Mine looks like a Italian restaurant tablecloth.

 

Yeah, I have the same interior. The black looks the best with that pattern, but the red is pretty nice in my opinion. Maybe the fact I grew up in a house with burnt orange walls and brown **** explains why I like it.

 

You're a kid of the 70's too? We had green or brown **** depending on the house.

 

I'm getting an 86 Laredo 2.8L V6 AT this weekend from my uncle. Didn't realize some of the issues with them till I found this forum, but I'll make it work. Don't have any pictures yet, but will post them when I get it. Has the lovely tan interior that will HAVE to go at some point. haha

Question though, is there a thread with common issues listed for these, or will I just need to weed through the search results to try and track them all down?

I don't mind weeding through the search results, but if there is a thread with a lot of the common problems already listed that would save some time.

Thanks, and there are some nice looking XJ's around here =).

 

Born in '77. Gotta love the color schemes going on back in the day.

I dunno about common issues, but with my 2.8L the only real issue I had was with the 2SE carb. I replaced it with a rebuilt one I found for $30 from a guy selling off inventory from a closed dealership. Been running pretty good since, but have had to zip tie the choke open since it kept falling closed when driving. I've overheated the motor once when I lost a heater hose on the highway. Never had a problem with it after the fact. One of the biggest issues you'll find is if you plan to lift your rig. 84-86 has a GKN style driveshaft that does NOT like operating at any angle. I used the front yoke off a NP231 case and a shortened Explorer driveshaft on mine, but you can use the front ds out of a 4cyl 5spd (using the 231 yoke) or get a custom shaft made. If you plan on wheeling, I'd ditch the D35 and find a 29 spline 8.25 to install.

Other than that, people dislike the CAD D30. I had an issue with mine and ended up using a CAD off a newer XJ. Jeep did a few revisions on them over the years and the later ones are better than what came factory on ours. You can also use one off a Dakota, which is basically a HD version vs. any available on an XJ. Guys might rib you on having the 2.8L, but I wheel mine with no problems. Plus, you can rib the 4.0 guys back since Chevy was at least smart enough to put the alternator on top of the motor. I always find it funny when I can blast through the sippy holes and the 4.0L guys are dodging them like the plague to save their precious alt.

 

Let's see some more!!!

 

Hi Gang. New to the forum, so I thought I would start off with a bang. Here is my 1986 Laredo. 97K miles, 2.8 V6, loaded to the hilt. Usually runs pretty good, but it ain't starting now. Oh well, I will get it running. Really super clean for such an old jeep.

Dan

 

Nice looking '86!

 

Sorry folks, Dang nabit, I had already moved up to one of them new fangled models. 1991

 

Thanks. Finally nice running again too. Everything fell apart at once. Starter, transmission lines, icm, rotor, cap and fuel filter all conspired to cease its driving activities. All replaced, and now the mighty 2.8 is roaring down the road again! I think all the stuff I replaced was the factory bits too.

Dan

 

Picked up this '86 for parts today. The p.o. put the '84 grille on.

 

my first XJ was an 84 (or 85, cant remember) 2 door with the 2.8 and 5 speed. I wish I had never got rid of it, but I had nowhere to store it so it got stripped and scrapped. I still have the 4.10's that came out of the front end and plan to use them in my build eventually.

I personally am a fan of the GM 60 degree v6 engines. I had intentions of putting a 3.4 in mine when the 2.8 gave up, but I couldnt get it to do so. I turned it well over 6000 rpms for a loonnggg time in a mudhole. Overheated it, locked up... got it out of the hole, broke motor loose by pop starting it, and it STILL ran like a top...

 

I love my Cherokee! It is my first (and only) car, daily driver, traveler, and camp mobile since I turned 16. Before that, it was my parents first brand-new car, purchased off the lot in 1986 before the birth of my older sister. A hand-me-down, heirloom, in my opinion a real "classic!" (And a real PITA ) I do what I have to (and am capable of) to keep this puppy on the road. This forum is a great resource to sift through for guidance when I need to do some work on the ol' "white lightning".

Some interesting facts:
-Original motor replaced around 90k miles (now ~234k), second engine seems "strong." (I know... the 2.8L... sometimes you just take what is given!)
-Number of times stolen and recovered: 2 !! I guess the car loves me as much as I love it. Sadly I lost the original spare tire carrier (and a bunch of collecting and camping equipment) in the first theft, but managed to find a [lesser] replacement. I recently made a pedal lock to prevent future theft)
-Pretty much every critical component (water pump, clutch master and slave cylinder, radiator, fan, alternator, transmission etc.) has been replaced at least once. Most of this work was done by my pops for the first couple of decades, and I learned a lot from him as a kid and (generally) do the work myself now.

I've got some things in mind to do with the car, and will certainly be using this forum a lot to get informed. Glad there seem to be several folks on here that still run the 2.8L engines... I know I will have questions. (Eliminate A/C system? Simplifying/eliminating vacuum lines?) I basically want to have this thing simplified to the max so it's even easier to work on than it is now.

 

Mine's an '86 Laredo. Haven't even wheeled it yet, just having fun building (2.8L wouldn't last long, so until I get the engine swapped she won't be out). Bunch of upgrades already and counting.

Original:


As she sits now:

 

84' Pioneer