nicnmike
New member
Hey all,
I've only been lurking for a little bit because I thought I was going to end up with a Cherokee, so I was lurking their forums. In a moment of inspiration, I changed my craigslist search criteria and ended up with this beast (or critter, depending on your perspective). The cherokees were numerous and cheap; anything not made in our great country, was a little pricey. Any rate, I got this 1990 v6 4x4 5-speed for $1500. The story I got from the previous owner was that it was in an accident, so his brother acquired it at a very good price. His brother then replaced the front quarter panel, the tail gate and axle. He then got it from his brother and proceeded to replace the brake master cylinder, the radiator, some after market air filter (I got the original air box, which may go back in), sparks plugs, wire, cap and rotor, pcv valve, and tcase and diff oils and brand new (bought in Nov.) Falken Rocky Mountain tires. This all happened in a little over a year. The interior is in great shape and the exterior isn't too bad. Nice tint. Not much in the way of rust. Good seals on the windows. The cruise control and most of the electronics work. It smells like cigars, but I can live with that. oh, and it makes a ticking sound.
He sold it cheap because a mechanic told him it needed new cylinder head gaskets. I don't see any frothing in the oil and no white smoke out of the rear. I drove it an hour to get it home without any issues at all. He said it overheated once and was low on coolant, so that's why he brought it to the mechanic. I just bought a combustion leak tester kit today to make sure. No sense in tearing it down if it doesn't need it. Haven't had a chance to test it.
My plans are really not all that exciting. I really wanted something to haul my jon boat and to go camping in (Did I mention my DD is a minivan? :repuke: ). If there is no leaky head issues, then I'll just start using it. Eventually I'd like to change the timing belt and water pump. I might put an electric cooling fan in it. I haven't done enough research to form a real opinion on that. It idles a little high, so I need to work on that. the PO said when you open the oil fill, the idle drops. Which means he may have done something wonky when replumbing the vacuum lines after the aftermarket air filter install. oh, and it needs a thermostat. I'd like to replace all the vacuum lines and replace the fuel filter. It will need a new muffler in the not too distant future. I might splurge on a nice tubular roof rack. And I just order a 3m Stripe Off to remove the ghost of a pinstripe.
It had one of those spare tire swing gates on it. I have the old tail gate, the swing gate and all the mounting hardware, but haven't decided whether or not to put it back on. Is there any reason not to put the spare underneath?
That's about it for now. I've owned for about 3.5 days, so the learning curve is still steep.
-Mike
![a>~original](http://<a href="http://s1165.beta.photobucket.com/user/mikeclp/media/2013-02-16_16-33-39_830_zpsbdb439a7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q586/mikeclp/2013-02-16_16-33-39_830_zpsbdb439a7.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2013-02-16_16-33-39_830_zpsbdb439a7.jpg"/></a>~original)
I've only been lurking for a little bit because I thought I was going to end up with a Cherokee, so I was lurking their forums. In a moment of inspiration, I changed my craigslist search criteria and ended up with this beast (or critter, depending on your perspective). The cherokees were numerous and cheap; anything not made in our great country, was a little pricey. Any rate, I got this 1990 v6 4x4 5-speed for $1500. The story I got from the previous owner was that it was in an accident, so his brother acquired it at a very good price. His brother then replaced the front quarter panel, the tail gate and axle. He then got it from his brother and proceeded to replace the brake master cylinder, the radiator, some after market air filter (I got the original air box, which may go back in), sparks plugs, wire, cap and rotor, pcv valve, and tcase and diff oils and brand new (bought in Nov.) Falken Rocky Mountain tires. This all happened in a little over a year. The interior is in great shape and the exterior isn't too bad. Nice tint. Not much in the way of rust. Good seals on the windows. The cruise control and most of the electronics work. It smells like cigars, but I can live with that. oh, and it makes a ticking sound.
He sold it cheap because a mechanic told him it needed new cylinder head gaskets. I don't see any frothing in the oil and no white smoke out of the rear. I drove it an hour to get it home without any issues at all. He said it overheated once and was low on coolant, so that's why he brought it to the mechanic. I just bought a combustion leak tester kit today to make sure. No sense in tearing it down if it doesn't need it. Haven't had a chance to test it.
My plans are really not all that exciting. I really wanted something to haul my jon boat and to go camping in (Did I mention my DD is a minivan? :repuke: ). If there is no leaky head issues, then I'll just start using it. Eventually I'd like to change the timing belt and water pump. I might put an electric cooling fan in it. I haven't done enough research to form a real opinion on that. It idles a little high, so I need to work on that. the PO said when you open the oil fill, the idle drops. Which means he may have done something wonky when replumbing the vacuum lines after the aftermarket air filter install. oh, and it needs a thermostat. I'd like to replace all the vacuum lines and replace the fuel filter. It will need a new muffler in the not too distant future. I might splurge on a nice tubular roof rack. And I just order a 3m Stripe Off to remove the ghost of a pinstripe.
It had one of those spare tire swing gates on it. I have the old tail gate, the swing gate and all the mounting hardware, but haven't decided whether or not to put it back on. Is there any reason not to put the spare underneath?
That's about it for now. I've owned for about 3.5 days, so the learning curve is still steep.
-Mike
