1995 Jeep Cherokee XJ. Multiple issues. Just purchased privately.

[Rieper47]

Hey yall. First post aside from introduction. Let me know if I’m out of line in post location or anything like that. Thanks!

I just purchased my 95 XJ yesterday. 202,587 original miles as far as the owner knows. The previous owner knows less about vehicles than I do and I don’t know a whole lot.

The vehicles oil light comes on after driving for about 15-30 minutes. This seemingly only happens when I come to a stop. I’m assuming the worst in the blown gasket or cracked head situations. Previous owner did tell me it had overheating issues and a little smoke out of the exhaust area in the past. He said installing the fan with shroud near the steering pump seemed to have eliminated the smoke and most of the overheating issues. He did say he has to keep fluid in the coolant overflow. He said it boils. Haven’t noticed it myself. I did notice a little bubbling after an hour plus of driving it. Maybe 3-5 bubbles popped up to the surface. I haven’t noticed any power loss while driving. I’m not certain if it’s actually overheating because it doesn’t have a needle. It just has the warning light spot in the cluster. I can’t see the oil pressure because again it doesn’t have the gauge, just the indicator light. I understand I’ll have to get one to hook up manually. I believe this gets attached at the sending unit..?

The mount for the power steering pump appears to have broken at some point. Appears to have been JB welded into position at some point and that has become just about undone. I’m assuming the mount is an easy pull from the junk yard.

Worse than that there is a slight leak from what I’m assuming is the steering box. It is located below the pump and seems to be where my steering column ends. Right in front of the radiator. I’m assuming replacement isn’t fun. I am willing to try. 😂

The hydraulics in the hatch are just about shot. Obviously a simple repair.

The hood is stuck. Worked fine when I inspected it yesterday. Now it is stuck. The previous owner did tell me he replaced the latch on the passenger side. That checked out.

I did notice a very small amount of what looked like tranny fluid dripping from one of the braided covered aluminum lines and onto the sway bar. This is something I’m unfamiliar with.

Once I get the hood open I will provide more information about my finds. Oil color/consistency/quantity.

Body is pretty good. A/c doesn’t work as expected. Heat is probably awesome. 🤣 aftermarket stereo install is a little ugly but I don’t care. Ashtray is lose. No big deal.

I would really appreciate any and all input for help with this situation. I waited for a long time to find something that looked decent that I could afford. I feel like I screwed the pooch here. After my Chevy 1500 tranny blew out, I figured this was my chance to get an XJ finally. I got the most stock one I could find with the best info possible. Ugh.

Thanks again, yall!


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[Rieper47]

Got hood unstuck. Found a bad headlight bucket on my way there. 🙄

Under the hood I did notice a few things I missed.

Some sort of solenoid on the firewall on the passenger side. 🤷🏻*♂️ big ole metal coffee tin sized thing has a connection busted. Not sure what the heck that is.

Some tube that comes off of the manifold is cut and caped with a hex screw. 🤔

Another tube has just had its hose removed near front of manifold, I believe, by front of engine and close to valve cover area. Can’t find a hose that connects to it. Maybe it’s the hose that was cut.

No coolant in oil. Good.

Possible oil in coolant though. Eff me running.

Started engine from cold status with radiator cap removed and the coolant had a mild push of pressure and slopped a few table spoons onto the power steering reservoir. 😤 this is where I saw an oily hue in my coolant.

Didn’t have time to check much else.

Thanks again.


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