1987 Jeep Cherokee

SUV

rebuilt 2.1 liter 4 cylinder TD

Manual

1jcbl781xht060978

Clear

Diesel

.,____ ___0000_ //_|__l__\\__\ ___\ l_/ \’ _|’ __/ \_ 0llllll0| (o))-o-)) (o))----o)) If you have any trouble viewing the slideshow with all 127 photos of this vehicle, please go to: picasaweb.google.com/oldcargeek You are looking at an ultra-rare Jeep Cherokee with the Factory Turbocharged, Intercooled 2.1 Liter Diesel engine, and 5-speed manual overdrive transmission with 4-wheel-drive. They only built 500 of these units to be sold in the U.S. market for 1987. . . the other 1,000 Jeep built that year went to Mexico & Canada. This is a real collector's item, not to mention a great commuter. We have actually gotten as good as 37.5 miles per gallon on the highway going 55mph with it. The vehicle is almost completely rust-free except for a couple small areas on the rocker panels below the rear doors. It was undercoated when it was new, so the whole undercarriage is sealed and protected from moisture & salt. Except for the headliner which is stained and sagging...it has a very nice interior with carpeted dash cover and front bucket seats with center console. Read on. . .. Winnebago Industries installed this exact same engine/drivetrain in their LeSharo campers all through the 1980s and early '90s, which is quite convenient, because there is a place called Mobility RV just 15 miles up the road from us in Hanlontown, Iowa, which stocks every part/component for these Renault turbo-diesel engines (currently!) that you could possibly need. They have been a real asset to us, owning this rare vehicle. I can provide the buyer with all their contact information. Winnebago has been in business for many years, and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We are the 3rd registered owners of this Jeep. The original owner (who had it up until about 200,000 miles) was extremely festidious, and maintained this vehicle very meticulously - giving it absolutely whatever it needed, whenever it needed it... no expenses spared. The paint is still nice & glossy (he would have the body-panels professionally touched up or re-painted by a body shop whenever even the slightest little paint chip or rust spot started to show). It was garage kept for most of its life, and it shows. The bottom end of the engine was rebuilt right before we purchased the vehicle (rod bearings, main bearings, front and rear main seals, piston rings, cylinder sleeves, etc), and since owning the Jeep, we've had the cylinder head completely rebuilt with new valve seats, valves, springs, guides, head-gasket, head bolts, timing belt etc. by Miller Diesel of Mason City, Iowa. Also, we rebuilt the Injector Pump, and there's a brand new water pump just installed, as well as new belts, hoses, fuel filter, etc. We put on a new coolant expansion tank & modified cap (a vast improvement over the original problematic closed-system design which gave these engines an undeserved poor reputation for reliability), as well as new thermostat and a new engine block heater ordered from Canada (for cold weather starting). The radiator has been pressure tested and flushed, as well as a new heater-core installed. The Air Conditioning was in great working order blowing ice-cold, but the front shaft seal started leaking & the system wouldn't hold a charge of freon any more, so I removed the A/C compressor to be repaired (and just put on a shorter belt to bypass it for now). I haven't found a front shaft seal yet (as these older AMC compressors are fairly obsolete these days), so it remains without A/C for the time being. All the A/C parts will of course be included with the Jeep at the time of sale, however. The alternator was rebuilt by Toepfer Auto Electric here in Mason City, IA (they've been in business for over 70 years, and do top quality work on starters, alternators and generators). Also, there's a brand-new starter just installed within the past month. . The clutch is like new with lots of life left in it (the pedal engages just off the floor) with a smooth, un-warped flywheel & pressure plate. We replaced the clutch master and slave cylinders recently. The axles have deep highway gears (for excellent fuel mileage), and the engine runs at a very low RPM going down the highway. You don't even use top overdrive gear until about 55mph. This makes for a very sluggish take-off from a dead stop, but once the turbo spools up, it feels more peppy. I just wanted to emphasize this, as there is a very pronounced turbo-lag, and this is NOTHING like driving one of the 4-liter gasser Jeeps. If you're an impatient person, this isn't the vehicle for you. It should improve some with the replacement of the exhaust manifold gasket (I have a new one and will include it with the sale of the Jeep). The shop that rebuilt the head just re-used the old one which didn't hold up very long before developing a leak, and thus doesn't spool up the turbo quite as fast as it used to. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the turbocharger or the engine, however. . The 4-wheel-drive works great, and Jeeps are very capable off-road (I've never abused it or gone 4-wheeling with it... just used it in the snow occasionally, but it works flawlessly). The rear seats fold down making room for lots of cargo space. Also, there's a class II trailer hitch, so you can pull a small boat, snowmobile/atv trailer, etc. and go on some unforgettable adventures with your friends, or family. We recently replaced all the brake pads and shoes, as well as replacing the rear axle seals and outer bearings. There are 2 brand new leaf springs on the rear, and new shock absorbers as well. There's a 2 inch lift in the front, and a 3 inch lift in the rear (also just installed less than a thousand miles ago). There's a beefy aftermarket solid-steel rear bumper with swing-out spare tire carrier. Also, a pretty serious Land Rover style brush-guard to protect the grille & headlights, as well as matching taillight guards. The tires have at least 80% of their tread remaining. All the gauges work. There is a factory tachometer, turbo-boost gauge, battery volt-meter, coolant temp, and oil pressure. There's now an aftermarket radio with I-Pod or MP3/cell phone input jack, and the speakers sound decent. Factory Cruise Control even still works after all these years. Something that should be mentioned in the interest of full-disclosure is that in December of 2010, we momentarily sold this vehicle on eBay to a guy from California who flew out to Iowa, hopped in it, set the cruise control at 65mph and got less than an hour down the road before hitting a patch of snow on the interstate and lost control. He was un-injured, but the Jeep sustained a very soft-roll in the snow. All the doors open and close just fine, and don't leak water, but there are dents & scrapes on various body-panels, and the roof is dented in a bit. He left it at the towing yard, took a bus home, and his insurance company sold it right back to us. I installed a roof rack & basket which covers it up nicely... so it's barely even noticeable. The title remained in my wife's name the whole time & is still clear & unincumbered...not salvage. . It runs & drives just fine, and is road-worthy (fly out and drive it home if you like). There's no evidence of any pets ever ridden in this vehicle, and it's always been owned by non-smokers. We have 3 complete (thick) factory/dealer auto body build/repair manuals which are really rare, but are for this particular XJ Jeep. They have cut-away diagrams and instructions for anything and everything you could ever possibly need to know to keep this vehicle on the road for years, and years to come. They're unlike any manuals I've ever seen before. Bible or Encyclopedia with pictures is more like what they look like. I absolutely LOVE this Jeep, and have a LOT of time and money invested into it (always with the intention of keeping it indefinitely). It's very solid for its age (not a rattle trap, and not rusty). It's a real collector's item due to its rarity, and needs to go to a diesel enthusiest. I only wish they would've built more of these great Jeeps. Why is it that the United States gets so few diesel vehicles when compared with the rest of the World? It's not fair. Even the "token" modern diesels we are offered today in this country are a joke (for example we have a CRD Turbo Diesel Jeep Liberty that we've not been able to get better than 24mpg out of). That's 13mpg less than this 26 year old Cherokee gets. Pathetic! I don't know where else you would find another one of these. I haven't seen more than a couple pop up for sale in the past decade myself, and usually they're automatic transmission with no overdrive, or have ugly fake wood-grain panelling on the sides. While it wouldn't be my first choice, the cream/yellow color of this one does grow on a person after a while... it just suits it. We have no reason to sell this special vehicle other than the fact that we've got a whole yard full of other rare, and one-of-a-kind diesel vehicles. It's really hard to decide which ones to let go down the road, but I simply can't keep them all for myself. If coming to pick it up in person, then I ask that you bring cash for payment. If you can't get the vehicle picked up right away, storage for a reasonable amount of time is fine. Vehicle is being sold As Is with no warranty implied or expressed... that being said... I've disclosed everything I know about it, and there should be no reason for any surprises. If you would like to schedule an inspection, I would be happy to take it to any repair shop in the area (it's presently registered & insurred, and I'm currently driving it daily). Test drives are welcome. Give me a call (afternoons/evenings) at 641-512-5229. Thanks for looking! If you need it shipped, I've had great experiences using Atlas Auto Shippers (888) 285-2706 for my own personal transporting of cars over the years. They are competent, competitively priced, and never damage anything or fail to come through. If you have any trouble viewing the slideshow at the top of this page, please paste the following link into your web browser to view all of the Super Sized photos of this vehicle.https://plus.google.com/photos/115833998602437761889/albums?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1#photos/115833998602437761889/albums/5416736375836420209 Turbo Diesel Jeep Click on the following link or paste it into your web-browser to view a walkaround video and hear the engine run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kqM2RURUHc&feature=share&list=UUByygjKBZuJCGTF3pGa_elg