Problems discovered on the long weekend

[Pookapotamus]

so i have finally fixed my front brakes but i have had a few other problems crop up.

firstly: the clutch on my fan craped out, i did not over heat but at low speeds the a/c would barely be cold. so i went to pnp and put another one in and it worked great for about a day then it too craped out. so i have been considering changing the fan out to either an electric or a flex fan. what are the opinions of both of those? pros? cons? what have people gone with in the past? i do realize putting a flex fan on will hammper my ability to go through deep water but this does not really concern me as i dont really plan to go that deep.

secondly: after driving in this hot weather i stopped to get an ice cream in a little town, shut the jeep off for about 15 min and then fired it up again. it started fine but then ran like garbage, sputtering and idling very rough, and no power at all coule not even rev it. it stayed running but did not seem able to deliver fuel to it self after idling for about 2 minuts it was fine. this has happened before on another hot day, could it be that i am overheating my fuel rail and getting a vapor lock in it? any other ideas as to what it is?

third: this little xj really sux on the highway, i have tones of power at low range but once i hit 100km it is hard to hold its speed the slightest hill causes it to drop back into third gear just to maintain 100km. i can put the hammer down and it will drop another gear and go but this is killing my gas milage and i fear hurting my tranny. and pulling a trailer is a night mare! is this just do to my gearing? i believe i am running 355's is it my 4.0 starting to show its age? (275000km) by doing a little engine work can i get rid of this? i would like to fix this as my jeep is my camping vehicle.

lastly: every thing on my drive train has been replaced since i got the jeep a year ago, driveshafts, front diff  u joints, unit bearings but lately i have an odd noise coming from the front drive train. it is a clicking that seems to be tied to the speed of the jeep, what i am trying to describe is like putting a baseball card in the spokes of your bike so that when you speed up the speed of the clicking increases, but this cannot be heard above 20kph. i notice it mostly when i am slowing down. i have looked underneath and dont see anything stuck to the drive shaft and just cant think of what this could be. has anyone else encountered this?

any help at all would be great! as i really want to get out and do some wheeling soon. and thank in advance!

[LifesGrand]

With the last issue, the clicking noise, is there a CV on the front DS? When you say you replaced the driveshafts are you talking new?
Just a thought..

Also as dumb as it may sound, I had a clicking noise once, speed related.. my lug nuts were coming loose on one tire, it was clicking..lol

[Pookapotamus]

i had the driveshafts rebuilt and balanced at pats drive line. and yes the front drive shaft has 3 u-joints but they were all replaced when the drive shafts were rebuilt 5 months ago.

[JackstandJohnny]

clicking = unit bearings usually. funny enough i had hte problem with the lug nuts as well. last year when iw as working on the jeep alot and rolling it in and out of my garage i had just two lugs on it. then took it for a spin........... oops. ya it made loud noises.  but clicking many times is a bad bearing up front. how many km did you put on it/them?

as for the engine. sounds like she needs a tune up. maybe some new plugs/wires/rotor/dist.cap.

[Pookapotamus]

the unit bearings were done 6 months ago so there is not many km on them and the clicking sounds like it is comming from the tranny/tcase area not from the front tires.

the engine has been tuned up recently as well new plugs, rotor, cap, wires the whole deal.

[LifesGrand]

Not sure if you have done so or not, might want to use the search function here: jeepforum.com
Lot's of good info on that site, might find what your looking for?

[Pookapotamus]

found this for my rough idel when hot.

1803103 - 4.0L ROUGH ENGINE IDLE AFTER RESTART FOLLOWING A HOT SOAK
Date: 09/05/03 (supersedes 1802702 dated 09/06/02)

Model Year(s): 1999-2004

Description: NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles equipped with a 4.0L engine. This bulletin involves the installation of a fuel injector insulator sleeve.

Details: Customers may describe a 20 to 30 second rough idle following the restart of a heat soaked engine. This condition may be most noticeable when the engine is restarted following a prior 10 to 20 minute heat soak in hot ambient conditions of approximately 32 C (90ºF) or higher. This condition may be consistent with short city stop-and-go driving trips and can be
aggravated by the use of fuel with a high ethanol content. Depending upon various conditions a MIL may occur due to DTC P0303 - Cylinder #3 Misfire.

This condition may be caused by heat from the exhaust manifold that following engine shut down migrates to the area around injector #3 and causes fuel vapour to form within the injector. This in turn may cause a momentary misfire of cylinder #3 until the fuel vapour is cleared of injector #3. The insulator sleeve lowers the injector #3 temperature to a point below which the fuel will not normally vaporize.

If vehicle exhibits a rough idle, and if a misfire of cylinder #3 is observed following a 10 to 20 minute hot soak, perform the Repair Procedure.

[GiS]

Ha! What do you know!!

I was getting that stumble when down in Moab on my 02 TJ, even managed to mis-fire on Cyclinder #3...Thanks, do I just hit a dealer or what??

Cyclinder #2 mis-firing was because I was on my lid 

[Pookapotamus]

http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/index.htm
i have found this page for all things xj and plan on doing a lot of these modifications.

@ GiS i would consider doing the intake heat sheild instead of my previous dealer approved fix.