I was looking at a 1997 XJ Country edition today. It has 117k miles on it and the body is in really condition, but it has a salvaged title from it being flooded. When I drove it rode pretty good, but when I let it idle it sputters and the oil pressure goes pretty much all the way down. The owner said he would take $1200, but I decided to walk away. I'm having second thoughts on this, should I stay away from it?

 

Half the XJs on here have been flood-damaged. lol
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

low oil pressure scares me. also I'd be sure to pull the carpet up and check it out. If you do buy it you may be looking at a motor rebuild. Also you never know where some water may still be lurking. diffs, trans, etc but maybe for 800

 

my oil gauge was bad showed low oil pressure...
look inside oil fill... how bad does it look ? milky ? check oil.. wipe some on a clean white peace of paper.. hold in sun, and look for shinny things...
As the person said in 2nd post or so.. most xjs are flooded weekly on purpose...def check floor board... make list of things you find wrong.. but hey .. if its clean.. water is not much to fix,,, but if the ele system sat in water for to long its gone.. look at fuse box real good...

 

There is water still in power steering fluid and the owner said it had water in the engine and he had to change the oil twice to get all out. As far as the carpet it's pretty much soaked

 

How old is the flood damage? Do all the power options work as they are suppose to. Not excessively slow ( I know, Cherokee windows do that anyway but.....). Basically you want to make sure no major electrical damage, no water where it shouldn't be, and that its not gonna start smelling like a sofa left out on the front porch in a couple weeks.

 

Personally, I'd walk. But if you're happy stripping jeeps down in your backyard it could be a fun project. I can't see it being a good idea $$ wise once you've factored in rebuilding/replacing even a few of the major bits.

 

Walk away. Electrical woes are a nightmare and usually present when its a flooded vehicle.

 

Thanks guys for the second opinion, I think I'm going to stay away from it. The owner does not even no how long it sat like that, he says he got from the auction.

 

I just bought a flooded 2001 xj for 2000 and it runs awesome. It was in the 2011 hurricane in jersey but no problems really. Interior is pristine, engine looks a little rough on the outside but it has been rebuilt.

Oil pressure drops when idle but goes back up on acceleration. Not sending unit, i think the gauge cluster is shorting. All wiring looks to be in fairly good condition considering all the salt water its been under. All power options work no problem.. expect the stock radio which just took a **** on me.

cant say anything bad about buying a flood salvage.. I'm ready to tear it completely apart if necessary though

 

Where was it during the storm? Just curious

 

Not sure to be honest. It was in water almost to the windows cause all the rust stops in the doorjams about in inch from the window.


So far i had to replace the front wheel bearings, headlights, removed completely rusted out runner boards, oil pressure switch, tailpipe/muffler. Needs radio, speakers, new light harnesses, maybe oil pump.. I bought it knowing it's a fixer upper but for 2k with 116k miles wasn't bad bought it in impulse..

 

Yeah I guess depends on what shape its really in.. I got my 00 for 2k with no issues but if it works for you then hey...

It must have been on a barrier island with that much water tho! I'd imagine the whole interior is shot...

 

Yikes hope that wasn't salt water for 2k...

 

Wow... there's no way I would have done that.

Every electrical connection in that thing is going to be corroded to ****.

I suspect serious electrical issue threads from you in the future.