thinking of buying a jeep...

Hey guys I’m trying to talk my husband into getting a Jeep (not new it would be early90s maybe late 80s) but he keeps saying that the 4 cylinder is underpowered and the 6’s have bottom end trouble and not reliable, so I just wanted to get all your opinions on this, If I do get him to agree to a jeep am I in for a lot of *I told you so’s??

thanks
Michelle

Hi Michelle, and welcome to AF.

The "I told you so's" depend on the vehicle you're buying. On any older vehicle you are going to have issues with repairs (some major). It's all going to depend on what the previous owner(s) did to maintain the vehicle, and how they treated it while they had it.

That said, the 2.5L 4 cylinder is a bit weak. I owned a 97 and it was not in any way fast, and the largest tires I had on it were 235/75R15. But it did fine off road, though I needed to be in 4Lo almost all the time.

The 4.0L fuel injected engine has had a couple problems with durability here and there, but most people will tell you they hold up very well. I've known people with well over 200K miles on theirs, and they are still running strong.

If you get into the late 80's models, you may run across the 4.2L. It's a carbureted inline six. Very good low end torque, but a bit weak on the highway. I'm not sure of reliability of this motor however.

Hope this helps.....

Hey thanks for that info, we went and looked at two today and they were only a year apart (89 and a 90) and wow what a difference between the two, the 90 was a MUCH nicer Jeep, it’s a 4.2 I believe (it was a 6cylinder) clean, nice paint (not faded, red) body lift (hubby works on cars and said it was in great condition as well) only thing he found was it looks like someone put a different carburetor on it and some of the sensors have been changed but it ran really nice. Also he saw some rust coming out of the front outer universals, but said that was easy to put new ones in… the 89 had rusty rims, dirty, noisy lifter, body was starting to rot, didn’t even have light truck tires on it :eek7:! And they were the same price!! I think we might go make an offer on the 90, and after looking at that one even hubby is excited about getting a jeep! (woo hooo) :lol2:

Im sure we will be a regular here soon!!
thanks
Michelle

:bigthumb:

A 4.2L with a different carb is a GOOD thing. The stock carbs had their own set of problems and putting a different carburetor (probably a Weber) is a great way to get away from that.

Myself, I would wait and find a 4.0L with fuel injection, a 1991 would be the first year for this. Fuel injection makes a whole different animal out of an already great setup.

My son and I have owned A BUNCH of Jeeps over the years and think the 4.0L with regular maintenance is easily a 200-250,000 mile engine. I personally can think of 5 without trying that are near or over the 200,000 mile mark.

Good luck in your hunt.

-slacker

Good to know slacker, I’ll pass that info onto hubby, since our price range is so low I don’t think we will find anything newer then this, most that we can afford are late 80s so to find a 90 in that rage I think will be the best we can get :dunno: …. But hubby is really good with cars so if down the road we want to put the 4.0 in it that would be possible wouldn’t it?? My dad gets awesome deals at a lot of the wreckers (they all know him by name, he’s a regular LOL) so I could tell him to keep his eyes open for a good deal on a 4.0…

Michelle

well shes ours, I hope this picture works....

http://www.freewebs.com/our_fish/small2.jpg
Michelle
(you might have to copy and paste it into a window)

(humm sorry seems to not be working, not sure why.... :confused: )

Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet


:bigthumb::bigthumb:

JD

Good deal! Enjoy.

OK maybe this pic will work :smokin:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/501/360579jeep.jpg

Michelle

Bingo.