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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
Most everyone has given good advise, the best is try to buy from a individual, you have a better chance of true info as to upkeep, one thing I did not see mentioned or gone into detail about was the drivetrain, one thing with 4x4s you can do is crawl underneath and shake the driveshafts. I had a 91 2WD that was my wifes and was her stepmoms who bought it new it was maintained flawlessly, it has 260K on it, sold it 4.5 yrs ago and still see it on the road to this day. These things run forever as stated above with a little TLC. Take someone with you that is more knowledgeable than yourself on jeeps. Good luck
Looks OK but I wouldn't pay what he's asking. Get the VIN and email Jeep and get a build sheet so you can check to see what's been replaced or upgraded since it was bought new. Check underneath for rust. Also check the cooling system by looking into the overflow bottle and seeing if there's "mud" in there. 96 was a good year, good computers and airbags but that suspension looks tired and will have to be overhauled.
Take it on a test drive at highway speeds and aim for broken pavement to induce death wobble. If it DW's then knock off more from the asking price as it could take some cash to overhaul the front end.
Listen for knocking from th engine. PM me if you want to chat more about it since I'm local.
I am hoping to buy my first jeep pretty soon but I am a little nervous. I have read a lot of this forum and very one ahs been really helpful. I was wondering what you guys thought about this and what I should look for when I go and see it. I want it as a weekender/offroader so it will not be my daily driver.
I am hoping to buy my first jeep pretty soon but I am a little nervous. I have read a lot of this forum and very one ahs been really helpful. I was wondering what you guys thought about this and what I should look for when I go and see it. I want it as a weekender/offroader so it will not be my daily driver.
I bought my jeep with 180k miles. The tires were new, the motor blown and the paint was green (origionally white). I paid 50$ for it and said it was my project car.
After finding a nice engine that only had 70k miles on it and paying to have it swaped, I gave it a deep and thorough clean. In total I found 10 wasp nests, 2 mouce nests and a plunder of rat poop. It was awful but eventually I made it look nice on the inside. I set to work on the outside which took 2 days of preasure washing to get all the algea off, I think I used more Dawn on that jeep than the oil spill up north. Somehow I made her look pretty enough to where I could drive her into town without making people gag as I drove by.
I cleaned the engine bay and found lots of problems. Broken radiator, stuck thermostat, glitchy ecm, and a slough of other headaches. Seeing as this is my first car that I actually owned, I love it but there is still lots of work to be done before its back to life. I call it the Zeep because I am basically resurecting it. It has taught me alot so far and will for a long time to come. I am exited and incredibly anxious on how it will turn out.
