gbkd80

Hi, first post here. I just recently picked up a 2000 XJ Sport 4x4 4-door for use as a utility / dump / winter vehicle.

I used to own a 1990 Cherokee back about 10 years ago that belonged to a friend of mine which he sold to me cheap. Had probably well over 250k or more on it (never knew because the odo busted). Thing was awesome besides a really disappointing electrical issue that I didn't want to put the time into so I donated it...

Now I have this 2000... I think I got a little ripped off on it, honestly. It's my own fault for not checking things out a little better, but they're hard to come by in my area in the $2-2500 range or less, especially without significant problems. Anyway this one has 177k on it, interior is in very nice condition, wheels and tires are good, seems to run solid. I already pulled apart the dashboard and gave everything a good wash to make it mine, replaced the shift light bulb etc... just BS stuff. The body is not that great up close but not rusty, the rear hatch is missing the whole plastic interior bezel and the rubber bump stops are gone. Headliner is in great shape except it may have been redone because where it meets the windshield it's all cut wrong.

Mechanically like I said before, it seems sound. I think it's got an exhaust leak or several somewhere plus the exhaust is hanging on the cross-member. Steering is wavery, honestly not any different than my 1990 was but I think that's worn out parts... I drove one of these brand new back in 2000 and the drive was much more solid so. Rear hatch makes so much freaking noise over every bump. Lots of fun.

Anyway, so I discovered I have a hole in the passenger floor... :-/ Shame on me for not really noticing it because it's not small. I know some of that is to be expected but I have at least a foot by 6 inches of carpet showing through... I don't want to put a lot of money into fixing that since the likelihood of people riding in it with me are slim, so is it something I can just cut out and rivet some sheet metal to it and call it a day? I don't want to be totally ghetto about it but I'm very lite on my mechanical knowledge and there is no way I'm paying someone to fix that. Hopefully someone has a suggestion?

Also, if the exhaust is sitting on the crossmember, where are the hangers that keep that up? I can't get a good enough visual on it...

If the driving feels kinda loose and swimmy (not death wobble), what should I be looking at? Tie rod ends? Bearings?


Here is that hole under the floor....

PatHenry

If you have enough good metal around the rot, you may be able to patch it. Seal around the edges and rivet it might work.

The key thing to check would be your state inspection and make sure that sort of repair will pass muster.

Obviously the proper fix is best.

Your exhaust is hitting the cross-member probably because the hanger that goes through the isolator on the tranny mount broke. I was looking at an adjustable hanger thing for mine. (Pypes or something like that on Amazon) but I'm not sure it will work and I'm contemplating a manifold/front-pipe replacement instead - it looks like the front pipe had the hanger originally.

LadyKenai

all the inside the cab danglin, rattles and squeeks wont have to cost much just matter on going over it and i bet half the stuff is just lose and needs tightening

Marc

Your pictures arent showing up on my side btw and welcome to the forum

EEVEE

are those crocs?

gbkd80

BlueRidgeMark

Rust is never lonely.

Judging by the pics you've posted, you've got major rust issues.

Before you sink any money into it, get you some goggles, a screwdriver, and crawl under that thing and start poking things. Everything. And poke hard. You are trying to break through any rust. You want to know how bad it is. Get rough.

You need to assess the rust damage before you make any decisions.

Post pics!

gbkd80

Good point...
You know, I bought it as a beater but I paid $2500 for it and that was more than i wanted to spend. It ran better and looked better than the rest of the ones I had looked at, and shame on me for not really inspecting the underside as well as I should have. Unfortunately I feel like most of the vehicles up here (connecticut) that hit a certain age have major rust issues from the salt on the roads etc. My '90 came form Oregon, and belonged to a good friend of mine before it was passed down to me. Within a year of it being in CT, the bumper started to get surface rust, the underside of the rocker panels etc... it was incredible.

I'll try to get under there again this weekend and see what I'm dealing with. I'd hate to have to get rid of it or at worst, junk it... that would be a real shame after what i spent.

BooGTS

Anything is fixable if you want to. I had some bad rear rust - but my floors are mint, go figure. I welded up replacement panels out of 1/16" sheet, (unfortunately didn't take pics of that step) and then made armor out of 1/8" (because my fix was nice and water tight, but not pretty), powder coated them and bolted them on. Better than new for $150 invested.

PatHenry

I thought that looked like a CT plate.

My 95 came from CT and the PO fortunately had redone the floors. I was surprised how little rust mine has considering 23 years in this part of the country.

Replacing the floors is an extremely common operation for an XJ, so don't start panicking that it's completely hosed until you look at it yourself.

If you do decide that a proper fix is worth doing (we all are probably quite biased toward "fix it!"), then you can save yourself a good deal of money by prepping for the job yourself - remove all the seats, carpet, etc. that you can in the affected area so all a shop has to do is cut and weld. New floor pans are pretty reasonably priced and widely available.
If central MA is not too far from you and you are willing to travel a bit - Phil's Auto Frame in Shirley MA is outstanding - I highly recommend Phil for any auto welding needs - the guy's amazing.

gbkd80

Thanks guys.

I got under it again today and took another look. The passenger side and arch (the hump for the transmission?) is all affected so the whole floor does need to be replaced. Drivers side is fine, no problems. Might have to replace the seat bracket piece too.

Co-worker of mine said the reason those rust out so much is because of the catalytic converter not being shielded and burns away the coating on the underside, leaving is susceptible to salt and water etc causing the rust... is that true?

PatHenry

I can't vouch for the "why" (though the theory seems reasonable enough), but it's an extremely common issue with the XJ.

My Dad's 94 had rotten floors, my 95 had rotten floors, a ton of folks have the issue.

If your uni-frame rails are sound and the only severe rust is the floors - it's definitely worth fixing. Bear in mind you may still have the 0331 head issue - so that's a major thing to be aware of too. Though it may have been replaced by now, you will absolutely have to check it directly to know for sure.

BlueRidgeMark

I replaced the entire right rear frame rail on mine, from the bumper almost to the front of the arch. Cut it out of my 94 that's being parted out, and welded it in place. Came out fine.

Then I wrecked it!

cpttuna

I had a pretty good size hole on the passenger floor of my XJ. I cut a piece of 16ga stainless 16X24 inches to fill the hole and mate with good metal. I plug welded to the decent piece of metal that sort of runs down the center of the floor on the passenger floor. I used DupliColor truck bed coating to seal the edges. Good enough for me till I scrap it.