Hello all,


I purchased a 2000 SLE Jimmy from a friend a couple months ago and have some general questions on what else it may need. It has 144k miles but they've changed oil every 5k miles in it. Primarily it was a winter driven vehicle but well cared for and never taken off road.

• It came with a P0420 Bank1 code which I fixed by changing the O2senors (ACDelco) and running Cataclean in the system. I can't believe how cheap they're compared to other cars
• I've run two tanks of Gumout Regane HM in it to clean the FIC's
• It was a little on the weak side so I changed the sparks (sucked), wires, cap, rotor and fuel filter. (All ACDelco)
• I changed out the oil (they used conventional) with Mobil1 HM w/ K&N Filter
• I changed the air filter with an AEM Dryflow
• I cleaned the MAF sensor
• I flushed out the coolant and put in new coolant and a new thermostat since I was at it (superstat)
• Had to put in a new battery as the old economy one wasn't reliable anymore (Duralast Gold)
• My fuel gauge doesn't work but the pump still works fine. Do these pumps typically fail shortly after the sensor does?
• I have slack in my steering wheel. More so towards the right. My mechanic says the ball joints look okay but what could cause this? It's rather frustrating but this is something I can't do myself.
  

Is their anything else the truck might need done(or checked) to it for it's mileage? Also does anyone know what type of bolt the front 'skid plate' takes? I'm missing one.


Don't know if it matters but when I first got it I got 15mpg which was quite horrible. After my fixes I now get 17.5-18mpg. Is it possible to get higher?




Thanks,


Issac

 

usually around 130k, the lower intake gasket goes, leaks oil and in some cases mixes oil in coolant vise versa

also i believe the sending unit is to blame, is your fuel gauge stuck on full or empty? if you read on the forums being on one of them means either short or bad sendor

 

So far no oil leaks (knock on wood) how hard would that be to change if it becomes a problem? I've never done that on a vehicle before.

As for the fuel sensor it actually doesn't stay in place it almost constantly is buzzing left and right on the gauge.

Thanks.

 

i recently had both intake gaskets done, it took my mechanic 5.4 hours, so maybe 4-5 if everything goes right. if you ever have to change it, use fel-pro gaskets.

 

For the steering slack check the idler arm, pitman arm, steering shaft rag joint and then if its still slack it may be a worn worm gear in the steering box.

 

Appreciate the tip.


Idler and Pitman look fine to me although I need to grease them it seems. Do Rag Joints go by another name for part ordering? I can't seem to find anything on a replacement part save for an ultra cheap part that I don't think will last. I don't want to mod the column just get a quality replacement if I can't find an early 90's XJ to raid.

Thanks.