considering an 85 diesel 5 speed

hey guys i found a really nice 85 manual diesel for sale. very clean in and out with a new tranny/clutch with 112K. what kinds of stuff should i be concerned with and is 3800 a fair price? thanks!

:dunno:I dont know if it would be or not but we are talking about a 23 year old engine... I dont know what brand it is or nothing and what the HP/torque putout is but still 3800 is alot of doh i would think

i agree 3800 for that age seems high i would think diesel would give it an even lower blue book just looked at kelly blue book for an 1988 (as far back as they go ) in excellant condition with pwr wind, and locks, tilt whl 4x4 max value is 1,500 so id say pass on it or print out the kelly blue book report and offer them about 750.00 oh and thats with 100k miles dont buy it, you could buy 3 of them for that price

yes i know it seems very high. it is the renault diesel engine and also has a brand new turbo that builds about 10lbs. he reports up to 30mpg as well

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Price seems way too high. But then again, what are you looking for? What kind of finances do you have? I, myself would love to have a diesel XJ! And I would put another 5 grand into it making it the best performing and economical XJ i could get. To me, 30 mpg off road vehicle with enough room to fit my family would be astounding! I search the paper every day looking for the diesel XJ. With emisions here in CO. and the legality of engine swaps, completely rebuilding an older XJ with a factory diesel motor, new turbo, aftermarket intercooler, you name it, would be worth it to me. Now if your a high school kid, or have limited funds, I would say hold out for a 4.0. Great motor, easy to find parts, and 99% of everyone on this board has one. good luck

i used to have a 4.0L and loved it. got about 8-10mpg though and that sucked. i'm a diesel guy now and this sounds like the best of both worlds. hopefully i can get it with a little price knockdown it sounds like from you guys. then comes the 6" lift, 33s, bumper....etc lol

No idea on the price...

The Renault diesel is a good engine, but with 86 bhp and 4.10 gearing, don't expect much performance wise. The turbo gives plenty of boost once it spools up, but keeping it spinning is a bit of an aquired art, you end up driving to the boost gauge more than the rev counter and have to plan things in advance. Forget about overtaking. Top speed is about 85 mph, if you're brave enough, 65 mph is more realistic.

Using oil (1l per 1,000 km) is normal for this engine, so keep a close eye on the oil level and keep it topped up.

Closed cooling system.

AX5 transmission, NP231 transfer (might have had other options in the US?).


Pretty much everything else is standard Jeep.


Fuel economy wise, I get 10l/100km, the book claims 8l/100km, I won't try to convert these into mpg as I'm not sure which gallons to use.

Conversion:
Yours = 23.07 mpg
Book = 18.46 mpg

thats using quite a bit of oil! jeez

DeadSquirrel said:

thats using quite a bit of oil! jeez

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pretty standard for most 4 banger diesels Ive seen.

Id say it is a very rare jeep your looking at and if you want a diesel xj it may be your one shot so get the best price ya can and do it

If it is nice I don't think it is a bad deal. And, I saw on the news yesterday that fuel prices may double in the next few years. It would make a great veggie mobile. I know the engine very well due to the work I have put in mine. Let me know and I'll send you my phone number to discuss the ins and outs.

DieselPioneer said:

If it is nice I don't think it is a bad deal. And, I saw on the news yesterday that fuel prices may double in the next few years. It would make a great veggie mobile. I know the engine very well due to the work I have put in mine. Let me know and I'll send you my phone number to discuss the ins and outs.

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What kind of city/hyw mileage are you getting with yours?

As some of you know, I have an 85 that was a gasser, that is now a diesel, 82 Nissan w/ SD22 diesel engine, 5 speed Nissan tranny, the rest is OEM jeep. I have been getting about 35 mpg with mine. Over 600 miles per tank of fuel, 20 gallon tank. It is hard to find a nissan diesel 4x4 pick up truck diesel or a jeep diesel, and when they do show up even the junkers go for some bucks. If it is a really well cared for diesel and recently had many $$s put into it I would say $3800 is typical price wise. Search Craigs and Ebay for recent or current sales on old diesels. Depends on what condition it is in. If everything is OK and working, and it does not need a lot of work, he is likely to get that price, or at least in that neighborhood, especially if the mileage is true, and not just a swaped out dash with a low odometer. Depends on how well he has advertized it and how fast he needs to sell it as to whether you can beat him down any.

A $1,000 jeep diesel is likely to have big dollar problems. Also you are not likely to see one for sale in your neck of the woods more than 1 or 2 times a year in any condition.

As I found out the other week, be aware that some of the parts used in the Renault-Jeep conversion can no longer be found, at all. The engine is standard Renault, the transmission and everything else is Jeep, but the bits in between...

In particular (at least in my case), the lines that run to the divorced oil filter and oil cooler. Any half decent hydraulic fitter can make them up, but finding someone actually willing to do the job...

Other than that, it's a good engine. Pletny of low-down grunt, max torque is at 2250 RPM.

Seems to like "CD" grade oil, not the more modern stuff.

Mine is currently (touch wood) running a treat, now that it isn't pissing oil everywhere. Still uses oil though, the above mentioned 1l/1000km is from the Renault service manual.

Offer $3000 cash and take your flying pig home and enjoy.

Seriously, 3k may ssem a bit much, but for something like that, yeah, the large amount can be overlooked slightly.

I am getting about 30 mpg with mine.