Our Jeep Cherokee
This is our new truck. It is a 1984 Jeep Cherokee Chief, we purchased in July 2002, as a second car, for my wife Lena, to get some mileage on her license, since she didn't drive much before, due to her pregnancy. Lena thought that our Musso was too big a car for her (at 4.65 meters, it is kind of long), and wanted a smaller car, but definitely a 4x4 (just between you and me, the Cherokee is not that much smaller, about 30 cm less length). As is usually the case, after driving the Cherokee, Lena decided that it was not for her, like most women she prefers refined vehicles, so the Musso being much more civilized than the Cherokee, ended up being "her" truck. That was fine by me, now I could modify the old Cherokee, to my heart's content. The Jeep was in very good condition, with the engine running still fine, after an unknown mileage. So, if you enjoy reading about a classic truck, please continue below.
Please select :
1. The Story
2. The Specs
3. Pros & Cons
4. Problems & Damage
5. Modifications
6. Off-road trips
7. Cherokee's Friends
8. Cherokee's current status
Story
If you want to read the generic story of the 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee, please follow this link.
Our particular truck was imported in Greece, by a Greek-American who decided to retire to a Greek island, in 1987. Back then, Cherokees were not imported in Greece, and this model has some ... shall I say, unique features, but for that, read below.
It is a two-door, red Cherokee Chief, with a 2.5 lt, single-barrel carburator engine, running on unleaded fuel. Here are its specs (from Off-Road.COM):
| AMC 150 I4 | |
|---|---|
| Bore x Stroke | 3.88" x 3.19" |
| Displacement | 150ci (2.5L) |
| Compression Ratio | 9.2:1 |
| Horsepower (net) | 105@5000 |
| Torque (net) | 132@2800 |
| Main Bearings | 5 |
| Valve Configuration | OHV |
| Fuel | 1bbl carb |
Gearbox is the T-5, possibly with the following gear ratios:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Rev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.02 | 2.37 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 0.76 | 4.74 |
The transfer case is a part-time NP-207. The NP207 has a aluminum case and an appearance similar to the NP231. This chain driven transfer case uses a 21 spline input with the manual transmissions and a 23 spline input with the automatic transmissions. The output for the front driveshaft is on the drivers side. Low range is 2.61 and high is 1.00.
Axles are a reverse cut Dana 30 in the front and a Dana 35C at the rear, with 3.72:1 diff ratio.
Truck's length is roughly 4.20 m (or 165.3").
As said above, our truck was imported by a returning Greek-American immigrant, so there are some wierd things in it. First of all, the registration does not call it a "Jeep", according to the registration it is a ... Renault! Second, the car did not have a high beam flasher, i.e. there was no way to flash your high beams with the lights off. Actually, you couldn't even flash them with the lights on, all you could do, was to switch between main and high beams!! Third, the car came with a single barrel carburator, but also with a catalytic converter!!! In order to reduce emissions, the whole engine bay was full with wierd pneumatic or electropneumatic devices. What a waste of space and material. What is important though, is that the truck was mechanically in excellent condition, so not a bad deal.
Pros & Cons
The Cherokee, is a unibody car, in other words, there is no separate chassis, on which the mechanical parts are fitted and the truck's cabin is attached. Instead, the chassis and cabin are one single unit. That might be excellent for a car, which spends most of its life on paved roads, but it is not the ideal for off-road vehicles. However, our needs asked for a medium size car, not as large as the Musso, and not as small as a Wrangler, so the Cherokee was a good compromise.
On the other hand, it is a Jeep, which means it is a reliable car which should last us quite some time with the proper maintenance. Thank God, the previous owners seem to be relatively careful on this front, and as said before, all mechanical parts work fine.
There are some small problems, especially electrical, which need to be sorted out, but overall the car is a solid 4x4, which can be used for some serious off-roading, if I manage to do the mods I want to.
Problems and damage
Since we got this truck, I had to deal with several problems. Here they are the most interesting ones, plus a list of things which failed and changed:
No high-beam signalling : Why on earth this car didn't have that feature? There was no way to flash your high beams if your main light switch was not on. In other words, during the day, the only way to flash your high beams was to pull out the main light switch! The problem was easily solved, by changing the light switching mechanism, with a new one bought from Chrysler Greece, at a cost of .... 80 US$!!!!!!! Still, the wiring of the car was such, that the signal was made with the main beam instead of the high beam. After switching a couple of wires around, on the switch mechanism, the problem was solved. Now the signal is made with the high beam, with the main lights switch on or off. One more thing I need to do, is to rewire the small, additional fog lights that the truck has. They are connected to work with the main beam only, I would prefer them to work with the high beam, or to work independently from thetruck's main lights. That shouldn't be too difficult to do, I just need time.
Indicators not working : Several of the in-dash indicators do not work. For example, the 4WD light does not work when switching to 4WD (the truck goes into 4WD, but the light does not come on). On the other hand, one morning, when I went over a pavement, the light came on by itself, without the car being in 4WD! The safety belts light does not come on, even though I can hear its buzzer, when I start the car. The high beam indicator does not come on at all, I've found at least 4 loose wires going nowhere, while the rear window defroster is a rocker switch, like the ones used for electrical windows. It does not stay in the "ON" or in the "OFF" position! I'll have to have an electrician go through each one of these items, to restore order in this chaos. For the time being, after a thorough Internet search, I managed to find how the 4WD light should work. After checking all tubes, the ventilation one (blue) was found to be connected to some vacuum source. When this was left open to the atmosphere, everything became normal, the 4WD tell-tale light is working OK now.
Steering Wheel : The steering wheel has seen better days. After all these years, there are some spots where the leather has started to peel off. Also, the horn does not work all the times (I am sure that by the time I check into this problem, the big pad in the middle of the steering wheel will be broken, from my attempts to make it work). I do not know what Chrysler will ask for a new steering wheel, but I am sure it will not be cheap. So maybe I'll forget the nice looks of the original wheel and go with an aftermarket one.
Horn : The horn of the car, is a pathetic excuse for a warning device. You couldn't hear it, even if you were right in front of the car. That too, needs to be changed to something with more authority.
Interior trim : The interior trim is not so bad, the previous owner had it restored, but in a wierd way. Everything (and I mean almost the whole interior except the seats) was covered with black leather (immitation of leather is a better term). Dash panel cover, door panels, rear quarter panels, even the interior of the roof! However, this work was either not done by a professional, or the guy who did it, was not a good craftsman. In some areas, the leather has become unglued, so it needs to be repaired. One additional problem was that the driver's seat cushion had lost its strength so I had to add some extra padding, as a temporary measure. The seat needs to be re-padded by a professional, but for the time being, it is OK.
Engine : Although the engine is running fine at the moment, I think I would be much better off, if I could swap it with a multi-port injected one. Apart from a gain of about 12 bhp, the fuel injected engine will be better off when the car is angled when going uphill or downhill, it should provide a better mileage and it will not be that difficult to find parts for it. Right now, the carb needs to be replaced, Weber has a set for this engine (Part Number K552). This kit was ordered from Rusty's and the carb was replaced. A new distributor was also dropped in, together with new spark plug wires. Check the Modifications page for more details.
Transmission : Ever since I got the car, the 4WD light wouldn't go on, even though the 4WD was engaging. That frustrated me enough to spend a whole afternoon, searching the internet, for a solution. Eventually, I found a description of how the vacuum tubes should be connected, for the 4WD to operate properly (oh, yes, the Cherokee has a vacuum operated 4WD mechanism, for which you can learn more here). After tracing the various tubes in the engine compartment and underneath the car, I noticed that one tube, the blue one, which is supposed to be a ventilation tube, was connected to the vaccum. I removed that connection, and everything works fine. The transmission itself is not in the best of states, with the 2nd gear being hard to engage when cold. This is the most expensive problem of the car, since a transmission rebuild is not the easiest things to do.
Clutch slave cylinder : The clutch slave cylinder had leaked the clutch fluid twice on me. I therefore decided to replace it, since I didn't wanted to be without clutch someday, on a mountain. Quadratec supplied me with the necessary part at 65 US$ (+30 US$ for shipping to Greece). Cylinder replaced without a problem, I also took the chance to change the fluid to some more decent one.
Steering :I finally managed to take the truck to the garage, to have my steering pump problems solved. The pump has been leaking steering fluid, for the last three months, with the leakage getting worst and worst. Also, the pressure hose has seen better days. It took a couple of hours to replace the pressure hose and install a maintenance kit in the pump, which solved the leakage problem. A return hose was made by a piece of oil-resistant, rubber hose.
At the same time, I had my adjustable upper control arms tighten up a bit, so that the shims behind the lower arms can now be used to adjust the caster up to the factory specs. Time for another visit to the alignment shop.
Body work : While I was at the shop, I took the opportunity to install a set of new rear-door lift shocks. For the last four months, I had a piece of aluminum pipe in the trunk, to hold the door open. The new lift shocks are one of those "nice to have" things!
Electrics :
I replaced the Choke Heater relay, since it appeared to be faulty. At the same time, I replaced the alternator, because it was not charging under load.
January 2004
Transmission
Clutch Master Cylinder replaced
The clutch master cylinder started leaking inside the cabin. Given that the brake fluid is not very friendly with electrical components and that the fuse panel of the Cherokee is right below the leak area, I ordered a replacement master cylinder. Guess what? After I installed it, it leaked worst than the old one. Finally, my mechanic managed to find the required parts to rebuild the original master cylinder, so this is what is now installed on the truck.
Maintenance work to follow
Well, here we go:
Change the fuel pump gasket.
Change the oil pressure sending unit, the gauge goes to almost full deflection under acceleration.
The transmission mount and the engine mounts need to be replaced. I have a new transmission mount, that will be installed at the next service, but the engine mounts will have to wait a bit.
Change the front and rear crankshaft seals.
Some Remarks
1. The local Chrysler prices are a joke. They are asking for 220 Euros (almost 220 US$) for a rear tail light! I got such a light for my Musso (twice the size of the Cherokee one, actually), for only 50 Euros. One springler for the windshield washer costs almost 20 US$!! Oh, and a set of insignia (two "Jeep", two "Cherokee" and two "4x4") cost 220 US$, believe it or not. I think I'll establish a close relation, with Rancho Jeep Recyclers. These guys are dismantling used Jeeps, so you can find whatever part you need there. The same tail light, from this shop, costs 25 US$!!
2. Lately, several shops in USA, with an Internet presence, which used to be an excellent source of automotive and other products, have ceased accepting "out-of-the-country" credit cards. I do not know why this is happening, but one such store (which shall remain anonymous), told me that this is because they cannot check these credit cards, like they can check the American ones, so they are afraid for fraud. As far as I know, VISA (and all the other credit cards) provide all the means for the merchants to verify their cards, even through the Internet. I had a recent, personal experience with a shop, which accepted my card and sold me a 600 US$ knife, in no time, after verifying my credit in this way. So, I guess there are other reasons behind this policy, of these stores, reasons which I cannot understand. I would urge those shops which do not accept credit cards from the rest of the world, to reconsider their attitude. Commerce is an international thing these days, and thank God, there are so many possibilities. If you do not accept our credit cards, we will only take our business elsewhere. I'll never go through the hassle of a bank transfer (a terribly bureaucratic procedure here in Greece), just because you do not accept my credit card. This note has been inserted here, because I faced this problem with at least two 4x4 related shops, but it also happened to me with a well-known Internet cutlery shop. In both occasions, my business and money went to other firms, firms which were willing to go through whatever procedure is necessary to verify my card. In this age of e-commerce, such excuses are unacceptable.
Please select :
1. The Story
2. The Specs
3. Pros & Cons
4. Problems & Damage
5. Modifications
6. Off-road trips
7. Cherokee's Friends
8. Cherokee's current status
John Caradimas
Return to our Trucks Page