Jeep Cherokee, Pro's and Con's

I've bought two Charokees in a month so I can give you some pointers. First was a 89 with 109k miles and original owner. Lots of mechanical parts from front axel u joints to tail pipe. Second is a 96 with 139k miles. Much better condition (half the age). What you need to look for is rust in the floor pan. From underneath, any peeling of the factory rustproofing is a sure sign. It's a major project removing the carpet but I did on both. Seats and console must come out along with lots of plastic trim.It starts where two parts are welded together. This includes floor pan to unibody frame rails, seat and seatbelt reinforcement pieces.Water getts between them and does it's deed. On the 89 it was barly visable from the outside but there were gaping holes visable from the inside. The 96 was is in far better shape with just areas starting to swell up. I liberally sprayed the inside and underside with a wax based rustproofing. Hoping to get it between the various plates. Wax is not as durable as a tar based stuff but heals it's self when nicked or whatever and I'll need to reapply it yearly. It solvant based so it may also soften the original rustproofing that's hardened.

Rust along the rocker panels and rear quarters and under the floor. Paint that gets sunburned and peels. Headliners (see below )seperate from their foam backing and fall. CCV on the 4.0 system needs to be kept clean or it will push oil out of the seals. The Crank Position Sensor is a known problem and reported to be a bear to replace. The auto transmissions around 1990 were made in France -- my local shop won't touch `em because it takes too long to get parts. The fuel pump seems to have about a 10 year design life, the radiator and water pump about 12 years.

The headliner: You can repair it yourself. Start with the dome lights, pop out the lense, the lamp (it gets hot!) twist out the press-on spring-steel nuts with pliers and unplug the dome light assembly. Then start at the back. Remove the trim at the edge of the liner over the rear hatch, then the side pieces (don't bother seperate them, just take out the screws and pull the metal pieces away from the plastic over the door.) Each metal side piece has a white plastic spacer captured by a screw, it will fall out at you when you pull it out. Pry the caps off the over-door grab handles (not too hard, they're anchored at the outer edge of the base), remove two Torx scews from each, let the trim flop out of the way. The trim over the driver's door has a mounded in barbed fastener, just pull it away from the roof. Pry out the caps over the screws in the trim on each windshield pillar, remove the screws and let the trim flop around. Remove the visors, if you have the vanity mirror you'll have to unplug the wires behind the right pillar trim.

The headliner is a fabric piece backed with foam rubber and glued to a formed fiberglass shell. The foam rots and lets the fabric droop. The fiberglass shell is attached at the front by two heavy-duty "velcro"-type strips. Give it a good pull, either the velcro will part or it will pull away from the fiberglass. If it does just glue it back on. The shell is supported along the sides by a couple of U-channel clips, nothing fancy. Release it all the way around and pull it out through the rear hatch.

Lay the liner fabric side up and release the edges (they don't rot -- go figure), work your way to the center so you can fold the fabric over itself. Don't pull it all the way off, you'll never get it lined up again, just go to the center line. Brush away any remaining rotted foam. Using 3M Spray Trim Adhesive (the kind that says on the label "Not for repairing headliners" --seriously) spray an 8" strip on the shell and the back of the fabric. Pull the fabric over, smooth it out, repeat on another 8" swath until you get to the edge. Don't try to glue the entire half in one go because you'll never get the fabric to lay flat witout sticking in the wrong place or to itself. Now release the other half and repeat. Let the solvents boil off for a couple of days -- you don't want to be in a closed car with this stuff.

Reinstall the way it came out. Line up the rear edge and press up to make the velcro grab.

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Thanks to all