I am thinking about getting a ZJ instead of my old XJ. It’s a bit bigger and I like a bit more comport and space in my car. I just can’t decide what engine and year to pick. I am thinking about a 5.2l, but the incurrence is high. So I was hoping to get some input on this.
Is it better to drive a ZJ then a XJ? Has anyone done that? (I bet somebody has)
What engine is the better overall? (road and off-road)
How about MGP or L/Km in my case?
What year should I look for or look out for?
How easy is it to fix stuff on it?
Open for any point of view here… thx

 

i drive a 4.0L zj for my daily driver and my xj is my crawler.

i have had a couple 5.2L zj's. i like the 4.0L better. the 5.2's had more tranny and t-case probs than the 4.0L zj.

my zj is on 31'' tires and i get around 16 mpg, in the city.


for a dd i would say the zj wins.....bigger interior, coils all around for a nice ride, and my xj is becoming not so street legal.

 

As someone who fixes cars for a living... I've been brought 10 broken down zj's for every 1 xj that I've done so much as a tune up on. and most of those were 5.2's

 

I've had an XJ for 9 years, it's gone from daily driver to weekend trail rig back to daily driver. I'm currently working on trading in my wifes 2001 GMC (government motor crap) Yukon, for a 1998 ZJ with a 4.0 . the used car dealer thinks he's getting the better end of the deal... mwaaaahahahahha the sucker!!!

 

XJ. or 4.0L ZJ. or whatever you can find good and cheap

 

The past week I have driven two ZJ and have some more info now. Thanks to your input, and tanks to this awesome forum, I got a lot of info. So here is just a short report on what I found.

The first one I drove was a ’93 5.2L. And the engine in this car is really powerful compared to what I drive now. But there was something wrong I think. It felt like the rpm fell about 20-50rpm every 5-10s. I don’t know if it is normal on the 5.2L. But from what I have read it shouldn’t do that. I later got to know that it had been in a workshop for this problem. But since I still felt it I guess it wasn’t gone. The other thing I would like to get some input in was; the car felt a bit wobbly in the suspension. Is this normal? I read that if I change the shocks with something like an OME-set it would get stiffer.

But this leads me to the other car I drove a few days later. This was a ‘98 4.0L. First off, the facelift model is more what I’m looking for. I don’t know if it has anything to do with that the new model is better or improved other then the looks. But this one had a much better handling and didn’t wobble around as much. Could anyone confirm that for me? But since this one only had a 4.0L it didn’t have the “wow” feeling from the engine like I had in the 5.2L. But what can you expect.
But I did some small tests on it, and found something troubling. I read that if I drive in a 8 and the car kind of jumps a bit, something is wrong with the four wheel drive. Is this right or do all the ZJ doing this?

Now, I’m probably not going to buy any of these two cars, I just wanted to try them out. But I got a first look at it. But I would like to get some more input if my findings are true and if I have to look out for something more when I buy one?
I expect to buy one very soon, I just have to sell my other two cars.

 

I have a 94 5.2l ZJ and have had several XJs...

The 4.0l ZJs are the ones with tranny problems.. the 42RE is the legendary stinkbox...

The All-Wheel Drive T-case(NP 249) in the 5.2l is the one with the viscous couple that fails and locks itself in 4wd.

My ZJ has 207k on it.. never had any problems with it all, other than the normal interior electronics nonsense and now the viscous coupler starting to fail.

That feeling that you had in the steering wheel, is how it feels when the viscous couplers fail and locks you in 4wd.

 

Yeah, about that tranny problem. When I drove the 4.0L, every time it changed gears I could hear a humming sound, like a jet engine in the first few seconds of startup. And then it disappeared due to the road noise in the car. Don’t know if you get what I’m trying to say, but is it that you are talking about a tranny problem?
The other thing is, it was on the 4.0L that I think the viscous couple was failing. But is that possible on this model?

 

Nope the other way around... 4.0ls got the stinky tranny(other than the early 93's with the AW-4) and the 5.2l with the AWD got the crappy T-case. that 42RE will completely fail, leaving you with no gears...The T-case will lock itself into 4wd leaving you able to move, but it wastes ALOT of gas and puts alot of wear on the drivetrain.

 

I would get a '93 ZJ w/the 4.0 and make sure you get it with the AW4. Should be a nice rig. Coils all around are a huge plus on the ZJs.

 

I finally got my ZJ today after a long week with back and forth from the bank and the seller. Things take a bit longer over here in Norway, since everybody still works with pen and paper. (They just don’t know what a PC is )
In the morning it nice and just -8°C, but in the afternoon it snowed, and I got to try it out a bit on the snow. And I have to say, I’m impressed, it just keeps on going…
Looking forward to driving it for the next few years.