Hello, I'm new to this group. I just joined, although I am a member at WranglerForum and have a '95 YJ.


I need to know if this will become more of a pain and waste of time, than it is worth... I just want it to take the doors off and hot rod around the sand dunes, for a few summers.


There is an opportunity for me to buy a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L with 240k miles, for $200-$300, as the owner was going to scrap it anyway. It runs, but it won't start. My buddy's dad says something was rubbing against the wiring harness, and he didn't want to dig deeper to find what was shorting out. And he said it was running rough, and thinks the head gasket needs to be replaced. He is very good with vehicle repairs, mainly Jeep Wranglers. He said it will run when he feeds it gas himself.


I think I can learn how to replace a head gasket myself, but I'm bad with vehicle wiring... The body is in good shape and the 4x4 works great.


Before I present my case to my wife, I'd like to know what I'm getting into. Does anything start to go around 240k miles?

 

Honestly, no. I don't think it's a wise investment. If you are not confident in your abilities to tackle the problems it has (or may have) with that kind of mileage, you're looking at a money pit.

As for "does anything start to go around 240k miles" I'll be blunt.... the short answer, absolutely. The long answer would be that we have no idea exactly what begins to go around that kind of mileage because everyone uses vehicles differently and components wear differently not to mention the vehicle's location plays an important role. Non rust belt vehicles may have nearly no rust versus a vehicle that spent its life in the rust belt. See where I'm going with this?

Either way, welcome to the forum.

 

Since you're 'bad with vehicle wiring', then I'd say no.

But there's really not much to it... All you really need is time and patience, a wiring diagram of the vehicle, plus a few tools like a multimeter (one with a continuity setting), a combo wire cutter/crimper/stripper tool, some terminals and connectors, extra wire, heat shrink, electrical tape... actually it sounds like a lot of stuff, but most of it is cheap, and lots of it comes in sets like this: https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-50413A-...al+repair++set

Oh, and more time and patience.

 

As Jeepin' said, sounds like a money pit to me also!
There's probably good reason(s) the owner wants to scrap it. Maybe you can sort out the problems, maybe not.
Unless you have a lot of free time and need an ongoing hobby, i agree with the previous posts.

Having said all that, if you go ahead and buy it and determine its a lost cause, you can still recoup some of the $300 by scrapping it your self.

 

Money pit.

At 240k here are some of the joys to look forward to:

1. Random electrical issues from wires that have been through thousands of heat cycles and are finally getting very brittle and internally corroded.

2. The failure of any and all important sensors that have not already been replaced (CPS, TPS, MAP, O2, ECT, etc)

3. The failure of any and all rubber bushings that have not already been replaced (control arms, sway bars, motor mounts, trans mounts, etc).

4. The failure of any and all u-joints that have not already been replaced.

5. Sloppy steering due to worn out front-end components and intermediate steering shaft u-joints, and possibly steering gearbox play.

240k is not a good mileage to buy at unless there is some compelling reason to believe otherwise. Like for example, it runs great, and was babied by a previous owner that fixed everything along the way. But since it doesn't start, and "may need a head gasket". That is clearly not the case.

 

The bad head gasket may be a cracked head that is common on some 99's - 01

 

If it doesn't have the dreaded 0331 head....4.0's are pretty tough to kill. If it's not an 0331 head and some wire, fuse, or even the fuel pump is the only problem....? $200 for some fun? Coil packs or a distributor? I forget where the head casting # is stamped. It is a very tough engine. One of mine is fine at 280K, and the one I just bought a bit back, 200K didn't bother me a bit.

 

With an asking price of only $200-300 followed by the word "scrap", it does not sound very promising. Even if you could get that money back in scrap, try to find out exactly what is wrong with it before buying, otherwise it will be a waste of time. You could always part it out, but that takes time and space. You will need boxes to ship the stuff, and then there is shipping, etc..

If it were me, id keep looking. Buy something you can drive right now.

 

I bought a 90 XJ from a buddy of mine for $500. He put a new motor in it 4 years ago and basically stopped all maintenance about 3 years ago. Runs great, but was a mess. I've dumped probably $1500 in parts, including the lift components I pieced together. Lot of work but it's been fun. That said, I wouldn't bother with that one. I know the Grands of those years have electrical issues even when in good shape. I like my 90 XJ as it is fairly simple when compared to the newer stuff.

 

Thank you all for your replies!! I still need to talk to my wife about it.....
But the reasoning behind wanting to buy it is that I could learn how to fix these types of things. For $200-$300, I can get that from the junk yard, or part it out and make more than that... My cousin told me over the weekend that he is good with wiring and can help me. Thank you DFlintstone for the advice on the engine serial numbers, i'll look into that as well. 240k miles don't really bother me, but I'm usually putting the miles on and trust it at that point. 240k miles from someone else is a little more scary. And if things go bad with the electric system, I could always put a carb on it....


What I'm most scared of, is putting a little money into to get going, feel invested, then having something go bad and want to put more money into it.... ha If I could get this summer out of it on the dunes, I'd be a happy camper!! Or I could focus putting the money and time I would put into this Cherokee, into my wife's YJ, but not beat on it at the dunes... ha I just like learning how to fix stuff.....

 

I don't know, man. For like $500, you can find a running XJ to beat on. You can still repair it, and learn along the way, but it will be a working XJ that you can use immediately.

I see it as two options, and which is more important to you:

1. Get in your beater XJ and hit the dunes
2. Diagnose and repair someone else's beater XJ (and then, maybe, hit the dunes.)

(EDITED: I just realized you are talking about a Grand Cherokee, and not an XJ Cherokee. My advice is still valid. Do you want a toy to play with now? Or do you want a project now and a toy later?)

 

The Head! Head casting #'s. 00 and 01 have 0331's that have nasty habits. A 99 I would check, may or may not have an 0331. You could search that, there's plenty!

 

I would buy for parts only.

 

So I think I am going to pass. I think I knew it was a bad idea (time&money), but I needed to hear it from people that have experience with this vehicle anyway. Plus, if I put that time and money into my wife's YJ and my old fishing boat, I think I'd be a bit happier with the time spent. Ugh, too many projects, I need to start focusing on the ones I already have... haha