94 Cherokee Build
 

Hey everyone! This is my first Jeep (94 Jeep Cherokee 2.5L 2wd) (and post)so I thought I would make a build thread so if I learn some things maybe some others will too! If you want to skip the background of how I got the jeep/my experience on vehicles and go straight to the build than skip the next paragraph.

So a little about me, I've been working on cars for about 6 years. I started with a 98 Honda civic (5 speed, 1.6L). I did basic mods, exhaust, intake, rims, you know, 18 year old stuff haha. Then I did bigger things like a head gasket and clutch. I then bought an 87 Honda CRX which I tore apart and rebuilt the engine. Learned a ton about engines. I later sold the CRX and picked up an 01 Yamaha R6. I then fell in love with bikes! Well long story short a blew hole in the crankcase and had to get rid of it. A guy offered me a 94 Jeep Cherokee for the bike and I was interested. After a little wheelin and dealin I ended up getting the Jeep (running) and an 82 Datsun 720 (not running). First on the list was to get the Jeep running right and then focus on the Datsun later. This leads us to the build!

I have had this 94 Jeep Cherokee for about a month now so I will update you guys so far. Here are some pictures the day I saw it.Attachment 312370Attachment 312371Attachment 312372

So as you can see it's a little rough around the edges but I think jeeps are suppose to be! Well the first thing I did, the thing my dad has always told me is, "when you get a new car you do everything that's free first." so I cleaned it up, fixed some vacuum lines and pulled out the interior. The interior is always the first thing I start with, I don't know why, it seems easy and you get good results for pretty cheap. A nice thorough vacuum and then pulled everything out. The carpet looked like someone spilled a few quarts of oil on it so I decided to get that cleaned and sprayed it with the carpet paint from an automotive store, I have used it several times and it works pretty well.
After an hour of decreasing, scrubbing, and hosing down.Attachment 312373 First coat down!Attachment 312374
All done, looks almost OEM again for only $8 and some elbow grease!Attachment 312375
Glamour shot!Attachment 312376

After the carpet I decided to clean the floor.Attachment 312377
Yikes!!!Attachment 312378
I sanded down the rust the best I could. Floor is still pretty sturdy so I'm not too worried about it. I don't know if I mentioned, this is a super cheap build so some of the things I do may not be the "proper way" but it works for me right now. Depending how far this goes I may really fix these things but for now, quick and easy!
All sanded and made my own "paint booth" hahaha Attachment 312379
Well... Good enough for now!Attachment 312380
Looking good!Attachment 312381

Cont.

While I was doing the carpet I decided to upgrade the stereo. As much as I loved the stock stereo turning off randomly and cutting out over every bump, it was time to upgrade! Cheaply of course! I found a stereo online for $25 with Bluetooth! Speakers at Wal-Mart for $25 and the wiring harness adapter for $10.
Attachment 312362
Some of the worst wiring I've ever seen, about 10lbs of wires shoved under the dash, seats, carpet... Ughhh
Attachment 312363
Speakers wired up!Attachment 312364
All wired up! Only picture I have, had quality, sorry guys!Attachment 312365

For $60 it's not too bad. Would recommend!

Started putting the plastics back in and cleaning them up.
Before
Attachment 312366
After! Just used some Armorall wipes!Attachment 312367

Used a carpet/interior cleaner on the seats, it helped a bit but these are pretty far gone, seat covers are probably the best option now.Attachment 312368

Attachment 312369
Getting everything put back in, need a new armrest, that one is all messed up. The crown royal shift boot is something I do on all my cars, some people like it, others hate it. Oh well, I think its funny and maybe if Crown Royal sees it the will send me some free bottles :D. Haha

Took a little break from the interior and decided to do something else cheap and fun, Plastidip things! I scrubbed these rims for a while but I couldn't seem to get the rust/dirt look off the lip so thought a little Plastidip might make them look nicer.
Before.. Yes that is all cleaned up :/
Attachment 312357
Awesome taping (I don't have a jack big enough for the Jeep yet, it's on the to do list though!)Attachment 312358
After!
Attachment 312359
Side comparisons
Attachment 312360Attachment 312361
I like it, think it looks a little more aggressive!

Now onto the engine!
Cont.

So when I got the jeep it had 2 major problems. The first one was a rough idle and the second was the power steering was leaking. Power steering and a tune up was first on my list.

Power steering problem.
The kid I got the jeep from said it was leaking. I decided to hunt down the leak first. After careful examination... Not really I just turned the jeep on, popped the hood and had my dad turn the wheel, sure enough the high pressure line was spraying out like a sprinkler. Well after a quick Amazon search and $14 later I got that all installed and no more leaks! The next thing was mounting the reservoir. The kid before me used zip ties which I wasn't too fond of. I mean come on really?Attachment 312351

I'm not sure if that is a stock reservoir or just a universal one but I couldn't find a place for the little plastic tabs to mount, so I cut them off. I also upgraded from zip ties to plumbers tape!Attachment 312352
Not the prettiest but it will get the job done for now until I find a stock reservoir.

Onto the second problem, the Idle.
I will describe the problem. This happens about 50% of the time, when the jeep is cold (hasn't been running) it will start right up, fast idle engages, it warms up, and then idle drops down to normal and it runs great. That is until I do anything, rev it, turn the wheel, or anything else that puts load on the engine, then it will start idling really rough. Like I said that only happens about 50% of the time. The other 50% it idles rough from the start (it always idles rough if the engine is warm when started).
Now the first thing I did was look for any wires or vacuum lines that were disconnected, after finding all those, I sprayed carb cleaner around the engine bay looking for other vacuum leaks. I have sprayed practically every nook and cranny and have not made the Idle change at all. I figured a tune up would help so I got new spark plugs, cap, rotor, and wires. That has not changed the rough idle at all. I'm kind of stuck now, from the research I've done it seems that this problem could be caused by many things. Idle air control valve (i will figure out where that is and clean it),Crank positioning sensor, cam positioning sensor, o2 sensor? Those last three I have read go out a lot and could be causing some wacky things with the engine.

Oh, this could be a problem too. Warning: The images you are about to see may be disturbing!Attachment 312353Attachment 312354Attachment 312355Attachment 312356

Quite a few wires have been chewed, this is disgusting! I have cleaned out the "nests," there is a jeep underneath them everyone!

Any new updates so far?

Unfortunately I sold the Jeep. I took it out hunting and besides one of the Pulleys falling off in the middle of nowhere it did its job pretty well. I would like to get another one in the future.
Jeremy