I just got an 89 Cherokee 2dr 4x4. I found it on craigslist for 1200, they said it had a bad transmission that needed replacing. told me that it would go up to 4500 rpm before shifting, so i looked it up on here and found out it was likely just the TPS. taking a risk i got it, changed the sensor for $50 and fixed the transmission problems. It was idling really rough so i took of the air intake, cleaned it out really well with some intake cleaner, fixed that right up. the oil pressure gauge was pegged far right, so i looked around on here and found out that it was a bad connection on the sending unit. The dash lights weren't coming on with the lights. it was only the dimmer that wasnt working. so i replaced the headlight switch and that fixed that problem. cleaned the interior up really well and now driving it everywhere.

There is still a few problems to work out. The belt is squealing pretty much all the time. I thought it was coming from the idler pulley so i replaced that but it didnt fix it, turns out it isn't on the fan pulley correctly. its running really close to the engine block. I read somewhere the shaft on the pulley can sometimes slide out a little. how can i fix that? I know its unaligned because i can spray it with some water and it'll stop squealing.

I noticed the passanger carpet was wet. I took out the seat and rolled up the carpet and found the insulation was soaked. pulled that up and there is not any significant rust in the floor pans. the rust that is there is from the standing water. The a/c doesnt work, so i'm thinking there is a bad seal somewhere.

For some reason you cant roll the window down all the way or it will fall of the track and you have to push it back up while rolling up the window till it catches. It will go all the way down till there is about 1" showing before that happens. not sure what that is.....

For $1000 plus about $80 in parts its turning into a pretty decent jeep. steers well, shifts smooth, 4x4 works, except when you turn to tight it will start clicking, not sure why. Cant wait to start fixing it up some more!

 

that was from a couple of days ago, today searched around for a 36mm socket to finally find one at a n o'Reilly that they loan out. was going to check the wheel bearings but then learned that its the whole hub, i'm used to just popping out the two bearing and re greasing them... but that was after i took the wheel off, tryed to pry the axle in place because the socket was to thick to fit through the tire then learned that you can just put it in 4x4 so i put everything back together drove it to get it 4x4 then started again to find that the bearings are in the hub.

is there a way to re-grease the bearings or some that i can buy new that are re-greasable???

so after wasting an hour or so on that i moved on to changing the diff oils. i got the first one done and it its curing for the night and i'll put in the new oil in the morning and get to the rear this weekend. also gonna do the transfer case this weekend too. the diff gears in the front looked to be in perfect condition, no water in the fluid and no real wear on the gears, looked like it was never put in 4x4. hope the back looks as good as the front. but after looking at the pictures, it looked like there was some water contamination on the spider gears, but it might just be the picture because you couldnt see anything earlier

what oil should i get for the transfer case???


next up is to tear up all the carpet, i'm going to put some bed liner in there to help with vibration and heat and till i can find where the water is coming from, then carpet on top of that. fix some rust on the rocker panel then cut the fenders and roll them over. finnally bed line from about a foot down on the door following the trim line and the fender flares. I also am going to put in a bastard pack in the back because it is sagging a lot, and either coil spacers or coils from something else out at the junk yard. i'm only looking for 2-3 inch gain. any ideas? this is a cheapo build so im looking for jy parts. even with the run around today still havin fun getting out there and gettin things done!

 

lifted the rear end up about 5 inches from where it was, but that is really just about a 2 inch lift. was sagging quite a bit, now just gotta raise up the front a couple inches

 

20 dollar coil spring spacer will lift the front end right up!

 

i just used shackles in the back, but its with the stock leafs, im going to put in a bastard pack for about 2 inches more, so i need to get four in the front now. and break lines and shocks ect. any ideas on combo for front for 4"?

 

I had the same oil pressure sending unit problem. Bought a new sending unit for practically nothing and it works perfectly now. You should try replacing yours.

 

i didnt have to, i just fixed the wire connecting to it and it works fine now. i think it came off when iw as cleaning up the engine. years of grime holding it in place

 

so today i went to get an inspection in columbia, mo. now i'm used to the ones in texas where you pull in a garage, turn on your blinkers brake lights put it in reverse then sound the horn and turn on the wipers and you are good to go. takes about 10 minutes and you dont even have to get out of your car. here they do like a 1000 point check and it takes like 45 minutes... ended up not passing because my brake hose was craked and i needed new wipers and my horn wasnt working. other than that it was good to go. gonna fix everything and get it back up there in a couple days