Jeepster Distractions - August 13, 2020
This is less of an update, and really just a couple of distractions...
First...the radiator damaged in shipping has still not been resolved (see my 7-31 update). UPS still hasn't picked it up, and as far as I can tell, Griffin hasn't been pushing them to pick it up. That's not holding me back at this point, but it ticks me off every time that I look at it. Griffin Radiator misled me for many days, as they told me that they were getting a new radiator ready for me. But a week ago, they clarified that they won't send me another radiator unless I authorize another credit card charge for it. That seems like a bad idea, as Griffin will then have no incentive at all to refund me for the bad radiator. I disputed the charge to my credit card a few days ago, and sent Griffin a nice email explaining why. They haven't responded back to me at all, so I don't know what's going on with them.I could buy a radiator from a different company, but I don't want to get stuck with 2 radiators. I really need to see how this gets resolved with Griffin and my credit card company. So I'm kind of in limbo now...
The biggest distraction is my daughter's newly purchased 1999 Jeep TJ. It's in great shape and has been well cared for, but it does have high miles.
Details:
4.0L engine, of course.
AX15 manual transmission - I think she wanted this because her brother (my son) doesn't know how to drive a stick!
Rear Dana 44 - this was a nice surprise
It's basically all original, clean,and unmolested. No rust.
I'm going through all of it for my daughter and fixing typical issues. One issue is the rear transfer case seal. There's clearly a leak somewhere, so I wanted to check the fluid level.
BEFORE:
Unfortunately, the fill plug was in very tight...and it was previously stripped by using the wrong size allen wrench. So a 30 second job turned into a 3 hour job with me welding a bolt onto the fill plug. I also cleaned the transfer case, of course. I still need to replace the bad seal - that'll happen this weekend.
AFTER:
Some of the other stuff hasn't been as bad...I added some
factory side steps and a factory jeep trunk. I love the bolt on
projects, and TJ parts are pretty easy to find.
This weekend will be more work on the TJ...axle gear oil changes, AX15 oil change, 4.0 oil change, inspect driveshafts, etc.