XJ vs WJ reliability

I decided (gasp) that i am going to buy a WJ as a daily driver. Any input on their reliablity vs the XJ specifcally the tranny? I know my AW-4 is bulletproof but have heard scarry stories about hte WJ's chrysler tranny...

I have friends who have owned a few and two of them had issues with the VC unit in the T-Case and ther axles. These were both Quadra trac V8s though. Another buddy had 95 with the 4.0 and nothing major.

The 95 isnt a WJ though

I bought my wife a 2002 WJ, 4.0, Quadra trak. It is gone...finally. The only major issue was brakes, it ate rotors every 15-20K miles, Jeep took care of it...but it got old fast. It did have a trans problem, but it was minor and handled under warrenty.

HTH

Rev

First two years you have to watch out for, the tooling was still screwed up and some of the axles, and I mean the WHOLE axle, was 'bent', DC replaced most of them, by the truckload complete with preinstalled brakes, and hardware, a roll out roll in type of replacement. The TC's also were contaminated with the cutting fluid the milling machines used and they did not flush out completely. Eagle had his bought back which is how he ended up with a new XJ.
Rule of thumb, if the drivetrain makes ANY noise run away...
The axle thing was supposidly that they put the hot castings with tubes on the wrong fixtures to cool, the housings sagged, not alot but enough to eat bearings. Aluminum vs steel thing..

Chrysler makes a dam good tranny.

The tranny in the WJ's aren't as good as XJ AW4's, but they're not horrible either in my experiences. Usually they develop problems only in very high mileage situations, I'm talking over 150k miles. It's very important to check the manual, know which trans you have, and use the proper fluid. Some of the Chryco trannies take ATF+3 or ATF+4, neither of which is compatible with the older Dextron/Mercon III ATF.

That being said, I'd take a V8 ZJ or WJ over a XJ for on-road driving duty any day. I'd get an XJ before a 4.0 ZJ/WJ though.

well if anyone cares i bought a 00' WJ tonight (limited) that is 2 wheel drive (better to justify not canning the xj) gotta have it too

goodluck

Are you looking at new, or used?

Back in 1999 I was thinking my '88 XJ was getting a bit long in the tooth, and I bought a new 1999 WJ to "replace" Old Faithful. Tranny always made funny noises (assorted clunks, snorts, wheezes and grinding noises) that were all described by the dealership as "normal." I also had a lot of problems with the axles and transfer case. Chrysler sent a tech from the factory to the dealership, where he worked on my WJ for one entire week. Every single thing he worked on was worse when I got it back than before he touched it.

At the tender age of 6 months, the WJ died in the middle of a state highway and could not be restarted. Had it flat-bedded to the dealership. An hour later they decreed that they knew what was wrong, but it couldn't be repaired because the parts weren't available yet.

Chrysler bought it back from me to prevent me from filing under the Lemon Law in my state. Old Faithful 1988 XJ is now at 255,000 and going strong.

You want reliable? Stay with an XJ. The WJs are not Jeeps, they are passenger cars wearing a Jeep name plate.

well i have had it for almost a week and it has already had two problems i ahd to fix.. a 60 dollar dealer only combinaton flasher relay module (i miss the 2 dollar 10 can mecanical flasher) and a low hvac charge... it is very loud in the back on the interstate... makes me think i got a bad rear axel but the OE tires are still on it and are pretty worn may be just the crappy goodforayear tires.. going to have the steelership give me a rulling if its a bad reear axle or beraing issue.. its loudest on the freeway any thoughts? but if so it has a 30 day warranty on the powertrain and the guy even wrote in and sgined "REAR AXLE"

friend of mine has the 4.7 quadra trac WJ. He has all kinds of issues with it unfortunately. It has 66k miles and he has had the tranny rebuilt, complete A/C system replaced (I mean EVERYTHING), found he had a major vacuum leak somewhere, and some other small things. (seat heater light went out) Honestly, I wouldn't buy a WJ, and after my friends experiences with his, he would recommend not getting one as well.