XJs in Italy Differences from America

Here's some specifics about XJs in Italy:


The XJ has been sold from 1987 to 2001
The 87-95 version was available with these engines:

- Renault J8s 2.1 litre turbodiesel 86 hp 155 kmh (96 mph) only base or limited trim levels, 2 or 4 doors, only manual transmission, 231 transfert case

- AMC 242 4.0 litre 177 - 191 hp 190 kmh (118 mph) only limited or country trim levels, only 4 doors, automatic transmission, 242 transfert case


The 96-01 version was available with these engines:

- VM engines 2.5 litre turbodiesel 116 hp 170 kmh (105 mph) only sport or limited trim levels, 2 or 4 doors, only manual transmission, 231 transfert case

- Chrysler 4.0 litre 185 hp 200 kmh (124 mph) only limited or wildsport trim levels, 2 or 4 doors, automatic transmission, 242 transfert case


Other differences from USA are the rear lights that have little yellow turn signals and red fog lights
In the front Italian XJs have white parking lights and non functional corner lights; at the top of front fenders there's a little yellow blinker
in Italy XJs are:
2.5 Turbodiesel 70%
2.1 Turbodiesel 25%
4.0 Gasoline 5%

Somebody likes Turbodiesel XJs.. ..for me are crappy engines
The 2.5 is quite powerful and it has the same torque of the 4.0 but is very very unreliable.. ..something is always broken, it smokes black, it smells, it sounds like someone is hammering the engine under the hood:looser:

P.S. No 2.5 gasoline XJ has been sold in Italy

Bye

I wish i had a diesel XJ.:rattle:

Why!!?? trust me, I had one.. ..it's a way better the 4.0!
The 2.1 TD is very slow but is reliable.. ..the 2.5 TD is quite powerful but VERYVERYVERY unreliable.. ..The head cracks every 60K miles!

This is true, most XJ VM 2.5TD suffer from cracked heads 60K to 80K miles. However, some go on much longer and these are mostly driven by people that let the engine idle to cool down before switching off. This is something that should be done with any turbocharged engine, particular non water cooled turbos, to avoid destroying the turbo bearings. The side effect for the VM is that it prolongs head life.

As most European XJ diesel owners don't care about their engines, they switch off the engine and leave the Jeep parked with a red hot turbo heat soaking back to the heads. The front of the engine has a little more free airflow circulating than the rear of the engine and the subsequent uneven cooling of a hot engine is the most probable cause of cracking. Some European countries also insist that engines are switched off in traffic queues which is a disaster for the poor VM and I suspect also for other hot running turbo cars like the little Smart http://www.evilution.co.uk/654

I am aware of an Argentinian company that has redesigned their aftermarket heads for the 2.5VM to withstand this level of abuse but I don't know anyone in the UK that has bought them yet. http://www.apazmadridsa.com.ar/#

The 4.0L is good, but a GOOD 2.5VM is not bad.