Well, I've always wanted a Jeep, and what appears to be a great opportunity to purchase one has come about. Its a Cherokee Classic 4.0, 5 speed, 4x4 with 197,000. I know thats a ton of miles but it wont be a DD and the price is unbeatable. I've been reading for a few days and have some ideas of stuff to look for. However, with this many miles is can you give me a heads up of things that I need to check on. I've looked at the floor and its rust free, but there is an oil leak at rear of engine. The rest of the car looks very clean. Here are a few pics:

 

Is there any maintenance records on the jeep. Most jeeps have alot of miles on them. I have 189,000 miles on mine. It still runs great.

 

If it was well maintained it should go beyond 250,000 miles pretty easy. The leak is prolly a rear main seal, and very common on the 4.0 liter engine. They are pretty easy to fix, from what I gather, HTH!!

 

I know the guy that is selling it, so I'll have to ask him.

I assumed rear main seal when I saw the leak based on my research here. Is this something that needs fixed right away? Also, I assume the tranny needs dropped to fix it?

 

The tranny does need to be dropped. Its easy to drop. Its not a must to replace it but it is a good idea to or your going to keep leaking oil

 

Actually you don't need to pull the trans just drain and drop the pan. Then remove the rear main bearing cap. Be sure you keep it oriented correctly and then tap the old seal out and replace with a new seal and reverse the order of disassembly. Don't forget the rear main cap needs to be torqued in. Thats it in a nutshell.

 

Pi$$ing off your buddies with the Lebrea Tar Pit Mobile is not a good thing!!

 

ya blue is right, its a two peice seal. the top half slides out after removing the main bearing cap, and you slide the new one up on top of the crank, and the bottom half seals against the cap.

i came real close to dropping the trans on the first one i had to do in a shop, i just assumed you had to remove the trans.

 

Yeah I've done three but all were autos. Never done a RMS in a stick but cant imagine it being any different.

 

The RMS is still a two piece seal whether it is an automatic or manual transmission.

 

RMS is not a fun task... Very dirty lol. But it will give you a chance to Clean your Oil pan and see how much crud is down there also. Maybe a good Idea to run a can of seafoam through the engine prior to pulling the pan to get as much gunk out as possible.

Here is a great link to get you started.

http://www.jeepin.com/features/rearmain/


Not necessary to pull start but it will give you more room.

Also it may not be a RMS. It still could be the Oil Filter Adater or Valve Cover. How much oil does the vehicle lose. And

 

Thanks for the link,