jvwalzak

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and am interested in a 1988 2 door, 4x4, auto. with 106K. It is a former military police vehicle that was donated to the local sheriff's office, then the local school board, then auctioned off to the current ower-who works for the school board, and is now for sale for $1100.

It sounded good, no power windows/locks, decent brakes, no rust, decent paint and interior. When I talked to the current owner today he said another looky-loo told him that only 3 wheels were working when in 4wd. Someone else that supposedly raced jeeps told him this was not uncommon. They tested this on a dirt road. Do any of you have any thoughts on this?

I'm not trying to get a rock crawler. Just a small 4x4 to carry camping gear and kayaks. I consider myself mechanically inclined as I've maintained several old cars but this would be my 1st 4x4. Is this really not unusual?

Thanks for the help.

Thanks Iant333,

I googled the posi-lock kit. It looks reasonable. Would driving it in 2wd until I could fix it cause any more damage. I may not be as mechanically inclined as a I think. Swapping the axl might be a little much for me. I've only had to deal with 1 drive axl in the past.

Given the info you have, do you think I should keep looking?

Thanks for the replies,

From what I know I wouldn't automatically think something was wrong just by what I was told. But like I said, I'm new to 2 transaxles. I suppose the only way to truly test it would be to put it on something what would require traction from whichever front wheel didn't spin. I'll find out tomorrow if it didn't sell tonight.

In my other thread, I forgot to mention that the seller said it was hard to start. He said it had sat for a bit-I have no idea how long. I've heard fuel injector replacement requires taking the head off on this model. He said the fuel pump has been replaced. He said it runs fine when warm. I live in the southeast so it's not cold. It's the Strait 6, low output motor from 1988, which should have the Renux? fuel injection system. Do I have to take the head off to replace fuel injectors on this Jeep? I haven't seen it yet. I was told not to give more than $800 either way.

Thanks for your help. I just want to know what I'm getting in to.

Thanks, I'll check the rotor, cap, and wires, supposedly has new plugs. Hopefully just old gas.

Iant333

If its a front wheel that wont drive, its probobly because the vacuum disconnect on the front axle is broken, it's not really common on most 4x4's but it happens on these occaisionally. You can fix it fairly cheap with a 4x4 posi-lok kit I beleive. Or if you are mechanically inclined you can swap in a later model front axle since they discontinued the vacuum disconnect system in like 92 or 93 I beleive. You could also actually fix the disconnect system also but thats just bandaging the problem since its a terrible design.

Throttle Jockey

if the vaccuum isn't working then it would not pull from the front with a limited slip diff, maybe it is working and only one wheel hooked up so the other one spun.

Iant333

It seems like a good buy, if thats all thats wrong I would fix it. It wont hurt it driving in 2wd at all, and even 3wd probobly wont hurt it, you just arent going to get the traction you should be. The posi-lok kit is a good fix if you think you can install it, its easier than a new axle (but even that isnt too bad, solid axles are easy to work with). No problem, good luck with your Jeep, whatever you decide to buy.

Destro

I want to know how they figured out it only has 3wheel drive... with open diffs only one wheel gets power on each axle if one slips anyway. :-)

Iant333

You know actually that just slipped my mind that that would happen. It might have to do with the disco system still, they are known to break all the time, but yeah I didnt think of that.

Destro

Yeah, I'm not saying it is not a 3 wheel drive XJ, I just want to know how they figured that out... Only one wheel spinning on loose gravel up front?

If you go ahead with it, plan on fixing it but you may get lucky and have it be just fine. If not the posi-lock I have heard is pretty straight forward. Even swapping axles on these guys is pretty easy. I found that out doing my lift- you pretty much remove the axles to do the springs, track bar, quick discos and extended brake lines.