what about a jeep cherokee

[Maximus1966]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
What country was this GC originally sold in?


I have no idea...I'm assuming the good ol' USA. I've been told the diesel option was intended primarily for export. I purchased this one used in 2001 in Cleveland, Ga.

 

[eljefino]

What does your underhood emissions label have to say? How about your VIN, leave off the last 7 digits for privacy?

 

[Chris142]

Ya thats a weird one. The diesel was not designed for the US market. You have a Grey market jeep for sure.

 

[45ACP]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Ya thats a weird one. The diesel was not designed for the US market. You have a Grey market jeep for sure.


I have to agree with this.... Wiki lists it and i found the engine, but ive never heard anyone so much as even TALK about it.

Sounds like something the Wrangler guys would know about for sure! Was recently in a 1992 i think Wrangler with 35" tires and a 4" lift or something like that. That engine sounds like it would be at home in that truck, but even that had a 6-cyl.

 

[caravanmike]

they are all over europe. one must have landed here!

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Ya thats a weird one. The diesel was not designed for the US market. You have a Grey market jeep for sure.


True. I've seen the overseas ads for it. None were ever built for US markets.

 

[addyguy]

If the Jeep you are looking at is from a northern state, rust will eat it up.

 

[JTK]

Man.. the Wrangler and Cherokee were horrible enough with the 2.5L tractor engine in them! I couldn't imagine how doggy a Grand Cherokee would be with one under the hood!

FWIW, I owned a 1994 Cherokee 4.0L, 5spd, 2wd. I loved it, although it was scary in the snow.

Also owned a 1997 Wrangler with the 2.5L & 5spd. Very fun and reliable. You just had to keep the go-pedal mashed to maintain highway speed.

Joel

 

[jeepman3071]

My dad had a 1987 Cherokee 4.0L for 15 years when I was growing up.

I've had 3 of them, my first car was a 1990 Cherokee, my second a 2000 Cherokee classic (lady hit me and totaled it) and now my 2000 Cherokee sport.

My best friend also has a 2000 Cherokee sport.

In short, they are solid, simple, reliable, and easy to fix. There aren't many vehicles out there now that you can open the hood and actually SEE the engine, nevermind work on it. Parts are cheap and easy to find. I will drive my Cherokee until the wheels fall off, then I will put them back on and drive some more. I replaced the head on my current 2000 with a heavy duty one since I plan on keeping it awhile, but the old one hadn't cracked yet. If taken care of, the 4.0L has been known to hit 400k miles. My dad sold his '87 with over 250k miles on it and it still ran great. I'd look for a 1991-1999 if you are concerned about the head problem.

I've attached a pic of mine below. It has a 2" lift and 30" tires for a stockish look but more aggressive stance.

 

[Spazdog]

A friend of mine, who is noted for his ability to destroy perfectly good cars before their time, had a 2WD Jeep Cherokee 2 door. The most base model of a base model. AM/FM radio, 5 speed, 2.5 liter 4 cylinder, 2 doors, speedometer and fuel gauge...that's about it.

The driver's door fell off. It fell the [heck] off. Got the hinges welded back for about $150. The shift knob fell off.

Yep. That's it. Completely destroyed several perfectly good cars beforehand and he could only manage to break the door and the shift knob on the Jeep.

It was slow. Didn't get good gas mileage for it's lack of power but it didn't disintegrate like it's predecessors.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
A friend of mine, who is noted for his ability to destroy perfectly good cars before their time, had a 2WD Jeep Cherokee 2 door. The most base model of a base model. AM/FM radio, 5 speed, 2.5 liter 4 cylinder, 2 doors, speedometer and fuel gauge...that's about it.

The driver's door fell off. It fell the [heck] off. Got the hinges welded back for about $150. The shift knob fell off.

Yep. That's it. Completely destroyed several perfectly good cars beforehand and he could only manage to break the door and the shift knob on the Jeep.

It was slow. Didn't get good gas mileage for it's lack of power but it didn't disintegrate like it's predecessors.


How do you break the door off a car, unless you are Jeremy Clarkson?

 

[Spazdog]

The top hinge allegedly had weak welds up to about 1996. I've heard about it before. But his bottom hinge failed too.

My mom had a nicely appointed Cherokee for a bit. About a 1992. Not a Country, the trim line just below that. Laredo I think. Had a 4.0, automatic, full gauges, Jensen stereo IIRC...everything except leather. No door hinge problems until it was hit by a semi. Tore the rear hatch off completely but it stayed upright and she was relatively unhurt.

I hated the steering column and seat position and hated the mpg but I liked everything else about it. Drove pretty well. I preferred it to the Explorers and Blazers of the time. I could baby it and average 20mpg when I borrowed it to move stuff that I couldn't move on a motorcycle.

 

[addyguy]

I was never in it, but my buddies step-brother had a 1985 Cherokee with the rare 2.8L GM V-6. I was told constantly by my buddy how gutless it was.

It had nothing but problems until he totaled it after a couple of years.

 

[rslifkin]

^ The early (84 - 86) Cherokees had [censored] engines and mostly [censored] trannies (the 5 speed was a Peugeot BA10/5). In 87, they got a lot better.

 

[MNgopher]

Yes, the introduction of the 4.0 in the '87 Cherokee is what really woke the Cherokee up! Conspiracy theorists think that many of the GM 2.8 V6's were the worst of the ones that GM didn't want!

Interestingly, the thought by AMC when the 4.0 was being put in was the split on sales would be 70% 2.5L 4 Cylinders and 30% 4.0L Inline sixes. History then bore out the exact opposite!

 

[brian]

I have a 2001 Jeep Cherokee with 261,000 miles. It has been the best, most reliable vehicle I've ever owned.

I bought it used from a guy I knew who bought it new. Other than needing oil changes, greasing the suspension, front pads and rotors, shocks, spark plugs, tires and a battery here and there it just keeps on going and going. Other than that it got a new track bar at 80000 miles, a head job at 160000 and radiator at 261000 miles.

The last years of these apparently used stiff valve springs that cause problems with the valve seats. That's why my head came off. The mechanic who did the work couldn't believe it was the original engine. It doesn't burn oil and barely drips anything. The Jeep has always had BFG A/T KO's and they last 50-90Kmi depending on how many highway miles I'm driving.

My check engine light was on so long it finally burned out this summer. Back in 2008 when I had the head done, the mechanic determined the EVAP codes were because of nearly rotted through rubber fuel fittings below the drivers door. The other codes have been for "weak catalyst" but for enhanced emissions testing it scores well below the limits.

What it uses in gas my Subaru used in parts.