I finally have a Cherokee!...now what?

I have a '92 Jeep Cherokee, 2 door, 4x4, 5 spd, 4.0 w/ 119,000 miles which will be delivered to me on Thursday or Friday. I am new to Jeep and auto repair in general. The Jeep was owned by a fella in the military stationed in Wyoming. He bought the Jeep from relatives in Colorado, so the XJ has spent the majority of it's life out west. The two years prior to me purchasing it, the the Jeep was used sparingly by his parents in NE OH.

The previous owner has already informed me that the Jeep needs either a master cylinder, or more likely a slave cylinder, which is why it's being trailored down.

Besides obviously fixing the slave cylinder, what else should I do to this new to me Jeep initially?

The first thing I would do is a compression test.

Next: Change ALL fluids, new air and oil filters, hoses, and belt (Goodyear Gatorback). Check the CCV system for proper operation. While the belt is off to be changed spin all of the belt-driven accessories and idlers to see if any are going out. Unless there are receipts to prove otherwise a**ume the o2 sensor has never been changed. Might as well pull all four wheels and inspect/service the brakes. Don't forget to adjust the rear drums. Inspect the condition of the flexible brake lines, they deteriorate. Don't forget to torque the wheels correctly when you put them back on. Again, without knowing the service history I would probably flush the cooling system, replace the thermostat (Stant SuperStat Premium 195 degree), be sure to check the weep hole on the WP.

Fluids:

Coolant--50/50 mix with distilled water.

AX15 5-speed--NEVER USE ANYTHING NOT CERTIFIED SAFE FOR YELLOW METALS. Red Line MTL 90, Pennzoil Synchromesh, gen-u-wine Mopar trans lube ($22 p/qt), honest to God original GL-3, any quality synthetic 10w30 motor oil. Avoid GL-3/4/5 products unless the container is marked "yellow-metal safe".

Transfer case--Dex III is OEM, you can probably use any quality automatic transmission fluid. The transfer case has no clutches but its teeny-weeny little pump needs ATF.

Differentials--use any 75w90 gear lube, maybe something heavier if towing.

As Joe mentions, fluids-fluids-fluids! They are the lifeblood of your vehicle and unless you have (believable) maintenance records, they should all be changed. Oil, differentials, transfer case, transmission, coolant. Power steering and brake also not a bad idea.

Changing fluids now will establish a baseline for future maintenance. While flushing coolant, yes...a new 195 degree thermostat is in order.

Fresh tuneup hardware also not a bad idea. Plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, check air filter.

Inspection of the entire brake system needs to be done while you are digging into the brakes.

And don't forget to change the brake fluid too. It helps to prevent rusting up of the brake pistons.

Refresh all the grounds. At the dipstick tube stud, driver side firewall and back of head. Scrape off all paint, polish eyelets. Clean and shiny.

just a tip from a fellow AX-15 owner.
It's a lot easier to fill it by pulling the shifter and filling from the top.

All you have to do is push down on the metal cup and rotate it about a 1/4 turn counter clockwise (I think, it's been a long time) THen it pops up and you removed the shifter from the housing. Takes about 15 minutes. Will save a lot of time trying to pump gear oil into the side of the trans, because there's no room down there to tip a bottle up to it.

Refresh all the grounds. At the dipstick tube stud, driver side firewall and back of head. Scrape off all paint, polish eyelets. Clean and shiny.

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Truth. Can prevent so many headaches down the road.

To add to what Joe said, when you take the old belt off, put it in the sleeve the new one came in and throw it under the back seat. Never know when you're going to need a spare, it's great to have one and it's free and out-of-mind till you need it. Check the steel brake lines on the body too, they deteriorate as well! Don't ask how I found that out. If you replace the thermostat (an easy 20 minute job, easiest after you remove the belt and before you put the new one on, do both at the same time) make sure you buy a new thermostat housing gasket and have a good razor blade gasket scraper on hand.

While you're under the back seat, make sure the jack, crank, and lug wrench are present and in good working order. I found a guy on the side of the road with a flat tire and everything he needed except for his lug wrench and crank last week.

When you check the pressure in the tires, fill up the spare too. A spare with no air in it is nearly as worthless as a flat tire with no air in it, unless you have a compressor or a pump on hand.

EDIT: also check your harmonic balancer while you are replacing the serpentine belt, and see if your radiator's fins are in good shape.

I'm making a list of all parts suggested and where to find them. Where do you get a Gatorback belt, Goodyear I would imagine?

Aside from changing oil, I've never done ANYTHING mechanically auto related besides install new struts and lowering springs on my car. Any tips or advice is appreciated. I've got a Haynes manual I'll be looking over and a father and close friend to help me out.

On another thread, a guy mentioned running seafoam through his new to him XJ.

Is this a good idea as well?

If you can do struts and springs, you can handle this. Haynes will be good for general stuff but year-specific or advanced repairs you are going to want something else.

Most of these parts you can find at NAPA, Advance Auto Parts, etc etc - I find Advance is usually the most knowledgeable and cheapest, NAPA is good, AutoZone usually is not till you know what you're doing. However, I only really use them for stuff I need RIGHT NOW, for anything I know in advance I will be needing, I order online, usually through RockAuto.com, summit racing, or a few other vendors I use for uncommon or jeep specific stuff.

On another thread, a guy mentioned running seafoam through his new to him XJ.

Is this a good idea as well?

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Sure. Seafoam, carbon cleaner, some guys even use trans fluids. Anything that will knock the carbon deposits off the intake valves and cylinder heads/walls. Hopefully there's not too much or you risk getting some trapped in between one of your exhaust valves.

Personally, I would throw half the can in your manifold (brake booster hose) to clean out the runners/induction system, and put the rest in your tank to clean out your injectors. After it's poured in take it for a "spirited" drive around town.

Got a pic of the brake booster hose to suck Seafoam in? I need to do it in my XJ but not sure what the hose looks like.

And would I need to do an oil change/filter change after running Seafoam?

If you put it in the crankcase oil, yes. If you just put it in the fuel system and vacuum system (air portion of the fuel system) you don't have to.

To clarify Dan's suggestion... the only time you use transmission fluid instead of seafoam or a similar product is in the crankcase oil. I don't even want to know what your engine and exhaust system would look like if you fed the fuel/air system transmission fluid.

k, I only plan on doing it in the gas/vacuum. But what does the hose look like? I got an 89 auto, and the last time I had it done was at a buddy's house when we first needed a major tune-up. I remember it being near the firewall, just not sure which hose it was (what it looks like)

To clarify Dan's suggestion... the only time you use transmission fluid instead of seafoam or a similar product is in the crankcase oil. I don't even want to know what your engine and exhaust system would look like if you fed the fuel/air system transmission fluid.

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Ah yes. I went from talking about a multi-system cleaner to strictly induction. You can use trans fluid in your fuel all day long, if it's a diesel But I'll have to check my sources again, I swear I've heard a time or two that it's been done through a gasoline intake to clean deposits. Brb srching teh interweb. In the meantime, use seafoam, BG, or a specified product for your induction/fuel system cleaning.

The hose is a big, solid black hose. Smaller than a garden hose, but bigger than any other vacuum supply you should be able to find. It's on the brake booster (right side of firewall) and should be the only hose connected to it. Just pop it off and you're golden.

It's the largeish (about 3/4" diameter) rubber hose from the brake booster to the intake manifold. I'm not sure I'd put it into that hose though, as I recall it's fed into the cylinder 5/6 intakes and it may not make it to the other 4 cylinders. I'd probably remove the large duct from the air filter box to the throttle body and VERY CAREFULLY pour it in a little at a time, or find a vacuum line that enters the intake manifold at a more centered location.

Originally Posted by Jeep-Flash12
I know what you mean. I have 185k on mine and it's a '91. Still runs but has a lot of rust as my starting point. Got it at an auction for $900 so im not really complaining.

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This paticular Jeep was listed on ebay and some of you may have seen it. It was located in NE OH and was covered in snow in the photos. This paticular auction was up for about 4 days before it was pulled down. I noticed it was pulled down and emailed the seller through another auction he had open. He said that the Jeep is his brother's, who was in Wyoming in the Air Force, before moving to England. The Jeep is located @ his parents in NE Ohio and the actual ebay seller is the owners brother who lives in Georgia.

I emailed while the auction was active asking him for a "Buy it Now" price. He said he wanted to let the auction go through. After the auction was pulled down, I messaged asking why. He said his parents wanted to fix it and relist it on ebay. I believe it was up to about $650 with 3 days to go. I told him I wanted it as is and he provided me his dad's email informing me that his dad doesn't have a computer and only checks his email every few says from the library. I kindly asked him for a phone # and called his parents.

From there I asked questions over the phone before making the 3 hour trip up there. I arrived to find it in really nice shape besides a couple of dents. He was asking $775, I offered $700 and they accepted. I then had to make arrangements to have it picked up and trucked back courtesy of my dad's buddy.

It will be picked up early Friday morning and delivered Friday by noon.

My apologies for the windy response, but, this is exactly as it occured. My persistence paid off this time.

The Jeep's getting picked up tomorrow early in the morning...I'm gonna have to run over there tomorrow after work to snap a few photos.