A while ago I had my brother buy a 1999 Cherokee Sport (4 door, 4.0L, AW4, NP231, 8.25 rear end, 3.55 ratio) for me since he lives near the big city and I reside in a remote area. I planned to pick it up weeks later while on vacation so I had him drop it off at a garage to get a brake job and coolant flush. When I picked it up I took it for a test drive. When I stepped down to WOT smoke started billowing out of the hood. The engine block heater (installed in the forward freeze plug) popped out and luckily I parked in a Fred Meyer lot. I installed a new heater and took for another test drive. SHE DIED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION! I eventually got it back to the parking lot and left it there overnight. I needed to rehydrate (beer) and cool down. I secretly hoped someone would just steal the damn thing! The next morning I barely limped it back to my brother's shop and went to work. I removed and cleaned the throttle body, replaced the IAC and the TPS for good measure.

Turned the key and no crank! Made sure I didn't unplug anything or loosen a ground somewhere. Banged on the starter solenoid. Nothing. Took the battery down to NAPA and it tested bad. Installed the new battery and took it for a test drive. Still died on me! R&R'd new upstream o2 sensor (I've replaced these for various reasons on my previous XJs) and viola! It ran beautiful!

I feel guilty for loosing faith but I am truly lucky that these things happened in town and not in the middle of nowhere. And I bonded with my XJ. To get home, I drove 800 miles towing my 4 wheeler and winter tires. I then had to take 2 boat rides and another 40 mile drive. I had no problems whatsoever! Not even a flat tire! I love my XJ!!!

We've all had our moments with our XJs lol. I remember last summer when my radiator busted, and my head gasket blew, along with my water pump giving and thermostat... I wanted to throw in the towel on it too and sell it. It seemed like everything was just breaking one after the other. Dumb idea, but we've all been there.

Now I can't imagine getting rid of it!! It's been running like a top for over a year!