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Buying a XJ

S

safn1949

NAXJA Forum User
Location
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I will be buying another XJ in the next 6 months and was wondering what models to stay away from.I will be traveling the US,Canada and Mexico pulling a small camper.I will not be doing any serious offroading but it will see lots of dirt.I need to know what year engines,trannys etc were the best and the worst.:cheers:
 
I would say that the '99 would be the best from what I have heard...

-Newer body/interior styling
-4.0 with lower torque band
-Upgraded intake
-HPD30 (last year)
-Possible 8.25 (29 spline vs. earlier 27 spline)
-Still a decent head compared to the 0331 (prone to cracking on 2000-2001) although I forget the actual casting number

I could be forgetting something but that's all I can remember for now. If I had the money I'd go for a black '99 with the NP242 for FT4WD.
 
PolishX said:
i prefer the post 96 editions . look for D44 rear or 8.25 rear . high pinion D30 front . AW4 , NO 4 CYLINDERS ... oh and make sure its the 4.0 H.O. versions
Click to expand...

POST 96 didnt come with D44. nor did they come with 4 cyl. and all pre's came with high pinion, and post's came with low pinion.

if you meant PRE 96, i agree with you.
 
The XJ that I had was a 88 with the AW4,242.it was worn out but I really liked it a lot,amazing what it would go thru in stock form:fuse:
 
rocklandxjer said:
POST 96 didnt come with D44. nor did they come with 4 cyl. and all pre's came with high pinion, and post's came with low pinion.

if you meant PRE 96, i agree with you.
Click to expand...

I disagree. The last year they offered the D44 was 89 or 90 with the HD towing package. The only year they didnt offer the 4cyl was 2001.

PolishX said:
...oh and make sure its the 4.0 H.O. versions.
Click to expand...
Why would you say that? Im curious. Dont blame it on the closed cooling system because it works great if taken care of.
There is nothing wrong with the 87-90 RENIX era cherokee's with the 4.0 and AW4 automatic. They are simpler/cheaper/better to work with than the Chrysler/OBD IMHO.
 
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thats what i said, post means after. i said no post 96s had dana 44s.

i did not know however that the 4 cyl was used till the end.


and i agree that the renix computer and engine are reliable and easily servicable. great motor in my opinion
 
Sorry man i read your post wrong. But ya im still waiting on the other guys reasoning on the renix xj's. I could see 84-86 being bad, but renix are great!
 
Im gonna quote 5-90 here. He is prob the most knowledgeable about renix. I think he has 5 working renix cherokee's so it just shows how simple it is. Hope this helps.

5-90 said:
RENIX = RENault + bendIX. The electronics were made by Bendix/King under contract to Renault until 1990 - except with the GM V6/60 2.8L

If you have a 1987, you definitely have RENIX, since they stopped using the GM engine for 1987 (it was replaced - rather wisely - by the AMC 242I6.)

RENIX is "pre-OBD," does not store codes, and most troubleshooting can be done with a decent DMM and some know-how. You can get the RENIX FI manual from the Strokers egroup (groups.yahoo.com/group/strokers) and I'm probably going to put it up on my RENIXPower group (groups.yahoo.com/group/RENIXPower) one of these days as well - I just haven't gotten round to it yet.

People here are pretty heavily polarised on the whole RENIX thing - I happen to prefer it over ChryCo OBD (which replaced RENIX for 1991 Model Year.)

A quick way to tell for certain (I have no reason to doubt myself - I've got a 1987, 1988, and two 1989s!) is to follow the centre plug wire from the distributor cap to the ignition coil - you should end up finding it on the right fenderwell (ChryCo bolted it to the engine on a bracket later.) You'll find the ignition control module underneath the coil, and the ECM is under the dashboard down by your right knee - a big, flat aluminum box.

5-90
Click to expand...
 
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i'm with MoparManiac on everything but price. i was looking for an XJ for about six months, i did not rule anything out except 2WD, 4 cyl, and 2.8's. i was partial to 97+. ended up with a 99 4.0 AW4 4x4 HPD30, 231 and it was $3800 from a used car lot. 127,000, and i thought that was on the slightly high side for price. but then again they really do not come cheaper than me.
 
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