RE: Shed of the Week: Jeep Grand Cherokee
Discussion
article said:
Few would disagree with the idea that big browns chomping on one's hopper should be dealt with in a firm and decisive manner, and Shed himself dreams of the day when he might finish his 30-year fight with Mrs Shed once and for all.
article said:
Other niche-market 4x4 systems were available, including a lowered Race-Trak (with enhanced Quadra-Link suspension) for sportier drivers, a jacked-up Ha-Trac for offroading milliners, and a Hi-Slush single-geared Bak-Trac option for politicians. None of that last sentence was true.
With equal measures of farce and erudition, this weekly column probably ranks among the more unique examples of automotive journalism.
300bhp/ton said:
Interestingly the Jeep 4.0 makes more power than the Rover V8 4.0, is smoother and better on fuel too. Jap trucks of this period would likely have had a 3.0 or 3.5 V6 with similar HP, but less torque, less low end grunt and actually no better on fuel either.
Yes, it is interesting that this 4.0 makes more power than an even worse V8 that no body would want to own either*. And of course make use of that whopping 100bhp (because that is probably all that is left) and you will watch the fuel gauge drop almost as fast as the speed rises. Not to mention the brakes and rust issues.
Kill it with fire.
- Nobody sane.
VolvoT5 said:
300bhp/ton said:
Interestingly the Jeep 4.0 makes more power than the Rover V8 4.0, is smoother and better on fuel too. Jap trucks of this period would likely have had a 3.0 or 3.5 V6 with similar HP, but less torque, less low end grunt and actually no better on fuel either.
Yes, it is interesting that this 4.0 makes more power than an even worse V8 that no body would want to own either*. And of course make use of that whopping 100bhp (because that is probably all that is left) and you will watch the fuel gauge drop almost as fast as the speed rises. Not to mention the brakes and rust issues.
Kill it with fire.
- Nobody sane.
VolvoT5 said:
Yes, it is interesting that this 4.0 makes more power than an even worse V8 that no body would want to own either*. And of course make use of that whopping 100bhp (because that is probably all that is left) and you will watch the fuel gauge drop almost as fast as the speed rises.
Not to mention the brakes and rust issues.
Kill it with fire.
'Probably' 100 horses. Yes, of course. That'll be the experience of about no Jeep owners ever speaking. Short of ignoring every serviceable component for 10 years, they'll make expected power all day long. Nothing else will work, but the engine will. Sort of the opposite of their Japanese contemporaries (some LC engines aside).Not to mention the brakes and rust issues.
Kill it with fire.
- Nobody sane.
Not sure about the Grand, but it's about this time that they started galvanising the bodies. Makes the difference between crusty floors and not-a-sign of rust on the XJ.
VolvoT5 said:
Yes, it is interesting that this 4.0 makes more power than an even worse V8 that no body would want to own either*. And of course make use of that whopping 100bhp (because that is probably all that is left) and you will watch the fuel gauge drop almost as fast as the speed rises.
Not to mention the brakes and rust issues.
Kill it with fire.
Considering PH has it's origins as a TVR forum, I wonder if you are in the right place or not?Not to mention the brakes and rust issues.
Kill it with fire.
- Nobody sane.
I've got a later Grand Cherokee 4.0 Limited with the HO "High Output" engine. It is rated at 195bhp.
It is super smooth and will keep going for ever. Doesn't use much oil either.
It's thirsty. Around town it averages 16mpg. 20 plus is possible on a run.
It's a characterful beast. Every so often I think about replacing it, but can't think with what. It's a proper off-roader and will make it over terrain on which most modern SUVs would struggle. The flip side is a bouncy, wallowy ride. It doesn't like being hustled on the road at all.
It is super smooth and will keep going for ever. Doesn't use much oil either.
It's thirsty. Around town it averages 16mpg. 20 plus is possible on a run.
It's a characterful beast. Every so often I think about replacing it, but can't think with what. It's a proper off-roader and will make it over terrain on which most modern SUVs would struggle. The flip side is a bouncy, wallowy ride. It doesn't like being hustled on the road at all.
We've got a 2003 WJ Grand Cherokee with the 4.0 litre six pot. We can get about 25 mpg on a long motorway run and towing a horse trailer its about 17-18.
I've also had a 4.7 v8. Used to easily manage 24mpg in everyday use. Doing some gentle off-roading reduced this to mid teens but I don't think mine had been in low range ever before. After that the mpg went down hill, must have been due to hole in the back box.
It had about 120k miles on it when I got it. Sold it to a chap who used it to tow exhibition trailers. He'd regularly get it to do 18mpg. He finally broke it at 195k miles when he bust the front axle. Don't think he ever changed the engine oil letter alone looked after the transmission.
The 4.0 litre's don't like lpg conversions much as it makes them run too hot, if the cooling isn't uprated I've heard but as ours is a weekend car the mpg's not too much of a problem.
Easy to work on; some flimsy bits, trim and electrics etc but some bits like changing a window motor and regulator was a doddle job done in about 15 mins, much appreciated as it was a snowy January day when I had to do it.
I've also had a 4.7 v8. Used to easily manage 24mpg in everyday use. Doing some gentle off-roading reduced this to mid teens but I don't think mine had been in low range ever before. After that the mpg went down hill, must have been due to hole in the back box.
It had about 120k miles on it when I got it. Sold it to a chap who used it to tow exhibition trailers. He'd regularly get it to do 18mpg. He finally broke it at 195k miles when he bust the front axle. Don't think he ever changed the engine oil letter alone looked after the transmission.
The 4.0 litre's don't like lpg conversions much as it makes them run too hot, if the cooling isn't uprated I've heard but as ours is a weekend car the mpg's not too much of a problem.
Easy to work on; some flimsy bits, trim and electrics etc but some bits like changing a window motor and regulator was a doddle job done in about 15 mins, much appreciated as it was a snowy January day when I had to do it.
The sub 20mpg consumption makes them an impractical choice as a daily driver and they aren't worth spending on an LPG conversion at this stage in their life.
Mine was bought as a winter hack and for taking crap to the tip, but it was so comfortable that I ended up using it most of the time.
I found it easy to work on, rust free and a delight to drive compared to a rotten old Land Rover (which would have cost five or six times as much to buy).
It was a bit slack in the tiller and would lurch into oversteer on greasy roads, but if you were pottering about it was totally undemanding.
The 4.0 only comes with an auto box, which may put some people off.
A friend had a Grand Cherokee which died of a failed diff. My diff was starting to get whiny at 70,000 miles and they are expensive to replace. Apart from that, they are an absurdly cheap and capable 4x4.
They share a lot of mechanical components with the contemporary Wrangler Jeeps, which are no more capable off road, have absolutely no boot space and are as camp as a row of tents. That said, I did own a 4.0 Wrangler with a manual gearbox and it was a hoot to drive. In a straight line.
Mine was bought as a winter hack and for taking crap to the tip, but it was so comfortable that I ended up using it most of the time.
I found it easy to work on, rust free and a delight to drive compared to a rotten old Land Rover (which would have cost five or six times as much to buy).
It was a bit slack in the tiller and would lurch into oversteer on greasy roads, but if you were pottering about it was totally undemanding.
The 4.0 only comes with an auto box, which may put some people off.
A friend had a Grand Cherokee which died of a failed diff. My diff was starting to get whiny at 70,000 miles and they are expensive to replace. Apart from that, they are an absurdly cheap and capable 4x4.
They share a lot of mechanical components with the contemporary Wrangler Jeeps, which are no more capable off road, have absolutely no boot space and are as camp as a row of tents. That said, I did own a 4.0 Wrangler with a manual gearbox and it was a hoot to drive. In a straight line.
300bhp/ton said:
The XJ Cherokee is a small vehicle though. I think because of it's boxy styling, people always assume it's massive. But it's not, it's about the same size as an e36 BMW, but with a bigger boot. And has similar leg room to said BMW.
The 4.0 litre is very very smooth, makes 190hp and pulls from nothing, which you only get with larger displacement engines. The low end grunt from 1000-1200rpm is very very good. And much more suited to this type of vehicle, rather than having a revy 2.5 V6 with the same PEAK hp output.
There are few things more unhelpful than extrapolating from an inaccurate definition. Conversely, the quotes above put all into perspective. A helpful translation from the original Yankish, if you will.The 4.0 litre is very very smooth, makes 190hp and pulls from nothing, which you only get with larger displacement engines. The low end grunt from 1000-1200rpm is very very good. And much more suited to this type of vehicle, rather than having a revy 2.5 V6 with the same PEAK hp output.
I'd pin this at the top of the thread.
Pat H said:
A friend had a Grand Cherokee which died of a failed diff. My diff was starting to get whiny at 70,000 miles and they are expensive to replace. Apart from that, they are an absurdly cheap and capable 4x4.
They share a lot of mechanical components with the contemporary Wrangler Jeeps, which are no more capable off road, have absolutely no boot space and are as camp as a row of tents. That said, I did own a 4.0 Wrangler with a manual gearbox and it was a hoot to drive. In a straight line.
Diffs are expensive however it's not too bad to replace the whole axle. Best quote I had was £120 to swap them over but would've had to get it to them. Think I ended up £350ish all in for one with a 90 warranty delivered then fitted by local garage. They share a lot of mechanical components with the contemporary Wrangler Jeeps, which are no more capable off road, have absolutely no boot space and are as camp as a row of tents. That said, I did own a 4.0 Wrangler with a manual gearbox and it was a hoot to drive. In a straight line.
Had my 2000 WJ 4 litre for over 5 years now. Bought after the S-Type was VT'd & my first 4 x 4. Bought well, lots of history & effectively one owner at 82K.
I'm lucky in that I have a tame Jeep guy who is £60 per hour & knows them inside out. Over the 5 years & 60K it has managed 17.6MPG although I don't pay for the fuel so don't drive it as slowly as you could. Including fuel over the 5 years it has cost 42pence per mile. Without 14pence per mile. They need regular servicing & regular fluid changing. Mine has disgraced itself recently by letting first my wife then me down, both with the same fault. It has emerged that the gear change cable outer is knackered & not properly pushing the box selector into P. Cost £66 from Chrysler & took just on a week from Italy. This is the first part I've ever bought from the manufacturer. Up to now it has been Jeep specialist stuff. Diffs get noisy, mine was rebuilt last September for around £250 all in. I've replaced ARB links several times, they are crap quality although cheap. It's had a new rad & viscous coupling for around £90 & £60 respectively. It has had a variety of gearbox sensors or solenoids, around £100 from the US. Last year we had the dash out to cure a common WJ issue which is the heater blend doors all in that was £600 but there was a service on that as well. Mine has zero rust, nothing. Unlike an equivalent LR product.
It was on a horrid mix of chinese tyres when I bought it, I changed the lot for General AT for £390 & they are around half worn after 60K.
I run mine on a car allowance so tend to over service jump on stuff early to keep it reliable.
Do I love it, yes you bet, the ride is fantastic, although it wallows a bit it drives as a RWD car 99% of the time & handles well for what it is. Has everything I want in a car, fantastic 180W stereo, electric everything, cruise etc.
Has taken 3 of us plus camping kit etc to Le Mans Classic, delivered various nieces to Uni & lodgings with tons of stuff.
Big issue as others have said, what do I replace it with? A newer Jeep? Maybe but they are all diesel & I don't do high miles diesels out of warranty.
I'm lucky in that I have a tame Jeep guy who is £60 per hour & knows them inside out. Over the 5 years & 60K it has managed 17.6MPG although I don't pay for the fuel so don't drive it as slowly as you could. Including fuel over the 5 years it has cost 42pence per mile. Without 14pence per mile. They need regular servicing & regular fluid changing. Mine has disgraced itself recently by letting first my wife then me down, both with the same fault. It has emerged that the gear change cable outer is knackered & not properly pushing the box selector into P. Cost £66 from Chrysler & took just on a week from Italy. This is the first part I've ever bought from the manufacturer. Up to now it has been Jeep specialist stuff. Diffs get noisy, mine was rebuilt last September for around £250 all in. I've replaced ARB links several times, they are crap quality although cheap. It's had a new rad & viscous coupling for around £90 & £60 respectively. It has had a variety of gearbox sensors or solenoids, around £100 from the US. Last year we had the dash out to cure a common WJ issue which is the heater blend doors all in that was £600 but there was a service on that as well. Mine has zero rust, nothing. Unlike an equivalent LR product.
It was on a horrid mix of chinese tyres when I bought it, I changed the lot for General AT for £390 & they are around half worn after 60K.
I run mine on a car allowance so tend to over service jump on stuff early to keep it reliable.
Do I love it, yes you bet, the ride is fantastic, although it wallows a bit it drives as a RWD car 99% of the time & handles well for what it is. Has everything I want in a car, fantastic 180W stereo, electric everything, cruise etc.
Has taken 3 of us plus camping kit etc to Le Mans Classic, delivered various nieces to Uni & lodgings with tons of stuff.
Big issue as others have said, what do I replace it with? A newer Jeep? Maybe but they are all diesel & I don't do high miles diesels out of warranty.
Edited by tr7v8 on Friday 6th May 20:13
not a fan of the styling of this model Grand Cherokee
Loved the Cherokee XJ styling and had one in Limited trim for a few years, in metallic red with only 80k .... total regretted selling before I had even taken the money for it....... bought the WJ Grand Cherokee (the model after the one in the add here), again love driving it especially in the comfy armchairs in the front...... not my every day drive, used mainly at weekends for bouncing around the village, taking to the supermarket as I don't have to worry about kids/scum opening car doors onto it, weekends away as just through the bikes in the back, dump just throw in every thing, back-up winter vehicle as merc not the best in snow and ice.... and great fun for driving in the snow and flooded lanes in winter when the TVR is all tucked up in bed hibernating waiting for the spring ....... can't see why no one would not one
Loved the Cherokee XJ styling and had one in Limited trim for a few years, in metallic red with only 80k .... total regretted selling before I had even taken the money for it....... bought the WJ Grand Cherokee (the model after the one in the add here), again love driving it especially in the comfy armchairs in the front...... not my every day drive, used mainly at weekends for bouncing around the village, taking to the supermarket as I don't have to worry about kids/scum opening car doors onto it, weekends away as just through the bikes in the back, dump just throw in every thing, back-up winter vehicle as merc not the best in snow and ice.... and great fun for driving in the snow and flooded lanes in winter when the TVR is all tucked up in bed hibernating waiting for the spring ....... can't see why no one would not one
Genuinely lol'd at that, very funny
My dad had a 4.0 Cherokee whilst in Spain. It was a capable if anything, it even sounded good with a stainless exhaust on it!
He used it to pull a 3ft diameter concrete block out of his drive. He thought it was buried upto 1ft in the ground. It was in fact 4ft down! The Jeep pulled it out without breaking a sweat, awesome little thing
My dad had a 4.0 Cherokee whilst in Spain. It was a capable if anything, it even sounded good with a stainless exhaust on it!
He used it to pull a 3ft diameter concrete block out of his drive. He thought it was buried upto 1ft in the ground. It was in fact 4ft down! The Jeep pulled it out without breaking a sweat, awesome little thing
Potentially a good shed, but quite expensive on fuel.
I bought my 1997 Orvis 4.0 with lpg conversion last year for 700. I bought it blind with an extremely dodgy MOT (it needed sills and had four different tyres, and if anyone wants to get anything through an MOT, PM me for the station name ). It was an emergency purchase, but I've done about 8,000 miles in it and it has been completely reliable.
It has a horrible gearbox that never seems to know which gear it wants, a gutless, but adequate and smooth engine, and is relatively comfortable (better than the Puritanical seats that seem to be the fashion for most cars these days). The body is rot free, apart from the completely shot sills, one of which I've already replaced. As mentioned by others, it's really quite small, and the spare tyre takes up a lot of space in the rear.
I get about 20mpg or more on a run (so equivalent to 40mpg on gas, and about 18 on average (30% city driving, and the rest fast roads).
If I had seen it before I had paid for it, I would have walked away, but it has (slowly) endeared itself to me, and is cheap to run.
There's a pleasure in bumping up kerbs that would have the low-profile boys sweating, and never washing it makes the OCD types twitch.
Offroad it is very good. Loads of fun.
Next up is a Range Rover L322 for me, but I'm a little hesitant with regards to reliability.
Here she is at a pay and play site.
I bought my 1997 Orvis 4.0 with lpg conversion last year for 700. I bought it blind with an extremely dodgy MOT (it needed sills and had four different tyres, and if anyone wants to get anything through an MOT, PM me for the station name
). It was an emergency purchase, but I've done about 8,000 miles in it and it has been completely reliable.It has a horrible gearbox that never seems to know which gear it wants, a gutless, but adequate and smooth engine, and is relatively comfortable (better than the Puritanical seats that seem to be the fashion for most cars these days). The body is rot free, apart from the completely shot sills, one of which I've already replaced. As mentioned by others, it's really quite small, and the spare tyre takes up a lot of space in the rear.
I get about 20mpg or more on a run (so equivalent to 40mpg on gas, and about 18 on average (30% city driving, and the rest fast roads).
If I had seen it before I had paid for it, I would have walked away, but it has (slowly) endeared itself to me, and is cheap to run.
There's a pleasure in bumping up kerbs that would have the low-profile boys sweating, and never washing it makes the OCD types twitch.
Offroad it is very good. Loads of fun.
Next up is a Range Rover L322 for me, but I'm a little hesitant with regards to reliability.
Here she is at a pay and play site.
Had 2 GC's, one as featured with a 4.0 lump converted to LPG, and a WJ 2.7 turbo diesel.
Heater blend motors are a well known fault and the repair parts are circa £100 (and you don't need the remove the dash, unlike a previous reply suggested), heated seats tend to not heat (down to squashy cushions that damage the elements),etcc.
The seats in both of mine were awful, no support, and felt like those you'd probably find in a 500k miles Edinburgh taxi. Which would have been fine but both had done under 80k...
Gearbox PCB board problems are expensive (£700-ish as it includes the gear selector) and prevent the thing starting or driving.
And has anyone else ever thought that they look rather like a regular estate car that has had 4x4 running gear welded under them?
And yes, I liked mine. Even though the 2.7 only seemed to get a maximum of 28mpg, and that on a trawl along the M1...
Heater blend motors are a well known fault and the repair parts are circa £100 (and you don't need the remove the dash, unlike a previous reply suggested), heated seats tend to not heat (down to squashy cushions that damage the elements),etcc.
The seats in both of mine were awful, no support, and felt like those you'd probably find in a 500k miles Edinburgh taxi. Which would have been fine but both had done under 80k...
Gearbox PCB board problems are expensive (£700-ish as it includes the gear selector) and prevent the thing starting or driving.
And has anyone else ever thought that they look rather like a regular estate car that has had 4x4 running gear welded under them?
And yes, I liked mine. Even though the 2.7 only seemed to get a maximum of 28mpg, and that on a trawl along the M1...
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