About to buy a '89 Ltd.. Questions

[Spoony]

Im getting it for way cheap. Owner says head gasket is bad. Its been parked, untouched, for six months. Today, with a little persuasion, it fired up and idles rather smooth. revving it produced a little roughness, but not hateful.
He says it used to get hot, but never overheated or boiled over.
Whats the chances of replacing the head gasket and being fine, or should I replace the entire head assembly. I can get a used head w/30 day warranty for 150$US.

Any suggestions are appreciated!
Thanks! :variety:

 

[Spoony]

ALSO:
Anything, in particular, I should look for, partaining to issues/concerns? :eyes:
Any trans/motor issues with this particular year/model? It is a 1989 XJ Limited, 4.0L automatic.

 

[DeathByXJ]

I wonder if the head gasket's really blown. The 89 has the bogus cooling system (search the forum for clues) and I even had a knucklehead mechanic tell me my gasket was blown.. three years and 30K miles ago. Just needed a new coolant bottle cap. Still, don't pay much for the '89... especially if he believes the head gasket's toast.

 

[DeathByXJ]

other issues

Also make sure the rear mail seal isn't leaking oil.. that the power steering pump's not doing same.. and that no fuel injectors are leaking. But do a search...

 

[Spoony]

Re: other issues

Well, the price is $500USD and it does run/drive. Interior is almost perfect. Couple small dents on the outside, but nothing serious.
I did peak underneath, and everything seemed, for the most part, dry.

He says they just had to replace coolant quite often. I will probably buy it tomorrow. Worst case, I could part it down and get my money back (hopefully). I will give it a good going over, come the weekend. Maybe I can get lucky and the head gasket be ok.
As for the fuel injectors, I saw no leaks, as I had it idling for approx. 15 minutes. Only thing wet uptop was the valve cover (typical)..

Thanks for the heads up! I'll search archives for the coolant issues..

 

[Matthew Currie]

It's not that hard to check for a head gasket leak. You could do a compression check to start, or maybe a pressure test of the cooling system if you can find an adapter for the cap. Check the exhaust for white steam/smoke when you start it up.

There are a lot of reasons why an 89 might overheat and lose coolant without actually having anything wrong with the engine. The radiator might be on its way out. It will run hot if the fins are corroding off, common at that age. As "DeathbyXJ" mentions, the cap is a weak point, and it will lose coolant especially if the bad rad. makes it run hot. Actually, it isn't all that big a deal to replace a head gasket if it comes to that. I wouldn't bother with a new head unless the valves are bad. The heads on these are cast iron.

I'd buy it and then decide how much I like it and take it from there.

 

[Spoony]

Well, I bought it, and towed it back 53mi to my house on my dollies.
I bought a battery on the way to pick it up, as it's current one was totally dead.
After getting it home and inspecting it a little further... looks like a gas-can cap on the coolant reserviour!
It also has a fairly rough idle, with noise (doesnt sound like a rod or anything detrimental) coming from #5/6 area.. Almost sounds like a dead cylinder, so Im ASSuMEing is may be two adjacent cylinders swapping compression.. Just a guess. If you rev it up a little, say to around 2500-3000, it smooths out.

4WDand all seem to work. The transfer lever shows:
2WD
4WD (part time)
4WD (full time)
N
4LO

When I put it in p/t4wd, the "Part Time" light illuminates on the dash. It stays lit when it is in "full time" as well, but no "full time" indicator illuminates. Is this normal?

Everything seems to work, down to the stock Jeep am/fm/cassette! Oh.. the pass. power seat has some issues.

All in all, Im happy, thusfar, but I do need to figure out whats up with the motor. If any of you live close-by, feel free to come share your expertise!
I'll check on the above areas of mention today, as well as take a few pics. It'll be dirty, but Im not gonna stand in 6* temps and try to wash off the dirt! LOL

 

[Spoony]

OK, latest.. I topped off the coolant reserviour and started it up. I let it idle long enough to where it started to warm up, at which time the "gascan lid" began to let coolant seep past the lid and begin to drip. As it continued to idle, I started removing one plugwire at a time fromt he distr. cap, listening for any changes in idle. The only one that did not make any changes was #4. So I will do a compression test of this cylinder, hopefully later today.

Any other suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[Spoony]

Heres a link to the pictures I took today..
'89 Cherokee Ltd

 

[Fryphax]

Looks nice. I got just like it, got it for free because my neighbors couldn't get it to start. Would crank forever, but not start. Came to find out after I pulled the motor/trans/t-case that it didn't have a CPS! Yours is in much better shape than mine was though. Great deal for 500

 

[MoFo]

You have the wrong cap on that coolant bottle. Go by the dealer and get the right one and you will be able to keep some antifreeze in it. Don't even think about one from the junk yard. They have a low life expectancy.

 

[Spoony]

You have the wrong cap on that coolant bottle. Go by the dealer and get the right one and you will be able to keep some antifreeze in it. Don't even think about one from the junk yard. They have a low life expectancy.

Yeah, looks like it's from an old gas can or something. I will get one tomorrow (or at least order it if it isn't on hand.)

I don't see any coolant leaking around the head area, but then again, I haven't let it run long enough to reach operating temps, either. With a "dead" #4 cylinder, I'm wondering if it is a gasket failure or a valve issue, beings it has 183k miles on it.

On another note, any ideas as to what rear end that is? Is it a Dana 35?

 

[XJ91]

Judging by its roundness, threaded fill cap, it looks like a Corp. 8.25.

 

[Spoony]

LOW idle issues

UPDATE:
Pulled #4 plug.. ceramic inside electrode was all missing :doh:
So, I bought new Autolites, new wires, cap, rotor button and installed it all. Low and behold! The miss was gone! Idled smooth as cream. So I drove it around the block a few times and got it up to operating temp. Then it began to idle roughly 4-500rpm! It revs fine, accels fine, just barely stays running @ stopsigns and in PARK, I assume due to the low idle.

Any ideas as to why or what causes such a low idle? 4.0L MPI non H.O., automatic trans.

Thanks!

 

[ILLXJ]

The rear end is not the 8.25. It is flat on the bottom and has a rubber fill plug. Looks like you got the 35.

 

[Flyfisher]

Hey, as a fellow '89 XJ Limited owner ('89 Wagoneer Limited), I think you got a great deal. I got mine from my father-in-law in '00 for $1,500. Mine has 225,000 miles on the original 4.0 engine. I have had engine over-heat problems...mostly due to pressure leaks. I had a crack in the overflow tank, and slow leaks in hoses. I replaced the overflow tank (get it from Quadratec...it's the same as factory for about 1/2 the price) and all the hoses...now it's fine.

Sorry, I'm not much help with the rough idle problem...would check electrical. Regarding the 4x4 indicator lights, there is a "full-time" light that should light after the gears have engaged in the transfer case. Sometimes, mine sticks in part-time until I take a corner, then it "clicks" into full-time. That's due to the need for gears to line up. You might try driving left and right to change the differential speed of front and read drivelines to get gears to line up, that might do the trick.

I've turned mine into a project vehicle. So far, 3" Skyjacker lift, transfer case lowering kit, swaybar discos, 31" BFG All-Terrains, and on-board air. I plan on lockers and an SYE kit in the near future.

Good luck!

 

[sidriptide]

looks like my trail rig.. but nicer.. the rear axle appears to be a Dana 35... resivoir cap is definatley wrong.. i have a question though.. how full is the coolant tank? it should only be filled to the top of the small vertical post inside below the fill cap.. if it is too full it will expand and overflow when it heats up... my 87 ran like total crap until i replaced the O2 sensor, might be a good idea...
mike

 

[90NHXJ]

Re: LOW idle issues

My 90 (4.0 MPI) was running real rough at idle once. It had a hard time not stalling at stop signs as well. I had to keep my foot on the gas. I tried playing around with the throttle positioning sensor but that wasn't it. I unplugged the MAP sensor on the back firewall to look at the connections (look for corrosion) and plugged it back in and it ran great for a while. It did it again a while later and I did the same thing and it's been fine ever since. That was about 2 years ago. Now has 200,000 on her.

 

[JimC]

My '89 requires a good throttle body cleaning about every six months to idle well. I don't remove the TB, but make sure everything is clean around the butterfly and remove the IAC (idle air controller) and make sure the pintle and seat are very clean. What really helped though, was replacing the CPS (crankcase position sensor) which I had to do recently to cure another problem. Good luck -- sounds like you got a bargain!

 

[red87cherokee]

I copied this from another thread but forgot where I got it, so I can't give proper attribution or even ask for permission to post it. (If it is your property, and you don't want me to use it . . . let me know - I apologize in advance and will remove it immediately).

I hope this helps with axle identification - unfortunately it doesn't have the "Corp. 8.25" on it.