86customanche Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 :hmm: I bought a 98 XJ last night for a donor for my MJ. But upon getting home and taking a good look at it, it almost seems wrong to tear into the very nice XJ that I just purchased. Its got about 140,000 miles and 4.0l auto that has a stutter at idle and I noticed a rod knock when it idled for more than a minute. I only paid 1700 for it and it has about 1000 worth of brand new tires. :wall: I'm trying to decide if I should use it as a donor like I had planned or if I'm better off spending the time to fix the motor and other very minor issues and sell it for a profit. What do you all suggest? I'm open to ideas. :idea: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Sarge Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Pictures and a Poll! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86customanche Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Pictures and a Poll! good idea. I will get some pictures up when I get home from work today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 IMHO $1700 is to much to pay for a donor. I would try to fix it and sell. Danger there is putting to much into it and never be able to get it back. You're buying a donor to part out. Get what you want from it and sell the rest. If your lucky you can sell good parts and get some of your investment back. If not, then you have a pile of scrap sitting in your yard and the neighbors complaining to the city. A couple months ago I bought a '98XJ Sport and a '87 MJ. Package deal for $700. The MJ was parked because the owner couldn't afford to put plates and insurance on it and fix it. The XJ had been wrecked, front end damage. I sold the 4.0 engine for $400, The tranny and transfer case is laying on the ground, both front doors and windshield were put in a '89 MJ, The stereo is in my '87MJ, The bucket seats are in the storage room and I got $300 for the rest as scrap. The MJ only needed it's injectors cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globex Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I would just put a motor in and sell it. Around here xj's with those miles in clean shape will get 3500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86customanche Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 I would just put a motor in and sell it. Around here xj's with those miles in clean shape will get 3500. That's what I was thinking when I saw how good of shape the body is in. If your lucky you can sell good parts and get some of your investment back. If not, then you have a pile of scrap sitting in your yard and the neighbors complaining to the city. Don't have a problem with neighbors. None in sight from my house and live out in the boonies. The issue is mother, not a fan of broken down vehicles in the yard. :shake: As of today, I'm leaning towards the fixing and selling since it seems to be in such good shape overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankTheDog Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 It's a shame to break up a decent vehicle if all it needs is a motor. Which it may not. My 92 MJ has been knocking for the 25k that I have been driving it. No change in the sound of it, just the same knock as when I bought it. You should be able to get a decent 4.0 for it for under $500. Drop it in and sell it or drive it. I'd love to find a nice XJ with a blown motor. That is an easy swap for a low cost vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86customanche Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Here's some pics I took today: from the front from the rear very clean under the hood too. interior has been steam cleaned. The PO said it used to belong to a VDOT employee and there are a couple holes in the roof from antennas that have been plugged with silicone and do not leak but are ugly when you look at them closely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreman1063 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I'd fix it and drive it. That appears too nice to destroy. You can fin a donor much cheaper than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadinator Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Paid $400 for my donor. Fix and sell that XJ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86customanche Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Fix and sell that XJ... That is what I'm gonna do now. Last night I started to look at the rough idle, took off and cleaned the throtle body, a little dirty but not terrible, then started looking at just about everything else. The PO had replaced the spark plugs and wires at somepoint not too long ago but the engine definitely seemed to be missing. So I got out a pressure tester on the radiator and it's losing pressure(head gasket could use a replacing but that's later) Turns out that when he was installing the sparkplugs, he dropped one and didn't regap it. The thing was completely closed :shake: so I gapped it and it runs a whole lot better. The rod knock is still there sometimes so I will look into that later this week. But I will not be scrapping this XJ, body and now motor are in too good of shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Donor. It is better to start with a good clean donor than one that has been abused. You will be chasing problems on a beater. My donor for Onyx was $2500. It was worth every penny. The truck is still running like a top and has never had a problem. The new owner could not be happier with it. My piece of mind is worth more than the profit off the XJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86customanche Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Donor. It is better to start with a good clean donor than one that has been abused. You will be chasing problems on a beater. My donor for Onyx was $2500. It was worth every penny. The truck is still running like a top and has never had a problem. The new owner could not be happier with it. My piece of mind is worth more than the profit off the XJ. I've definitely thought it over many many times and :wall: so frustrating. However, the XJ motor isn't in good enough shape in my mine to make it worth the swap and I am fairly certain I can sell it for about 1000 above the buy price with only about 200 more in parts put in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnuck Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Pull the motor, rebuild it, swap it into yours and put your old motor in it to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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