My $400 Jeep - build thread
Going to copy/paste from intro thread and another forum I post on...
Well, here I am, sitting with a jeep on a trailer I just bought


2001 cherokee with BHG, maybe more, runs very hard and there is a knock somewhere. Has 166k on the clock. Need to get the motor issues sorted out and then looking at lift, tires, remote start, lighitng, and a few other things.
I bleed Ford blue with an '11 screw f150 ecoboost, and an '08 scab f150 with a boosted 5.4.
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I will more than likely be a lurker, using the search functionality of the site more than posting.
Thought I'd say hi!
Well, here I am, sitting with a jeep on a trailer I just bought



2001 cherokee with BHG, maybe more, runs very hard and there is a knock somewhere. Has 166k on the clock. Need to get the motor issues sorted out and then looking at lift, tires, remote start, lighitng, and a few other things.
I bleed Ford blue with an '11 screw f150 ecoboost, and an '08 scab f150 with a boosted 5.4.
. .jpg)
I will more than likely be a lurker, using the search functionality of the site more than posting.
Thought I'd say hi!
Well I left the Laquinta in Oshkosh Wisconsin this am around 7:15 with all hopes of beating the traffic. Snow brings a certain 'specialness" to Wisconsin residents. I've never seen so many people end up in the ditch until we opened the plant in Oshkosh
Today was no different. Cars, trucks, semis, etc in the ditches. One semi ended up spinning around and facing the direction he was coming from. Around Steven's Point/Weyauwega area it was very slick. At 45-50 mph, the slightest bit of gas would cause the *** end to break loose.
From Wasau to Litchfield it was smooth sailing, and very smooth through the twin cities for a change.
After 2 gas stops and 1 food stop, made it home about 2:30pm.

Pit stop in Baldwin, they have an awesome A&W.

Finally on home turf.
Video driving off of trailer, into garage, hood opened, you can hear the knock.

Pic under on driver's side

Pic from rear towards front

More towards center of bottom

Towards rear

Pass side bottom

Pass side rear

Inside. Note ashtray, and smashed snickers car that was under the brake handle. lol.

Shot of back seat area

Hatch area. Spare tire is intact! (And I got an ice scraper)

Doors appear to be rusty.

Rear pass door.

Under hood, everything looks like it wasn't messed with. A+.

Pass side front. No rust.

Rear side, no rust.
The camera makes the rust on the bottom look worse than it is, but, it appears to be a keeper. I need to refill some LP tanks and then going to check the flex plate and start pulling the head.
I need to do some research to see if the 4.0 makes more power with a header or not. If not both intake and exhaust manifold will go to work and get coated with some thermal barrier coatings to reduce under hood and intake temps.
Today was no different. Cars, trucks, semis, etc in the ditches. One semi ended up spinning around and facing the direction he was coming from. Around Steven's Point/Weyauwega area it was very slick. At 45-50 mph, the slightest bit of gas would cause the *** end to break loose.From Wasau to Litchfield it was smooth sailing, and very smooth through the twin cities for a change.
After 2 gas stops and 1 food stop, made it home about 2:30pm.

Pit stop in Baldwin, they have an awesome A&W.

Finally on home turf.
Video driving off of trailer, into garage, hood opened, you can hear the knock.

Pic under on driver's side

Pic from rear towards front

More towards center of bottom

Towards rear

Pass side bottom

Pass side rear

Inside. Note ashtray, and smashed snickers car that was under the brake handle. lol.

Shot of back seat area

Hatch area. Spare tire is intact! (And I got an ice scraper)

Doors appear to be rusty.

Rear pass door.

Under hood, everything looks like it wasn't messed with. A+.

Pass side front. No rust.

Rear side, no rust.
The camera makes the rust on the bottom look worse than it is, but, it appears to be a keeper. I need to refill some LP tanks and then going to check the flex plate and start pulling the head.
I need to do some research to see if the 4.0 makes more power with a header or not. If not both intake and exhaust manifold will go to work and get coated with some thermal barrier coatings to reduce under hood and intake temps.
So today drove it to the car wash to get the salt n **** off of it.

Pic before car wash, ick!

At the car wash

After car wash

Engine is pissed!! Steam and oil vapor crap coming out.

Digging in to pull plugs, this is an interesting contraption. Also, old plastic is brittle plastic.

Some plugs (note front)

More plugs (note front)

More plugs (note front)

Another view, looks like we have some that have been exposed to coolant.

Valve cover off.

Pic before car wash, ick!

At the car wash

After car wash

Engine is pissed!! Steam and oil vapor crap coming out.

Digging in to pull plugs, this is an interesting contraption. Also, old plastic is brittle plastic.

Some plugs (note front)

More plugs (note front)

More plugs (note front)

Another view, looks like we have some that have been exposed to coolant.

Valve cover off.
CF Veteran
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 1,056
Likes: 3
From: Washington, MO
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Sounds like the bearings are shot and the rod is knocking. You probably have a cracked head which lead to antifreeze in the oil taking out the bearings... check my engine and build thread... its the 00-01 curse.
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Searching around it seems I can use a motor from a '99 XJ provided that I:
Have the intake manifold
Have exhaust manifold
Place crank sensor where cap/rotor
Make brackets to hold the coil assembly
This seems fairly easy. I guess if you are talking about swapping motors, none of it should be difficult?
I am thinking at the same time perhaps a different exhaust manifold and cam, but not found anything real definitive that says "you will make more power with them".
I've also have on order:
New H4 conversion lights
H4 bulbs
H4 harness
Once it is running I am going to look more closely for some wheels/tires. Thinking 235/75/15's.
Junior Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 15,016
Likes: 11
From: +34° 25' 35.67", -81° 21' 12.04"
Year: 1993
Engine: 4.0
Yeah, someone on another forum linked me here.
I am going to do a compression test today once the goods get here. I'll check your threads as well. You are prob right on the head and bearings. The top and bottom end both make noise. The PO started it up and went inside. Came back out to the jeep not running, and a huge black cloud of smoke. He had tried a few days later to run it, would not turn over. Tried a few days later, fired up and squealed loudly.
Searching around it seems I can use a motor from a '99 XJ provided that I:
Have the intake manifold
Have exhaust manifold
Place crank sensor where cap/rotor
Make brackets to hold the coil assembly
This seems fairly easy. I guess if you are talking about swapping motors, none of it should be difficult?
I am thinking at the same time perhaps a different exhaust manifold and cam, but not found anything real definitive that says "you will make more power with them".
I've also have on order:
New H4 conversion lights
H4 bulbs
H4 harness
Once it is running I am going to look more closely for some wheels/tires. Thinking 235/75/15's.
I am going to do a compression test today once the goods get here. I'll check your threads as well. You are prob right on the head and bearings. The top and bottom end both make noise. The PO started it up and went inside. Came back out to the jeep not running, and a huge black cloud of smoke. He had tried a few days later to run it, would not turn over. Tried a few days later, fired up and squealed loudly.
Searching around it seems I can use a motor from a '99 XJ provided that I:
Have the intake manifold
Have exhaust manifold
Place crank sensor where cap/rotor
Make brackets to hold the coil assembly
This seems fairly easy. I guess if you are talking about swapping motors, none of it should be difficult?
I am thinking at the same time perhaps a different exhaust manifold and cam, but not found anything real definitive that says "you will make more power with them".
I've also have on order:
New H4 conversion lights
H4 bulbs
H4 harness
Once it is running I am going to look more closely for some wheels/tires. Thinking 235/75/15's.
You might as well go ahead and buy a small lift and some bigger tires. You know you'll want to eventually anyway.
Went out in the garage today for a few hours. Started pulling some stuff to prep for the new motor.


Air box is out.

Taught my helper how to lube hinges today.

Spraying the hinges with PB, then she worked the doors back and forth a bit. Get the crud out!

Unplugging some connectors. Old plastic is brittle plastic.

Another angle.

Up on jack stands, the imitation lift looks good!

Pics after wash on bottom.



A little greasy over there!



Pic of rockers from bottom

Front axle.

Greasy!

Another angle of the front.

We can see some cracked bushings.

Rear axle.

Rear axle tag. I'll need to decode and see what this means.

The worst of the Wisconsin cabbage.

Cleaned up the interior a bit, will be pulling the seats to shampoo in the basement.

Holy smokes! There is a neutral and a 4lo! Did not see that before.

Wiped down the paint and door ding strips with some windex for now, just to get the dirt from them. Compare to front bumper and rear section of strip.


Air box is out.

Taught my helper how to lube hinges today.

Spraying the hinges with PB, then she worked the doors back and forth a bit. Get the crud out!

Unplugging some connectors. Old plastic is brittle plastic.

Another angle.

Up on jack stands, the imitation lift looks good!

Pics after wash on bottom.



A little greasy over there!



Pic of rockers from bottom

Front axle.

Greasy!

Another angle of the front.

We can see some cracked bushings.

Rear axle.

Rear axle tag. I'll need to decode and see what this means.

The worst of the Wisconsin cabbage.

Cleaned up the interior a bit, will be pulling the seats to shampoo in the basement.

Holy smokes! There is a neutral and a 4lo! Did not see that before.

Wiped down the paint and door ding strips with some windex for now, just to get the dirt from them. Compare to front bumper and rear section of strip.
Worked on the jeep some more today. It was pretty cold outside so did not get as far as I wanted. Very cold on the floor, so I decided to pull the seats and work on those in the basement.


We can see they are pretty gross.

I've got some simple green in here I am going to soak the seats down with.

Sprayed down. Let it soak for about an hour.

Came back and sprayed them down some more and scrubbed them.


Still wet, but we can see they are looking a lot better. The water came out looking like frothy hot chocolate. My wife said the basement smells, all I smell is simple green


We can see they are pretty gross.

I've got some simple green in here I am going to soak the seats down with.

Sprayed down. Let it soak for about an hour.

Came back and sprayed them down some more and scrubbed them.


Still wet, but we can see they are looking a lot better. The water came out looking like frothy hot chocolate. My wife said the basement smells, all I smell is simple green
Seats are dry. Huge improvement.


A few spots on the rear seats are not going to come out. I need to clean the plastics and the back of the seats yet and they are done. The carpet has a lot of dog hair in it, so not sure if I am going to even attempt to clean the carpet. If it was summer, I'd bust out the pressure washer and let them sit in the son. However, this morning's temp: -15 °F
Feels Like -31 °F. The F is for **** that!


A few spots on the rear seats are not going to come out. I need to clean the plastics and the back of the seats yet and they are done. The carpet has a lot of dog hair in it, so not sure if I am going to even attempt to clean the carpet. If it was summer, I'd bust out the pressure washer and let them sit in the son. However, this morning's temp: -15 °F
Feels Like -31 °F. The F is for **** that!



