Damn did I get screwed, my own fault though
I heard from my friend that he sold his Jeep for $1,000 to a mechanic and that guy spent a while on it but finally found the bad sensor and fixed it for less than $100 (plus his own free labor). I too would have kept it (if it was mine) and I had the time to tinker with it.
My father in law gave me his totaled 1989 Jeep Cherokee Laredo (thanks sis-in-law for totaling it!). I like taking on challenges like this for myself but I am leery of doing it for family/friends. I ripped off the front end and found that the frame wasn't bent like the shop that totaled it said, but the bumper mounts just folded over. A little bit of hammering fixed that and $400 of new/used parts put it back on the road. Just when I registered/ insured it, the antilock brake pump started squealing! I googled it and found that Chrysler gave this first year system a lifetime warranty, so I took it to the dealer and after they didn't believe the lifetime warranty story, they checked and found it to be in fact true! They fixed it entirely (new pump) for free! After I found out that no one in the family needed a "new" car, I decided to keep it and put a snow plow ($800) on the front end for my 700 foot driveway.
I love this Jeep, but dozens of little problems have arisen in it. If I didn't know how to trouble shoot and repair them myself, it would have cost me thousands.
Now, I park it in the back yard for about 10 months of the year and in late December, I throw a battery on the passenger floor (since this Jeep takes an unusually small and now rare battery I use my boat battery) and use jumper cables out the vent window to the engine compartment. It starts right up after about 15 seconds of cranking! Thanks fuel injection! I do use Stabil in it though. When the snow season is over, I don,t even pickle anything in it. Just park it and remove the battery again.
My father in law gave me his totaled 1989 Jeep Cherokee Laredo (thanks sis-in-law for totaling it!). I like taking on challenges like this for myself but I am leery of doing it for family/friends. I ripped off the front end and found that the frame wasn't bent like the shop that totaled it said, but the bumper mounts just folded over. A little bit of hammering fixed that and $400 of new/used parts put it back on the road. Just when I registered/ insured it, the antilock brake pump started squealing! I googled it and found that Chrysler gave this first year system a lifetime warranty, so I took it to the dealer and after they didn't believe the lifetime warranty story, they checked and found it to be in fact true! They fixed it entirely (new pump) for free! After I found out that no one in the family needed a "new" car, I decided to keep it and put a snow plow ($800) on the front end for my 700 foot driveway.
I love this Jeep, but dozens of little problems have arisen in it. If I didn't know how to trouble shoot and repair them myself, it would have cost me thousands.
Now, I park it in the back yard for about 10 months of the year and in late December, I throw a battery on the passenger floor (since this Jeep takes an unusually small and now rare battery I use my boat battery) and use jumper cables out the vent window to the engine compartment. It starts right up after about 15 seconds of cranking! Thanks fuel injection! I do use Stabil in it though. When the snow season is over, I don,t even pickle anything in it. Just park it and remove the battery again.
