hello I am a mama of a very sad 17 yr old boy. He spent his money on a 1989 jeep cherokee and he took it to a mechanic to look it over and tell him what he needed to do to get it running. The mechanic (which mama bear has not spoke with yet lol) told him it will take $4000 to get it running. brake system needs to be replaced, all pullies are rusted and the transmission needs to be replaced. The mechanic has a jeep sitting out there with a blown motor and kindly offered my son $200 for his minus the $30 he is charging him for labor for looking it at it, so $170. Mechanic says the motor is good and he can put it in his jeep and will take my son's off his hands. So that is a big no right there. My son doesnt have $4000 to put in it. I have money to put in it and kid said if I wanted to I could have it and he would help me work on it. Below is a description of the Jeep, what do you all think? Kid is mechanical and I am too so we can do most work ourselves. Should I make kid work on it? He was excited till he got the news from the mechanic.

It has been sitting for years and put a new fuel pump in it and it ran strong but got hot. radiator needs to be replaced cause it is just nasty. Transmission was fine till my son washed the engine and now it doesnt come out of second. I researched and found there is a sensor that could be the problem. The interior is like new, all glass is good but one wing glass. Body only has one dent paint is not so great. Belts look good on it and the pullies didnt look all rusted up to me. Fuses are missing for some reason havent checked them out yet. battery ran down on it so may need an alternator. The transmission is my biggest concern right now, how hard are they to find and replace or rebuild? I dont know about the 4x4 yet that will be second major concern worse case replacing it what am i looking at? Motor is 6 cyl and good.

So do I make this a project for my son and I or just give up on it? Sure would hate to scrap it.

 

I would keep it but I'm hanging onto my '92 Cherokee in spite of being told to let it go. I'm limited on what I can work on so it sounds like you have a perfect setup, if you have the time. Mine has 250,000 miles on it and I just bought a set of new Goodyear Wranglers for it. I'm committed but I'm sitting next to her in the garage now and she's smiling at me.

 

I say fix it up.

 

To start with run from that mechanic and run fast, they are definitely trying to screw you and your son. I highly doubt it needs everything they say and even if it does there is no way it should cost $4k (unless they are putting a brand new transmission in).


If the transmission issue only started occurring after the engine was washed it is likely a result of water getting into a connector or sensor I=(check the connectors on the back pass side of the engine near the fire-wall, disconnect, clean with contact cleaner and q-tips, etc. and reconnect). May need a range sensor/NSS, about $150.


Who gives a s*** if the pulleys have rust on them as long as it is just surface rust and they aren't bent/cracked that is a non-issue (it is very rare for the pulleys to rust through), in either case they are pretty cheap and should only take an hour or two to replace.


What in the brake system needs replaced? Pads/shoes, rotors/drums, lines, master cylinder, booster, etc. ? I would find it unlikely that everything needs replaced, though the full breaking system should still be less than $1k, (less than $500 in parts if you/your son do the work yourselves). If you have ABS and major parts need replaced convert to non-ABS, it is a lot cheaper and the early ABS was crap anyhow.

 

he's scaring you into selling it to him so he can fix his.

the pulleys have surface rust only from sitting and not running. that will all go away as you run it long enough.
same with brakes, the rotors will be rusty just from sitting, that too will clean up as you drive it.

the tranny is most likely the throttle position sensor, that helps control the trans.

first things first, the rad, you could either throw in another closed system rad or change it over to an open system with a rad cap. easy enough to do, lots of info on the interwebs.

start with that and you would be surprised just how easily everything will come together.

go for it and good luck

 

that is what I was hoping you all would say! I will be coming back in and picking your brains from time to time going to start working on it next week. Ty

 

I say take it to a couple other mechanics, ones you have used and trust before to see what they say. Sounds like the 1st mechanic is hoping to score a $170 Cherokee that only needs some basic maintenance.
I you don't mind, how much did he pay for it?

 

That mechanic is a jerk. People like that should die miserable deaths. You'd get more than that selling a few parts off of it. My faith in humanity dwindles more and more everyday....

 

I traded a four wheeler I had that didnt run and kid kicked in $200.

Kid has now given the jeep to me and thinks the mechanic is doing him a favor I thought I raised him better than that!

 

I'll give you $500 for it lol..don't get rid of it for less than $1500

 

I got friend coming up from louisiana next week and she and I are going to start on it and show this boy how it is done lol. Even if I have to replace the transmission I am going to fix it up. It has been years since I rebuilt a vehicle and this one has me excited. I have only worked on chevies in the past so I think this will be fun. kid is getting it back from the mechanic tomorrow and I am going to take some before pics. He told me tonight to do whatever I wanted with it that it was mine now.

 

Take it to another mechanic see what they say is wrong with it.It sounds like that one is making things up hoping you sell him the jeep for next to nothing.

 

Hi Phyllis and Welcome to the Forum.

You have come to the right place for help. Keep asking questions and don't worry about some of the terms and terminology that gets tossed around, just keep asking. There is nothing in the problems you have mentioned that are not common and fixable.

First lesson. Your 1989 Cherokee is called a Renix model due to the control and computer systems used. You will have to put some work and money into it but if you are willing to learn and stick with it you will have a great Jeep in the end.

The first things are FREE. There is a Forum member here called Cruiser54 who is the Renix Guru and has a laundry list of fixes. Click this link to read:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/cr...x-tips-153657/

 

That mechanic is a scumbag. Fix it. Welcome to CF

 

if the rust is not in the uniframe than dont do it I have put around $4000 including buying it and ive replaced allmost everything twice and done axle swaps all do to my hard driving style. fix it up should be a good project.