87 YJ problems

[cdlongjr]

Drove Mama's YJ for the 1st time yesterday. She has several problems. YJ is lifted, but I don't know or know how to tell how much lift was installed. Frame is 25" off the ground @ the front bumper & she has 32" tires. I have changed out the Weber for an MC 2100.
Engine has a bad miss, but I don't know if it's electrical or vacuum. The YJ has a TH-350 auto. The modulator vacuum line is tied into the vacuum advance for the distributor.
Horn doesn't work, but did blow several times yesterday when I was turning while backing out of the driveway. When turning the steering column has 1 spot where a grinding/ clunking noise is heard.
The power steering seems to have hard & soft spots when turning.
Heater also has problems. Temp cable doesn't move & I can barely move the control lever on the heater by hand. Won't change from heat to defrost. The cable moves, but nothing happens. I see there are vacuum ports on the heater controls. Where does the vacuum come from. I think no vacuum to the controls is part of my problem as no vacuum lines come thru the firewall that I can find. The fresh air, (vent), doesn't work either. I can move the door by hand.
Need ideas where to look for causes to these problems.

 

[cdlongjr]

Has the Duraspark igintion. Compression is good, regapped the plugs to .042. All are tan except #5. It was black. (Was running too rich w/ the Weber, that's why I swapped to the MC 2100). Haynes manual shows the firing order w/ #1 @ 6 o'clock. my #1 is @ 5 o'clock.

 

[cdlongjr]

Put a vacuum gauge on the PCV valve. vacuum fluctuates between 15 & 19". I have 3 vac ports on the carb. 1 on top of the fuel bowl, 1 on the passenger's side carb base,(dist vac advance hooked here), & 1 top left rear of the carb. I've no vacuum @ any of these. There's a fitting out the intake manifold that goes to the brake booster & the EGR valve. When I remove the hose to the EGR valve, the engine dies down. The 5 port fitting on the intake manifold is not plumbed to anything. Should I take the vacuum from the intake manifold fitting & run it to the 5 port fitting?

 

[Old Dog]

CD you say it's got a TH350 Transmission . does it have sbc engine also?

 

[cdlongjr]

I found an article, MC2100 set up for AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . I have plumbed the vacuum per the drawing, all except the distributor. All vacuum is into & out of the 5 port fitting on the intake manifold. Engine is running much better & the vacuum gauge is steady. I think the problem was the plumbing on the canister.

 

[cdlongjr]

It has a stock AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l to the best of my knowledge. Was a manual & the PO put the B&M HT350 in.

 

[cdlongjr]

Pics of suspension here:
The ole fart

 

[BajaEdition]

Looks like quite a project you have there
Iwill try to help a bit, you took care of the vacumn problem so it seems you have a major issue out of the way.
lift height
park it next to a stock wrangler, measure the difference in height to the frame bottom
now measure the difference in height of the tires
you will need 1/2 of the second number. get out calculator and figure out the lift, looks like new shocks would be in order, check out the bushings in teh system also. that should cure that problem.
yes most heater controls work off vacuum, once you get the cable or linkage working fine next you need to chase down a vacuum drawing for the controls and it should start going into each function
About the horn, the wire seems to be twisted around something n the steering column, you need to get into there and look a bit around till you find the short and why it keeps shorting.

 

[cdlongjr]

Thank you sir! I thiink the steering problem may be the Pitman arm. I have to find the meaurements for a stock arm. I'm told the suspension lift is 4". Shocks seem to be ok. No excessive bounce.

 

[cdlongjr]

Does the Pitman arm & angle of the rod going to the left front look ok? I was thinking the PO didn't install a dropped Pitman arm w/ the lift kit.

 

[Petescj]

The drag link should be as close to parralel with the tie rod as possible. Yours looks pretty high. Some of its from the angle of the pic but it still isnt right. Im not sure what the Yj stock arm looks like but that looks like a drop pitman arm to me. A stocker on a Cj is flat. Check them out in a catalog or online and compare.

 

[cdlongjr]

Thanks Pete. I can't really tell from the pics. Maybe someone will measure their's for a 4" lift & then I can measure mine.

 

[cdlongjr]

Went to Quadratec yesterday for steering parts. They said it was good.