I bought this 89 Cherokee with the 6 cyl 4.0 for $250 maybe a month ago and as suspected i have problems. the first night it snowed every single frost plug fell out except for two that were rusted in and full of holes that the guy bondo'd over. Not a drop of anti-freaze was in it, just water.

After drilling a hole in the two rusted ones and not being able to pull them out i just slapped some more bondo over them and it sealed good enough :) but now that its cold the starter can hardly turn over the motor if even that. I just got a new battery and sometimes before winter i had to wiggle wires and punch the starter to get it to even turn over let alone start IN WARM WEATHER!

well now im just wondering if i need a $170 starter for my $200 car, all i want it to do is move me around! How do i know if it's the $170 starter and not the $13 solenoid? plz help! Im over $5,000 in debt and honestly cant afford anything for it, what should i do???

That would likely be the price of a "new" starter. There are good quality remanufactured ones for about half that price. (I replaced mine with one from AutoZone)

Plain water inside is a big NO-NO. The water probably froze and push the plugs out. It could also damage your radiator and other internal cooling passages.

What happens when you turn the key to start? Do you hear any clicking? Does the starter turn but not fast enough?

If you have to strike the starter to get it to go, then the starter itself is likely bad.

There is a solenoid on the starter itself that could be bad. These (at AZ) cost about $30.

I'd double check the wiring. Remove the cables from the battery and make sure they are clean. Peel back some of the insulation around the terminals and check for corrosion. Replace the cables if you see any. Then disconnect the cables from the starter and check them as well. One will be the big one coming from the battery, the small one powers the solenoid.

Make sure your battery cables are disconnected before you use any tools.

I dont know if hitting it helped, but when i did that and messed with wires it would work in the summer. As for the frost plugs, the far back plug that is hardest to reach is leaking again, and a big hump of bondo is on the driveway. is there anything else i can use in 20 degree weather that will seal the rusty plug?

The starter would just hardly work in summer (after messing with wires) and since its cold now it doesnt even turn. it does makes a click but thats it, it turned in the beggining of winter but wouldnt start and im thinking i might have drained the battery trying to start it unsucsefully for a few weeks. Should I be working on the plug or the starter first? haha.

You could try JB Weld on the plug but you will probably have to clean the rust off to make anything stick. If you do that, you may as well put a plug in. I would try to solve the starter problem first. If you can't get it started, you don't have to put coolant in it. You can save some cash by getting a starter from a salvage yard but I wouldn't try a new starter untill I did all the things that Saudade suggests. Bad wires and dirty connections will cause the starter to turn slow or not at all. When it's cold out your battery is putting out less to begain with.

i tried drilling a hole in the plug and jamming something in there to pull it out but its so rusted in it wont even come close to being pulled out. i've tried welders glue, caulk, gasket maker stuff, and bondo to seal it. I dont think there is enough room to weld it even if i had a welder, i had to take some of the exhaust off to just barely fit the small drill. Anyways does anyone know anything i could use to just slap over the plug? there has to be something, bondo worked on one of the front plugs but this one is almost impossible to reach and i have to go under the car to get to it, and do it all by feel.

My dad and I are going to try and jump the jeep with his car later today, hopefully i just drained the battery. Thanks for the help.

The freeze plug that your trying to fix should be knocked out. They make special punches to get in between the block and the plug but you really don't want to knock it in.We use them at work to get between a hollow shaft and bushings, it has a peeling effect breaking the bushing and doesn't score the ID. If you can break enough of the wall of the plug you may be able to pry it out in pieces.Welding is out of the question !! Don't know how much room you have but I have used an Epoxy compound that comes in a cigar shaped tube that we have used to seal gas tanks with while they're still leaking- and its still on some belive it or not. Its like a gray clay that hardens and is unbeatable. I have a tube at work but won't be in till friday to see exactly what the name is. You really should try to get the plug(s) out. Best of luck. I'll post when I find the stuff.

JB Weld is a two part epoxy product that works great on all kinds of metal repair jobs. You can find it at auto parts or hardware stores. What ever you use must be able to expand and contract as the block does when it heats and cools or it will not last long.

I have got rusty, leaking freezeout plugs out before like Crys36 recommends, using a chisel to get between the edge of the plug and the block. You may have to grind the tip of the chisel to a tapered triangle shape, then when it starts in between the block and the plug, it collapses the wall of the plug loosening it up so you can grab it with pliers and pull it out.

Another idea may be a expandable rubber plug such as is used in plumbing. I don't know if it would stand the heat of the block or if one would be available in the correct size to fit. But they just insert into a hole and expand when you tighten the nut, plugging the hole, pipe, or whatever. They are made in a lot of sizes and you may get lucky and find one in the proper size

Well im really excited now, i used some epoxy stuff thats like two tubes in one and you have to mix em kinda stuff, and a entire bottle of gasket maker stuff and it sealed the plug! YAY. i charged my battery with my dads car and the starter turns over now just fine, but it wont fire up. im checking if it has spark and fuel today but i gatta wait for a jump to turn it over and see. will gasket rubber blue stuff that i slapped on there melt off or do you think it will stay? im so happy i finally got the hole plugged, plz tell me it wont melt off once i get it started haha. Thanks a lot for the help.

alright well i jumped it and it turned over great and its obviously getting spark (OUCH) then looked around for a while and noticed fuel dripping, like a pretty hefty steady drip, coming from the main fuel line before it goes into the fuel rail. took the line out and the O ring is good but the clip thing doesnt clip back into the circle thing from the main line...so i threw some more gasket sealer over the end of the line and made it water tight, now i just have to wait until it dries to see if it did the trick. Could it be a clogged fuel filter, is that what the thing is that the main line connects to? help plz!!!

For 250$ and you probably spent 100$ worth of gas getting all over the place to buy all these fix it goos and another 50$ on the goo. I don't like playing around with any type of fuel leak unless its done the proper way. I can picture U going down the road and all these temp fixes let loose and I watch the news telling me that such and such road is closed due to a car fire. Your treading on dangerous ground but its your call. Carry a fire extinguisher with you , a 5 gallon bucket of anti-freeze mix , and a jump pack. Wish I could do more but you seem to be really rushing these fixes. Seen it before and there will be more after U. GOOD LUCK.

lol im about 5g's in debt and i just need something to get me to work. This is like my 5th car and im only 19, but any temporary fix could be temporarly fixed again, and if not then its no big deal. theres so many problems im not going to spend big money on fixes then have something else go out a few hundred miles later. Actually, that would be hilarious if it started on fire haha. cmon $250 89 jeep with 180,000 miles on it. its no big deal. im just hoping that seal works on the fuel line, could it be the fuel filter or what?

I hear ya Nick. I think back in 77 when I started buying what was going to be a fleet of 100$ cars we used trhem like bic lighters. When they blew we bought another. If someone bought a car that cost more than 500$ , that was amazing, and the crap we used to do to them. Demo derby's in mall parking lots at 5am. 19 guys trying to put a tranny in a Mach 1 Mustang-drinking-smoking till the wee hours and 3 weeks later it might have run. So belive me I do UNDERSTAND. I just got kids now and try to do the right thing but them was the good ole days. Keep in touch, Merry Christmas---Chris

ok i tried to start it this morning and it did like a half a turn and stopped. Knowing that the battery wasnt charged i used my dads car again and jumped it, but now it wont even turn at all! last night it was turning over like a pro, but it wasnt getting fuel, the seal for the fuel leak worked as far as i know, but now it wont even turn over! Why would it turn over and then freeze up cuz the battery is killed, then five minutes later when i jump it now it wont do anything but click! I am so frusterated...

LOL well you were right. After trying to start it over and over just letting it click, it FINALLY started to crank, i let it crank for a good 10 seconds figuring the fuel line was full of air from when i pulled it off and all that and POOF! The really nasty looking wire from the solinoid to the starter went up in flames and started smoking and everything! I blew it out and now im figuring that the solinoid is bad and not the starter thank god. Any tips or help still would be great, could it be my fuel filter? do i even have one? what should i do now?

LOL well you were right. After trying to start it over and over just letting it click, it FINALLY started to crank, i let it crank for a good 10 seconds figuring the fuel line was full of air from when i pulled it off and all that and POOF! The really nasty looking wire from the solinoid to the starter went up in flames and started smoking and everything! I blew it out and now im figuring that the solinoid is bad and not the starter thank god. Any tips or help still would be great, could it be my fuel filter? do i even have one? what should i do now?

The very first thing you should do before all else is put comprehensive insurance coverage on it so you can afford a decent truck when this one explodes!

Come on, only a complete moron would try to cobble together high pressure fuel lines! We know you're smarter than that, right?

Go get tge correct fuel line parts, they're cheap enough from many sources, even Jeep.

Then, if it's below freezing where your truck is, the battery may have frozen after it went dead. It won't accept a charge until it thaws, assuming it's still good. You need a good, fully charged battery to get decent tests done. Your starter will pull higher and higher amperage as the voltage goes down. You will smoke the weakest part for sure.

Start there. Remember, if the battery voltage falls below about 9-10volts, the computer shuts down and cant control the fuel pump, injs etc correctly.