1976gmc20

That doesn't sound like "zero concern" to me.


I don't listen to the news, but I do read the sad stories over on the OEM Cherokee Tech forum.


I would be particularly suspect of any 2000-2001 for sale. There's a more than insignificant chance that the seller know the head is already cracked and there is bearing damage and they are trying to unload it.


I may end up with my own sad story of some flavor, but I passed on the 00-01s.

El_Guapo

Actually it is - I do that with everything. When you work with machinery that runs into multiple millions of dollars for a day of downtime, you start paying attention to RCM/ reliability centered maintenance.

If you look at the odds of a failure based on the sheer number of these engines vs the number of internet based "it happened to me" stories, then the odds of a failure are remote enough that a lot of bookies wouldn't carry it.

At the end of the day, it is a simple replacement. Nowhere near a big enough deal to turn away from an otherwise perfectly serviceable rig.

HS00XJ

[ The only real negative I see is the "Black Ice" air freshener - the automotive equivalent of Axe Body Spray.[/QUOTE]
good one

Fred/N0AZZ

This one has some nice options as well as a new engine, making it a better buy IMHO compared to the $4900 ask on the 00 one. It deserves a closer look underneath first but it has at least $3-4K of adds on it to start with from just I can see, only question would be damage under it or rust there.


That 99 has not saw a lot of hard trail use for sure that's easy to see from the body its been more of a "Mall Cruiser". I'm sure he would deal some on it also off the price and would be on the top of my list and not second.


Its all in the details and final inspection tells the tale but the 99 is a better buy if it all checks out.

Fred/N0AZZ

You sure as hell never worked with race cars or 4x4's a lot of things need to be replaced/repaired on both before you ever hit the track or the trail...........That is if you don't want things to break and leave you stranded on a trail or broke at the starting line.

El_Guapo

I've only worked with 4x4's since I got my first flattie (47 CJ2A) back in 1989 at the age of 15. Never have gone a day without a Jeep of some form around ever since. Ran a Class 3 Blazer and an El Cheapo 5-1600 Baja bug back in the day. Oddly, I don't recall having ever been stranded on the trail or during a race. The Blazer did destroy a slip yoke once and had to limp in on the front end, but no stranding.

Sorry I've got a different point of view, but I do. Maybe it is because I was raised old school and believe that it's more fun to drive my stuff than spend every weekend under the hood just because.

Fred/N0AZZ

Glad that worked out so well for you, I have saw a lot like that since 1964 when I started Drag Racing.

El_Guapo

Never did much with drag racing - respect it, but growing up in the middle of nowhere the opportunity just wasn't there. Beeline was gone by the time I was a year or two old and Firebird was too much of a drive to stir much interest.

Don't get me wrong, we did some street racing, but my ride throughout the teenage years was rocking a 60hp engine and 5.38 gears - not much for speed.

The whole point I had was don't start assuming that someone doesn't know anything because they disagree with conventional wisdom. If I listened to the internet, I'd be walking to work on a daily basis. According to the internet, the SR4 trans in my CJ7 is a ticking time bomb that is just waiting to explode - never mind that it is 35 years old and on its second engine. I did change the bearings in it a couple of years ago after it got filled with water, but no catastrophic failure. I also took the time to set up the indicators and check it for the case warp that they all allegedly have, but didn't even find .001" of runout. The AMC 20 rear on the 7 is junk and just waiting to break.....but I've never broken one. Even with Detroits in them. The XJ's head is just waiting to leave me stranded - it's done just fine going to Houston and back 2 summers in a row, so mine must be defective. An entire series of CJ5's never rolled over in spite of what ABC news told me.

Get my point? This is stuff that lives in the dirt, but it fails to produce the results that "everyone" says are common knowledge. Either I'm so lucky that I should win the Powerball every week, or these "defects" are just a tiny bit overhyped.