Learn me Jeep Cherokee's (the little 4.0 guys)

My ex-boss needed another car and bought a Jeep Cherokee today for me to work on (yay! income!). It's an 89, Cherokee Laredo, 4.0 (the old AMC 258 I6 with a different crank), auto w/OD, and the real 4x4 setup (2Hi/4PT/4FT/4Lo) using the second stick.

Everything seems to work OK engine/trans/gearbox wise and it has the factory hitch/tow package. It needs tires, an alignment, and brakes BAD though! Plus some cosmetic issues.

The only things I'm not familiar with are the power windows (passenger front INOP, driver's front only goes down 1/2 way), climate control (ice cold a/c, compressor kicks in, heat works, but it's stuck on windshield defrost mode), and the cruise (INOP).

Anything else I should look out for? I'm supposed to write up a list of things it needs with quotes for her by the end of the week and then she'll set me loose on it.

Oh, and it was $700 with new tags/tabs/title and a spare set of wheels. Black/Silver 4-door.

I had a 1988 Comanche Eliminator. Fast as all get out but when somethign went wrong with the EFI, it REALLY went wrong.

The Renix EFI system is awful. No standard scanner will read the codes from it, you need to find someone who has a Renault code reader (yeh right).

The system is sequential and controls fuel and spark based on the crank sensor. When the sensor fails, everything shuts off, no fuel, no spark, hard to diagnose with a mulititester.

The crank sensor is behing the head on the bellhousing. They could have put it anywhere on that big bellhousing but they put it behind the head where you can't get at it except for from underneath the truck with a long extension.

On the 5-speed models, the fuse box is directly under the clutch master cylinder. When the master goes it fills the fuse box full of brake fluid. Fun and games ensue.

The 5-speed Peugeot transmission can fail when beaten on, they're not that popular.

Other than being broken more than it was driven, it wasn't a bad truck.

Given how many people had a good experience with these rigs and how many were sold, I'm guessing I had the bad one.

Shawn

P.S. Google "death wobble" my truck had it, no fun at all.

They seem to catch on fire alot, although I think most of the ones that were going to already have.

Hmmm. Never seen one burn. Ya never know, though.

They are as sophisticated as a box of hammers. But they are generally pretty reliable. The aforementioned crank sensor will crap out, it'll spin but won't start. Throttle position sensors will puke, the idle gets erratic and the tranny doesn't want to shift right. In fact, I saw one tranny replaced because of a TPS problem.

Buy a couple of water pumps, they eat 'em.

Cruise/AC problems will be related, no vacuum to either (they share a common vacuum source). Check the plastic tubes in the engine compartment, either one's busted or the fitting came off the intake. If it has the cruise servo under the battery, acid will eat up the tubes.

If the left front window only goes down 1/2 way, the regulator is probably stripped, you'll hear it clack and grind. On the right side, try smacking on the door with the flat of your hand and work the buttons at the same time. If it starts working, it needs a motor. If it doesn't, pull the door panel and check for power. The wiring is really screwy; the right front window can be rendered completely inoperative from either the master drivers' switch or the right front switch. Usually the motor's stuck from non use, though.

They are famous for the front rotor hats dissolving when driven in snow/salt country. There was a recall, call the local Jeep dealer with the last 8 of the VIN and see if there is a recall on them. The brakes in general blow, rotors warp quick etc. Yeah, they'll stop it but that's about all they'll do. I wouldn't tow anything over 1500 pounds without trailer brakes (BTDT).

The tranny is a Toyota unit (!) and is damn near bulletproof. The only issues I ever see are speed sensors. If it goes, people will swear it needs a new tranny, though.

If it has the blue flourescent odometer, the early clusters like that had a habit of the connector corroding and the speedo/various gauges will quit at random. You have to R&R the cluster and replace the connector on the harness, it's a readily available kit from Jeep.

Don't forget, the PCV/breather system likes to sludge up and barf oil into the air inlet ducting and filter box.

People think it's a worn motor with excessive blowby but it's just a dirty breather system.

You can stroke and bore those engines to nearly 5 litres.

Shawn

You know, I was actually considering getting one of these Jeeps...then I read this thread...I think I'll stick with my Subie.

The biggest problem I know with the 4.0s is exhaust manifolds cracking. Every single one I've been around had it happen. Just pony up the money and put a header on it.

Dont let the bad stuff keep you from a cherokee. They are a lot of fun. I have a '98 Cherokee Sport with the 4.0L auto and besides a couple things its been a fun little truck to bomb around in and the occasional muddy trail. Other then the time when the u-joints were wore out on the front drive shaft and was creating a vibration. My dad and I jacked it up and started tugging on this and that to see what was loose and found the front drive shaft was all loosey goosey. To bad hind sight is 20/20 because neither of us thought to remove the front drive shaft before my morning drive to work the next day. Needless to say I was startled when the front of the front drive shaft let go and it made me do a little pole vault manuever going 70 mph down hwy 41. It cracked the transfer case and destroyed the front drive shaft. The transfer case oil leaked out and burned on the exhaust causing a sweet smoke screen. Not taking the front drive shaft out was a $2000 mistake, but the dealership didnt seem to mind. The tugging was what made it worse. Oh well.

I had a 1994 Chreokee with over 250K and it was a great vehicle. I replace the OEM crank sensor at 230K, OEM water pump and radiator at 210K, and the neutral safety switch would act up sometimes. Other then that maintenance was low and cheep. The only reason I got rid of it was the floors and and around the windshield frame rotted out and I was sick of getting wet while driving it. I now have a project 89 Comanche which has a 4.7 stroker and Chrysler EFI from a 1991 Cherokee. Oh yeah I kept the 250K 4.0L as a back up because it still ran good.

Well I took a quicky glance around it. The driver's window does the grinding thing you said, so I'll check into that. No rust anywhere! Giant stack of receipts in the glove box points to some good maintenance, mold in the trim points to sitting for awhile.

It was $700, it can't be too bad ;)

Considering how many of these Jeeps are around and how many get wheeled pretty hard, I'd say it's a good buy.

For all the troubles they have, they're not bad vehicles in the long run.

I believe that one has the Dana 44 rear axle, stronger that what they usually get

Yeah, forgot about the exhaust manifold. That's generally the 6-2-1 tubing version that cracks right at the 2-1 joint, if it has the cast iron piece they aren't nearly as bad about it. Banks makes a header that's supposed to cure that, we have installed 2 for customers and so far so good. We had 2 other customers who have had their OE pieces welded (not done here) and both have cracked again.

Wife's boss had one, Don't ignore the hard to close ( and latch ) doors. His wifie just slammed 'em , over and over until the latches tore out of the door

Whay a PITA re-welding those!

Travis_K wrote: They seem to catch on fire alot, although I think most of the ones that were going to already have.

I could see that happening. We had a couple injector o-rings fail on both our '89 and our '91.

Jensenman wrote: Hmmm. Never seen one burn. Ya never know, though. They are as sophisticated as a box of hammers.

Jensenman, you know a thing or two about mopars don't you?

OrangeRazor wrote: You know, I was actually considering getting one of these Jeeps...then I read this thread...I think I'll stick with my Subie.

You've got to remember, these issues are on 20 year old trucks with ~200k miles! We're not talking garage queens here. My '88 is still running strong and no XJI've ever owned died (even the $350 one with 260k miles was purring when I parted it out).

The XJ got progressively better throughout its 14 year life span. 97-01 got a lot better with just about ever aspect.

There are issues with any car, but typical XJ problems are:

Electric windows on pre 97 XJs are pretty atrocious, I've never had a pre 97 XJ with fully operable windows except my '88 with crank windows.

Rust can get pretty bad if left alone.

All the ball joints and wheel bearings can get very loose, but cheap to replace.

Neutral Safety Switch (NSS) often get gummed up over time and can cause various intermittent problems like no-start, no-shift, etc. Easy to clean.

That's about it for common major problems. They get where you want to go. I never even think about my Jeeps, even the old abused ones I've had.

Oh yeah, and the vacuum actuated front axle lock collar tends to fail. I think this was replaced in 90.

I have two...an 87 and 99. The 87 was recently retired with over 250k miles and being mercilessly beat on as a trail rig in the last couple of years. The 99 has been our DD for the last 70k. It currently has 154k and it the new camp/trail/sometimes DD rig. It's been a great Jeep. I've done front hubs, waterpump, cam sensor, and window regulators. It just went from stock to a 5.5 inch lift, 31s, winch bumper with winch, and roof rack. These are great buys and make nice all around vehicles.

Here is a picture of our 99. It sits pretty level normally, but in this picture the trailer has a dirtbike and ATV, the rear is loaded up, and we have the rack loaded too, so there is some sag. Again, I think these are great all around rigs. They're tough and easy to work on. Next mods for ours will be a cage, 33s, and lower gears.

I wish mine never rusted out.

i miss mine. I had a red 93 cherokee sport (4.0 auto) as a first car. sold it with 17X,XXX miles and i still see it every once in awhile.

Pseudosport wrote: I wish mine never rusted out.

Nice looking XJ!

Trans_Maro wrote: Don't forget, the PCV/breather system likes to sludge up and barf oil into the air inlet ducting and filter box. People think it's a worn motor with excessive blowby but it's just a dirty breather system. You can stroke and bore those engines to nearly 5 litres. Shawn

How would one clean or even locate this?

Also how hard are they to put ball joints and axle joints in?

Cudaboy71 wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: Don't forget, the PCV/breather system likes to sludge up and barf oil into the air inlet ducting and filter box. People think it's a worn motor with excessive blowby but it's just a dirty breather system. You can stroke and bore those engines to nearly 5 litres. Shawn

How would one clean or even locate this? Also how hard are they to put ball joints and axle joints in?

Well, PCV plumbing looks like PCV plumbing. It's the rubber hoses about 3/4" diameter that lead from the breather on the valvecover to the air intake hose. Just take them off and clean them out with carb cleaner, then replace the PCV valve.

I don't know what your skill level is so I can't tell you if it will be hard or not. I find it simple enough, should only take an hour or so per side for ball joints, do the axle joints while your in there and add another 1/4-1/2 hour.

It depends on what tools you have and what your skill level is. I'm sure Dr. Hess would find an appendectomy much simpler to do than I would :)

Shawn