Hey everyone. So I'm new to jeeps and new to XJs.
im 26, married, 2 kids and one on the way.

When I was younger I always thought that a wrangler was the only jeep. Then i saw an XJ and had to have one. The square face. The simplicity. The support and love. Had to get one.

Well I did! Found a guy on CL that said it ran and drove but needed TLC. Got him down to $800 from $950. The engine looked aged, the interior was mostly there, and all the electrics worked!

I was thinking it must be too good to be true.

Ran rough, but ran. Braked roughed, but stopped.
The guy told me it just needs a tune up. I was sold and in love. 98 2wd 4.0 for only $800. Of course tho, it had like 240k on the clock.

DtartedSthe drive home and........ Death.
luckily the guy paid for it to be towed to my preferred mechanic. Thanks man!

Thats where I found out that it was too good to be true. Thinking of the many posts I've read where people found XJs for $500 and they only needed something minor to get it running . Of course iIcouldn't be that lucky.

Mechanic said its something internal and there's low compression on cylinders 1 and 3. Told me to count my losses. But I don't give up that easily! Got it towed home and started cracking into the engine.

Work had obviously been done before and not very well. But the valvetrain seemed to be in great shape! PLUS!!!

Then it got worse. Saw that the casting for my head was a 0630. Should be good right? NOPE! Very visible crack.

So now imI'looking for used engines since most of it is already out. Thats not counting the fact that there's no telling what condition the tranny or anything else really is in.

Oh and the hood is popped up at the corners closest to the cab. Not the whole thing, which would lead me to believe it was spacers, just the corners.

So damn. That $800 surely makes my *** hurt!!! Looking like it'll be closer to $3k after all is said and done.

 

The day I got her

 

This is when you ask "can I do a compression check?" before you make the deal. If they say sure then more than likely it is sound. If they say no then run away from it.

 

Yep... Lesson learned

 

It's poker... Even if you don't really plan on doing the check his answer to this question will tell you a lot about "his" confidence in the soundness of the engine. If he is not threatened at all by the concept then the engine is probably in fair shape. But if he agrees do it! This might completely reset negotiations on the price if it fails and you can get it at a much better price.

It's something I learned after getting in a hurry and having this happen to me too because I trusted a man's word.