okay, i figured it was something along the lines of wd-40. but then again, I'm pretty much 'uninformed'. lol.

Maybe when i get some money I'll see about buying a can of the stuff and seeing if I can't get the engine un-seized.

I've only got two weeks till I'm homeless so I don't have a lot of time to spend on it. there's a 90% (or higher) chance that the 97 is just going to be abandoned/sold...

 

perhaps someone on here lives close to you and will let you store the jeep on their property till life improves for you, something to think about. if you dont ask you wont know. good luck

 

How about you let us know where you are?

The '96 doesn't look in too bad of shape, maybe with a little checking around you could find a local shop in your area that would be willing take the 96 in trade for a motor swap.

If you at least do what was mentioned (clean it up, get it to turn over, replace gaskets and fluid) you might get it running enough to move it around or sell it for a little more money.

 

sorry, California. equidistant to san francisco and sacramento in this little crap hole of a town next to stockton.

'96 'runs', but there's an electrical problem somewhere that I couldn't figure out and in a fit of irresponsible spending I used a pretty big chunk of what little savings I had and bought the '97.

I was in oregon and the '96 died on the side of the road, jumped it and drove maybe a few more miles before it died again so i had it towed into town where I then rented an empty uhaul and tralier and towed it back home (I had to be back the next day). Never could figure out what was wrong. Alternator tested out fine, had the battery tested and it was fine... Something just drained the battery.

 

As far as the '96 is concerned, your problem is probably the Alternator. I know you said it checked out okay, but your symptoms as you described them tells me it's a charging problem not a draining problem. If the Alternator is indeed good then most likely the wiring between the battery and Alt is bad. Some systems actually have a fuseable link in the main charging wire between the Alternator and Battery- it's possible that the problem is that simple.

 

Nearly some of my "stomping ground" I have a place near SR, and have been up 80. (or 20) to the summit more times than I can count.

With just some atf and a two or three inch wire wheel, (and a role of paper towels), you might get allot of it.

Hitting them with Kroil ASAP (first), might also help......as said.

 

when it comes to cars, i know the basics, like how to change the oil or the plugs or something. Diagnosing much beyond that is well, beyond me. Unfortunately.

as far as the '96, I'm sure it is probably something stupid and simple that anyone who's spent anytime under a hood could figure out in mere seconds.

With the '97 those pictures are a few months old and the engine has been sitting opened up and top half was left outside so it's probably worse than what the pictures are. Friend of friend is a mechanic and he said the engine was ruined so i stopped where I was and left it as it was. Took the gasket kit back and got my money back and that was the end of it for me.

oh well. it was fun for the two months that it ran after I bought it. :/

 

Wow you put a lot of faith in that so called mechanic buddy. A bunch of us in here including myself have been playing with Jeeps specifically XJ's for a long time. In my case 20 years if I were on your shoes I would listen to the guys with experience on the 4.0. It is a very robust engine and would probably run if you just tried, but if you are willing to give up that easy. More power to ya. Maybe someone in here will be fortunate enough to pick 1 or both of them up dirt cheap and get them running.

 

Sorry, no that's not what I meant. I'm going to try what has been said on here probably this weekend. I'll be elated if I can resurrect the '97. I should have come on here first rather than listening to a friend of a friend.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Any word?