Jeep CHEROKEE - pointers please

[montrehomme]

My son has found a 1997 2.5 turbo diesel Cherokee for sale, it looks good in the photos, and having spoken to the seller, is mechanically and bodily sound.
As I know nothing about these Jeeps, do any of you guys have any knowledge of them, or what to look for when we go and see it tomorrow.
Short notice I know, but any pointers would be welcomed.
It had a low mileage 70k motor fitted six months ago, and has a current French test.
Cheers guys, hope someone can help, forewarned is forearmed

[Drift]

First thing is if the body looks good great but check under the carpet in the boot area and under the back seat, they are known to rot quite a lot there.
Also the 2.5 VE engine is very similar (basically the same) to the Frontera 2.5 VM so it may be worth looking in that section here for common faults

[montrehomme]

Cheers Drift, useful to know!

The seller says the ONLY issue is, if the car is left for a week, it is slow to fire, reckons that fuel is returning back to tank?
I'll check out the 2.5 section.

[Gazeddy]

check the propshafts are proper uj's and not cv's bit of a weak point and very expensive

[montrehomme]

Cheers Gazeddy, will do.

[montrehomme]

Well, after travelling two and a half hours there, and two and a half hours back, we didn't buy the Cherokee
The bodywork was immaculate, and underneath was clean, except for a massive amount of black engine oil, which
was coming from an oil pipe between the turbo and the engine block.
This in itself was an easy fix, but add to that, failure to engage four wheel drive, a 'Redneck' immobiliser setup,
a strange graunching noise from low down at high revs, and a pale tan and tweed interior that looked like a cheap
seventies lobby set, and more under bonnet electrical tape and wayward vac pipes hanging in space, we decided to
walk away

There are bargains, and there are....

[Drift]

Good move, shame about the drive though

[montrehomme]

Yeah Drift, not what I wanted to do on a Sunday morning, but my son was exited at the prospect of him owning a Jeep!
If nothing else, it proved just how reliable my Fronty has become, 5 hours driving and not an EML in sight

Thanks for the pointers though guys!, I now appreciate what a pleasant place a well sorted Fronty cab is to be!.

[jmc]

Hi,some thoughts.
2.5 fronteras are fly by wire which many mechanics don't like.i saw a jeep injector pump on ebay which was cable operated so I don't know if all jeeps are like this.
My frontera,(and some others), has an annoying habit of not starting when the immobiliser light flashes on the dash and I have to re put the key in again. I dont know if jeeps suffer from this.
The VM engine in Fronteras and jeeps have the camshaft driven by internal cogs so no cambelt.
There are several videos on youtube of jeeps being started which might be good to watch before looking at another.
Hope this helps and that you find one.

[montrehomme]

Cheers jmc,
To be honest with you, I don't think he'll be looking at any more Cherokees!, apart from the faults, we both found the cabin
quite claustrophobic when compared to the Frontera, and with the spare living in the boot, not much room for his band's
amps and equipment.
I personally hadn't appreciated how small it looked when compared to the Fronty, due to its lower roofline, and moreover,
very agricutural feeling on the road. Add to this the flimsy and vomit inducing interior, it's now an itch that has been,
however briefly, SCRATCHED!!

[jmc]

I forgot about the spare in the boot. I havent actually been in a jeep. I use the boot space all the time and have made some lockers over the wheel arches to store the tools, hard hat, and straps I take around with me . I also find the split folding down rear seats very useful and take out the seat cushions completely sometimes to get bigger loads in and i think the jeeps raer seat folds down in one. some jeeps have a spare on the back on a swing out arm. I had a 2.3 fronty with a swing out spare which I found awkward.

[yaki]

Been using a 2.5 diesel jeep as my daily drive since last Nov, its on an R plate so has facelift dash but is pretty basic i.e. cloth seats, no air con, no cruise control etc.

It seems loads smaller than a Frontera LWB feeling quite cramped with 4 or 5 peeps inside and the boot is nothing to shout about with the spare inside. Driver leg room is abysmal and there is no where to put your left foot as the clutch pedal is too close to the trans tunnel.

Interior is let down by no door pockets, no cubby holes in the dash and the glove box is miniscule.

For a vehicle that is now 16 years old the body work is exceptional, no rot underneath and only minor stone chips in the paintwork to worry about

Would defo rather have a 2.5 Frontera though, much more civilised