1985 Jeep

Cherokee XJ SUV

6 Cylinder 2.8 Liter

Manual

1JCBL7814FT087431

Clear

4 wheel drive

Diesel

I am offering up my 1985 XJ Jeep Cherokee for bidding. It has the 2.1 L turbo diesel engine with intercooler from the factory. It is not a conversion.Ebay did not give me this engine as an option so I had to pick the gas V6. The jeep is a every day driver and reliably gets me 15 miles to work every morning. I also use it to pull a small utility trailer for house and garden projects. It is not a speed demon, but it is peppy and can keep up with traffic. I originally bought it in grad school to use as an efficient ecology field work vehicle that I could run on biodiesel. It was a champ. I commuted an hour to get to the site and then used it on the rutted out gravel roads on the Cental Texas nature preserve that I was studying. The 4 wheel drive works great, especially 4-low! I average 26-28 mpg in mixed driving but, on highway road trips I have gotten well over 30mpg. Heater works great, a/c works well but looses pressure over a week (I do not need it so I did not fix it) The Jeep has always been a south central Texas vehicle, and it has NO RUST! I bought it from the original owners son. The original owner, pulled it behind his RV for many of the miles. It still has the mounts and wire connections. I had my mechanic check everything out. The compression is at spec and even on all cylinders. It does not burn any oil, and leaks about 1 drop per week. It runs very smooth. There is little to no blow-by. My mechanic told me that it has years of life left. The engine was co-designed be Renault and Peugeot, and was used in many applications. Jeep built and exported this vehicle for 10 years, but only sold them here for 2 years. It is respected and has a popular following in Europe. The injection pump and glow plug system is made by Bosch, the same company that has made those systems for Mercedes for many years. The reputation of this engine is spotty in the US, because it does require maintenance: valve adjustment every 15K, head bolt torquing every 20K-30K. Also it should not be driven like it is a V8. My goal was to run it on WVO waste veggie oil, but we have a new baby, so I have to simplify! The bad:The paint is not great (but it's a truck...utility before aesthetics!)The interior is not perfect (Texas heat, no cracks in dash though)Driver seat has some tears (but is comfy and the seats have safari covers)Steering has a little play (most Jeeps do)It has a few small body dings (not too noticeable for me to fix) The good:It is reliable, efficient, and runs on biodiesel.NO RUSTIt is titled and registered as a diesel. If you put a cummins 4bt, VW tdi, or mercedes diesel in it, it will be STREET LEGAL!Straight body5 speedInterior clean (my wife feels comfortable in it!)In last 10K:Fuel lines biodiesel resistantRebuilt injectors New glow plugs and timerAlternatorClutch and slave cylinder4 new shocksNew Goodyear Wranglers2003 Wrangler rimsNew Sony stereo w/ Ipod jackVacuum system gone through On Feb-04-11 at 17:31:24 PST, seller added the following information: Thank you all for the interest!!I am getting some repeated questions so I will just update: Yes the Jeep is road worthy. I have driven it for thousands of miles around Texas in heat and cold. The engine runs nice and cool. If you want to drive it to Montana, it should get there no problem. However keep in mind that this is 26 year old classic vehicle, and I would not (and do not) travel without a good tool kit and AAA. Everything except for the engine (including the tranny) can be found on stock Jeep Cherokees, and the junk yards and craigslist is full of cheap parts in the US. The engine parts are available online for reasonable prices. I have a stack of factory repair manuals that will be included. I will be gradually uploading pictures....I think the snow storm may have been keeping my internet SLOW Thank you! On Feb-05-11 at 05:03:08 PST, seller added the following information: I was planning on pulling the waste veggie oil heater/filter before selling.If you would like for it to remain please add $180 to your final bid. Thank you!On Feb-06-11 at 10:20:23 PST, seller added the following information: I noticed on the Expierian autocheck, that it reported a problem with the title. I have the title in hand and it is clear of any liens, and it is NOT a salvage vehicle.The title is ready to goOn Feb-06-11 at 16:05:05 PST, seller added the following information: If you know anything about classic cars, you know to avoid rusty cars. I learned the hard way on a great looking 72 MGB, it only had some rust bubbles in the rockers and a couple small holes in the floor.Any rust that you can see is just the tip of the rustberg. Once you remove one panel you will find caverns of cancerous rust within the channels of sills and reinforcements that make up a unibody car such as a cherokee or MGB. Rust that actually goes through these structures will compromise the structural integrity of the vehicle. I spent 100s and 100s of hours cutting out rust, grinding, sanding, chemically treating, welding in new sills, rockers, floors, and some fabricated supports, and painting all sides of the metal with rust resistant paint, and then spraying waxoyl into everything. My wife made me promise to never buy another rusty vehicle. I would way rather rebuild an engine and have a root canal than deal with serious rust through on a car from up North or the East Coast. Good Luck:)!On Feb-07-11 at 13:20:31 PST, seller added the following information: Answers to common questions: 1) If you end up winning the bid, I would be happy to pick you up at the Austin airport. It is only 40 mins away. 2) Turbo spools up nicely, and the boost gauge works well. It has a factory remanufactured stamp on it. 3) Oil pressure is great.