Today I thought I be a proud owner of a 1999 Cherokee Sport. 130,700 miles, virtually no rust, nice original paint, radio, all power windows work, completely stock condition. Only titled to two people in the past. I met to buy with cash in hand. Then while in park I reved the engine up to 3 or 4 thousand rpm. I noticed a rattle / clatter noise only between 2 - 3 thousand rpm. Sound came from lower part of motor near firewall. Earlier when I check the oil it was below the add mark and dirty. Drives fine and no rattle while driving. Oil pressure ok. In the end I walked away without buying. Any ideas about the rattle? If you still had a chance would you risk buying it. I read some ideas about the cause of the rattle and they range from minor to major issues. Since its in a parking lot I can't easily get under it to find a cause. What to do?

 

A rattle could be the lifters if it was low on oil and dirty (it doesnt sound like it was cared for). For all we know it was rod knock you heard. The torque convertor bolts can back out and make some noise too. But retorquing those bolts again may not help if the flexplate is cracked where it bolts to the crank. You would have to crawl underneath it and have a listen. If anything that should give you a general idea of where its coming from. Take a stethoscope with you when checking out an XJ, or even a friend that knows thier way around an XJ. You can find a bunch of videos on Youtube with different noises for an XJ as well, so check those out to see what comes close.

What were they asking for it?

 

Could be a cracked flex plate, which is not really a big deal.


But if you can't pull the inspection cover off to check, you really have to assume it's an engine problem. If the price is good enough, go for it. 130k miles is really low mileage for these things.

 

Thanks for your input. I'm in love with the condition of the body so I'm tempted to buy it. Listed for $ 3,300 but agreed on $ 2,700 Cash. Its not a private owner so he is not in a hurry to sell it. I did listen to some videos on engine noise and will listen again. In the end I'll just need to spend the time and money to have a mechanic check it out. I'm not up for rebuilding a motor or swapping a motor but I think it might be worth it for the price??
Update - Not listed anymore - I'll keep looking for my Jeep

 

Need to be taking someone with you when your looking. They could have worked the throttle while you were trying to locate the rattle. Could have been something simple causing it.

 

hard to pass on this one,,,someone grabbed it

 

Yep. Ya snooze ya lose!

 

The only thing about an XJ is there is only one that can't be fixed easily and that is rust top to bottom.

You may well have missed a good deal, also the best year for the XJ 1999. Like Mark said.........