Mr. E

So bare with me, FNG looking to buy his first Jeep.

Looking at a ZJ for a daily driver, and a family rig to hit the trails on the weekends, or Bug Out in emergencies.

What are the common problems (if any) with these?

What should I pay special attention to when shopping?

Thanks in advance. Any advice is awesome!

Jordan1996 ZJ

Crank position sensors go bad, the VIC says the coolant sensor is bad, (ussually its not), and in the limited the heated seats stop working sometimes, and if you put a cheap lift on it the list will continue

FleXJ01

What do you mean list will continue if you budget boost? Even a 2 " spacer lift?

Mr. E

Is this an item I can buy a few of and keep them in the truck?

Meaning is this something I could change on the trail or side of road if it fails?

FleXJ01

If they are anything like an XJ about $70 for a new CPS and they are a PIta to change. On top of bell housing took like 5 extensions and a wobbler. You should know before you hit the trail.

Mr. E

Ok thanks.

Seems like good insurance to change it when I first buy the Jeep.

jronald

+VIC likes to throw random issues (easy fix with a swap)
+Drivers door primarily but all doors are subject to falling off the hinges as they rip from the inner door structure (not a bad fix with a welder)
+Condensate water in the Passenger floor board (not a real hard fix)
+AC Evap will spring a freon leak (ROYAL PITA fix)
+Alarm system will randomly kill the battery (Easy rewire fix)
+Factory radios are flakey, as well as the speakers (easy fix, swap it all)
+Headlamps "craze" badly and screw up night time driving (easy fix with polish)

Ron

Mr. E

Thanks Ron,
Living in So Cal, AC is rarely used.

Everything else seems like normal used car finds.

Jordan1996 ZJ

theres always a chance that when you do any kind of "lifting" it will throw the suspension out of wack and you get "DEATH WOBBLE" usually a alignment fixes this and you'll never think of it again, but sometimes you will end up replacing a ton of crap in your front end and it becomes a money pit

Ryser

[QUOTE=Mr. E;1243335]

is there a link on how to fix the passenger floorboard water issue? just got a 96 ZJ limited and I need to whip it in the butt.

obidya

the alarm systems are terrible, I pulled mine out.. which was equally challenging

if it ever dies and won't kick over and you can't find anything wrong... its probably the security locking it down

obidya

all around though... they are amazing vehicles. Mine was the sister in laws first car, passed on to the wife as her first car, passed on to me when we got married.
he's now pushing 240k and still running strong (minus the tranny slipping)

Mr. E

Is there any downside to the V8 compared to the 6? (besides mpg)

Also seen some listed as all wheel drive, and some 4wd.

Is there a difference between these 2?

dochollidae

Not when it comes to Jeeps. The reason that you get an impression that there is a difference between "all wheel drive" and "4 wheel drive" is because the people that speak or write about them don't know what they are talking about.

There is a technical difference between the two, but Jeep only manufactured one of the two.

Mr. E

Ok thanks.

So just to be clear, the ZJ's are all 4wd?