HI Everyone,
New guy here. My first post.
I was just given a 1989 Cherokee by my cousin. The poor guy has some health issues so I got his XJ. Looks like he may not be able to drive much longer. The Cherokee has a little less than 65,000 on it. Under the hood rest a straight six with an auto behind it.

The reason that I am writing all of you is this, I don't know anything about Cherokees or 4x4s in general. I do plan to search the forum as time permits but is there anything I should know up front? Is the"89 a ticking time bomb? Is it a year to shy away from? What sort of mileage should I expect? Well, you get the idea. Anything you fine folks feel I should know about?

I won't be able to respond to comments from any of you until tomorrow evening but I am looking forward to learning what bits of wisdom I can learn from all of you.

Thanks for allowing a Noob like myself to hang around.

 

You can check out the sticky thread "I just got a new cherokee, now what", though you have the advantage of knowing the Previous Owner, so that's good.
If everything is running/working then you're in good shape. If your cousin was meticulous with maintenance then you're in really good shape.

The real question is what are you looking to do with the Jeep? Is it something you'll drive often (even daily), or just occasionally. Do you want to go offroading and if so how seriously?

Ultimately, it's a 30 year old vehicle. So despite how great and sturdy an XJ is, you're going to have stuff break.

I do have to warn you - if you start driving it you will like it. You will become attached and quite possibly find yourself turning into an amateur Jeep mechanic with an increasingly close relationship with some of the Renix experts on this forum. You have been warned.
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welcome to Cherokee Forum.

You've got yourself one heck of a Jeep.

Go to www.cruiser54.com and complete Tips 1,3,4, and 5 first chance you get.

 

^^^^ that is the truest statement on this entire forum. You have been warned.. Every single one of us has been bitten and there is no known cure. lol.

And certainly welcome to the Jeep family.

 

To add on. Renix is the engine computer style for pre-1991 Jeep's. They are special little beasts, but yo at least answer one question... I am about to hit 200k on what I assume is an original build motor. To be sure, it has needed things. Ball joints, axle u-joints, brakes, etc... The things that just eventually go out. But man, the motor just keeps on ticking (literally ticking, I gotta check my top end... Time for rebuild maybe). A slight warning, with relief after. This "Renix" thing is before modern engine code readers so they won't work. For an engine code reader, and a lot more, check out https://nickintimedesign.wordpress.com .

 

Like this guy vvv

Welcome to Cherokee Forum. With an XJ with that low of mileage, you'll be the envy of a lot of Jeep enthusiasts on here. Low-mileage, good condition stockers are a soft spot for a lot of us.

My first piece of advice would be to do everything Cruiser tells you to do. The man's credentials and knowledge base is insane.

My next piece of advice - share the love! Post up some pictures of your Jeep man. We'd love to see it!

 

To be completely honest cruiser54 was -exactly- who I had in mind.

 

Haha... I figured it was

 

My thanks to everyone that has responded. Like I said, I am a real Noob but, I have learned much since last Monday. I've learned that the interior dome lights are not working and that I have an oil leak at the valve cover.

Also, I have found that the gas mileage sucks, 9.7mpg. Of course, that was only about 70 miles worth of driving.

The biggest thing I have learned is that the heater core has been bypassed and I am losing coolant somewhere and I have no clue how to track that down.

BTW, where in the world is the radiator cap on this? I've looked everywhere I can think of and still can't find it!

Oh yeah, is the Cherokee metric or SAE? Looks like I am buying tools in my near future.

 

Dome lights could be bulbs or fuses - always check the simple stuff first.

Jeeps get Crappy MPG but properly running, you should get around 20 avg. I would ask cruiser54.

There's a tool you can get at your local parts store as a loaner (aka free, you just put a deposit down while you borrow it) for testing coolant pressure. If you put some pressure on the system, you will see coolant spray from the leak - unless it's a head gasket. I'd start with the pressure tool and then go from there.

As far as SAE or metric - my 95 XJ and 00 TJ were -mostly- metric.
I believe everyone (not just Jeep enthusiasts) who owns a car should own a decent set of hand tools with common metric AND SAE.

 

Yes.



On a serious note, this website will become your best friend...

www.cruiser54.com

If you have questions, you can PM him on the forums here as well.... Cruiser54 is his username.

 

Your radiator cap should be right in front of the air filter housing.



If not, trace the hose from the coolant overflow tank - this should lead you to the radiator cap.

 

'87-'90 XJ's came with a closed cooling system so his has no radiator cap.

 

Interesting - so how do you check/fill coolant? It still has an overflow tank, right?

 

Yep. Still has an overflow tank but instead of a std radiator cap it has some sort of pressure cap. From the sounds of it his cooling system is in dire need of repair. He should give serious thought to converting to an open system.