Wannabe Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Hey, I'm brand new to this site and to Jeeps in general. I've always been interested in them but they've always been too expensive. I'm a college student, enough said. I just recently came across a 1990 Comanche with a 4.0 6 cyl and an auto trans in it. A couple biker guys were selling it, they seemed harmless enough. I started it up, the engine sounded fine. There really wasn't that much rust. I could tell exhaust work needed to be done on it right away. They told me there was 160,000 miles on it, which is quite a bit, but I'd been readin up on Comanches and I heard they lasted for quite some time. They had it in the paper for $1100. I offered $750 and they were more than happy to take it. Kelley Blue Book said a Comanche with 160,000 on it still went for $1200. Forgive the length of this post. So a couple days later, yesterday actually, I brought a guy along with me who knew a bit more about trucks than I did. We took it for a drive and it drove well enough. Transmission shifted fine, didn't hear any strange noises. That is until we shifted it into 4WD, which took some muscle. I touched the accelerator and a bad grinding came from the rear. The dude told us the exhaust was loose and was resting on the rear axle, which my friend confirmed, and that it did make a bad grinding sound. So after we went about 5 yards we tried to shift it back into 2WD, but to no avail. We tried it, both in neutral and in park, a good five times and it still wouldn't switch back. That was kinda strange, so he just told me to drive it back. A second after I started back up again it shifted into 2WD and we drove it back fairly noiselessly. My question is, after telling you my friggin' life story, is it a good deal? $750 for a Comanche with 160,000 miles on it. I was planning, actually hoping, to do some work on it. My price range for a car/truck right now is about $1500 so I'll have some money left over to put into it. The guy I brought along told me I should keep my money and keep looking, but I really like the truck, it has a lot of potential. The guys selling it said they haven't gotten any offers besides mine so I'm guessing it'll be for sale a little while longer. Any information would be fantastic. I'll answer any questions I can. Thanks! Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Were you driving it in 4wd on the pavement? Any rust on the underbody? specifically near the t-case shifter linkage? Did you just try 4wd HI? Or 4wd LO too? Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Can you check the fluid level in the transfer case? Sounds like it's low (or empty :shock: ) and/or the linkage is out of adjustment. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirsMJ86 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 also with the 4wd check the vac hoses. my 86 did this then just quit shiftin into 4wd. so i looked under it and found that my vac hoses were off. so make sure they are on there tight. but also it does sound like low fluid. alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87manche Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 a 90 with an auto trans uses a 21 spline input gear on the T-case. If you look around the junkyards for an 87-90 cherokee with the matching t-case (probably an np-231) you can probably find a good used one for fairly cheap. if you get parts lined up and you can verify that it is the T-case itself then I would buy it and repair it. It's not too tough to swap out a t-case. It shouldn't even be that much if you paid to have it done. Call the local mechanics and find out labor rates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comanchedude Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Its allways hard to diagnose a "noise" over the net and it could be several things,so i won't try But to answer your question (is it a good deal? $750 ) Well if you like the truck and the frame is solid and as you stated the body has a small amount of rust I would say thats more than a fair deal on good running 4x4 comanche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 750 for a running driveable MJ... Sounds like you are stealing it from them. More then likley the t-case was protesting be shifted in tho a 4wd mode where there was no tire slippage available, or you didnt pull it into gear all the way. IT is not uncommon to have to drive forward and reverse to get the t-case to disengage. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 750 for a running driveable MJ... Sounds like you are stealing it from them. More then likley the t-case was protesting be shifted in tho a 4wd mode where there was no tire slippage available, or you didnt pull it into gear all the way. IT is not uncommon to have to drive forward and reverse to get the t-case to disengage. Patrick This was my first impression upon reading your "life" story. :D I am going to assume the linkage is badly rusted, so it wouldnt allow total and complete engagment into the desired gear. As others have said, if the "frame" and flors are solid and there is little rust on the body and rockers, i think you did FINE on the price. Keep it and invest in a nice fun little truck!! CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whowey Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Thomas, where is in Northern Illinois? I live near Rockford, and if you need someone who is 'Jeep Experienced' I can give you a hand... I'll bet if it is a long time local truck the shifter linkage is just corroded, and cruded up. All the salt and crap on the roads here does an unbelievable amount of damage to our Jeeps. The description you gave sounds remarkably like it didn't engage competely in 4wd, I have heard this noise on almost every Jeep I have bought or looked at. Ohh.. a local jeep club link is in my sig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 160,000 miles is just barely getting broken in, and $750 for a running MJ with minimal rust is a steal. My MJ isn't that high in miles, but I ahve an '88 Cherokee (which is the same vehicle, mechanically) that's now at about 254,000 miles and has had no major repairs. Still gets over 20 MPG highway, and has seen some challenging 4WD trails. Stick around -- we'll help you get it straightened out. For starters, do NOT use the 4WD on hard, dry pavement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirsMJ86 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 For starters, do NOT use the 4WD on hard, dry pavement. ...unless your lucky like me and have a selc-trac system. :D but correct me if I'm wrong, it wasnt an option in the later years for the MJs or was it? I'm not too sure on that. but my 86 has selc-trac and i have driven it on dry pavement (bcuz i didnt notice it was on :oops: ) and had no problems at all. alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whowey Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 For starters, do NOT use the 4WD on hard, dry pavement. ...unless your lucky like me and have a selc-trac system. :D but correct me if I'm wrong, it wasnt an option in the later years for the MJs or was it? I'm not too sure on that. but my 86 has selc-trac and i have driven it on dry pavement (bcuz i didnt notice it was on :oops: ) and had no problems at all. alex It lists it in my '88 sales literature. But I'm not totally sure about the 'true' availablity of it. My 88 Cherokee had it, and I used to just leave it in full-time for my wife about 3/4's of the winter. She used to call me everytime she had to go down a half slippery road. And she was a rural mail carrier at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 No 4wd on dry pavement? Wussy. (Honestly, it can take the beating. You will accelerate the wear on the tcase chain, but otherwise it won't be a huge deal.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabe Posted April 13, 2006 Author Share Posted April 13, 2006 Thanks so far with all the help... Yeah, we put it into 4WD on pavement. Switched into it fine, though, the light on the left came on and everything. I tried it in HI, the sound was enough of a reason for me not to try the LO. And this is going to be a really stupid question, I'm used to working on cars with 2WD, but how does one check the fluid in the transfer case? I wouldn't mind swapping it out, it'll give me something it do after school. Another thing, I'm not sure of the exact name for it, but the shift gauge that tells you what gear you're in right above the steering column, thats off. If I put it in neutral, it's really in reverse; if I put it in drive, it's in neutral; and so on. The transmission works fine, its just this little thingymajigger seems to have shifted over one... annoying problem that I could probably live with, but it wouldn't hurt to fix it. Thanks for the welcome, honestly I wasn't expecting this big of a reaction at first, but all the comments are really helpful. Pretty sure I'm going to get it now. Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I believe the term is "prindle" but you're on your own beyond that... Oh, to check tcase fluid, loosen the top plug on the back of it. You'll see if you look at it. The fluid level should be even with the top plug. It takes ATF, jsut so you know what the fluid should look like. But it's probably the linkage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirsMJ86 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 ok as for your "prindle" problem you just have to get to it and it will be "broken". what you can do is get a new one (maybe 20 bucks most) or super glue that one back on in the right place. i have this happen all the time with my 84 K-10. alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oizarod115 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I'm gonna go ahead and ask you since noone else has... there are two model t-cases in automatic jeeps. one with fulltime and parttime, and one with just parttime does yours have fulltime written in green on the shift-selector-plastic-peice thing? if so it is a np242 if not it is a np231 this information will help folks help you. (i know that 1990 cherokees had 242s as an option cause my bro has a 90 laredo with a 242/AW4) welcome to jeepdom my friend -nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now