I have been searching craigslist for a while now for a manual 91 and up Cherokee sport. I found a 2001 with 285,000 miles with an AX-15 i think, it may have the NV3550 but i have have heard that they are rare. Anyways, i live in Michigan so finding a jeep with no rust is a challenge but this one is from south Carolina and has very little rust on it besides the rocker panels which always seem to go first. From the pictures and what he has told me its in good shape for the miles and supposedly everything works like the ac, heat and the radio.
The only problem that he says it has is that it has overheated before and still does it when you are sitting idling. He said that the jeep still runs strong and shifts good and the temp will go back down once you get back up to speed and he said that he has not ran it long after the temp light came on for fear of damaging the engine. I think its the radiator fan clutch but others have said it could be a few things. He doesn't want to fix it because he doesn't have the money and he is going back down to South Carolina. He wants $850 for it and i had a few questions about things i should look for on a manual jeep with this many miles on it and also the overheating issue if there is something i need to worry about. I am familiar with Cherokee's as i had a 95 with the ax-15 and the 4.0L. That had 220,000 when it rusted in half and i had to part it out and i still have the engine and the t-case. I was just wanting to know some thoughts from the community on if i should buy this or not and if i should, what are things that i am gonna need to replace with the issues that it has right now.

 

lotta rust for southern car huh. id look for more like floor pans and frame.
my indiana/michigan 2000 has solid rockers/frame. floor pans had to be done new.but thats from vent leaking, normal, they all do it.

 

Buy a test for exhaust gas in the coolant. Do the test. If it's good, well, for $750 you can't go very far wrong.

Yeah, offer him less. The worst he can do is shoot you, right?

 

Rusted out rockers could also be a sign of other rusted out areas like the floor board.

For a 2001 from the South, sure looks like a lot of rust to me especially in the engine bay.
Look at that rusty coil pack and nearby hoses. Is the underside of the hood rusted or has this Jeep been sitting for a long while?
At about that mileage and a little lower is when a lot of things crapped out on my XJ. Just say'n, be prepared if you buy it.

If the price is right, the engine oil psi is good with no cracked head, rust can be dealt with.

 

I wouldn't get too hung up on the body rust/holes in the rockers. That stuff is super minor. What would concern me more is that it is a 2001 that overheats a lot. The head COULD be ruined.

Check for coolant in the oil, like others have said. Pull the oil fill plug and inspect for cracks in the head.

Otherwise, everything looks pretty ok, and for under $1000 it could be a steal. Be ready to replace all of the cooling system.

 

it looks like the head gasket blew. I can tell from all of the brown stains every where in the engine bay. When the head gasket blows it will over pressurize the cooling system and sending coolant out of the overflow bottle and out of the radiator cap if it is not seated right. look at the stains around those two areas. It is still not a bad deal but i would really look at the oil and at the head though the oil fill cap.

 

he said it has been in michigan for a year and a half and it had a little rust on it to begin and the winter made it worse

 

what should the oil pressure be at idle and what would a good way to check for cracked head, i plan on rebuilding the engine at some point too

 

i think the overheating issue is due to the worn out fan clutch because he said it only does it when you let it idle for a while in traffic, also i have a spare 4.0l from a 95 Cherokee, if the head is ruined then would i be able to use the head off that engine?

 

so i am probably going to need a new head gasket then, and also flush the radiator and a oil change?

 

It depends on how the oil looks. if it looks milky you might be looking at a new bottom end, crank bearings rod bearings, crank shaft..... or a new motor. if it is still over heating now because of a bad fan clutch there still could be damage being done to the motor from previous oil contamination when the head gasket blew. It does not take long for the coolant to destroy the bearings. hot idle oil pressure should be 13+ psi, hot oil pressure cruising 40+ psi.
If you have a spare 4.0 buy this jeep and drop in the whole engine, if there was any coolant in the oil for an extended period that motor could be toast.

 

I just contacted the guy and he said that the coolant spray came out of the coolant reservoir and not the side of the block, he also said the the oil does not look milky and he never had any white smoke coming out of the exhaust

 

thats one rusty ***** there. and on top of the rust it needs a cooling system and possible head at minimum.. give him $300 for it and hope for the best.

 

believe it or not thats the cleanest manual Cherokee within 200 miles of me, he said that the rockers where the only thing that was rusty and that the floor pan and frame was not rusty. also he said that the head did not have cracks in it, the oil was not milky and the rust colored spray came out of the coolant reservoir, not the side of the block so i dont think it was a head gasket. i plan on flushing the coolant system and getting a new fan clutch, i dont see why i would need a whole new coolant system.

 

Yeah let's just believe everything the seller says....if there's rust in one part of the cooling system then it's in all of it...why wouldn't you replace everything? You can do it for less then $300.