Oh, I totally agree--there's so much visibility in a Wagoneer compared to modern cars. I haven't driven a '17 Mustang, but one time got stuck with a Camaro (airport rental) and felt like I was driving a little cave with a punchy engine. My MDX has virtually zero visibility out the back, but then again it has lots of lights and cameras and beepy things to let me know if I'm about to hit something.
This folks. This this is what these things are designed for.freehold wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:31 am Earlier this week, our family of five had more or less had enough with being cooped up in the house. We all needed to get out. North Carolina is under a stay-at-home order, which we have tried to abide as best we can, but we needed new scenery and fresh air.
Which, in part, is why we own a Grand Wagoneer in the first place.
So after supper one evening we piled in. We live in an interesting place in North Carolina--to the south are the crowded bedroom communities of the Charlotte metro area. To the north: open, rural foothills that run up to our old mountains. We made a wide northern circuit using only two-lane country roads, passing dairy farms, fields full of bright canola, and folks sitting on their front porches. The radio faded in and out and supplied the right kinds of songs for driving with nowhere in mind to go. We watched a glorious sunset. We wound up at the country church where my stepmom is buried. We got home past dark.
One thing I noticed: with the chatter of our family inside, I thought far less about every little spit and sputter our trusty Wagoneer might make along the way. By the end of our hour-plus tour, it was warm and humming along as smooth as silk.
I cannot wait to throw the camping gear in the back and head to a state park when they open back up.
So I'm updating my list slightly.freehold wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 12:12 pm Known functional gremlins:
- Fuel gauge best functions when the Jeep is still and on level ground. Otherwise the needle bobs up and down with the car
- Oil pressure gauge hits 80psi when accelerating, sits about 40psi when idling at a stop. Need to see if it's accurate or not
- Battery bracket is missing and currently the battery is held in place by a heavy bungee strap
- Four wheel drive doesn't seem to be working. I hear the vacuum swoosh when I slide the switch, but the lamp on the dash stays dark.
- On a related note, attempted to slide shifter into 4-LO, but it won't budge
- One Marchal fog lamp cracked; neither work when I flick the switch
- Driver rear window does not operate operates seasonally
- Driver rear door lock also not very cooperative
- Tailgate window operational, but only from interior switch, not from rear/exterior lock
- Interior cabin lights only come on when one of the rear doors is opened. Front doors don't activate cabin lights
- Power side view mirrors don't work
- Parking brake functions, but doesn't stay put--just pops back up
- NSS is on the brink of going out went out
Known cosmetic gremlins:
- Driver rear door arm rest seems to be held in place by sheet metal screws (probably explains the two Dr/Rear issues above)
- Haven't checked the well nuts (and not sure how) on the roof rack but not planning to park in the rain til I do
- Woodgrain vinyl isn't in great shape, but paint and body are solid. Paint was redone sometime in the last 10 years.
- Rear wing needs woodgrain vinyl badly
- Front seats cracked, currently under some cheap seat covers. Rear bench seats in good/original condition
- Carpet/mats original and in okay condition but could use cleaning/replacement
This turned out to be great advice. Like any good project, though, this one wasn't without its highs and lows.FLeetFox wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:31 am Might just want to to change the trans fluid at the same time while your down there. Drop pan, new filter and gasket plus replacing that switch. I bet if you look under there it's probably weeping or leaking anyways. It's not voodoo, you can do this easily just take your time and don't over tighten the pan bolts. the switch itself is really a piece of cake. On the driver's side, above the pan, behind the shifter linkage. Make sure when you get the switch it comes with the gasket/ o-ring.
Thanks so much for the quick referral--I ordered the replacement, and yesterday it arrived in the mail. I popped it in today, cleaned up the contacts on the relay switch mounted under the hood, and rather quickly had working fog lamps for the first time since we bought the Jeep last year. It was great to get them working again, and new switch looks great.sirrus wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:30 pm BJs sell the exact fog switch for later model years https://www.bjsoffroad.com/Fog-Lamp-Swi ... _2186.html
Little pricey at $38, button is a direct replacement.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Clean the master switch internals. Good video on youtube about it.freehold wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am
So I'm updating my list slightly.
A few weeks ago, I had the kids in the car when my son decided to attempt to roll down the driver's side rear window. I had known the window not to work, but to my surprise, down it went. And... back up it went. From his switch, from mine. I have no idea if something bumped it back into operation, or if it's just a warm weather window, or what. But it works. Admittedly, the only window I take all the way down is the driver's side--too paranoid to lose any right now.
dodgerammit wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:02 amThis folks. This this is what these things are designed for.freehold wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:31 am Earlier this week, our family of five had more or less had enough with being cooped up in the house. We all needed to get out. North Carolina is under a stay-at-home order, which we have tried to abide as best we can, but we needed new scenery and fresh air.
Which, in part, is why we own a Grand Wagoneer in the first place.
So after supper one evening we piled in. We live in an interesting place in North Carolina--to the south are the crowded bedroom communities of the Charlotte metro area. To the north: open, rural foothills that run up to our old mountains. We made a wide northern circuit using only two-lane country roads, passing dairy farms, fields full of bright canola, and folks sitting on their front porches. The radio faded in and out and supplied the right kinds of songs for driving with nowhere in mind to go. We watched a glorious sunset. We wound up at the country church where my stepmom is buried. We got home past dark.
One thing I noticed: with the chatter of our family inside, I thought far less about every little spit and sputter our trusty Wagoneer might make along the way. By the end of our hour-plus tour, it was warm and humming along as smooth as silk.
I cannot wait to throw the camping gear in the back and head to a state park when they open back up.
Too many (especially every tom, Dick, and Harry on the FB group) want something that has the power and handles like a modern crossover stuffed into these Wags.
Kudos on you for acknowledging the differences between this and the Acura, and embracing those differences.
I daily a 2000 T/A. Powerful? Yep. Handles the roads exceptionally well? Yep.
Does it float like riding on a cloud or have impeccable visibility?
If I want that, I'll drive the Wag. Something about going back 30 years to simplicity and no hurries.
That's what I was thinking--that if it were an issue, I'd hear a whine or whistling sound, which I don't. To which I say, don't mess with it. My other cars have no issues with FM signals (I'm in the Charlotte suburban metro area), but the stock radio in my GW clearly doesn't cut the same mustard. I've debated replacing the radio in the dash, especially since the digital display often flickers in and out (unless the headlights are on, which... well anyway) but I keep landing on the fence of keeping it because a) it's the original!, b) this car isn't for jamming in, and c) it adds to the patina of driving around in a 1987 time machine.
You getting ready to mount snow tires?tgreese wrote: ↑Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:57 am I'm less than 10 miles from downtown Boston, and I get lots of FM stations - even the college stations. In the Los Angeles area, FM reception is pretty good because the towers are on Mt. Wilson and the signal blankets the LA/valley/OC basin. Other places with less relief will have worse coverage.
It is now! It's the third oldest park still in operation. As someone who laughs every time I hear that the Carolina Panthers' stadium is among the oldest in the NFL (it opened in 1996), I can relate to how quickly these venues reach historic status.