87 YJ has black smoke in the exhaust

Beef1337

New Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2023
Messages
1
Location
Savannah, GA
I recently married a woman whose father owned an '87 Wrangler as his off-road transport to his Michigan hunting club near his lakefront cottage. The Jeep sat in a garage for the past ten years since his passing without getting driven much or given any attention. My wife religiously keeps her cottage vehicles on a battery tender so every year it gets started and driven 50 miles before it goes back into storage.

I am about to retire from an engineering management position and I'll have some time to turn a wrench on this vehicle, so I want to become better educated on how to repair this worthy vehicle. That's why I'm here.

The jeep belches black smoke on startup and runs at a high idle until it warms up (see attached photo). I plan to put a compression gauge on it, on my next visit to Michigan (I live in Savannah, Georgia). What tools should I take with me to diagnose its ailments? I've ordered new soft top frame parts to replace the broken spreader bars.

IMG_5706a.jpg
 
Obviously running excessively rich, or using too much fuel. Carb most likely delivering excessive fuel would be my guess.
 
Id start with the choke and a possible adjustment. The linkage may be hung up from sitting so long. After 10 years its likely needs a carb rebuild as well. Id also open the air cleaner box and look for critter nests which will choke it off.
 
Hi, did you fix the black smoke issue in the end?
I've got exactly the same issue after sitting for three months here in the UK