Project Justin's DD, 2001 Cherokee Sport

[JustinG]

Yea they are glass lenses and fog beam, I'm planning on picking up some covers but they are $10 each plus shipping.....more than I paid for the damn fogs!

[JustinG]

Roof Rack.....



Bad pic but shows the flooring.



I want to upgrade the U bolts used to mount it to the existing cross bars, but I want to also get some gutter mounts to mount the rack with. In the mean time, spare tires is goin up there, and maybe a small tool box, but I like it for what I paid. Very pumped about it.

[caa337]

How many mpg are you gonna get? I see that little lip is gonna help aerodynamics a little bit but how much do you get?

[JustinG]

I got 18 avg with 50/50 hwy/city, got like 14 just city without the rack.

[caa337]

I got 18 avg with 50/50 hwy/city, got like 14 just city without the rack.

Ouch, lol.

[JustinG]

considering its a jeep, thats damn near excellent, using 87 octane

The GSX takes premium, and gets like 27hwy and 12 city. I enjoy boost

[JustinG]

soooo, with the colder mornings my jeep didnt wanna start this morning.

tried to turn it over 3 times this morning and it just didnt wanna do it, finally turned over, spit and sputtered and i gave her some gas. It stayed running, sputtering like it was missing, then after i got out to pop the hood it smoother out and is now running like normal. Got it in for lunch, cranked up like normal and its driving fine.

First thoughts are electrical issue, when cruising nothing on but the radio reads 14 volts and while at idle reads just below 14 volts. With everything on, Lights, Blower, and Defrost, it drops to 12 volts at idle and 13.5-14 cruising. This observed with the factory Voltmeter.

I know i've spoken with some of you and the top candidates thus far are a Crank Position Sensor, cause they are supposedly known issues or a bad Battery.

Thoughts????

[Jake]

My friend's 93 takes a solid 10 seconds of cranking on a good day. But, it always starts. He has had the fuel pump and (I think) CPS replaced. Before those fixes, it would consistently start on the second try, every time.


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[HAULN-SS]

clean battery terminals

[JustinG]

They look fine and so do my cables, I wanna replace the connections anyway to a quick disconnect kind anyway so I'm gonna pick those up at Advance while they do a charging system test.

And jake its never taken a long time to crank, 10 seconds seems ridiculous!

[ViPER1313]

Coolant temperature sensor for the ECU or idle air controller? Could be the fuel pump too - check the pressure at the rail first thing in the morning. I would try and clean the IAC (if it has one) and replace the ECU's temp sensor - when those go bad the ECU can't get the mixture right on cold mornings. My Talon does the same thing when it's really cold outside.

[JustinG]

Adam...coolant temp sensor? Its working fine. Ill clean the IAC. Wouldn't I notice a fuel pump issue during normal driving too though not just at start up?

[JustinG]

Well if the guy at advance is right..... Test showed it was the Batt, 510CCA when it should be like 650. I was an idiot and mentioned I had just gotten the jeep and the battery has about a month left in the warranty for the original purchaser. May try a different advance and see if I can get it replaced under warranty.

Thoughts?

[JustinG]

SO.....

Time for an update, love this thing, no problems. Drive it everyday, its comfy, fits the dogs, and is easy to maintain. Whole battery no start thing must have been a fluke occurance.

ON TO THE MODS!

First off with my foglight install, I was only able to use a ugly el cheapo toggle switch to operate the fog lights, because my jeep didn't come with fog lights from the factory. Been stalking the junkyards to find a factory switch which was updated in 97 with the rest of the interior, but not many 97-01 Cherokees can be found in the Junkyards around here. Finally found one at Chesterfield Auto Parts. Cost of a new switch $30+ shipping hellz naw I am not paying that, cost of junkyard switch with bezel, defrost and rear wiper switch, $17.50. :thumbup: ACE's hair was optional. :mrgreen:



Meanwhile while browsing the NAXJA.org forums i came across this thread....
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=949746">http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=949746</a><!-- m -->

It peaked my interest, so while at the junkyard I decided to look into the parts needed.

All the parts needed.
Unsure the year Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth Van Overhead Console
96-98 Grand Cherokee Overhead Console
96-98 Grand Cherokee BCM

Use all pieces to make one OHC. Caravan OHC frame, OHC display and computer from the Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee BCM (thing with all the wires coming out of it), and beside that in the picture, the rear panel from the Grand Cherokee console. This just like the Caravans rear panel but the caravan has rear window switches, Grand Cherokee obviously does not so you replace it to get rid of the rear window switches.


This is the frame from the Caravan OHC, it was covered in tan cloth, my headliner is grey. Some elbow grease to remove all the adhesive and some spray paint and here we go.


Grand Cherokee BCM, used to talk to the overhead consoles display


Guts from the Grand Cherokee bolt directly into the Caravans frame.


First had to remove the existing dome light. Only 2 screws behind the dome light lens which just popped out.


Then unplug and remove, the chip you see plugged in is the chip for the Keyless Entry, which needs to be reused.

Decided to mount the GC's BCM in the dash. Remove the following panels.



Plenty of room for a dead body, or the BCM.

Pretty scary wiring harnesses for the BCM.


But actually only use 7 wires, and they are wired into existing car wiring.

The two twisted wires are the CCD bus wires used to talk with the overhead console, and 2 for the temp sensor, the rest are power, and some grounds.

The plug pictured attached to the steering column wiring is actually the Sentry key wiring harness, which is only used for Cherokees with a sentry key, in which mine does not have. This is where all the wiring takes place, aside from a keyed power wire ran up to the actual OHC.


All wired up



Plug for the OHC computer wired into the existing wiring from the Keyless entry plug and dome light. Like i said the Grand Cherokee BCM transmits its signal through the exisiting CCD bus wiring in the jeep.


Plugged up for a test run. Everything works, aside from the temperature, because i have to run by NAPA and get the ambient temp sensor for $16.99.


Next, and the most nerve racking part was cutting my headliner, I had to cut two spots, one for where the Grand Cherokee mount screws into the existing brackets in the ceiling, had to drill some small holes and screw it in, this holds the middle part of the OHC up and tight to the ceiling. Second hole was in the back, where a lip slides in between the roof and the headliner to hold up the rear of the console. I didn't take any pictures of this process because I was to tired to care at that point.

Finished Product!


SO....why did I do this? Well it gives me the obvious features of Temp and Compass, but it also has Avg MPG, Instant MPG, Distance til empty, Trip meter, and Trip timer, all pretty cool features IMO, and gives me another spot to keep my sunglasses and garage door opener. Also added more lighting, where the factory dome only really lit the front seats, this also has the two rear map lights to light up the rear seats as well.

Total Time Spent, approx 6 hours over 2 days.

Caravan overhead console $14
96-98 Grand Cherokee Console $14
96-98 Grand Cherokee Body Control Module $11
Fog Light Switch/Bezel $17.50
Junkyard Cost: $56.50
Temp sensor, yet to be purchased $16.99
Total Cost: Approx $75 :thumbup:

[ScottyB]

Next, and the most nerve racking part was cutting my headliner

i really wish i was good enough with wiring that i could look forward to cutting a headliner as the worst part :lol:

looks great BTW. i'm surprised how often i catch myself looking at the temp/compass when i drive our xterra.

[JustinG]

Wiring can be redone...you cut a big hole in your headliner there is really no going back.

[WRXtranceformed]

That's an awesome project Justin...very clean install!!

[Jeff]

Sweet job man. Proud of you.

[Goodspeed]

Another XJ MacGuyver-ing project, awesome work!

[Steve85]

Nice work!