Re: [Amc-list] Best Jeep Cherokee?

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: Steve Cornelius <steve.c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
" 
" >The years I plug in are 92-4, 97-8, and 00 or 01 up?

nothing wrong with a '95 except it's the 1st year for airbags.  dunno
anything against '91 or '99 either.  '01 was the last year for the xj.

" >Not sure I
" >understood the problems with the later ones other than head cracking,
" >but I'd think if they were going to do that, it would have already
" >happened, yes?  Any other tidbits?

my gf's '01 came with ~85k on it, from tx to nc where we picked it up.
carfax didn't say anything about overheating or head replacement, and
she's put another 50k on it since - granted, all up here in the
semi-frozen north.  afaik it's still the original head.

" The crack-prone heads are the 0331 casting, which is (I think) from '99
" on. Earlier H.O. heads are a bolt on to fix, the Renix-era heads are
" not. 

they revised and fixed the 0331 in iirc '02; you'll only find them in
xjs that have already cracked a head but there are plenty of them out
there in tjs and wjs.  the '91-5 and '96-8 heads bolt in but they
don't run dis so you'd have to fab mounts for the coil packs.  otoh
they have bigger ports so you'd pick up a bit o' hp.  dunno if that
means you'd -have- to switch from the iron exhaust manifolds to a
long-tube header...

" Advice I've heard is that as long as the 0331 head isn't overheated,
" you're probably OK, but once they get hot, problems start, and may take
" awhile to show up. Understand too that XJs can be chronic overheaters;
" there's little frontal area to use, plus the radiators are short and
" wide with long cores to collect sediment. Neglect this, and problems
" are likely to show up.
" 
" Hmmm, what else...
" 
" []
" 
" * If you think you're going to drive in snow/ice for long stretches,
"   some of them came with the differentially-bound NP242 transfer case,
"   it's worth looking for if you think you might want 4WD on pavement
"   sometimes. Most of them got the NP231, which shouldn't be used on
"   pavement. Look at the t-case tag to identify, or if the shifter has a
"   4WD-full-time selection, then it's a 242.

also note that while sticks all came with 231s, the 242 is a popular
and easy swap.

" * If you find a clean one with miles versus a not so clean one without,
"   go for the high miler. They're Ramblers at heart, miles don't matter
"   so much ;)

hear hear!

" * Go read over at http://www.naxja.org, lots of info on their forum.

lotsa good stuff there!
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought
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