You again?

Damn this trouble code!  I believe this code points to one of the O2 sensors downstream, but I’m starting to think this is one of those catch all codes that’s designed to drive owners nuts!  I’m not a mechanic, but I can change out a sensor… again!  However, I would love to know the root cause of this issue so I can fix it once and for all!

Update:
After a bit of digging on assorted online forums, the signs are pointing to a failed or failing catalytic converter.  So off to the parts e-store I go!  Time being a premium these days, I’m sure I’ll get the parts soon but they’ll sit on my shelf for a while before I can find the time to pull out the pipes for a replacement.

Maintenance Brake

As you can tell by the parts stack above, I’ve got my hands full doing a little brake work this weekend.  After a few drives, I thought I should replace the pads since the brakes were a little light, but since I had no idea when the rotors were done (and they looked a bit worn), I figured I should swap those out too.  And then after looking around the underside of my TJ, I saw a little too much rust for my comfort on the calipers and went ahead with a new set of calipers all around too.  Since I’m not really upgrading, just replacing, these parts aren’t terribly expensive.  At the pace that I wrench, this will deff be a few hours worth of work getting my stopping power back.  I’ll post up some comparison pictures and gripes after the work is done but won’t be doing another write up.  This one applies to TJs too.

What’s that third pedal for?

Things I’ve learned today… Before tossing the keys to your Jeep to anyone, make sure they understand that it’s a manual transmission and how to properly start it.  I tossed my buddy the keys, he put is foot on the brake (the e-brake was on & it was in gear), and proceeded to crank it for all it was worth.  The screeching sound of grinding metal echoed through out my garage.  When everything went silent, she would turn over no more.

My local garage wanted to charge me $400 for parts & labor for a new starter motor.  I sent them to hell and you should too since all it takes to replace the starter on a manual transmission Wrangler TJ is a whopping three bolts and a single clip.  I spent more time repairing the clip (it broke due to corrosion when I attempted to gently remove it) then all the other steps combined.  My local Autozone had a starter in stock for around $100-$120 depending on what coupon you use.  Don’t forget to set the parking brake and leave it in gear before you start working whether you are up on jack stands or sitting on the ground.

First, start by disconnecting the negative terminal on the battery and tuck it aside.  Next, disconnect the power wire from the starter shown in the picture below (it’s a 12 or 13 mm nut I believe) and GENTLY remove the black clip on the right hand side of the starter.  Ignore the other terminal on the starter motor.  The ground is grounded to… well, itself.

Remove the 15mm bolt at the bottom of the starter motor and set it aside (you will reuse this bolt).  I’m pointing to the bolt in the image below.

Next remove the second and final 15mm bolt (set it aside for reuse) holding on the starter. The starter should remove freely.  I’m pointing to the last bolt in the image below.

Here are some glamour shots of an Autozone Durlast starter.  I know, not a very glamorous item, but very necessary.

Ugh, looks like I fished the broken starter from the bottom of a lake!  Makes me wonder what on earth the previous owner did to my poor Jeep.

Re-installation is the exact reverse of removal.  Start by bolting the starter back in place with the two 15 mm bolts you set aside.  Connect the red power wire to the starter motor, and reattach the clip.  This is the part that I dorked up.

The clip (pictured above) is comprised of a plastic housing (top) which contains the metal contacts (center).  I picked up a close enough version (bottom) from Napa & soldered it up.

Unfortunately, that brilliant plan didn’t fit in the plastic clip.  So I stripped it all back apart to start again.  In the end, I took a wire brush to the broken metal clip, soldered the wire to it, popped it back into the original plastic housing and plugged her up.  Finally, finish up by connecting the negative terminal and test your work by turning over the engine.

Autozone Duralast Starter Sound Bite 2006 Wrangler Rubicon

You, rockstar, just saved around $300 vs. going to the shop!  Put that money into some mods instead.  Some armor perhaps?

And then there was 1

Only one readiness sensor left to reset and then I can finally tag/title this beast!  Now to figure out the correct drive cycle to reset this pesky goblin.

Update: I passed!  Hat tip to this document that details the chrysler-drive-cycle-information.

Victory!

Now if I can just set those last two readiness sensors I can pass emissions too…

Denied!

Damn.  I’m convinced I have more trouble with state inspections than ANYONE I’ve ever met.  I thought certainly a bone stock Jeep could pass with flying colors, but the state ain’t having it!  The TJ failed due to a worn drive belt, rusty exhaust hangers, & readiness sensors not being set.

The drive belt is an easy fix despite the shop wanting $200 (that’s two HUNDRED bloody dollars!) for a $20 part & 5 minutes worth of work.  I sprung for the $30 belt from Autozone (3 year warranty on the belt thank you very much!) and popped it on.

The exhaust I knew was rusted out and was on my ‘to replace list’ anyways, I just didn’t expect to replace it immediately.  I’ve got an exhaust kit shipping to me now that I plan to write about when I swap out later this week.  The only downside is that since this is kind of an emergency (can’t title the Jeep if I can’t pass inspection), I picked up the cheapest kit I could find instead of taking my time to do a bit of research.  I watched a YouTube clip or two of the exhaust note and it didn’t sound bad at all.  Especially for this price point.

As far as the readiness sensors are concerned, I just need to drive it a bit to get those things to set themselves.  Luckily, I already have a Veepeak bluetooth OBD II scan tool & combined with the OBD Fusion app to check the readiness status.  Hopefully this three pronged approach will have me up and running legally by the weekend.  Fingers crossed!

One beefy X-Member

I’m not sure why I didn’t post these pictures years ago, but better late than never!  Here are some glamour shots of the Artec Industries ARTJK2003 crossmember for a 2013 JKUR.  This piece fit perfectly and is incredibly strong.  If I had one regret, it’s that I didn’t do this mod as soon as I got my JKUR.  The stock crossmember might as well be made out of aluminum foil by comparison.

And while I was at it, I figured I might as well touch up my skid plates too.

Rust Spots & a Sqeak

This ARB rear bumper/carrier really is the gift that keeps on giving.  Whether it’s an annoying little squeak that’s recently developed or rust spots around the hinge that need to be dealt with.  There’s no shortage of issues that need repair on this lovely part.  Please, please, learn from my mistake and just say No to ARB’s rear bumper/carrier.  This part has been a disappointment since the day I began installation and there are too many fantastic parts to choose from on the market.  My local paint & body guy is working the rust issue as I type, so even if that doesn’t fix the squeak, it’ll at least get it looking rust free again!

I’ve emailed ARB to ask why their powder coating has decided to rust out so early and I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything positive or negative.  With regards to the squeaking, ARB sent me their updated instruction manual which I must say is much improved.  However, it shows a new carrier design so that doesn’t do me a ton of good.  I’m hoping that a little Sil-Glyde will finally quiet that noise.  I’ve already tightened every loose bolt I could find and adjusted the striker plate… What else is left??

Tag! I’m it.

With another wheelin’ trip in the books I’ve managed to keep my streak of vehicular damage umbroken!  This time, I’ve broken off the rear license plate bracket.  I’m just guessing, but I’m fairly certain it happened when I came down off of this rock you see under my rear driver side tire.  The hit was hard enough that the bumper flexed briefly and pushed up on the bracket cracking the OEM plastic.

Initially, I ordered a JKS Spare Tire Mount License Plate Bracket as a replacement but unfortunately, my ARB tire carrier just wouldn’t play nice.  The way the bolt patterns lined up on the carrier and the bracket would have put the license plate at a 90 degree angle from where it’s supposed to be.  Yeah, I could have built some right angle brackets or re-drilled the mounting holes for my bolt pattern buuuuut… No.  The OEM replacement from Omix-Ada was cheap and an easy fix.

For less than $30, I picked up the Omix-Ada 11233.07 License Plate Bracket which was an exact replacement for the OEM bracket.  It didn’t come with any mounting hardware, but luckily I still had the four 7mm bolts so the swap was pretty easy.  The only negative thing I’ll say is that the kit doesn’t include any bolts or the light bulb housing.  It includes the license plate bulb and wiring, but make sure you save/reuse the housing from your OEM unit if you go this route.

As far as things to break go, this was a damn easy one to fix!  4 bolts, 1 clip and it’s looking good as new.

Put the Brakes on repair costs!

#SorryNotSorry for the terrible braking puns lately.  What can I say?  They make me chuckle!  For the longest time, I’ve had mechanic friends of mine ask me why I pay someone else to do my brakes.  I don’t really remember what excuse I gave them, but after doing my own pads & rotors one time, I started wondering the very same thing.  Jeep brakes are very simple to do yourself with just a few basic hand tools.  Full disclaimer, the pictures are going to jump around a little bit in this post (pads in my garage, rotors in a parking lot) since the pads were done before I installed the rotors, so apologies if that creates any confusion.

Since my recent report that all 4 of my rotors are glazed over, I picked up a new pair of Carquest Wearever Brake Rotors.  They were in stock, got great reviews, and the price didn’t break the bank.  I also snagged a set of front & rear Carquest Wearever Platinum Professional Ceramic Brake Pads (previously) on recommendation of a fellow Jeeper who drives a rig much heavier than mine.  And if they can stop his Jeep, they can sure as hell stop mine.

I’ll go over the steps for my rear driver side wheel, but they are pretty much the same at all four corners.  The only small caveat is the lack of parking brake adjustment on the front axle.  Get started by jacking up the axle you’ll be working on.  You can either lift up one wheel at a time, or one axle at a time, or if you have the space & jack stands get the vehicle up off the ground completely (easiest way to work!).  Please, please make sure to use jack stands.  Having  a Jeep fall on you with nothing but a rotor as a contact point could be very unpleasant.  If you are going to adjust the parking brake, do NOT have the parking brake engaged.  With the Jeep safely supported and chocked, remove the tire and set it aside.

Now look on the back side of the rotor/caliper to find two 18mm bolts that hold the caliper in place and a pair of 15mm disc brake pin bolts. Since we are doing pads and rotors, I like to separate the caliper bracket from the caliper body to grease the disc brake pins and make it easier to install the caliper onto new thicker pads.  BEFORE you remove any bolts, have a bungee cord or zip tie or some rope on hand.  Basically, you’ll want to hang your caliper body on the frame to keep it from pulling on the brake or ABS lines.  Using either a very skinny combination wrench or a set of needle nose pliers, remove the 15mm (I think they are 15mm, see pic below) bolts from the disc brake pin to separate the caliper bracket from the caliper body.

To remove the 18mm bolts, use whatever tools you’d like but If you have a ratcheting combination wrench, it will make your life much, much easier as these bolts can be a little tricky to reach with an impact or large socket.  Since you already removed the disc caliper pins, the caliper body should slide right off leaving the pads and caliper bracket sitting on the rotor.

Remove the caliper bracket and old pads and set them off to the side while you work on your rotor.  The rotor is pretty much unsecured from your Jeep at this point.  I say pretty much because if this is your Jeeps first time getting a rotor change, you may have a couple internal tooth washers on the bolt studs.  They look like little metal washers and they are on there from the assembly line to hold the rotor in place before the calipers are bolted on.  If you can simply unscrew them, go for it.  If you’ve got a few more miles on your rig, then I suggest a screw driver and hammer.  Just try to pry them up a little, then take a pair of pliers to rip them off.  You won’t be reusing these pieces, so rip away.  Next try to gently pull the rotor towards you.  If it doesn’t pull off (it probably won’t) it may need a little motivation.

With the rotor off, you can get a good look at the parking brake mechanism.  Go ahead and spray everything with a nice dousing of brake cleaner.  Get all that gunk outta there!  While you’ve got the brake cleaner in your hand, spray off your new rotor too.  There will be oils to keep it from rusting in the packaging and you want to remove those before installing.  But before you put the new rotor on, let’s adjust the parking brake tension.  To adjust, simply turn the metal star gear (pictured to the right) that’s next to the brake shoe return spring.  It should be fairly easy to find since it’s the only spring in the assembly.

Not sure which way to turn it?  Look at the spacing on the bolt it’s attached to.  The gap between the star bolt and the head of the screw should be getting larger and the brake shoes should be moving out.  If it’s not, then stop and turn the other way.   Since you can only move it one or two clicks at a time, this may take a minute.  After you’ve adjusted it a few turns, test fit the new rotor in place.  If it won’t go on, then you’ve over adjusted the parking brake and will need to back it off.  If the rotor slips right on, then you might need to push out a few more clicks.  Ideally, you’ll want to adjust the tension until the rotor doesn’t spin at all around the parking brake and fits very snug, then back the star gear off about 2 clicks.  With the parking brake adjusted, slide the rotor in place once again.  Nothing to bolt on at the moment, just press the rotor firmly in place using your hands.

Congrats!  You just changed a brake rotor AND adjusted your parking brake cable!  Go take a breather and come back refreshed to swap a set of brake pads.

The next step, you can do many different ways.  You can have the brake assembly as one unit, or you can take it apart completely.  If you are following along with my pictures, it’s has been taken apart.  Get started by removing your old brake pads from the caliper bracket and attaching it to the to the Jeep using the 18mm bolts you removed earlier.  In the bracket, you’ll see 4 little metal clips (I’m pointing to one of them in the pic below).  Remove the clips and replace them with the new set that came with your new brake pads.  I like to put a little grease in the clips after they are inserted to help keep the pads moving nicely and prevent any unnecessary brake noise.

With the clips inserted, grab your new brake pad (trying NOT to make contact with the pad surface) and put a generous glob of grease on the “ears” of the pad that will fit into the clips.

With both ears greased, insert the pad into the caliper bracket and then repeat for the other pad on the other side of the rotor.

Now that the pads have been fitted into the caliper bracket, it’s time to put the the caliper body back together.  By now, the piston in the caliper body has probably decided to decompress and stick out so you’ll need to correct that using a 4″ C-Clamp.  Yeah, you can get by with a 3″ as seen in my picture below, but it’s a VERY tight fit.  Go ahead and drop the $8 on a bigger clamp to make your life easier.  Gently tighten the clamp to push the piston back in.

Now that the piston has been compressed, remove the C-Clamp and slip the caliper body onto the new brake pads and caliper bracket.  Re-insert the 15mm bolts into the disc brake pins and tighten everything off.  Give those 18mm bolts a double check as well and you are all done!

And now shown here with a new rotor and new pads:

Is everything clear as mud?  If you are confused with the read through, please post up questions in the comments section and I’ll be happy to answer them the best I can.  Trust me, once you change a set of pads or rotors once, you’ll ask yourself why you’ve been paying hundreds of dollars to someone else all these years.