black-knight98xj

So, long story short, the last time I was around here (about a month or two ago) I had a '91 Cherokee Laredo. As I began the tear down process I discovered that it was really too rusty to use as anything more than a trail toy. So, I threw it up for sale and took the first cash offer that came my way. From there came a long line of missed purchases and dead-end leads on another XJ to replace it with. Finally, one day a friend of mine gave me a lead on a decent-sounding XJ that was one county over from me that seemed promising, so I checked it out and bought it the next day.





It's a 2000 Cherokee Sport in Desert Sand Pearlcoat with 280,000 miles on the clock and the NP242 Selec-Trac full-time four-wheel drive transfer case. The mileage is high, sure, but this Jeep is solid all the way around with no rust (aside from one small spot on the roof and some on the cheaper aftermarket tow hitch) or massive leaks. The interior is still in reasonable shape and it doesn't squeak or rattle over bumps, potholes, and gravel roads (and it was driven on a gravel road regularly for the last 5 years of its life). In fact, this Jeep is in such good shape for its age, I still have all of the books, most of the receipts, and the warranty cards for all of the aftermarket stuff.

That said, it does have a few typical quirks such as a wacked-out master power window and door lock switch, one bad bumper end cap, a saggy headliner, and it isn't totally immune to the heat soak issues that seem to plague last-run models like mine, but it drives good and hasn't let me down yet after driving it a total of 120 miles over the last few days since I bought it. This is all also on what I suspect might be the original 0331 head. All things considered, it's a solid and reasonably maintained starting point.

I spent some time before and after work doing small clean-up projects on the XJ and this is how she sits at the moment:



Aside from working on the exterior, I've replaced the oil with high-mileage Mobil and cleaned the injectors until I can replace them with a new reman'd set when I have a comprehensive tune-up and cooling system overhaul done before fall arrives. Then, it's on to the wheels, tires, and lift, then an interior overhaul, and doing further small to medium projects on the exterior.

Black89

Nice start. If you don't mind what did it set you back?

Black89

XJwonders

Nice find. I like the color!

black-knight98xj

Thank ya, sir! The color is one small reason why I like my Jeep so well. You rarely see Desert Sand XJs running around.

Thanks! I paid $1,500 for it. At first, I thought the price was kind of steep considering the mileage, but the more I realized it was well taken care of, the less it bothered me.

The CEL did come on last night and it was running rough, so I swung by O'Reilly's and had the codes pulled. It was a cylinder three misfire code. So, since I figured that I needed new spark plugs anyway, I decided to buy a set and immediately change the number three plug ASAP. Long story short, changing the plug solved the problem and I discovered that I have crappy Bosch Platinum 2 spark plugs in my Jeep (likely the cause of the problem in the first place).

black-knight98xj

Well, the damn cylinder three misfire code reared its ugly head again last night, along with a code for an open circuit on fuel injector three. The heat shield around the injectors is trashed, so I'm not sure if this is a heat soak issue, a fuel injector issue, or possibly a coil pack issue. It's gotta be one out of the three, though.

However, if it is a heat soak issue, I don't think it would explain why changing the number three plug helped it out for three days. I'm almost betting money on a bad injector here.

I bought a few odds and ends today. This stuff is mostly restore and repair items, so yeah, this thread is going to be slow and boring at first. The good stuff should be coming down the pipeline over the next few months.

black-knight98xj

Well, a new fuel injector solved the problem mentioned earlier. I think I'm going to swap in a set of Neon injectors around the same time I clean out the throttle body assembly and the IAC and TPS, change the gasket, and fit a spacer, but that's after I finish catching the Jeep up on some basic stuff.

Now I have a bucking/stalling issue I need to sort out.

black-knight98xj

Fixed the bucking/stalling issue. A faulty crankshaft positioning sensor was to blame. I knew these things were typically junk before I bought this XJ, but the first new one that O'Reilly's sold me was defective out of the box. The one on there now is a Borg-Warner (BWD).

After that, I ran a can of Seafoam through the Jeep (160 MLs in the gas tank, crankcase, and throttle body each) and cleaned everything out. Surprisingly, I didn't have a half-hour smoke show like I initially expected. After about five to seven minutes, the exhaust was clear again with the exception of some water and tiny flecks of carbon.

Now, it's time to get down to business. Finally.


Build Sheet: 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport "Desert Storm"

Body:

• Color: stock Desert Sand Pearlcoat paint with Gunmetal Blue-Gray accents for badges (a la Cherokee Classic), grille, hood vents, headlight bezels, roof gutters, fender flares, and rear license plate accent*
• Bushwacker flat flares
• SPECD Composite front headlamps with LED DRLs, clear marker lights
• LED Taillights
• Orvis rear liftgate spoiler*
• Safari roof basket with spare tire mount and front and rear trail lights
• Rocker panel rock sliders
• Upgraded front and rear bumpers

Suspension and Tires:

• Rusty's Off-Road complete 3" inch lift kit
• Jeep Wrangler Rubicon "Moab" rims painted Gunmetal Blue-Gray with Desert Sand accents
• 31" all-terrain tires
• Shocks (Fox Racing Shocks) and swaybars will be upgraded in later build phases
• Durango steering box (other options will be investigated)

Interior:

• Color: Camel with black accents
• Headliner upgraded with modern woven material
• Front seats upgraded to late-model Civic Si buckets (or similar seats with heavy bolstering), rear seats upgraded with headrests, new upholstery all around
• ZJ, KJ, or XK Steering Wheel swap and upgrade
• New carpet, vinyl cargo area
• Molded floor mats
• Dynamat in doors, roof, and floors
• Overhead console with display delete
• Wrangler gauge cluster swap with chrome trim
• HVAC **** upgrade ('01 Dakota?)
• Alpine headunit (CD player undecided) with upgraded speakers
• CB Radio, Mag-Lite mount, First Aid Kit

Powertrain:

• Upgraded and rebuilt 4.0L using some stroker parts and slightly higher compression; throttle body, headers and exhaust, fans, and fuel injectors will all be upgraded
• Refreshed AW4 and NP242

*Roof and spoiler may be painted Gunmetal Blue-Gray. Undecided.

rmoore1031

I like how you think about the value of XJs. My inlaws' XJ seems to have a similar problem with codes/idling. So I'll recommend the CPS for them, didn't think of that before.

black-knight98xj

Seriously, the cheapest sub-200,000 mile XJ on my local Craigslist right now is $1,300 bucks or so (give or take some change) and it has some pretty ugly front end damage and drive ability issues. There's also another XJ on my local AutoTrader listings that has 250,000 miles and carries a $5,500 dollar price tag. Jalopnik featured another Desert Sand '99 Cherokee that had only 90,000 miles, a 3 to 4 inch lift, and a supercharger and 51 percent of the readers said they would pay the $12,500 asking price (granted, that's a Jalopnik poll, but still). Prices are all over the board, but they are rising from what I've seen and demand isn't sinking. XJs are already becoming fairly sought after.

See if the CPS is the culprit. I know that the faulty Master Pro CPS I initially put on my Jeep made it idle like crap. It would sort of lope at idle with the revs going up to 700 to 800 RPM from 400 RPM. It also set off the CEL with a "Loss of Camshaft Crank" code. The BWD that's on now took care of all of that and it no longer quits driving down the highway (that was the original CPS causing the stalling issue and, oddly, not the Master Pro CPS).

Speaking of Master Pro, don't buy anything from them. This is O'Reilly's cheap-o brand of sensors and they're trash. I wish I had looked into the luck other people had with Master Pro stuff on these forums first before I bought the stupid thing. Stick with the Borg-Warner (BWD) or a Mopar-branded part.