So I just bought an 89 Cherokee Pioneer for $900, with only 150k miles, and I LOVE this thing, but being the first time owning an American-built vehicle, I do have some questions...

Is the fuel economy usually that horrendous on Cherokees (15 city, 20-22 hwy)???

My cluster is without a tach, can I go to a pick-n-pull yard and swap it with a tach cluster without problems???

Is there any maintenance issues with this year/engine??? (4.0L)

 

Congrats and welcome!

Your best bet would be to get a cheap aftermarket tach. I got a Sunpro (I think) for something like $20 and it came with instal instructions.

Yes, your getting typical gas mileage. But maybe get a fresh air filter, oil change, plugs/wires and cap and rotor. Can't hurt.

You've got a Renix Jeep, same as mine. Not really any different stuff to worry about.

 

Congrats on the find and welcome to the forum.
I wave a 93 cherokee lifted 3inches and my mileage
is 13 city and 16-20 hwy so I think your mileage is
pretty normal.

Shane from W.A.

 

congrats on the XJ purchase. $900 is not bad considering it only has 150k

 

Congrats! love the stock look! keep it on the ground if you like mileage tho lol. and keep up on oil changes to keep that motor strong. Great find!

 

Thanks y'all

My plans for now (besides a badly needed tune up tomorrow) are:
Yakima roof rack and basket
fog lamps (for this ridiculous nor-cal fog)
suspension lift
new tires...
aftermarket exhaust (might as well since I have to replace the stock exhaust)

Any recommendations on the lift, tires and exhaust???

 

Congrats, I just picked up a 1990 xj pioneer 4x4 with 134k for $1100. I'm having a blast fixing mine up. It's completely stock with no rust. It's going to be my camping Jeep. Have fun!

 

Horrendous? That's actually pretty good for a Cherokee I think you can just swap out the whole instrument cluster and get the additional gauges (I assume you just have to one with the "dummy lights" and no temp gauge, volt meter, etc?) But you may need to replace the coolant temp and oil pressure sending units for 2 of the gauges to read right. Welcome to the forum!

 

Considering my last vehicle was a vw passat (RIP) im not used to the MPG of an SUV...lol

 

Yup that's the milage. Somehow just the fun of driving the Cherokee makes it ok.
486000 km on my 4.0L, goin every day. Keep it in good ignition parts, regular oil and filter changes. Maintainin the rest of the XJ will keep you active and your mind off the engine.

 

I have a temp gauge, voltmeter, oil pressure, speedo....the fuel gauge is where I assume the tach is supposed to be, and the spot where the small fuel gauge should be just has a low fuel dummy light....

Why would I have to replace the sending units? shouldnt it plug right in?

 

Niiiccee!!!! what have you done with it so far?

 

Since you have gages, there is no need to replace sending units. If you have dummy lights which have a sending unit with a digital (on/off) output, you would need sending units with a variable output signal.