Alright fellow XJers, A friend of mine found a nice 1985 XJ with the Renault 2.1 diesel under the hood. I'm really tempted to get it, as I'm lookin for a new DD and somethin with good mpgs. This thing only has 74k on the clock, and for being so rare it seems like a good deal at $4800.

Here's the craigslist post: http://williamsport.craigslist.org/cto/3547287785.html

I already know the rear leafs are sagging and the rims aren't original, but the rest of the thing looks perfect. My questions are:

What are the mpgs with these?
Are they reliable at all?
What are the power specs?
How hard are they to work on?
Are the parts real hard to find?
Does anyone even know much on them?

I'm really interested in it, since I love the classic XJ and it would look sweet sitting next to my 89 in the driveway. The only thing stopping me from getting it is the performance really. Like I said, it will be my new DD. I just don't have the cash to buy another XJ for a collectible :/ I'd hate to see it go, but I gotta do what's financially smarter. Any help on this would be really appreciated. I'm gonna call tomorrow for any more info on it or pictures. Hopefully they'll take about 3.5-4k for it.

 

Lotta money for a Jeep with an engine that's hard to find parts for.

 

Fuel should be around 28 maybe a little more on the HWY. As long as you stay stock it would work out. That motor only has/had 100 or so horse, a little under powered but could probably be massaged if you have the time. There were some reliability issues but don't remember what they are. It was a utility motor to begin with, that's all I can remember.

C'mon Cruiser it's an 85 diesel, I'd jump if I had the cash. It being a diesel you could update Perkins makes some nice small displacement I6s' that are even turbocharged. Could you imagine a XJ that got 25+ to the gallon 160 horse with 300+ footpounds of torque(gimmie gimmie gimmie).
Besides Penn is close enough to Canada to possibly source Renault parts.

 

And people make fun of me cuz I like Renix. LOL.

 

Yes sir! +1

 

LOL what does Canada have to do with Renault diesel parts? A VM Motori would be easier to fix lol.

Agreed it'd be fun but you'd need to swap the engine or get very creative if it died. And a Perkins Phaser won't fit, especially with a pre-4.0 firewall! Maybe a Kubota...

 

There's a guy on Jeep Forum that has a 2.1td MJ and gets 30mpg. Wouldn't it just be easier to get a small car with good mpg for a DD?

 

yeah.... But I alwways go for the odd; Pontiac 230, tornado six, AMC SX4. You know the normal stuff LOL.

 

Thanks guys, those are all the same thoughts I had regarding it. I'd love to own it, but because of the hard to find parts it just wouldn't be worth it for a DD. I'm torn, but I gotta do what's financially better. Money for a DD comes from investments, any money to fix it would come from my pocket, which is my '89s designated money, haha. I might still give them a call to see how low they would go, but I'm not too sure if I wanna get it. I mean, I want to, but I don't know if I should, haha.

 

biggest problem, this is a timing belt driven engine that leaks oil at the crank and camshaft, which makes the belts soft and snap......I had a customer with one, we replaced the seals three times and the belt four times in the course of the 120,000 miles that he owned it.

Turbo couldn't suck a tissue out of your hand at WOT, bad design.

Drop in a 01-06 2.7L mercedes 5 cly turbo diesel instead.

 

P.S. I'd buy it, but not at that price

 

Some of my favorites right there!!

 

YAH! Can't beat some of the old odd ones, if only they had kept making the tonado six or pontiac 230 we might have had a DOHC 4.0 instead.

 

Ever seen this Jeep OHC engine?

 

Is that the one based on the iron duke?