The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

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beater_renix
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Just inside Knoxville city limits In Tennessee.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Now that I've had a couple of days to cool off from being left on the road side for the third time in this Jeep, I'll start looking at what I have to do to fix things.

It looks like I lost the oddly small freeze plug behind the Exhaust Manifold.
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For some reason my Block has three large and two small Plugs.
Image

Here's to hoping that only the one I can see fell out and the two on the back side are in there tight.

With my wife's car is taking a crap, and me needing a new daily driver I'm praying that this thing will become the legendarily reliable 4.0L it is supposed to be.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Tore down the right side of the engine this weekend to get at that freeze plug.

Image
Image

I've got it filled back up with coolant, and It started okay. I haven't taken for a test drive yet. That was about three hours to get it replaced.

I'm trying to convince myself to make this jeep my new daily, but given its track record, that's hard to do.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

All the brake parts are in. All I need now is time. between 40 hour work weeks, full time school, and full time dad, not much has happened lately. I did have some thought on the issues I was having.

The "Shudder" I was feeling before I have convinced my self is a TCC shudder. I've added a bottle of lubeguard. Results pending.

Pursuant to the TCC shudder misdiagnosis as drive line vibes, I added a DIY 1" transfer case drop. That pulled/spaced the clutch fan ever so slightly farther from the radiator core. Which could be the cause of my new overheating issues, or at least that is something different in the system from before (when it worked fine).

I had the Aux fan removed completely. Reinstalling that will obviously help.

I followed cruisers sage advice and bought the Volvo coolant bottle cap (albeit in the Gates brand variety).

My daily driver needs an engine, so now my car and my wife's are slated to become a mini van. So now I'm driving and working on a suburban, a jeep, and a 65 F250. I'll sacrifice my stick shift if I can keep my toys.

Long post about nothing but hey its my project...
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by HuggyBear »

I know how it goes. We've been down to 1 car for over a year now waiting on me to finish my project. Just money and time is all I need, LOL, but work and kids are keep those in short supply.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Its finals week. So after this week I'm might actually get some time to work on the jeep. The Brakes are on. I went ahead and replaced the E-Brake Cables since they were only $9 per side. I still need to adjust the drums. I did a quick test drive, and it's still running too hot. Also I thought I felt the transmission slipping. I sure hope not. Hopefully the fluid was just a touch low, which I topped off.

Does anyone Else have issues with their strokers running hot? Any recommendation on what to look at if it shouldn't be?
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Got the Drums adjusted yesterday. Everything seems fine in that department.

The Engine is still running hot. I jumper the axillary fan on and with it running the whole time it would just barely creep over 210. The long story behind removing the fan is I have an open system radiator on my closed system Renix. That means I lost the bung the temperature sensor goes in. I did add a HO thermostat neck and a sensor there. I haven't had time to build a fan controller with the Arduino like I had planned. I also need to wire an output to the ECU so it adjusts the idle when the fan is on (AC request).

Bottom line is I'm still not happy with the operating temperature. It feel like something is wrong there, Maybe I need a Wideband to better control my AFR, or maybe it's just making more power and can't cool as well, or maybe I need to better shield the air intake from the exhaust manifold.

I am experiencing what I think it Torque converter shudder. It occurs in 4th gear 35+ Mph. If I hit the brakes it goes away, same if I tromp the throttle. I'm a little hesitant to tackle the Torque converter. I want to be certain that is the issue. I absolutely LOATH the thought of separating the engine again. Does anyone have any ideas of what I should test to confirm this is definitely the torque converter, and not some other symptom. Given my recent luck, I'm slow to dive, because I've been wrong a lot! Also I only have two more weeks before school starts back so If it's going to happen, it's got to be soon.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

I started driving it to work this week. It's still running too hot. I have to run the axillary fan and turn the heater on to keep it right at 210; where it used to. I gave up on the torque converter shudder and just pulled the pin that locks it from the harness at the TCU. Maybe I'll dive back into that later, the lubeguard did not work for my case. It could be a solenoid, it could be the TPS, it could be the TCC, it could be the brake stop switch... Blah!

One of the biggest problems for me is I've been driving a Suburban 5.7L since my Altima crapped out. I've gotten used to the torque of the Chevy 350, and now I'm back down to Jeep 4.6 (280).

I will say with the new ball joints the Stupid bump steer is WAY more apparent. It's all over the road! I'd love a once piece tie-rod, but that's not in the cards.

Plans now are to address the cooling, maybe Taurus fan, shield the air intake from the engine bay, check into Wideband o2, fix TCC lock, maybe Steering mods.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

I'm starting to think the reason I'm running hot is because of .... the thermostat.. I'm having a "duh" moment. The PO had a 165* in there and the radiator was full of trash. I'm running a new radiator and a 195* thermostat (and a new engine). I've heard people complain that the back of the engine runs hotter than the front. Since the temp sender is at the back by #6, it might be colder up front. I wonder what the temperature difference is between 1 and 6? Should I consider running a lower temperature thermostat, if it routinely operates between 210 and 225?
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by cruiser54 »

A guy on Cherokee forum named Dumajones took a photo (thermal imaging type) of a 4.0 running and there was no difference front to rear.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Thanks Cruiser, that's good to know. I might try an IR gun to see if I'm really running hot or if the gage is off.
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by cruiser54 »

I found out last week that the sending unit on my wife's 88 was inaccurate causing a higher reading on the gauge.

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Cruiser's Mostly Renix Tips can be found here :
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

Okay so after a long struggle I managed to not turn the jeep into a minivan. I sold my grocery getter to carmax for a handful of beans. This Jeep just became my daily driver. My wife's car still needs to be replaced, and I'm hoping to get my Suburban up to par to take on the job of a van. So now issues I've been ignoring for the past two months, need to be addressed.

Steering: I know we are a Stroker forum but the stock steering is crap (when lifted), and has to go. Between bump steer and the tires feathering from the tow changes I want an upgrade. I'm eyeing JCR's 1 ton. any recommendations or experience?

MPG: I'm getting about 10 mpg, granted I disconnected the Torque converter because it's was shuddering. SO do I rebuild the (or find a junkyard) AW4, or do A manual Swap? I would love a AX15, but I'm not sure I'm will to source all the parts and pay through the nose. As a side note if the AW4 comes out for any reason, I'm rebuilding the NP231 with more strength and a SYE. I'd also like to do a 8.8 swap at the same time.

Controller: since I get to keep my toy, I want to finish my plans. I originally built it with 9.3:1 compression to supercharge it later. If that happens I have to have a new engine controller. The two I'm contemplating are Megasquirt 3, or a GM 0411 PCM and EFI live.

I suddenly remember why I wanted to sell it. $J.E.E.P.$
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

So the rear case bearing in my quickStart iceburg CS-130 went out over the weekend. The sealed rear bearing lost a few of its marbles. NOT fun changing that in the snow.

Image
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Re: The BeaterRenix 4.6L Saga

Post by beater_renix »

The Jeep claimed another victim. The IAC pintle wandered off. After experiencing uncontrollably High idle, I removed the IAC, only to find a shaft and spring. This prompted me to remove the intake manifold and spark plugs. I could find nothing while rolling the engine over. Since I couldn't find it, All I cant think is it traveled all the way through and is sitting in front of the cat. Its back together and I drove it to work today. I noticed #5 was a little oily above both valves, so I check to see if the injectors were leaking. They were not. Maybe I'll change the valve stem seals? The jeeps a blast to drive, but I really should re-gear it and get the Torque converter fixed.
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