So this is a little hard for me to tell this story.
I had owned my 87 XJ since 05, have done a lot of stuff to it including a complete sub dash replacement, pugeot to AX-15 manual tranny swap, among other things, well i decided to make a career change that required me to move out eats (Nashville, Tennissee) Well i was a little worried that the old bird wouldn't be able to make the 3100 mile trip. But my uncle (previous owner) assured me that it would be fine, so i took it to a shop to get checked out, they found two problems. First was the PCV system was clogged, $100, then they found that the heater fan was stuck so that it wouldn't run. (bare in mind that it sat for like 3 months before i made this trip) so that all cost me $200 parts and labor. So all was green to make this trip. I started out in Portland, then made my way east, i made it to Wyoming before it started to have some problems, come to find out going over the rockies i started having to scrape the INSIDE of my windshield to see out of it. "This is not right" i though so i stopped in Rock Springs, and found out that my thermostat was stuck open and in -15 degree weather it would let the engine warm up enough to heat the cab. so i slept there for the night. got it fixed the next day and i was on my way, $120 poorer. I only got to a small town half way across the sate of Nebraska (dang there is nothing in that state) the town name is Kearney. i noticed that i was only getting 150 miles to the tank, as opposed to the 375-410 that i had been getting the whole trip. i stopped for gas and looked under the hood with the engine running and smelled gas really bad. So i asked my friend that was making the trip with me to step on the gas, when done gas squirted from the injectors all the way onto my air filter box. DAMN! wasn't fair! slept in the XJ that night and got it fixed in the morning, three hours! and $300 later i was getting 420ish miles to the tank! i was happy! Great acceleration and everything! so from there i was on my way to St. Louis. Stopped and saw the arch, great view! so i left St. Louis and i figured i could make it to Nashvile from there. well i had just made it across the KY/TN border and i started to lose power not too bad i just thought that i was my imagination so i trucked onward. through Clarksville, at mile post 19 the car was running at 65 or so and all of the sudden the engine shuddered and i heard the fan belt squeal i bit, so i pulled over to the side of the highway and looked back, i combination of white and black smoke was pouring out of my tail pipe. my imeadate thought was Head Gasket. but when i looked at the oil it didn't look bad at all. so i started it back up and it iddled fine and i tried to take off to make it the last 50-60 miles or so, then at 15 miles an hour, the engine stated smoking and i heard a pop and a ton of clunking so pulled over again, shut it down. with a sick feeling i popped the hood, looked along the passenger side of the 4.0L, to my horror the piston rod was sticking out of the side of the block! there i was in the middle of nowhere, 2:30 in the morning. and we had no idea what to do we had no more money for a tow, so i called the highway patrol and they cam and called the towing company they use. they came and towed it to a town called Springfield. I told the guy that i had no money for a tow and he asked if the car was worth fixing at this point. of course i said no, so he suggested that i sign the title over to him, and they would just sell the car for $100 to a junk yard, i had no choice, i had to do it. right there i signed the title over to him, he took me to a motel and i got to pull everything i could out of my first car i had ever owned. bags, $350 cd deck, sub, amp, food, but to my dismay i had to leave the Lazy Boy my parents gave me. The motel wouldn't let me put it in the room. I had already sold everything i had owned to make this trip, so now i was in a motel room looking at all of my belongings and worst of all, NO CHEROKEE!!! I couldn't sleep at all. The next morning I called a friend that lived nearby and they came and got us and took me the rest of the way in to Nashville. I got to where i was to be staying and called my parents to tell them all that had happened. well push came to shove and my parents through some of their friends, bought me a 03 Chevy S-10 2.2 Liter. its not my XJ but i get around.
Last week i was up in the area that the junk yard is located, there i saw it, 4th on a stack of 5, my Oregon plates still on it, i almost cried. I miss it so much! So everybody... please take o moment of silence for my beloved XJ.
I had owned my 87 XJ since 05, have done a lot of stuff to it including a complete sub dash replacement, pugeot to AX-15 manual tranny swap, among other things, well i decided to make a career change that required me to move out eats (Nashville, Tennissee) Well i was a little worried that the old bird wouldn't be able to make the 3100 mile trip. But my uncle (previous owner) assured me that it would be fine, so i took it to a shop to get checked out, they found two problems. First was the PCV system was clogged, $100, then they found that the heater fan was stuck so that it wouldn't run. (bare in mind that it sat for like 3 months before i made this trip) so that all cost me $200 parts and labor. So all was green to make this trip. I started out in Portland, then made my way east, i made it to Wyoming before it started to have some problems, come to find out going over the rockies i started having to scrape the INSIDE of my windshield to see out of it. "This is not right" i though so i stopped in Rock Springs, and found out that my thermostat was stuck open and in -15 degree weather it would let the engine warm up enough to heat the cab. so i slept there for the night. got it fixed the next day and i was on my way, $120 poorer. I only got to a small town half way across the sate of Nebraska (dang there is nothing in that state) the town name is Kearney. i noticed that i was only getting 150 miles to the tank, as opposed to the 375-410 that i had been getting the whole trip. i stopped for gas and looked under the hood with the engine running and smelled gas really bad. So i asked my friend that was making the trip with me to step on the gas, when done gas squirted from the injectors all the way onto my air filter box. DAMN! wasn't fair! slept in the XJ that night and got it fixed in the morning, three hours! and $300 later i was getting 420ish miles to the tank! i was happy! Great acceleration and everything! so from there i was on my way to St. Louis. Stopped and saw the arch, great view! so i left St. Louis and i figured i could make it to Nashvile from there. well i had just made it across the KY/TN border and i started to lose power not too bad i just thought that i was my imagination so i trucked onward. through Clarksville, at mile post 19 the car was running at 65 or so and all of the sudden the engine shuddered and i heard the fan belt squeal i bit, so i pulled over to the side of the highway and looked back, i combination of white and black smoke was pouring out of my tail pipe. my imeadate thought was Head Gasket. but when i looked at the oil it didn't look bad at all. so i started it back up and it iddled fine and i tried to take off to make it the last 50-60 miles or so, then at 15 miles an hour, the engine stated smoking and i heard a pop and a ton of clunking so pulled over again, shut it down. with a sick feeling i popped the hood, looked along the passenger side of the 4.0L, to my horror the piston rod was sticking out of the side of the block! there i was in the middle of nowhere, 2:30 in the morning. and we had no idea what to do we had no more money for a tow, so i called the highway patrol and they cam and called the towing company they use. they came and towed it to a town called Springfield. I told the guy that i had no money for a tow and he asked if the car was worth fixing at this point. of course i said no, so he suggested that i sign the title over to him, and they would just sell the car for $100 to a junk yard, i had no choice, i had to do it. right there i signed the title over to him, he took me to a motel and i got to pull everything i could out of my first car i had ever owned. bags, $350 cd deck, sub, amp, food, but to my dismay i had to leave the Lazy Boy my parents gave me. The motel wouldn't let me put it in the room. I had already sold everything i had owned to make this trip, so now i was in a motel room looking at all of my belongings and worst of all, NO CHEROKEE!!! I couldn't sleep at all. The next morning I called a friend that lived nearby and they came and got us and took me the rest of the way in to Nashville. I got to where i was to be staying and called my parents to tell them all that had happened. well push came to shove and my parents through some of their friends, bought me a 03 Chevy S-10 2.2 Liter. its not my XJ but i get around.
Last week i was up in the area that the junk yard is located, there i saw it, 4th on a stack of 5, my Oregon plates still on it, i almost cried. I miss it so much! So everybody... please take o moment of silence for my beloved XJ.
