Author Topic: 1997 Cherokee 4.0L auto HELP!!!!!!!!!  (Read 1234 times)

Offline repins88

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1997 Cherokee 4.0L auto HELP!!!!!!!!!
« on: 07/ 7/09 - 08:31PM »
Hey guys. I heard from a friend that this is the place to go if someone needed anything for Jeeps, so far hes been right. Anyway I recently bought a 1997 Cherokee Sport 2-door with about 180xxx miles. Everything is stock except for a 4.5" BDS lift, rock bars, front and rear bumbers, and the rear diff. is locked. Its got that great 4.0L inline 6 and auto tranny. When I bought it the guy told me there was a misfire in the 5 cylinder. I had it checked and the compression was WAY low on numbers 3,4,and 5. It ran like a champ after a bottle of lucas oil injector cleaner. It still runs good but lately its been sluggish when i start it and when im idleing it shows my oil pressure bottoming out. I wanna get this fixed and be able to hold on to it basically forever. Lol. Any advice at all??

Offline OJTV8CJ

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Re: 1997 Cherokee 4.0L auto HELP!!!!!!!!!
« Reply #1 on: 07/ 8/09 - 01:11PM »
First thing is to put a mechanical gauge on the oil pressure.  Those motors are known for showing low on the gauge, due to the sending unit getting all gunked up. 

But, if you have low compression on 3 cylinders, then you know that it is only a matter of time.  No bottle of anything will help for an extended amount of time.

Start looking in Craislist and the For Sale section here for a replacement.  Or put a 4.3 Vortec in it.
I cut sheetmetal for free.  It's fixing it that get's expensive.

Offline repins88

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Re: 1997 Cherokee 4.0L auto HELP!!!!!!!!!
« Reply #2 on: 07/ 8/09 - 07:41PM »
I'm lookin to replace the engine with a stock and I thought about going bigger. Can the tranny take the extra power? Ive looked all over craigslist and such and I cant seem to find an engine worth buyin.