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Almost bought an XJ tonight.

muddysub

muddysub

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I just went and looked at this 97 Cherokee. It's got 215,000 miles on it and it idles rough. It revs nice and clean doesn't knock or misfire, The AC blows halfway cold, it has really nice bumpers on it and it was pretty clean and straight for a 20-year-old truck. The only thing that genuinely concerns me is that the passenger side motor mount broke at some point, the bolts broke off inside the block and the mount was welded to the block. He's asking $2500 or best offer. What does the brotherhood think?

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If it didn't have 200+ on it I wouldn't be concerned about the rough idle. It could be as simple as a set of spark plugs. Or it could be as bad as a cylinder head.
 
So, lets say you do buy it. The motor blows.

Do you replace the motor?

If so, what motor?

If not, ?
 
I have never had an XJ but I know lots and lots of XJ guys and have done alot to them.

It seems they have tons of weird little problems. Sensors that go bad often unless you use an OEM. But overall very good rigs.

What would be the plan for this Scott?

@muddysub
 
I daily drive a 97 with 250k on it. And I beat the living crap out of it. Wheeled it twice.
 
It was an impulse idea, no plans really, I don't even have a place to park it at home. I don't need it and looking at craigslist I could find a nicer one for the same price or maybe $500 more. I daily drive a company truck right now but I know that won't last forever and I think a mild XJ would be a cool daily until I get the itch and put 1 tons and 40s under it.
 
I'd plan on buying a used engine sooner than later,because welding cast iron usually doesn't last long,if it works at all..but,the passenger side motor mount is only under stress while your backing up,maybe it'll hold..too bad they didn't try harder to get the busted bolts out..

The 4.0's are good engines,a few years had head issues,but most of the problems with them were limited to water pumps,radiators,and the P/S tanks like to crack...the rear upper shock mount bolts often break off in the welded nuts in the unibody and can suck to fix..
My friend repairs a lot of these at his shop--quite a few have needed the front diffs replaced,mostly due to oil leaks and being run out of lube..
 
Not for that price and a motor mount welded to the block. That's asking for trouble. If you want a project buy it and swap in a 5.3 or 6.0 Is it auto or manual?
 
Truckman4life said:
Not for that price and a motor mount welded to the block. That's asking for trouble. If you want a project buy it and swap in a 5.3 or 6.0 Is it auto or manual?
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This. These things are easy to find, and you're already aware of one example of serious corner-cutting. It may or may not have other issues hiding, but that one is not something I'd wanna have. And it's not like that's a stellar price. I'd give him $1000 for that, even here in the rust belt. He might get $2500 for a rust-free XJ in wonderful shape with 130,000 miles. But not for that one.

Methinks you can find better.
 
I would hammer for cheaper but damn they're fun little bastards to wheel. Throw in cheap lockers and stiffen the unibody and enjoy.
 
the XJ is a solid rig but I wouldn't buy that one, looks beat to me.

Family friend of ours put 350K miles on his 89 jeep Cherokee, 4.0L engine and auto trans never opened up.
 
Xjs are Cherocars. There meant to be used up and thrown away like garbage. No frame is a no go.

I'd get me a comanchee long before an xj.

I just watched someone twist the body up on one...off to the scrapper it goes lol.
 
Comanche is the exact same thing.

Around here that's not a bad price. If you find a 1000 dollar Cherokee around here its an old one.

I actually think the motor mount is no biggie. Yes a pain to fix but pretty easy to fix if you have a grinder and a welder.
 
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