Or

The engine turns over but will not fire and run.

This article will address the second cause. If you engine will not turn over, see my other article.

The Jeep Cherokee like other vehicles needs two things to run: Fuel and ignition.

Fuel delivery can be easily checked with the use of a fuel pressure tester connected to the test port on the injector rail. In the event of an emergency, you can sacrifice a tire pressure gauge to test for proper fuel pressure. The correct pressure will be around 35 to 40 lbs depending on the vacuum state of the engine.

If you suspect a fuel delivery problem, first listen for the fuel pump to run. On most XJ Cherokees the pump will run a couple of seconds and then stop when the key is first switched to the on position. If the pump does not run, check the wiring to the fuel pump. Start to see if the proper voltage is present at the ballast resister located on the left front fender. You can also remove the fuel pump relay and use a jumper wire to energize the fuel pump.

If the fuel pump runs but does not produce the correct fuel pressure, check for leaks in the fuel limes. There is a rubber line inside the fuel tank that if it breaks will allow the system to loose pressure without any visible leaks. This one can be a real head scratchier to find.

If you have the proper fuel pressure and still the engine will not fire, check the ignition source. The ECU relies on two signals to determine the spark timing. The Crankshaft position sensor and the camshaft position sensor. The Crankshaft position sensor is located on the bell housing on the left side of the engine. There is a wiring connector on the manifold that sometimes corrodes. Check for a good connection at this point. Also, check the wires leading to the sensor as I have seen them damaged.

The camshaft sensor is located inside the distributor housing. The most common problem with this sensor is the wiring again the connector to the wiring harness. Also note that there are several ground wires that connect to the back of the engine block near the distributor. If these grounds wires are loose, the ECU can malfunction. Check these while checking the camshaft position sensor wiring.

If the distributor has been removed for any reason, verify the indexing of the distributor. If the distributor is even slightly off, the computer will not allow the engine to fire as a safety precaution. See my other article on distributor indexing.

Another part that can stop the flow of power to the ignition is the rotor in the distributor. Remove the distributor cap and verify that the contacts of the rotor are making contact with the cap and the tip is not excessively burned.

Mike Strawbridge


After having heard and read many horror stories about Jeep 4.0’s that don’t run after pulling the distributor, I was very careful about installing the distributor in my new Titan Stroker Motor.

The procedure in the factory recommended procedure is surprising simple. Here is my method of implementing the recommended procedure.

Use a 3/4 inch wrench to rotate the engine to the zero degree mark on the Damper. This is easier if the electric fan is not in the way. Also, you must ensure that you are on the compression stoke of the engine. One way to ensure this is to watch the motion of the valves and make sure that you are using the mark just after the intake valve closes.

Another note: If you damper is old, this is a good time to make sure it is not twisted by checking that the engine really is at TDC when the damper lines up with the mark.

With the cap on the distributor, scribe a line just to the left on the number one terminal. Transfer this line down onto the metal distributor housing. On the Renix version, it will be near where the wires come out.

Use a screwdriver to set the slot in the oil pump drive to 11 O’Clock.

Now take the distributor cap off. Eyeball the mounting tang over the mounting bolt hole in the block. Pick up the gasket you just dropped and put it back on.

Set the rotor to point to about 4 O’Clock. This will be a bit to the right of your mark.

Lower the distributor in to the hole and allow it to engage the camshaft drive gears. The rotor will turn as the gears engage. When it hits bottom, the rotor should be pointing at the mark you made earlier. If not, try again.

Put the mounting clamp on and tighten the bolt.

From the stories I have heard, the computer will not work if the distributor indexing is off even one gear tooth. By using this procedure, yours will be right. Check off another item from your list of Jeep Cherokee motor problems.

Christine Harrell


When it comes time to buy new Willys Jeep tires there are a few pieces of advice to follow to ensure you get the best tires for the job while maintaining the look of your Jeep.

Should You Buy NDT Tires?

There is some debate about whether jeepers should stick with the classic military NDT Willys Jeep tires or opt for something more modern. To be accurate, the original Willys Jeeps did not use NDT tires. Although many jeepers believe they did, NDT didn’t come into common use until the 1950s. However everyone associates the look of those tires with Jeeps so most Willys owners want to use them.

The main drawback to NDT Willys Jeep tires is that they don’t handle as well as modern tires. Many Jeep owners find they perform poorly off road although others think they work just fine. A larger problem is that NDT tires can be downright dangerous on wet or icy pavement.

Your decision will be based on what you use your Jeep for. If your vehicle is more of a showpiece and doesn’t see a lot of rugged driving, then NDT tires are the way to go. If you drive off-road then you may have to try mounting NDTs and see how they perform.

If you are set on NDTs then you can get increased traction by taking them to a tire shop and having them siped. The shop will cut dozens of tiny cuts in the tread to give the tire more flexibility and surface area for gripping the road.

Correct Tire Inflation

Finding the proper inflation for your Willys Jeep tires is harder than you might think. Unfortunately a lot of drivers are riding around on tires with the wrong pressure and suffering uneven tire wear and poor traction.

The right pressure is probably not the pressure in your Jeep manual. That pressure is only right if you are running a completely stock vehicle on normal surface streets. Optimal pressure will change if you’ve customized your Jeep in ways such as adding heavy accessories like winches, or if you are using non-stock tires.

The best pressure for your tires is the pressure that has the edge of the tread and the center of the tread contacting the ground with equal force. To find the perfect inflation, squirt a chalk line refill onto the tread of your tires. You don’t have to do all four but should do one in the front and one in the back. Create a band a couple of inches across that covered the tread from edge to edge.

Drive slowly down the road for a while then get out and see where the chalk is wearing off the tire. If it’s wearing off the edge you are underinflated. Center wear means you are overinflated. Adjust the pressure and try again until you get even wear across the chalk band.

Chris Pierce


Jeeps are well known for being rugged, off-road vehicles. Even if you buy a Jeep brand new, you will start to notice the wear and tear on your Jeep parts if you take your vehicle into rugged terrain on a regular basis. When the time to replace these pieces comes around, you should only be using the best products. In the following article, we will review some important information about using the best Jeep parts.

When you buy a Jeep, you can rest assured that the parts on that particular vehicle will be able to take on rough terrain for some time before needing replacement. During this time, you will be able to simply service your Jeep without having to replace them. However, there will come a time that servicing these parts will no longer suffice and you will have to look in to replacing or upgrading. Unfortunately, there are no Jeep parts that will last you a lifetime. There are products that will last you a long time, but there are none that are forever. Top-of-the-line parts will guarantee a much longer rate of service if you have the money to invest in them. These can be easily obtained in many locations.

Whatever part you may happen to need, the auto market will have it. Bumpers, body lifts, shocks, winches, wheels, exhaust systems and many other parts can be easily located on the auto market for mostly decent prices. The Jeep parts that are on the market will not only meet your replacement needs, but they may also upgrade the performance of your Jeep. You have the ability to make your Jeep as durable and reliable as you want.

Jeep parts can also be used to make your Jeep unique to all the others on the road. These can also be used to heighten the comfort and safety of your Jeep, which is very important if you take your Jeep off the beaten path on a regular basis. When buying Jeep items to improve the safety of your vehicle, you should always choose the best ones you can afford.

Alexander Sutton


Taking a Jeep off-road is a lot of fun, and it’s a hobby (and sport) that’s growing in popularity across the country. If it’s your first time going off-road, or even if you’ve been doing this sort of thing for years, it’s always smart to double-check your gear so that you can have a safe and fun experience. Despite the standard safety precautions people take when going off-road, accidents are still possible and often happen. Minor injuries can result, but even more major injuries can be stabilized until help arrives if you have a proper Jeep survival kit that is always present in the Jeep and never removed from the vehicle.

Your Jeep survival kit should include the following items: bandages, tape, gauze, anti-bacterial cream, aspirin, calamine lotion, cold pack, heat packs, snake venom kits, razor blades, sanitary pads, anti-nausea tablets, tweezers, and hydrogen peroxide. This is a short list of the essentials, and you might find that you need to add more items depending on your own personal needs or the personal needs of your family.

You should also be sure to pack extra drinking water as well as food like jerky, nuts, dried fruit, and other easily packed, easily stored, high in protein and carbs, food. Space blankets should also be included. They’re extremely small and compact, but will provide warmth if you get stuck in a cold environment or over night. Flashlights and spare batteries are also a good idea, as well as a lighter or matches in a water-proof container.

Al Carl


Why lift your Jeep? More height means more clearance for dealing with obstacles while offroading. It allows you to run larger tires, which also helps with conquering offroad challenges. Still another reason is that many folks just feel that a lifted Jeep with larger tires looks better, and I certainly agree with them. The added height and larger tires just give a Jeep a better more pronounced profile.

No matter the reason for lifting your Jeep, there are a number of ways to go about it. Before you pick which one is right for you, you’ll need to make some decisions along the way. First, you’ll need to decide on what you’re looking to accomplish with the lift. Is it simply for show, or is it for go? Serious rock crawling anyone? Second, determine just how high you want to go. Looking for a little height for some mild wheeling or are you really serious about this height thing? Third, select the type of lift to use. Finally, install the lift or have it installed.

The basic methods for lifting a Jeep are Suspension Lift Kits, Body Lifts Kits, Shackle Lifts, Spring-Over-Axle Conversions, and Coil Spring Spacers. Jeep shackle lifts and coil spring spacers typically result in a maximum increase of 2 inches. Coil spring spacers are just what they say: spacers that are inserted under the base of the coil spring, resulting in lifting the springs higher. Shackle lifts are comprised of leaf spring shackles that are longer and lift the frame higher from the leafs. Both of these kits are rather inexpensive methods, but if you’re looking for more than a couple of inches, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Spring-Over-Axle conversion kits allow you to change the location of the leaf spring from beneath the axle to sit on top of it. They’ll usually result in a lift of 4 inches or more. This can be increased by the size of springs you use with the over axle kit. Use of these can cause cantering, and steering linkage and driveline issues which must be addressed. It can become a little complicated for the less mechanically inclined among us (I’m one of them!). It will definitely change the handling of the rig. While the spring-over-axle conversion kits are rather inexpensive when compared to suspensions lifts, there is a good bit of time and money spent on fixing the issues it creates, which needs to be taken into consideration when assessing the costs of your various options.

With Body Lift Kits you basically unbolt the body from the frame, and place manufactured blocks between the Jeep’s body and the rolling chassis. This raises the body of your Jeep but doesn’t directly increase the clearance of your undercarriage. The body lift does allow you to run larger tires, which will increase your Jeep’s clearance.

Suspension lift kits will directly increase the clearance of a Jeep. They call for installing taller suspension components (higher lift springs and longer recoil shocks). These systems deliver lift, better articulation, and better offroad handling. Unfortunately, they are the most expensive of the lift options, but they deliver the best handling performance.

When it comes down to choosing a lift, you’ll need to determine why you’re lifting the vehicle, and how much you’re willing to pay for it. If you’re only looking to add a couple of inches and you want the lift just for looks, a body kit, coil-spring-spacers or lift shackles may be just what the doctor ordered. If you’re looking to build a Jeep that is more offroad capable then you should look at suspension lift systems.

Many serious offroaders combine the suspension lift with a body lift for additional height. Installation of any of these lifting methods will usually change the handling of a vehicle. They all raise the center of gravity and will, therefore, affect side-to-side handling and cornering. This can be addressed by adding wider tires along with the lift. Depending on the type and size of kit you install and the model of your Jeep, you may need to install a dropped Pitman arm, longer control arms, longer brake hoses, a transfer case drop, and/or a CV drive shaft and slip yoke eliminator kit (due to a change of the angle of the drive train on TJs and some Cherokees). It’s important to not cut corners when lifting your Jeep. Why spend the money on a lift just to compromise the handling performance and face potentially serious wear and tear issues with key components? Do it right the first time and it will serve you in the long run.

Whatever system you select, the one thing for sure is that the added height will help give your Jeep that rugged tough look most of us seem to prefer.

James C


Jeep owners know that when you own a Jeep and you want to modify it you should, Just Empty Every Pocket. It seems like everything you do to a Jeep costs and arm and a leg. This is especially true when you talk about suspension lifts. Except for one type of lift, the body lift. Read along and learn a little about this type of affordable Jeep lift kit.

A body lift involves placing pucks between the frame and body of a vehicle. For this reason it is only available for vehicles with a frame and not unibody vehicles. This means that Jeep Wranglers and CJ’s can take advantage of this lit but not Cherokees and Grand Cherokees. Body lifts generally cost in the neighborhood of a hundred dollars which makes it a pretty cheap mod that just about anyone can tackle. So whats involved in installing one. First you must loosen all of the body mount bolts. A rust penetrant usually helps here. Next you remove the bolts from the mounts on one side of the vehicle and jack up that side of the vehicle. Then you add the lift pucks, lower the body and reinstall the bolts. Repeat this for the other side and you are just about done. To finish it off you will have to adjust any linkages that might need lengthening. The kit will probably come with new brackets to do this. Thats it, you are done.

As you can see, this is a pretty easy and quick way to get a little more lift out of your Jeep. So if you are in need of a little more tire clearance on the cheap, give it some thought.

Larry H. Morton


Used Jeeps too expensive?  Overpriced?  Out of range?  Out of sight?

The answers are…yes..yes..yes..and yes!  

With the Wrangler leading the pack on ridiculous pricing in the new and used markets it’s no wonder that there is so much “Buyer’s Shock”.

What’s so special about Jeeps..and the Jeep Wrangler especially?  

Wranglers are relatively uncomfortable, rough riding, cramped for space and bad on gas mileage.  With those credentials who would want to waste their time and a boat load of money on these things?

The overused expression “It’s a Jeep thing…you wouldn’t understand!” does sum most of it up in a nutshell.  However, many folks really WANT to understand this phenomenon, because these Jeep guys and gals riding around with smiles on their collective faces can’t help but raise curiosity among the uninitiated.

Sure, a lot of us have envisioned ourselves like John Wayne in the movie “Hatari” racing through the wilds of Africa in a beat up Jeep CJ6, or running the Baja 1000 full bore in a tricked out Wrangler racer.  However, most Jeep owners use their rigs as everyday drivers and take them off roading, camping, hunting, fishing or exploring only occasionally.

The real draw to most of us Jeep owners is in the knowing that we have a rare type of vehicle (with a long heroic history) which can pull all sorts of duty from daily driver mild to off road warrior extreme whenever we are so inclined.

THAT is what puts a smile on our faces whenever we strap-in to our favorite rigs headed for the convenience store…or the wide open desert trails.

Is it worth the expensive price to drive this true American icon?  Well, that’s a question only you can answer for yourself.

As for me and millions of other enthusiasts throughout the world…we think it’s definitely worth it!

Lisa Ziegler


It’s faster than a speeding Porsche Cayenne Turbo. It laughs at the face of a BMW X5 and sprints to 60 mph faster than a new Mustang GT. The new super car, Jeep’s rowdy Grand Cherokee SRT8 is equipped with a powerful 6.1 liter Hemi V8, delivering a potent 420 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. This SUV family hauler is definitely not your average SUV and you will know soon enough once you hear its throaty roar as it reach a quarter mile in a matter of 13.5 seconds which by the way is only a muscle car territory.

Despite the power delivered by Jeep’s Grand Cherokee SRT8 it still doesn’t match the performance of the Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe and for this same reason why the Hennessey Performance created the new SRT600 package. The Hennessey Performance was the same people responsible for tuning up the Viper and since it wants to always create something more powerful than its previous masterpiece it has developed the performance package that will enable the Grand Cherokee SRT8 to finally defeat the ferocious Dodge V10 Viper in a 0 to 60 and quarter mile sprint.

Actually this was already accomplished with the new Hennessey SRT600 fortified Jeep, the Viper was outpaced to 60 mph by half a second and cross the quarter mile finish line two-tenths sooner than a much lower and lighter Viper.

Ever wondered where the Jeep’s added Saturn V-like thrust comes from? Instead of a solid rocket booster, a big Garrett turbocharger has provided the boost to a modified 6.1 liter V8. How did the Hennessey Performance accomplish this? First they started by removing the stock SRT8 V8 and tear it down to the cast-iron cylinder block. Afterwards heavy-duty bearings were added before the installation of aftermarket forged steel connecting rods, forged-aluminum 9.5:1piston, and high performance piston rings.

Hennessey has also reworked the cylinder heads creating a full porting on the intake and exhaust runners along with polished combustion chambers. And on airflow test bench conducted by Hennessey the ported heads flow 360 cfm on each intake port which is about 60 cfm more than stock.

To further increase airflow to the cylinders a single Garrett T4 turbocharger that delivers seven psi of thrust was added. The custom-made stainless-steel headers deliver exhaust to the turbo, then boost is fed through the 3.5 inch polished stainless steel tubing, a big front mount air-to-air aluminum intercooler and custom inlet tubing replete with twin billet-aluminum blow-off valves. To keep the turbo’s boost in check is a single 44 mm wastegate while the 180 degree thermostat helps the Hemi to remain cool.

Hennessey has also added a high-volume fuel pump that delivers a continuous flow of petrol likewise the oversized fuel injectors and a special fuel-pressure regulator are being monitored by a custom-programmed engine computer. The result of all these process is a 6.1 liter V8 that delivers 600 horsepower at 5200 rpm backed by 650 lb-ft of torque at 4000 revs. Such powerful torque requires a lot of engine airflow that lead the Hennessey to fit a dual three inch diameter stainless steel exhaust system, high flow mufflers, and a polished four inch diameter exhaust tips. At rest, the SRT600 is like a meek lamb but try to flat-foot the throttle and it awakens into a monstrous beast. A word of caution: The Hennessey SRT600 Jeep SRT8 is not for the faint-hearted.

The modifications done on the Jeep SRT8 was maintained at a minimum level which means that aside from the engine, the basic components of the SRT8 like for instance its Jeep fuel filter , the factory SRT spec Brembo disc brakes and many more were not altered. The exterior was however enhanced by adding a few SRT600 badges and optional 20×10.5 inches forged aluminum wheels wrapped in a Michelin Pilot Sport 2 295/30ZR20 tires.

Pete Ridgard


In terms of Pan-Atlantic success, some imports from the United States to Britain do slightly better than others, it has to be said. The imports that have made a huge impact are things like Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Boy Bands, Skateboarding and Ice Cream with cookie bits in it. Things that have faded badly or failed to make any impact whatsoever include MC Hammer and a great number of large and rather unwieldy cars.

Amongst the culprits in the automotive category sits Jeep; who have spent decades manufacturing cars that more than suit the American sensibility of ‘Big is Better’. This mentality doesn’t always wash particularly well with the British public, who’s most popular automotive export happens to be the Mini; one of the smallest cars available.

So we’ve established that there are vastly differing opinions on what constitutes the best size of car on each of the opposite ends of the Atlantic Ocean, but this doesn’t really explain why the Jeep’s popularity has begun to sky rocket over the past few years. In fact, the British sales figures should have plummeted hugely due to recession; environmental concerns and the simple fact that we reserved Brits just don’t seem to fall in love with big cars. Despite this logic, Jeep vehicles increase in popularity year on year.

Some of this popularity must be garnered from the Used Jeep market, as the depreciation on American vehicles in Britain seems to slash up to 50% off the original price in just a matter of a few years. These are worrying statistics for those who have just bought a brand new Jeep, but the true bargain hunters would take a look at the used market first.