What would you do?

Hi All:

I've not had that much fun with my XJ this past year. It feels like I've replaced a million things only to have another major component fail. But, for some reason, I'm still holding on to my 2000 XJ with ~145K miles. In the past year and a half I've replaced the following:

• Complete AC system - evap, heater core, compressor, drier/accumulator
• Cylinder head
• Starter
• Ignition switch
• CPS, CPK
• Driver's side ball joints
• Brakes all around
• Swar bar & end links

Actualy it doesn't seem as bad but my wallet tells me otherwise. Anyway, we ended up buying a 2007 WK two weeks ago when the starter went on the XJ. So now the XJ is sitting on the street, to be used when I need to travel for work or if we need a second car. We were only putting 15k a year on it when it was our only car, so unless I end up on a year long project in another state, I probably won't be putting more than 5-7k on the XJ.

I took it in for an oil change the other day and was told by the jeep dealer that I needed the following:

• Passenger side front ball joints - $575
• Rear Pinion seal on transfer case - $130
• Oil pan gasket/rear main seal - $720
• Front crankshaft seal - $250

My thoughts are to just let it leak and replace oil as necessary. The only one I'm concerned about is the seal on the transfer case as it isn't as easily checked. I did notice fluid leaking when I changed out the starter but it wasn't pouring out. Thinking maybe I can just have it topped off every oil change?

Thoughts?

Most of the charges you've got listed at the bottom are labor charges. I'll bet there's less than a hundred bucks in parts there. If you're a little handy, the rear transfer case seal should be pretty simple. The front crankcase seal is more involved, but not all that difficult. Balljoints do need a pretty healthy balljoint press. I did all 4 balljoints on my 94 in 4 hours without airtools. The rear main is probably the most technically difficult, but I'd make sure that it's not the valve cover gasket that's leaking down along the bellhousing first.

The starter should be dry. If you see oil there, I'd look above to the valve cover.

Thanks for the feedback. Now that I think about it, the old starter that I removed was soaked in oil. I'll be sure to tighten down the valve cover again. living in the city makes it hard to work on my jeep. Perhaps I can find some people willing to help do the other work with me if it isn't really all that involved.

The valve cover does not need much torque, as a matter of fact, too much torque will also cause a leak. Might be a good idea to get a new gasket and start there.

I was gonna say that maintaining an old car (especially a 4.0L jeep) is way cheaper than a new car. Which WK did you get? My friend has a 3.7L with out Low Range... and I have to say i would never want to own one.

Which cylinder head did you use? Labor charges are way high, If you do stuff yourself you probably cut cost down by 2/3rd's.

sounds like you just got unlucky.

The cylinder head came from clearwater cylinder heads (CCH) out of clearwater florida. They were great and it only cost me ~$400 and was at my door in 3 business days.

I bought a 2007 WK laredo with 3.7l without low range, pretty stripped down. I would rather have the 4.7 or 5.7 but we needed a newer vehicle fast and it was within our price range. To be honest, at this point in time, I've got a 8 month pregnant wife with our first child on the way and just starting to get ahead of things in life. As such, I really couldn't be upset with ending up with a stripped down model as long as it had a good warranty (which it does) and will be safe for my wife and soon to be child.

I sold my 03' dodge ram 2500 QC and 00' F450 7.3l diesel 4 years ago and suprisingly my wife misses having a truck to ride in. So I know that if I play my cards right for a few years, that I'll be able to get the truck I want (diesel, twin turbo, propane injection, etc.) and we'll both be happy.

Going to look into doing the ball joints myself. Not too sure about the seals, but will do some research on that too.

Thanks for the input..

Too bad you are across the country, could prob. save you close to half at my shop. Find a good independent shop in your area. Dealerships have too much overhead.