Let's talk WJ's

kmanxj5050

kmanxj5050

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Reed City Michigan
I wanna hear experiences. Ive heard the 4.7 sucks! But is there a common problem with certain years or do they all suck?

We are going to put the wifes xj up for sale in the spring and start looking at wj's. I really want a limited with a 4.0 but that is VERY rare.

Tell me what you know!!
 
kmanxj5050 said:
I saw that and posted there, but I figured I would gain some value able info from a lot of my MWC peeps who don't travel out of the chapter much.



I was planning on picking your brain in next time i saw ya, i want to have her drive yours to see what she thinks. What year is yours? Miles? Limited right? Ever had any issues?
Click to expand...

02. 147k limited quadradrive.

Trans at 130k, evap and heater core at 80k, water pump at 140k, and a couple starters.

Love it.
 
my understanding of the 4.7 having a bad rap is the oil passages, or rather, lack there of... with poor maintenance they get clogged up, the cam gets starved of oil, and shreds itself. key is to find one that was cared for.

dont be afraid to get one with the dreaded 247 Tcase. you can swap in a 242 (my buddy payed $100 for the one we swapped into his) in a day and keep the stock driveshafts. only part that sucks is that you have to COMPLETELY blow apart the 242 and 247 to swap the input gear from the WJs 247 into the 242. but that give you a good chance to look at the condition of the 242. i think his only expenditures were RTV, ATF, and the 242 shift bezel (which you dont need). a 231 will need new shafts but will also work.
 
VAhasnoWAVES said:
my understanding of the 4.7 having a bad rap is the oil passages, or rather, lack there of... with poor maintenance they get clogged up, the cam gets starved of oil, and shreds itself. key is to find one that was cared for.

dont be afraid to get one with the dreaded 247 Tcase. you can swap in a 242 (my buddy payed $100 for the one we swapped into his) in a day and keep the stock driveshafts. only part that sucks is that you have to COMPLETELY blow apart the 242 and 247 to swap the input gear from the WJs 247 into the 242. but that give you a good chance to look at the condition of the 242. i think his only expenditures were RTV, ATF, and the 242 shift bezel (which you dont need). a 231 will need new shafts but will also work.
Click to expand...

Thanks

scoobyxj said:
Only input I can offer is I drove a 4.0ltr WJ once. It was a turd!! That's all I remember....
Click to expand...

Because it smelled bad or?
 
Chrysler 3.7 and 4.7 both do it. The 3.7s are in the Libertys. Poor mainteness leads to sludge and build up. The valvetrains get starved for oil and they shuck the rockers out from under the cams. The hard part in buying one is knowing how well they were taken care of.

The trans issues arent really that bad as long as you keep up on them. Adjust the bands and service it when you get it. You might be time and money ahead to put a pressure control solenoid and a governor pressure sensor in it as well.

We have seen a few blend doors come through the shop. The Mopar blend door kit has a Patch that you cut a big hole in the HVAC box and put in an updated door. Looks pretty getto fab when its done but what else could you expect from Mopar.
If it were me id yank the box and fix it correctly.

I like the looks of them and they look good with a mild lift.
 
My sister had a 99 with the 4.0l It was a real turd on the road. She bought it off lease with about 50k miles. She kept it for another 100k. It was fine until 100k, then everything started having problems. After replacing the 247, she started having typical Chrysler issues. Before she finally traded it off, she had replaced or had just about every piece of interior electronics malfunction. The interior did not wear very well either, it was very battered up looking inside considering the owner was single woman who is a bit OCD about taking care of her stuff.

She offered to my daughter for $500, because that is what the dealer offered her for it. We turned it down as we didn't want to deal with the issues even for a 16 year old girl.
 
so far i really like mine...took it on a 14hr round trip road trip this weekend. mine seems like it was well maintained and eventually it will become mine after we purchase the wife a new car. its a laredo, but all the plastic was painted black and it has leather interior. i think eventually i will swap an overland, limited, or special edition grille onto it (there are plenty in the yards and on clist for sale here) and i will swap the front leather seats for heated leather. i have a few mechanical issues, but with 180k, the 4.0l still runs like a top. on our road trip we got 21 and 19 on the trip out and 19 and 20mpg on the trip back on a pretty hilly highway. i calculated miles and gallons (trip computer was pretty close though) i have a few power locks to fix, and an airbag light...but no CEL, no misses or water in the oil. Trans shifts fine, but i have no way to know if it is original or not. from what i can see it should easily last the 6-8 months it needs to until we can get my wife something nicer...then it will be getting an aw4 swap. i have a couple of guys who have told me how to do it and make it function with the factory wj PCM...i just have to figure out a work around for the cel...i am also goign to swap a 99 xj head on it after we move in march. once i do that, im going on the hunt for a donor motor to build a mild stroker for it. then it will get a 2-3" lift and some a/t's and will be my vehicle and i will retire the xj from DD usage...

personally i don't think the 4.0 is that bad, but i'm used to driving a tired 4.0 in an xj with stock gears and 33's :)

as of right now, i really like it...having the v8 would be nice, but for what i have in this sucker, building a stroker for it and swapping in an aw4 will still be cheaper than finding a well maintained 4.7
 
My trans lost the front pump seals which in turn burnt up the converter. Drove it another two hours, lost both over drives, went into limp mode and I ordered a trans.

Forgot I had to do the blend doors in mine too. Did that when I did the evap and heater core.

4.0 in WJ's are indeed turds lol
 
macgyvr said:
Dad has had two of them.

The first an 01 Limited 4.7. Had it from 70k to 120k. Put a motor in it at 111k. Had all kinds of issues, tranny was a little funny shifting, HVAC doors, burn oil, then he ran it out of oil for the final straw of the motor. The oil pan also rusted out on it. Heated seat quit. It was a pile. Finally it was wrecked and totalled.

The 2nd one is an 04 4.0 w/242 and got it this spring with 50k on it. Its a Freedom edition with tow hooks and some decent looking rims. I have drove it a couple times and it has very nice power for a 4.0. Also has manual HVAC...which is nice. After his first one, I said I would never own one, but I've changed my mind after this one, this one should definitely last a long, long, long time.

My buddy has an 02 with a bit over 100k. Limited with a v8. He's had the solenoids replaced in his transmission so far.

mac 'still too new for me' gyvr
Click to expand...

Taken from that other thread...
 
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