Ruppmeister

Hey everyone! I LOVE coming to this site to check out all the cool builds everyone has! Been lurking around for the past two months trying to make a decision on what year and with what options Cherokee to buy. I was mostly convinced that I wanted to buy a 99' until I came across a deal that I may go for.

What do you all think about a 2001 with a blown motor (I think its the typical overheating I have been reading on here) for about $800? It looks to be really clean and well taken care of. Guy tells me that it was unexpected to have the motor go out on it.

Also, if this sounds reasonable for a purchase price, what recommendations would you make for a new motor (it sounds like its going to need it at this point). I am willing to put in a new motor, just not sure what options I have to prevent this from happening to the new motor as well.

Thanks for all the help!

-Ruppmeister

LazyEyedPsycho

What's blown in the motor? Cracked cylinder head, block, what?

$800 is hard to beat if everything else on it is good. If you have no problems swapping in a new motor I say go for it!

TommyN

If you are a do it yourselfer and the truck is in good condition I think this is a good price. Reman motors are around $1500 /$1000 for a used motor with good miles.

odgreen

get it and stroke the new engine!

142XJ

Is it 4X4? How many miles were on it? I personally wouldn't go for it unless it were in unbelievably good condition aside from the engine and you already had another engine to swap in. The 00-01's have low pinion D30's which kind of suck (assuming its 4X4 and you want to wheel it) You can find a pretty nice and good running '91-'96 for $1,200-$2,500 with reasonably low miles. I just sold my '93 for $800 and there was nothing wrong with it aside from high miles. 200K.

I'd keep looking.

Ruppmeister

Thanks for the quick responses everyone! Sounds like the $800 is a reasonable price for the thing even if it needs a new motor.

I really don't know, nor does the current owner know, to what extent the motor is damaged. He just told me that it overheated one day, stopped running, he took it to the shop where they told him it is not a cracked head but the bearings(?) and other stuff is done for. He doesn't want to put the money to fix it himself so he is selling it.

If there is anyone with a recommendation for where might be a good place to get the swap done (I'm not capable of doing the work myself) I would love to know (I live in Denver). I was thinking of going to Pep Boys because they are the only place I know does this type work other than the dealer which is not going to happen.

Again, thanks for all the help on this one.

Ruppmeister

It is 4x4 and I am looking to wheel it pretty hard really. The body and other parts have 194k miles on them. It is not the DD so all is game so long as the wife is cool with it. Also, I live in Denver, and unfortunately, Cherokees go for quite a bit more than the KBB price. Around $2000 is normal price around here for a 93' with just over 200k on it. I would love to pick up a fully working one for $800, thats just not feasible in my area as far as I can tell.

xj TROLL

i'd say its a no-brainer especially if body is pretty decent.

TommyN

Be sure you agree to a new install or rebuild in writing with a solid estimate. I know someone who did a phone approval of a $1000 head job and after the job was done it was nearly $2500. They just threw a bunch of parts to correct the overheating without approval.

tjwalker

$800 is a pretty good price.

Do your homework though before turning the key and find another engine that you can swap in.

Take the price of that engine, a couple of quotes for an install, add it all together and see if the price still sounds good.

Boy, I would try to find a shop other than Pep Boys to do this work if I were you. There has to be more options. A smaller independent shop somewhere..........

Also know that the 00-01 have the "infamous" 0331 head, which is prone to cracking. Which is what happened to this original motor.

So when you put a different engine in, you do NOT want a 00-02 0331 head on there! Otherwise, you run the risk of having the same thing happen to you as happened to the original owner. 03 and newer 0331 heads were manufactured by a different foundry (TUPY in Brazil) and are okay, but 00-02 0331 heads are suspect. Be sure you don't have one of these on before the engine is installed!

Ruppmeister

Thanks everyone, again, for the input. Turns out that I just about made the deal when I noticed that one of the rear doors was a little out of alignment. I looked a little further and found other things that just did not sit right to me. I asked the guy if it had been in an accident and he told me that it was minor. I then asked him if there was a clean title in which he responded with a "no". Come to find out that it was bad enough to have a salvage title. At this point I am running as fast as I can from that thing.

I don't think I would have paid $1000 for it if the engine were working, let alone one that I would have to do a complete engine swap on.

Again, thanks for all the help as my search continues...

xjrev10

A salvage title would not scare me if it was going to be wheeler.. Who cares? Even if I was going to dd it why would it matter of the door was tweaked?

trebor46

If you could do the engine swap yourself its a great deal but if your going to pay a shop to do it you could just buy a running one