School me on Jeep Cherokees ....

[Bamfster]

Thinking about picking up a Cherokee, something in the mid 90's. I don't have a lot of $$$ to spend, and everything I find has a ton of miles on them .....

Give me some experiences, trouble spots and potential pitfalls to look for on these.

One in particular I found is a 96, 4.0/auto. It's super clean ...... but ..... 285K on it. I can probably grab it for under 1400. No visible rust/rot (original colorado car) and no accidents reported via car fax. The mileage bothers me, but that's about it.

Throw some thoughts and ideas at me guys n gals ...

[Dan Barlow]

Stay away from the full time units. They suck gas and wear out sooner because they are always in four wheel drive.

[Bamfster]

Yup .... forgot about those and you are right. Wasn't that called the quadra trac or something?

[brandontinley]

i had a 1993 cherokee, 4.0 high output, witha 5 speed. i baught it with 240,000 and drove the hell out of it for 2 years and then sold it when i moved with 265,000. i did all the basic maintenance, plugs wires starter, all fluids, i changed them all when i baught it, and i had zero problems with mine. i would stay away from the all time 4 wheel drive stuff like already stated but these are awesome vehicles

[Huskinhano]

We had an 89 years ago. Sold it with 168,000 on the clock. The only problems I had was the engine position sensor that reads the flywheel would just up and fail. I thought the brakes sucked as well. The pedal would go to the floor, never lock up and the pads and shoes wore fast. Had no problems with the engine other wise or drive train.

Forgot to mention, ours was automatic with that could be used either as part time or full time or AWD. Never had any problems. I believe the auto trans in Nissan sourced. It uses a stand alone processor.

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I have a '99 that I bought new. 144k on it and the only part I've replaced is a crank position sensor (starting to throw intermittent tps codes recently). It's my primary driver and can't bring myself to sell it. There are a couple of forums where you can find out most anything u need to know if u have troubles. I will post a link when I get home this afternoon.

[Caveman Tony]

I had an '89 with way over 200k on it... Sold it to my Dad who commuted, towed, and farm-trucked it for years. Just keep oil in the 4.0, and it'll go forever.

The Dana 35 rear ends in those are weak though, listen for howling/growling. Same rear in my brother-in-law's TJ went south.

Only thing Dad had to replace was the radiator and water pump.

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I remembered the forum I visit for info/quirks. www.cherokeeforum.com

Mine is also an automatic with the 4x4/AWD transfer case.

I have also changed out the radiator (and water pump while I was there).
I considered that normal maintenance I guess, had to put one in my 'ol truck this summer too.

Fuel mileage is not good on these, I can get up to 17-18 on hwy using cruise under 70. My HEMI Grand Cherokee can see 20 on the hwy, if...........

[Mr4Speed]

Don't know much about them but a buddy of mine put 380K on his. There was nothing wrong with it when he sold it and bought a newer one.

[JOES66FURY]

depends on how well it was maintained before purchase.

Buddy has one he got for the old man original owner...a 94 AWD with the 318. He has had it about 7 years. Typical crap, radiator, water pump but otherwise a solid reliable vehicle. Gas mileage blows with the AWD tho. I think he has about 230K on the clock and it is nicer than most vehicles with half that.

[TheSilverBuick]

I really liked my '87, and it had 140k on the clock. The only thing I didn't like about it was it only had idiot lights and it was built in the 3 year window that didn't have a check engine light and computer that was easily checked. Otherwise, it was awesome in the snow, awesome on the trails and decent on the road. It was a tad under powered, but mine had slightly bigger tires on it, and I was used to driving big block cars comparatively. Mine had the upgraded transfer case that had a green 4wd light and a yellow 4-lock light, as well as the 2wd. So the green one was good for driving on pavement, etc and didn't fully lock the transfer case, and the yellow one was the one that locked it down and made it tough to turn on pavement (not meant to be on pavement in that setting). I'd set it on the green one when ever the roads were sketchy and it turned and went like on dry pavement.

It got 16-18mpg, which is the same as my '07 Silverado 4x4, but was much nicer on the trails.

I gave it to my old boss who just ordered a new head for it. He's banking on it just having a head gasket or warped head problem. Which I wouldn't be surprised if that was all that is wrong with it.

[Deaf Bob]

State forestry dept is the only dept here in OR that has veihcles that are not traded in every year or 2.. Those jeeps seem to stay in the fleet a long time.
There is a local gal that is hard on cars, that lives on a gravel road, as do her parents.. She has one and it is the only one she has had more than 2 years... Even new bought cars did not last her 2 years until she bought this jeep with over 120K miles.


Wonder why the CJ series are not as good?

[Loren]

Well, with any old car you're taking a risk. $1400 ain't too bad though. Our '92 XJ Cherokee was $2500, with 200k it'd had the motor changed to a junkyard unit w/ supposedly 90k on it. After a few initial problems it has been a wonderful beater to have around. I'm sure we've put 50k on it and it continues to chug along. I get a bit over 18mpg average (Gail gets, uh different )It's nice to have a car that nobody bothers to try to steal, we don't even lock it while it gets left downtown or wherever. It's been lots of fun off-road too. A few notes:

If it has a 318 then it's going to be a ZJ, the "Grand Cherokee", which is a little bigger and uses coil springs all around. Those get worse milage whether V8 or I-6 powered, and still have the same tiny bucket seats so you might stick with the XJ.

Not that you're looking, but the early 2.8 V6 models, and the I-4 and diesel models are absolutely to be avoided. Once they gave up on that stupid sh*t and went to the old Rambler I-6, suddenly they were wonderful, reliable cars. Those blocks must be made out of some pretty good iron because they seem to last forever. The downside of the inline six is that apparently the body was not actually designed to take that motor and there is NO ROOM FOR A RADIATOR. Radiators on XJs are a joke and what there is of them is almost completely blocked from behind so there is little airflow, even with two fans. Most dead Cherokees you may come across are because of overheating and I would be cautious that the cooling system was maintained and the motor shows no signs of overheat. All fuel injection systems whether Renault- or Chrysler-sourced seem to be dead-reliable. You would think at-least the timing chains would be falling apart on motors that old but I've never heard of anybody losing one. The one thing we've had to replace on a regular basis is water pumps, they seem to go less than 2 years. It takes about 45 minutes to change one if you know how to do it, or a bit over two hours if you're fumbling or forgot from last time.

Another engine problem is the stainless steel exhaust header, which is a really nice piece but tends to crack. You have to pull 'em off and weld 'em up, not a huge deal but a pain. Some do it, some don't...but if you hear an exhaust leak up front, that's what it is.

Is the car you're looking at 4wd? Not all are. I'm not familiar with the "full-time" 4wd systems mentioned above, I haven't seen one on an XJ. Generally there are two kinds, the one with the front pass-side axle disconnect (easy to spot, just look for the collar-looking thing on the axle tube) and those without, and in either case the transfer case disconnects from the front. I'd bet the disconnect type is worth a half-mile per gallon from not having to sping the ring-and-pinion all the time, just the spiders...either way the front diff is pretty tiny and it's not a big deal. A decently-tough 2-speed transfer case which locks front-rear in "low" is what makes a Cherokee a legit Jeep, those ain't no silly little AWD single-speed deal. Those straight front axles whether 2- or 4wd work pretty well.

Auto trans's are generally Japanese Aisans which are incredibly reliable. Which is good, as they're incredibly expensive to rebuild. We had a problem once, but it was just the tps fooling the trans as to when to shift. Manual transmissions are said to be worth a couple more mpg if you get one.

Most rears in the '90s are Chrysler 8.2s and won't break. Earlier had the 7.5.

Brakes are adequate, no better. Linings don't last long.

There are a lot of mechanics around who are really familiar with Cherokees and I might find one and drop the car by and see what they say. Of course no one can see through steel but they might have a better sense of whether it's a good car or not. If it's seeming to be in good shape you'll probably get another 5yrs/50k miles out of it, for your $1400 (offer them $1200...)

[Barry Donovan]

good info, my only impression is a brand new 1987, dead a year later in every way.
as things got newer, the water pump stuff, crazy heat, back to normal..then just gone at the bearings unannounced.

the diehards here, like the chevies and everything else you can smack the entire air fuel with a hammer..those keep going if its bent axles weeble wobbling the 33 inch tread and home made lift kit.

they have never changed..except for unnecessary cost of gadgetry.

seem rare now.
I see alot of libertys

[SuperBuickGuy]

yep, what Loren says. They're good rigs as long as they're a 6. I have friend with at least 500k on his - he replaced the motor with a reman at 270k, but everything else is how AMC installed on it. His doesn't even look half bad.... of course, he's single; and that Jeep has prevented at least 2 women that I know of from being willing to date him - the interior is.... untorn but it is something that would put a sewer pump truck driver off his lunch.