Hello,

I just (finally) purchased a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport Limited with 135k. It's been pretty well maintained. Unfortunately it has to sit for a month before it (and I) get the privilege of taking it out. However, I was going to use this time to do some basic maintenance on it. This will be my first love of Jeeps so I was hoping some of you guys could point me in the right direction as to what to replace or look out for. I know a few things that are going to be done to it. That will be replacing the resistor (the A/C won't blow except on high), flushing out the heater core, replacing the oil pan, replacing battery (all corroded, not going to survive a CO winter), and random hoses and little things like that. It is originally from California, so lots of rust, and will reside in Colorado now.

Anything else I should be adding to my list??


There is the typical leak spot in the door frame of the front passenger side. Mostly cosmetic since shouldn't be leaking into the interior but any ways to halt this before turns into a rust hole?

 

I have a 2001 with 83,000 miles on it I got back from my 21 year old son. I am working on the oil leaks. Fixed the valve cover leak with new Felpro rubber gasket. I got the o rings today for the oil filter housing leak. I have drained and flushed the cooling system and am running cleaner in it. I have new coolant hoses, thermostat, temperature sending unit, thermostat housing, radiator cap, and a power kool water pump. I will be installing these parts this weekend. After that I will be changing these fluids: brake, transmission, T-case, and both differentials. That should make it a very reliable vehicle for a while. It is a daily driver and I don't off road it. I am also looking at replacing the injectors with the 784's from a Dodge Neon to improve gas mileage.

If you don't know about Rockauto.com you should check them out. Parts are way cheaper if you have the time to wait a few days for them.

Forgot to mention already did the plugs, oil-filter, and air filter.

 

Filters and fluids. All of them that you can get your hands on. And I've seen too many horror stories about the 0331 head that your 2000 has. If it were me, and this is just my opinion, I would replace every component of the cooling system unless it looked sparkly brand new. Especially with summer right around the corner.

 

Do you know why it was sitting. hopefully not because of a over heating problem. The 2000 & 2001 have crappy 0331 head and tend to crack if over heated. I would completely go through the entire cooling system. When changing the motor oil make sure that there is no coolant in it.

 

Wow, that's definitely a nice to do list. But rather be thorough than lazy and cheap. Hope to keep this thing around for a while! I'll have to check out the Rockauto.com, thank you. The warning on the 0331 head is definitely heard! So far there is no obvious issues aside from the ones I listed. I drove it around for a few hours today at least and had no issues with it, even when having to go painfully slow on the highway due to rubberneckers. I watched to temperature gauge very closely then.

It had been sitting for approximately a month before since the previous owner bought it for his daughter and she (stupidly) didn't want the Jeep. Before then it sounds like it was driven pretty regularly. There is a lot of rust going on within the engine bay that I'm worried about, probably from being in California for most of its life I assume.

Another thing I forgot on my to do list is the ball joints too.

 

Once you get her back into shape you will be very happy with it. I'm on my 4th XJ and have enjoyed each one of them. One other thing, Don't be overly concerned about the head unless you have an overheating problem. I have seen many with the 0331 head last for a very long time as long as the cooling system is well maintained. That is the biggest problem with the XJ's. The cooling systems are not the greatest in the world. Have fun with your purchase and welcome to the world of Jeeps.