Just bought a '87 XJ and need advice

Almost a year ago I bought a '89 XJ with no motor for $400. I've been looking for a good deal on a motor since. I found a motor in Austin (correct year) with 134k miles on it for $150. I figured that I would probably get nickel and and dimed to death on vacum lines.. and things like that so I would probablys spend another $100 on nick nacks to make it run in my jeep. So that would be $650 total investment.

Also in Austin I found a '87XJ 2 door 4wd 260k miles for $500 running. I had my brother who lives in Austin go pick it up for me last night. From what my brother tells me and the photos I've seen it's in pretty decent shape. My brother said and runs and drives good, but it has a pretty bad oil leak, that is eaither the rear main seal, or the oil pan gasket ( my money is on the rear main seal). When my brother was driving it home it ran low enough on oil that the oil light came on, he pulled over immdiately and walked to a gas station and bought oil. Hopefully no damage was done. It was at low speed and fora short time so I think it shoulid be fine. It's amazing it is still running, no telling how many times it has been run low on oil and with 260k miles on it.

Now for the advice part. I plan to sell the '89 (no motor) jeep, but before I do I would like to swap out some parts because it has almost a 100k less miles on it. Would do you guys suggest I swap? I was thinking the rear end.. possibly front axle.. maybe some of the steering stuff.. and maybe keep the trans as an extra.. what do you guys thing?

(sorry for the long post)

hopefully the 87 has the d44 rear, the 89 will most likely have the d35.

i would keep the 89 as a parts jeep, all the parts swap over to the 87.

89xj said:

i would keep the 89 as a parts jeep, all the parts swap over to the 87.

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x2 its nice to have a parts Jeep. I have 4 in my backyard!

Thanks guys.. how likely is it teh engine has been rebuilt? I know of a few with that many original miles on them.. but not many.

It is hard to tell for sure that your leak is coming from the rear main. If oil leaks from anyplace on the engine while the vehicle is moving, it migrates down and to the back, looking like the rear main.

You need to do some searching here and read a bunch of posts.

Two years ago i bought an '87, in San Antonio, and drove it home to NY state. After 2 fuel stops on the way back, I found I did not need to check the oil, just add a quart at every gas fillup. I have since replaced the valve cover gasket (the screws tend to loosen and they leak in the back, where the leak can't be seen) and O rings on the oil filter mount. I am now leaking a half quart between oil changes. I will replace the front and rear main seals this weenend and that should finish the leaks. My oil pressure is a little low, so I bought a new oil pump and will plastiguage the bearings, while I am in there. My '87 had the Dana 44 rear axle. You need to learn how to identify that to see if you got lucky.

Start with the easy stuff first, then if you decide you need the rear main seal replaced, plan a 3 to 4 hour very dirty job.

Thanks for the advice. I've done a couple rear main seals.. and yea it's pretty much the worst place that you can have a leak..