furiouzgeorge

So I was wrong in my previous post about the year of our jeep. I didn't dust the break light cover off when I checked it. It's a 1983, not a 1987 (hope you can understand the confusion...). I asked for help about my cylinder's being flooded with fuel and it turned out my distributor was 180 degrees backward. We fixed that and I had it running two or three times. I moved it from it's banished parking spot on the back of the property to the front and it didn't have very much power. I parked it for a couple of days until I had time to work on it, and it started right up, like a champ. I let her run for a while to burn the extra oil out of the cylinders and as I expected it smoked a ton. After the smoke cleared up I shut it off to check all my fluids and move my pickup which was parked behind me (keys are all on the same ring.) I was gonna take it for a test drive around the block. I hopped back in to take off and it wouldn't start. It smells like raw fuel and it just cranks. At one point it sounded like it wanted to seize...wen't "clunk" and stopped cranking. I turned it over by hand a few times and it's back to cranking just fine, it just won't start. Anyway, I'm a bit lost on this. My engine diagnostic skills are pretty limited. I can easily swap engines and tear crap apart, but fixing little demon problems are NOT my specialty. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

J

p.s. do you guys know any good engine swaps for an 83 XJ? Where do you buy engines if you're in the market?

furiouzgeorge

I've spent a ton of time looking online and can't find a source for an engine under $1200.

Bluemax

uhm, they didnt start making the xj till 84!

furiouzgeorge

tail-light says 83XJ. under the hood the sticker says, 4.0, that's all I got ;-) Might it have to do with the fact that a car's year is actually the following year after manufacture? i.e. this would be an 84 if it was built in 83?

billfrank85

Can't you put the VIN # in at the Carfax website and at least get the year pulled up?

diskman

First year of the XJ was 1984. And was offered a 2.5L 4 cylinder or a 2.8L V6 GM engine.

1987 was the first year of the 4.0L inline 6.

Here is a web page that has ALL of the VIN number info for the Jeep Cherokees from 1984 to 2001.

http://www.jeepfan.com/tech/tech_vinxj.htm


Or goto this one for an automatic one. Just plug in your VIN and it does the rest.

http://www.jeepz.com/forum/vin.php

Get back to us with what you find out please and someone can probably help you better with your Jeep.

furiouzgeorge

You searched for VIN : IJCMT7841HT029668

This vehicle's data:

Manufacturer Jeep Corporation
Vehicle Type Multi-Purpose Vehicle
Engine 4.0L, I-6, MPI
Powertrain 4-speed automatic, floor gear shift, Select-Trac/ 4 W/D
Body Type Jeep Cherokee, 4-W/D, 4-Door Station Wagon, 101 inch wheel base
Gross Vehicle Weight Wrangler Laredo, Cherokee Laredo, Wagoneer Limited = 4001 - 5000 lbs
Model Year 1987
Assembly Plant Toledo, Ohio, USA
Model Year 1987

Strangely my tail light DOES say 83XJ, don't ask me why, I'll post a pick in the morning. Thanks for setting me streight.

diskman

The taillights will say 1983 for the first "generation" of XJs. The taillight cover STYLE didn't change until 1997 with the new body style. The dates on the old square covers probably changed in 1991-ish when Chrysler took over the XJs though.

Can't always go by the taillights. lol.

Should be a sticker on the drivers door that lists the exact build date possibly. If the date on the door is AFTER July, it's considered the NEXT model year. My 1992 XJ was built on 08/1991 but it's a 1992 model.

The Rooster

interesting I want to see the picture of the 83 tail light...

freegdr

look at production date on doors the tail light trick dont work real well any more since they use the same mold for tail lights on so many different years sounds like its a renix

freegdr

first thing is to check for spark,and pressure at the fuel rail ,when trying to start the worst thing to do is keep turning the key on and off to try and start everytime you do this it will squirt a little fuel in the cylinders causing the same situation as pumping the gas pedal on a old carb engine flooding hence the raw fuel smell ,renix xjs take alittle longer to start than other years 1987 thru 1990 are renix models.

The Rooster

Thats the truth they don/t like to start your like it did wahoo

freegdr

http://www.filestube.com/537d2723635...ual-84-93.html this should assist you in troubleshootinghttp://rapidshare.com/#!download|115...J_88.rar|16443

wildbill1

As I recall, the date molded into the tail light lens will indicate the year of DOT acceptance. It doesn't necessarily tell you what year the vehicle was manufactured.

freegdr

sound like you could have injectors leaking down after sitting it starts all the fuel has evaporated from the cyls ,smell the oil if its saturated with fuel and plugs are soaked with fuel this could be the issue try to get it running and let it run for a while see if it clears up some times tapping on the injectors can help how long has it sat fuel could be varnished in the injectors causing a sticking problem you can also taqke a good test light and ground it to the battery and poke the tip in the spark plug boots to ground the cyl out the one that make no difference is the ones to focus on for trouble also check the firing order,