whats a 88 Wrangler Sarhara worth? and a couple other questions (long)

I'm thinking about buying an 88 Wrangler Sahara edition for a winter beater here in VA. I've got a couple questions. I've already checked KBB and NADA, now I'd like to get some opinions from some Jeep enthusiasts.

I'm not 100% on the mileage, somewhere in the 150k area. I'll be checking it out again tomorrow, as I just gunked/degreased the entire engine and drive train to look for leaks.

It has faded/oxidized paint (will look half decent after a cleaner wax and polish), no major rust, no rust on the body panels, but small spots at area's you'd expect to find it. Such as in torx bolt heads, on the door hinges; again all minor.

It's a 4.2 with a single barrel carb (the VIN states it's a 2bbl) The plastic fender flares need new paint or a strip down to the rubber. It comes with soft and hard top, hard doors, I don't remember it having AC, but the heat works. It has after market solid type (no holes) aluminum rims, with 31x10.5 R15's (decent tread) The suspension was lifted at some point. The front leafs mount to what looks like a set of cheap aftermarket steel 1/4" stock. Not good looking but they seem functional.

Knowing this, and assuming good running condition (engine trans etc.) what would you pay ballpark for this Jeep?

Now for the warts... The reason I asked what you'd pay if it was in good running condition is the owner (a good friend) and I have haggled the price down based on the work it needs to attain "good running condition" He's borderline about selling it but doesn't have the time to fix it up.

It has: relatively new tranny (replaced last year), but reverse likes to slip out if you don't keep your hand on it. An obvious oil leak between the tranny and the engine. Almost certainly the main oil seal. Possibly other Oil leaks (I'll be checking that tomorrow that's why I degreased it). It idles, after a long warm up (but not if you kick off the choke before it's warm), but will stall when starting out after a stop (when applying throttle slowly the RPM's sometimes bottom out). The carb was rebuilt but I don't think they did a good job. It will backfire out of the carb. The engine (obviously) eats oil. There's a good coating of oil inside the air filter housing and a blackened carb after it was cleaned a couple months back (by me). So Oil is getting up in there. It looks like a lot of the smog and vacuum stuff has been disconnected or rendered useless at various times. The two vacuum operated deals on the air intake (before the filter housing) don't seem to be functional. Oh and the right front tire is showing odd wear and probably needs alignment.

I have a good idea of what I'm getting into, it's certainly a project... But the rest of the Jeep is in good enough condition that it's probably worth doing. Now what would you pay (ballpark) for a project like this knowing it may need a new carb, work getting the sensors and vacuum operated stuff hooked back up, possible engine rebuild. New rear seal etc?

I appreciate anyone taking the time to read all this :)

Reply to
Simon Juncal
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I agree. I don't know if it's for the same reasons, though. The Wrangler is a short wheelbase Jeep. Sure, the 4wd is nice in some conditions, but on slippery roads, most people would prefer a longer wheelbase for stability. The Wrangler has a tendency to swap ends in icy conditions. In addition, the Wrangler has "part-time" 4wd that you don't want to be using on dry or partially covered road surfaces. This means you can end up shifting back and forth between 2wd and 4wd or leaving it in 2wd all the time. You would be better (wheelbase wise) with a cherokee or grand cherokee. If you're looking for a "beater", I'd seriously consider an older fsj, like the wagoneer or grand wagoneer. A lot of these have "full-time" 4wd which can be left in 4wd all the time with no serious consequences. They are heavy and they have longer wheelbases. You can get one for pretty cheap if you don't care much about the condition of the body. Even a pretty nice one can be had for a reasonable price if you shop around a bit. Look on ebay. Good luck, TJim

98 TJ SE 90 SJ GW

Reply to
TJim

I would like to address the "An obvious oil leak between the tranny and engine. Almost certainly the oil main seal." comment.

Aside from the sentence strucure problems, while it might appear to be an obvious leak in this area, it is most likely a leak from the valve cover gasket. The rear main is an easy enough fix to make, but the valve cover is much easier, and the oil that is getting on or in the carb could be coming from clogged stuff in the valve cover, stuff like the PCV .... (Find what Mike Romain has to say about the carb, and follow his advice.)

Some of your earliest adventures in wrenching should be the valve cover, and the carb. These two excursions through parts consumption should solve most of the problems you are talking about.

Reply to
J Strickland

Seriously it's got no bad rust. Only surface rust on area's that have gotten the paint scratched off from taking down the top or removing the hard doors. or just naturally collect water inside the torx bolts heads. I had a 65 Mustang that died from VA rust, so I'm pretty diligent about rust when buying an old vehicle.

I've driven everything from a Chrysler LaBaron, a friends Jeep, to a RWD

2500 pound corolla in winter. Last winter my 95 Mustang GT (5.0 V8 with low profile performance tires) convertible suffered through, and I'm not putting her through that blitzkrieg of salt and sand again one way or another ;)

The Jeep (or other AWD/4x4) is 99% for getting out of my driveway and 4 odd miles of country road that typically all remain snowed in (sometimes deeply) for a few days. It wont see a lot of ice... The other 1% of the motivation is to have something that I can leave a bad paint job on so the salt and sand don't matter. I recognize that the Jeep isn't going to be good on ice, it is good (I borrowed it last winter) at making it's own way through a foot of unplowed snow so I can get to the shop and use the bob-cat to plow the long driveway at work.

Reply to
Simon Juncal

Duely noted. Ok ignoring aplication, what are people opinions of it's value? If it was in good working order, versus what you'd pay for a real project which it is.

Reply to
Simon Juncal

Yep without looking closer I'd say that's the trans it has... Got to be something wrong with it if reverse wont stay in...

Reply to
Simon Juncal

Naw, a loose or broken engine or tranny mount can cause that easily.

A lot of the other things are easy fixes too....

Be sure you run a clean rag along the back of the head when it is running, if you find oil, you have found the 'rear seal' leak... The valve covers are sneaky.

If you buy it I will walk you through the emissions and carb junk, the black and oil is emissions related. A kit for the carb is about $20.00.

Here in Canada, that Jeep would sell for about 2K. Just for parts if nothing else.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Reply to
Mike Romain

What? My writing is perfect. Just like everyone else on usenet. Seriously I was trying to trim down an overly long post, I definitely got a little overzealous.

while it might appear to be an

Heheh I said much the same thing to my friend and co-worker; when I was degreasing it top to bottom. It looked like the valve cover had been put back on and torqued down too hard. The soft gasket silicon they used looks like it pushed out to far (I know that's subjective); and the rear of the cover is so buried into the firewall that a leak back there is going to take feeling around to find. Anyway I suspect it's the rear main because after degreasing I started it up and let it sit in a new spot... Judging from the speed of the leak (maybe a drip a minute), and how quickly it showed back up (right away), it's closer to the rear seal. I.e. further down on the engine. Otherwise I think it would take longer for the first drip to appear. Of course I could be wrong, and will be checking closer today.

Reply to
Simon Juncal

If it is really no rust as you said in another post I would pay up to about

80% of N.A.D.A. Blue Book value, whatever that is. I wouldn't expect a vehicle that old in Virginia to have an intact floor. I would be looking for a recycler to upgrade to the later AX-15 transmission though.

Earle

Reply to
Earle Horton

No problem. I have a crude sense of humor, and you just got in the way.

You _could_ be right, but probably aren't. I came to the same conclusion as you did, twice, and was wrong.

Think about it for a moment, the engine is in the engine bay with the front higher than the back by about an inch and a half. The oil gets pumped to the top, and flows back down through the pushrod holes. The oil will run towards the back of the motor and pool there waiting for its turn to drip down the pushrods. If the gasket is not intact, the oil will flow out and run down the block and into the bellhousing, then come out of the inspection plate in a manner that appears to be the rear main seal.

One test is to park so the front is downhill, and see if it still drips. A clue is that the motor is very close to the firewall and there is a mess of wires in the way, what are the odds that somebody put the cover on and let the gasket get away? The odds are pretty good I think ...

Reply to
J Strickland

Having read all the replys to your original question, and having just purchased an 88 YJ Wrangler with 145,000 miles on it...hardtop, full doors,Laredo model with working a/c, 5 spd trans that doesn't just pop out of gear, some minor oil leaks, and in general "average" condition. Oh, new clutch recently too! In Virginia, $3000. Email me if you want a picture of it. Greg

Reply to
gbray

Having read your reply, I will mention my newly bought 1994 Sahara YJ with the standard equipment, 3.07 gears, 4.0L I-6 MPI Engine, 5 speed AX15 manual transmission, Sahara package, rear window defroster, Hard Top group.

Original MSRP including destination charge was $18,459.00. I paid less than

10% of MSRP 3 weeks ago. :) It's in average condition, no AC, no oil leaks, and
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wholesale trade price is ~$2500. Oh the miles are all highway at 189000. Slight rust here and there at the usual places too. I already am working on that with POR-15 etc. I had a list of stuff posted that I already did to it but all the major power train is in great shape and it's running rather well. I like driving it more than my VW, except on highways. :)

Good luck with your buy. I would offer him between $1500 and $2000...

Reply to
Peter Parker

Experience is the best teacher. I've found out a lot on the Mustang group that would have cost me a lot of money just to diagnose what turned out to be very minor fixes. Anyway checked it out closer today.. I can't find the leak itself but it definitely seems to be coming down from above. Maybe head or valve cover gasket, looking at the job they did on the valve cover gasket I'm hoping it's the latter.

Good idea. I'm going to have to degrease behind the valve cover to eliminate it as a suspect, but I'm holding off until I find a replacement air cleaner housing; so I can do it when I have it off and out of the way. All the hoses and whatnot have enough Oil on them that just feeling around back there isn't going to do it.

Reply to
Simon Juncal

I've been under it for probably over an hour (degreasing and looking for leaks), the floors are solid as a rock. All the sheet metal is, and the suspension and frame have been oiled (from leaks) so much they don't have any rust to speak of. The paint has it's share of warts but it's all there too.

Reply to
Simon Juncal

It's all relative. $2500 isn't bad. My YJ is no prize either. I just finished working under it for the day. I wanted to change the MTF but then I noticed a broken tranny mount. I jacked it up and proceeded to undo the crossmember and holding the tranny with a piece of wood and the jack. One of the crossmember bolts is stripped so I can't get the crossmember off. :( There's a bit more rust down there than I thought and one of the body mounts fell apart when I touched it. :( Well you get what you paid for I always say. What I will do is grind down the edge of the bolt so it will pass through the crossmember. Clean the frame and member up, POR-15 and install a new tranny mount. Bolt up the member with the remaining five bolts and leave the other one until I can get a garage to replace the insert for me. Now I know why I was getting those vibrations and they got much better with all the axle and transfer fluid changed but it was still there, less pronounced.

Reply to
Peter Parker

Ebay is a good place to look for comparison vehicle values. They have lots of jeeps in all kinds of conditions.

Don't use the NAPA blue book value. That number is notoriously lowball for jeeps. Last time I looked, they valued a 79 CJ7 in excellent condition at $800. What-eva.

Reply to
sm3gurpal

Sounds like you got a good deal, and there are some very good deals out there if you wait long enough and keep an eye on the classified ads. Today there is a 95 YJ for 5K or best offer in the Stafford Sun. I work for a local car dealership and we have a 90 YJ with a 4 cylinder and

5spd that we are going to wholesale out soon that may be a very good deal, but you know you just never know how good a deal you got till you have your Jeep for awhile. I've had mine now for about two weeks and have been over it top to bottom, and have put enough miles on it to come to the conclusion that "I got a Good Deal"! I wish you the best of luck with yours. greg
Reply to
gbray

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