New 1994 JGC Ltd Owner (long)

[HanibalTheCannibal]

Hello all! I am usually in the silverado forum, and I love this website. My wife and I just relocated to New England so I needed to get her a 4wd.

I am going to have the Jeep delivered next week from NJ. It is a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 5.2, Auto, Full&Part time 4wd (?) This jeep is from the original owners son. The father passes away. All the pics look real good, and it only has less than 66,000 original miles!! I ran a Carfax, and a vin check, and all is clear. His father was @nal about cleaning it, just like me

My questions are these: I am a maintenace freak. I change my oil in my silvy 3000 miles, I use Mobil1, the whole nine yards. I clean the engine bay so clean you could eat off of it. So I want to get a thorough understanding of this jeep. I want to change all fluids when I get it, before winter gets here. So:

1. What type of tranny fluid (Mobil1?) ATF4, ATF5 etc??

2.Should I just do a pan drop, filter, refill?

3. transfer case: What weight of oil, and should I use synthetic?

4. Differentials: Same thing-what weight, and synthetic yes or no?

5. Coolant- Do these just use the standard old green stuff? I will flush and fill myself.

6. Brake fluid- I will bleed and use synthetic DOT3

7. Anything else I should know about these jeeps (problem areas etc)?

We just had a baby, so I am pretty much wanting to make sure this jeep has no issues when my wife and 3 kids are in it. I would hate to have them get stuck in the bitter cold. (And its fun working on stuff)

Please reply

[dksob81]

1 & 2). I recommend ATF+4 and I would have the entire system flushed and change the filter as well. ATF+3 is whats required but +4 is better, also once you go to ATF+4 you cannot use anything else.

3). The transfer case calls for dexron/mercon ATF Fluid nothing special, but since you have the 5.2L you also have the Quadra-Trac (all time 4WD), so I would use a synthetic version, this will help keep the VC from overheating and failing prematurely.

4). Standard axle 75W-90, vehicle with tow package use 75W-140 Synthetic. Rear Axles equipped with Trac-Lok Require a bottle of MOPAR FRICTION MODIFIER.

5). Yes the standard green stuff.

As for problem areas there are a few.
Rockers panels tend to rust out.
VC - Viscous Coupling are a big problem in the quadra-trac transfer case, but this jeep only has 66,000 miles so you shouldn't have to worry about it for awhile, also the use of the synthetic tranny fluid in the transfer case will help prevent this from failing.
Many electrical things, especially at the door jams - the wiring for the windows locks etc, tend to break.
Just to name a few

Don't let this scare you though, I had my last ZJ (1994 w/ 5.2L) for about 3 years before I totaled it last september, and had a few problems but they were all pretty minor stuff. I just bought a new one (98 5.9Limted) back in JANUARY. ZJ do have there problems but they are pretty reliable.