Sorry to hear your troubles, my sympathies are with you Jim.
Always sad to hear of another '86 packing it in.
My 2.8 went about 6yrs ago when I was 1000 miles from home.
Had no choice but to drop in a rebuilt for $3000 & an extra week on the vacation by the time it was done.
If you need a place to store it for a while...I got lots of room

R.

 

In reply to:

It doesn't make any sense to fix it

How's the rest of it functioning? Any other signs of problems? Tranny still shift good, etc? The $2k or so for a reman engine + install seems *cheap* compared to getting some other used vehicle (along with the problems it has that made it's owner want to sell it in the first place) and there's no doubt it's cheaper than getting something new...

Just my opinion, I tend to prefer to fix what I've got then to buy something else and fix all the issues I inherit with it...

 

My condolences on your loss. How many miles? My $0.02. If its just the head gasket and no other peripherial damage, I'd fix it, or at least keep it for parts for my next XJ, you'd be suprised how much is a direct swap

88 XJ Allllmost 1/4 million miles and counting Daily Driver
86 MJ 186K miles working on it
79 CJ7 Deceased

 

A fuel-injected 3.4L from a Camaro would be cool

 

Well whatever you decide to do you are always welcome here!

 

Copy that.

Oh, Jim! How I feel for you. When the 2.5 made that extra noise and that oil idiot light actually lit up, I had that same sinking feeling I'm sure you felt. After spinning the main, the MJ kept limping an extra 45 miles to get me home. Loyal to the end is right! But I rebuilt her and she's happy again. I hope that whatever you do to ye olde '86, you are happy with the result. Poor, poor 2.8.

Good luck if we don't hear from you.

 

Actually, the engine coughing up its head gasket has made the decision to retire it easier. As you may have known, I've been debating this issue for about 2 or 3 years now.

If my Cherokee's purpose was just for offroad fun/hobby kind of thing, then I would be more inclined to just repair the engine and keep going. However, it still functions as the family's second vehicle. On top of that, I'm active in Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting and I need not only a reliable (which the XJ certainly has been) but one that is in the best all around shape possible. The Jeep is, afterall, 16 years old, and several of the safety things are in need of replacement. The brake system was completely redone in 1997 is still in good shape. However, the seats, safety belt restraints and the suspension systems are original and are in need of complete overhaul. The Jeep was stolen in 1996 and some of the damage done has not been repaired; we didn't have the money at the time. Since the head gasket went, I been adding up all the work the Jeep needs and the money spent on repairs would be better spent on a newer XJ or other Jeep; although a SWB (YJ or TJ) is probably too small for our needs.

All that being true, it is still very difficult to retire the Cherokee. We are its first (and will be the only) owners. This XJ has worked its magic on me and now I'm not only an off roader, but a Jeeper. I wasn't either when we bought it. Like I said, I have no regrets.

By the way, I plan on continuing to be a regular member of this Forum, I've been here since 1998 and you people are the best! I'm keeping my xjy173 screen name and the 1986 part of the sig. in tribute to my old XJ.

Jim

 

Sorry to hear she finally died. I guess putting in the 3.4 is an option but she had a great life it sounds like and maybe it is time to treat you and your family to an updated XJ!!!!!! Sorry to hear another V6 is dead... But will continue to hold down the FORT for the Ol' 86 MJ'S And XJ's...Hope you like your new XJ when you get it.... sounds like it will be soon.

 

Well It's a sad day to see the 2.8L say farewell. I'm sure we'll see the next rig you get, and try to find a 4.0L =)

have fun,

Todd

 

I strongly urge you to look into a Grand Wagoneer. They quit making them in 1991 ('92 model year). Their only downside (and the reason they were axed in the end) is poor gas mileage. However, there are members of the International Full-Size Jeep Association (IFSJA) that claim to get 15 mpg from their 360-powered trucks with little more than a well-tuned ignition and carberator. Almost everyone with the fuel-injection conversion that I have talked to claims to get 15 mpg as well.

They have more cargo and seating room than the XJ, every part of the drivetrain is stronger, 31" tires fit with a little rubbing at stock-height, and they can fit 36" tires by re-arranging the suspension components (and the drivetrain can handle 36" tires!)

Just something else to consider while you're looking for a new truck.

 

Man, that sucks Jim. To bad you don't live in my neck of the woods. There are 2.8's all over the place. Just waiting to fill the void of your currently deceased mill. Glad to see your gonna keep on Jeepin though. If your going to donate it to a charity, all of my familys vehicles have gone to the Americal lung assn. At least you get a tax write off out of the deal.

 

I'm with Sycho, that's my next rig. $400 and your on 36's with none of this coil front suspension SHAT! and more stout that a wrangler. Bigger engine than a Checy truck, and Dana 44's front and rear. Not to mention it's a Jeep. And in my opinion th emost overlooked one made. That is DEFINATLY next for me.

Todd

 

The best thing you can do to a Full-size Jeep is to get rid of all the vacume crap that you can, get rid of the crappycarb and put on something a lil easyer to work on, as for fitting tires and gears, well as said befor they come with D44s and if you find one that doesnt have the D44 then its not stock, they are, to me, the srongest and MOST over looked Jeep ever made, they are not that much bigger then the XJ's and have Leffs springs all around...For all that and much, much more is why I'm putting my '38 Plymouth Truck body on a '84FS G-Waggy Jeep frame and drive train, I will runn 33 MTs of some kind, prolly Wild Countrys ROVT(mud) tires and a bunch of coustom and AJ stuff....OH AJ we need to talk about a few things...E-mail me off here, I cant send E-mails right now, dont know why, prolly just AOL being AOL...andy

 

Sorry to hear that man. If I get laid off from work I may have to sell 2 of my XJ's and my Mustang and that will be a sad time, Good luck finding another or fixing that one we arent going anywhere so keep us posted. SCRAm

 

Thanks for your kind words, Guys!

SCRam, I'm glad to see you got your computer troubles behind you and you're back on here.........

Now for a little update.....I did some exploratoy surgery on the 2.8; it has, indeed, a blown head gasket. The cooling sytem pressurizes to the point where the water pump cannot overcome the pressure coming thru the blown gasket, causing it to overheat very quickly, the thermostat couldn't open against the pressure. What I did was I knocked the thermostat out of its holder; relieving the pressure in the engine and allowing the compression pressure to relieve itself thru the recovery bottle. The Jeep can now run much longer and can be used in a very limited way. The trouble is that the pressure also pushes coolant into the bottle. Eventually, the bottle overflows but the water pump is now at least able to cool the engine so I'm able to drive the Cherokee around town. Also, there seems to be no coolant leeching into the engine oil, so the bearings won't get ruined. Yes, that is good news but we are still going to retire it in the next few weeks.

We've looked at all types of wagon bodied Jeeps in the last couple of days; haven't test driven any or spoke to the dealers or owners yet, though. One used car dealer actually had some XJs on his lot that looked in much worse condition than ours; that's one we won't be talking to. There are about 3 nice clean 1994-95 5.2 V-8 ZJs for sale within 3 blocks of my house but they all have the NV 249 Quadra Trac t'case. You might recall Fred J. Hemer's trouble with those. Full Sized Grand Wagoneers seem to be rare around here and the ones that are here are in pretty poor shape. The best selection seems to be XJs and the ones I'm interested in are from 1991 to 1996; although there is a real clean 4 door 87 4.0/auto/NP231 at the local used dealer lot with 91k miles on it. (No, I haven't crawled under it yet to see if it had a D44 rear.

) I think we have pretty much decided on another Cherokee XJ; I would probably consider XJ Waggies too, but as yet I haven't seen any.

Well, that's where thing stand as of now...I'll keep you updated and I will probably post specific Qs when the field gets narrowed down a bit.

 

Don't forget to check out what's on Auto Trader Online. You can punch in your zip code and have it bring up all the vehichles listed within a certain radius of you.

 

Thanks, Syc, I've already done that.....for instance, I've found only 3 Grand Waggies within 100 miles of my zip and no MJs or XJ Waggies.

I'm going to keep visiting Auto Trader to catch any new entries.

 

Man that sucks. I feel for you. However, if you are thinking of getting a newer model and with all that you are involved with you could find a 97-00 with a 4.0. I just got a '97 to replace a Jimmy and a Tracker and I love it. Hey, You could get a new one and keep the old one and build a awesome offroad jeep with it.

Derek

 

Sorry to hear of your loss Jim. I can only imagine what you are going through. I too purchased my 85 new when I was 21. The ole girl is like a family member! She is actually older then my daughter and all my nieces and nephews (the oldest being 16)! And when I see people I haven't seen in a long time, they are amazed that I still have the same Jeep.

I too often contenplate what I will do when the time comes to retire her. My XJ has never left me stranded. Very reliable. The only downside of this vehicle, as you well know, is its lack of power with the 2.8 . As mentioned, the engine could be rebuilt, or even replaced with the 3.4 . But you also have to look at the over all age of everything on the vehicle, as you mentioned.
I currently have 130,000 miles on my 85. She doesn't owe me a thing!! All I know is it will be a sad, heartbreaking day when her time comes, and I too will be faced with taking a good look at everything to make that difficult, but neccessary decission about what to do.

I know your delemma about keeping the Jeep where you live over there in PA. Perhaps you could keep a little memory of her by taking a part off her that you could put in the new XJ. Maybe something like the rear veiw mirror. Every time you look into it, you will be reminded of the beloved 86. Oh well, just an idea.

I'm sure you'll love your new Jeep once you get it and in time you will grow love her as you did the 86. Hopefully, you will get as long a life from your new Jeep and won't have to have this heartbreaking ordeal happen to you again for another 16 yrs. or more.
My heartfelt condolences to you and yours!

 

Thanks, Billy!

My wife, Carol, wants to make a shadow box as a keepsake for our 16 year old Cherokee. In it we'll put some things directly from the Jeep, like the owners manual, a copy of the original production order and one or two of the body decals. Probably a photo or two also.

I'm still driving it for now but nothing over about a 5 mile radius. Right now the XJ has 136,410 miles on the clock.