solid axle

i've posted this question before but lost it,so hopefully someone will answer again.i'm lookig for an xj.if i'm right they go from 89 to 96 for the solid axles,but does that include pioneers sports and laredos or are these hard to find jeeps.wouldnt mind buying a cj but sticking with the wagon for now even though all i've been finding is xj's with oil leaks(ex.rear main seal) or head problems. i thought that 4.0 was a good engine?i dont know maybe i'll go back to running toyota.thanks for any help.

All XJ's have solid axles.

No IFS here.
Euwwwwww

Here is your previous thread: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=79487

No such thing as IFS in an XJ.

Now as for the 4.0.. It's a damn fine engine that is hard to kill. The rear main seal does tend to leak after awhile but that's just an american engine thing, they all do that after awhile

As for head problems what are you talking about? There is no common problem with cylinder heads; if a head is cracked that has directly to do with the owner running it into the red (and a 4.0 generally needs to be ran into the red hard to crack - I speak from expereance here).

Sequoia

i've looked at three this week alone and all have water and oil mix along with that mix going through the blow byinto the air cleaner. now i'm not putting down the 4.0 but i'm getting a little frustrated when these only had from 120000 to 165000 on the engine. i can see 200+ but not these miles

Finding oil in the air cleaner is common blow by - this is not suggestive of a bad engine. The CCV system (crankcase ventalation) tends to get clogged over time causing this. When you get your new Jeep simply remove the cylinder head and thorougly clean the CCV system and you'll be good as new.

The bonus is that you can talk the sellers price down becuase the CCV system needs to be cleaned

The other day I was talking to this guy who owns a cj. He is looking my xj over and says to me "you should put a solid axle in this"...I don't get it.

On a serious note: I may just be an idiot for asking this, but is there a difference between a "straight axle" and a "solid axle" ?

really i was understanding that when oil is mixing at top or bottom you have problems.how do clean that out with brake cleaner.i have'nt done much top end work just bottom end that's why i was'nt to woorried about the rear main seal until i saw the milkshake in the air filter case.thanks for your help hope to be wheeling with you guys soon

The XJ has nearly always had solid axles fore and aft (for 4WD,) although I do seem to recall some earlier models having CV halfhsafts rather than standard Cardan-style joint halfshafts.

The only heads I can think of that are "prone to cracking" are the 0331 heads on the 99-up 4.0L XJ - even then, they only really crack (between the third and fourth cylinders, as I recall...) when overheated significantly.

The only real "oddity" with the 4.0L would be the RENIX control system, used until the end of the 1991 model year. The RENIX system is "pre-OBD," and does not store or throw codes. You'll need to learn basic troubleshooting to work on that setup - we can help you there.

If you're looking for a manual transmission, avoid the 4.0L from 1987 to mid-1989, unless you have an AX15 donor handy. They used the Peugeot BA-10/5 gearbox then, and they don't hold up well. I can attest to that, I'm on my third (in about 80Kmiles.) I'm looking for an NV3550 for a replacement for my own - but I'm a more "spirited" driver than most.

The blowby is a fairly common issue - usually, just cleaning out the baffles in the valve cover and clearing out the CCV lines will usually correct that. Don't worry too much about oil on the air filter - it's easily fixable.

The automatic used behind the 4.0 is the Aisin/Warner AW4 - a rock solid four-speed automatic. I've abused several, and the only thing I've found that hold up better would be made by Alison...

All else being equal, the XJ is a good, solid rig that does what it's supposed to do (pretty much everything) when you want it done, and doesn't complain about it. Not many better all-purpose vehicles that I can think of...

5-90

5-90 said:

The only real "oddity" with the 4.0L would be the RENIX control system, used until the end of the 1991 model year. The RENIX system is "pre-OBD," and does not store or throw codes. You'll need to learn basic troubleshooting to work on that setup - we can help you there.

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I think the RENIX system ended in 1989 or maybe 1990. My old 1991 XJ had the Chrysler ECM that stored and threw codes just like any other pre-96 Chryco vehicle, read through Jeep/Chrysler's 8-pin connector. I know because I had it hooked up to a Snap-On scanner several times

Just making "fun" of the guy with the CJ that said you need to put a solid axle under the XJ: sounds like he believes that unless it is a CJ, then it must be a liberty, which DOES need a solid axle under it. ( man, I really detest the kind of people that seem to think that unless you drive CJ, then it is not a real Jeep. Oh, well, even morons go 'wheeling). Sorry about the Hi-jack.

I have a 2WD XJ, its a solid live axle up front. Looks identical to the drive axle, except instead of cutting the axle tubes in half and welding them to the carrier, they keep it as one piece all the way across.

The 2WD is succeptible to the death wobble as well. Mine has bad vibes, probably from several worn pieces, bad tires and wheels still with years of mud/grease/crud caked on the inside rim.

I've experienced death wobble in an aircraft, never in a vehicle, I know what it feels like and I haven't had it in ground vehicles. Luckily I was in a aircraft that I could lift off again and do a hover landing, no such luck in an XJ, I imagine its a scary 10 second ride until you get rid of it.

anony91xj said:

I think the RENIX system ended in 1989 or maybe 1990. My old 1991 XJ had the Chrysler ECM that stored and threw codes just like any other pre-96 Chryco vehicle, read through Jeep/Chrysler's 8-pin connector. I know because I had it hooked up to a Snap-On scanner several times

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Piffle. I've been dealing with a case of stupid-finger for the last week or so!

1990 was a transition year for drivelines, but it was the last year for RENIX - ChryCo made it in for 1991 (you're right on that.)

5-90

Maybe not all, but most post 1996 Chrysler vehicles can blink or produce codes with the key on/off/on/off/on method.

My '99 Neon R/T does, my '02 Caravan does, the later has a digital odometer that the full 4 digit codes are displayed right in the odometer display, nice.

No luck on ABS/AirBag/Body or Tranny computers, just like every other car, you have to have a propeitary reading device to get those codes. Airbag light is still on in the Caravan, I have to get that to the dealer and get them to read the code for me, so I can fix the rest myself.

Rick Anderson said:

Maybe not all, but most post 1996 Chrysler vehicles can blink or produce codes with the key on/off/on/off/on method.

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That doesn nothing in a 1987 - 1990 4.0 equipped XJ. You can search all day and night around the Jeep and not find a check engine light no matter how hard you try. I'm just waiting to get a less than brilliant smog guy try to ding me on a non-functional check engine light

Rick Anderson said:

Airbag light is still on in the Caravan, I have to get that to the dealer and get them to read the code for me, so I can fix the rest myself.

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Caravans had a recall for a defective clockspring. I am sooooo glad we ditched that POS!!!!

mudrat said:

i've looked at three this week alone and all have water and oil mix along with that mix going through the blow byinto the air cleaner. now i'm not putting down the 4.0 but i'm getting a little frustrated when these only had from 120000 to 165000 on the engine. i can see 200+ but not these miles

Click to expand...

That blowby seems to be more of a problem in pre-91 4.0's and some of it was solved by a redesign of the vacuum tube. The crankcase vent system in these engines does not use a PCV valve, but does it by some kind of atmospheric black magic aided by baffles in the valve cover. It is very sensitive to vacuum conditions, and the early ones had sharp bends in the tube. It tended to clog easily. When that happens, instead of sucking the vapors out through the narrow vacuum tube, it blows them out the inlet tube into the air cleaner. I solved about 90 percent of the blowby in my 87 by biting the bullet and buying the silly-overpriced Jeep replacement tube with redesigned elbows. My 95 has no significant blowby, even at 260 thousand miles, and neither does my daughter's 93 at ~215.

All of which is to say that if you find an otherwise healthy old XJ with a fouled air cleaner, don't write it off necessarily. It might just need to have its vacuum tube replaced.

mudrat said:

really i was understanding that when oil is mixing at top or bottom you have problems.how do clean that out with brake cleaner.i have'nt done much top end work just bottom end that's why i was'nt to woorried about the rear main seal until i saw the milkshake in the air filter case.thanks for your help hope to be wheeling with you guys soon

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If you think there is oil mixing with water, you should verify that by looking at the oil (as in dipstick) not the air cleaner. Oil in the filter (which could turn cloudy if the filter gets a little wet). Cleaning the ccv system involves pulling the valve cover (common oil leak point anyway, along with oil filter adapter o rings) and cleaning the ccv elbos, tubes and underneath the elbows there is a metal shield. Not black magic btw, just that manifold pressure is normally lower (high vaccuum) after the throttle.

GSequoia said:

That doesn nothing in a 1987 - 1990 4.0 equipped XJ. You can search all day and night around the Jeep and not find a check engine light no matter how hard you try. I'm just waiting to get a less than brilliant smog guy try to ding me on a non-functional check engine light

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I've been nailed on that twice now, at two different shops. They seem to like to hold the flashlight up to the light panel and show me the panel that reads 'check engine'. I'm due for smog again in a couple months, and am going to have to speak with the manager of any smog station i go to before i pay them any money.

cal said:

I've been nailed on that twice now, at two different shops. They seem to like to hold the flashlight up to the light panel and show me the panel that reads 'check engine'. I'm due for smog again in a couple months, and am going to have to speak with the manager of any smog station i go to before i pay them any money.

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If you continue to have troubl ewith that you can get the film insert for an '89 - '90; as I recall that doesn't have the check engine portion ('87 - '88 still h ad it as a carry over from the 2.8 engine)