Thinking on adding a YJ to the family

[The Swiss]

I'm at at about to buy a '89 Sahara, 4 liter I6, 5 speed manual, interior and exterior good shape for a 21 year old vehicle, original, somewhat faded paint, no rust. Not leaking any oil. All 5 tires are bold, I mean bold, but that's not a big deal.

A couple quick questions.
I'm at at about to buy a '89 Sahara, 4 liter I6, 5 speed manual, interior and exterior good shape for a 21 year old vehicle, original, somewhat faded paint, no rust. Not leaking any oil. All 5 tires are bold, I mean bold, but that's not a big deal.

Some quick questions to you YJ experts out there.
The 4 liter in the '89 YJ is fuel injected, correct? Engine somewhat sputters and was a little hard to start like a carb engine. Idle was good, revs came down quickly when letting off the gas, oil looked clean, the coolant reservoir was empty, but kept water after I refilled and went for a short 3 mile test frive. It has an aftermarket aircleaner, the rest looked stock and fairly clean. Any idea where the sputtering could come from? Any problems with the inline 6 in '89?
The clutch grabbed nicely close to the floor panel. Anything special to pay attention to on the clutch?

Tranny shifted very smoothly, but when shifting into 1, 3 and 5 gear the shifter almost touched the dashboard. Is this normal?

Anything special to look out for on a '89 YJ?

3 Grand sounds reasonable?

Thanks guys.

 

[redbeard]

"A couple quick questions.
I'm at at about to buy a '89 Sahara, 4 liter I6, 5 speed manual, interior and exterior good shape for a 21 year old vehicle, original, somewhat faded paint, no rust. Not leaking any oil. All 5 tires are bold, I mean bold, but that's not a big deal."

"Some quick questions to you YJ experts out there.
The 4 liter in the '89 YJ is fuel injected, correct?"

No, its a 4.2 liter, or 258 ci. stock is the carter carb. FI kits are avail.

"Engine somewhat sputters and was a little hard to start like a carb engine. Idle was good, revs came down quickly when letting off the gas, oil looked clean, the coolant reservoir was empty, but kept water after I refilled and went for a short 3 mile test frive. It has an aftermarket aircleaner, the rest looked stock and fairly clean. Any idea where the sputtering could come from? Any problems with the inline 6 in '89?"

I like the inline 6. FI is nice though. It's a strong motor on torque, weak on hp. The low end torque was something quite nice.

"The clutch grabbed nicely close to the floor panel. Anything special to pay attention to on the clutch?"

internal slave cylinder. if it leaks, you might not know until its too late. Can convert to external if thats an issue.

"Tranny shifted very smoothly, but when shifting into 1, 3 and 5 gear the shifter almost touched the dashboard. Is this normal?"

It's close, I dont recall touching, but the shifter can be bent to your liking.

Anything special to look out for on a '89 YJ?

Yes - make sure if it has the ax-15 tranny. It will if it was built after march 26th of 1989 or something. Before had the peguot ba-10/5.

If the tranny has a split running lenghtwise (front to back) its the ba-10/5. Bad tranny. My reverse died on it. I put a nv4500 in mine to replace it.

ax-15 has served many well.

Axles are dana 30 front with vacuum disconnect (can be fixed with cable system), dana 35 rear. Good chance it isnt the dana-35c, as I think those started in 1990. (im fuzzy on this one). 35-c is the c-clip axle. C-clip break, see axle width get wider.


"3 Grand sounds reasonable?"

Totally depends on the vehicle. If it is built, condition, has what you want, etc.

Any more questions, please ask.

-Mike

 

[YJake]

If it does not have an AX15 tranny RUN AWAY!

But really, the big question is what do you plan to use it for?

The BA/10 is complete garbage and will fail. Red Beard answered your questions very well.

The 4.2L I6 engine is a very good engine if low end torque is what you're looking for. You can throw an MC2100 Carb on it with a Team Rush/Nutter Bypass and really get some performance out of it. But, it has little horsepower and won't run on the interstate very well regardless of what you do.

The slave cylinder will be internal, which is a real PITA to replace on the trail or in your garage if it fails. It requires you to pull the whole transmission. I replaced my internal 2 times before swapping to an external set-up. Peace of mind ever since! (94+ have external slave set-ups)


Like Red said, the price all depends on the shape it is in, drivetrain, and such. But do remember, it is a Jeep and those 4.2L engines will require more "attention" than the Fuel Injected 4.0 engines will. Fuel injection for the 4.2 is available for around $1k and I knew a few who have done it with great results in reliability.

Over all, Jeeps are fun money pits! :smiley_drive:

-Jake

 

[The Swiss]

Before had the peguot ba-10/5.

If the tranny has a split running lenghtwise (front to back) its the ba-10/5. Bad tranny. My reverse died on it. I put a nv4500 in mine to replace it.

ax-15 has served many well.

-Mike

Mike, I appreciate it.

How big is the difference? I did appear to me that the throw from neutral to the front was somewhat longer than to second and fourth, but did not really pay all that much attention. It shifted nice, with the "mechanical" feel of older 4x4 trannies. Throws felt very long though.

Some info I left out. The YJ has 139,000 miles. It will be my son's first car, will have duty to teach him driving and then to get him to High School and back.

 

[YJake]

Mike, I appreciate it.

How big is the difference? I did appear to me that the throw from neutral to the front was somewhat longer than to second and fourth, but did not really pay all that much attention. It shifted nice, with the "mechanical" feel of older 4x4 trannies. Throws felt very long though.
You'll have to take a look under the rig at the transmission. The BA/10 is split down the center while the AX15 has an intermediate plate with 2 case halves. You don't want a YJ with a BA/10.

Some info I left out. The YJ has 139,000 miles. It will be my son's first car, will have duty to teach him driving and then to get him to High School and back.
I remember when I bought my YJ a week before graduating highschool, it has been fairly reliable, but only because I know everything about it and have turned a wrench on every nut and bolt on it. I say go for it if it has an AX15. It will be a fun learning experience working on it over the weekends :ylsmoke:

Here is a picture of an AX15 I just rebuilt a couple of months ago. See how it splits side to side. (A BA/10 will split up and down the center)

And here's what it looks like naked.

I hope that helps!

-Jake

 

[troy]

The posts have covered the major downfalls. I had an '88 Sahara for many years. The carb is really a pain to tune and has many vacum lines and very rarely will run right, even when new.

If it has the Peugot tranny, you will be replacing it at some point. You are really bettor off finding a '91 or newer with fuel injection and the bettter trans.

I did love that Jeep though.

 

[richmondbob]

Save your money and take your time finding a '91 - '95 4.0i YJ. The '95 benefitted from better fuel injection, transmission drivetrain. I still own my '95 and even though the ride in my wife's 4-door JK is nicer I still love driving my Jeep.

 

[redbeard]

I'll generally agree that the 91+ is a better bet. But for the 89, you'll probably end up doing either 1 of 2 things for the tranny.

1) You can run it till the tranny is nearly out, and swap in a ax15 from a junk yard or something, or a newer kit from Advanced or some similar company.
2) you can swap in an early 70's era volkswagon engine or some engine like it as it wont have enough power to hurt the tranny.

Granted, I'm not sure #2 has ever been done.

If you have smog where you are at, you'll probably wish you had FI. I was able to get my carter to run pretty well for quite a while, and it can have an idle prob, which is fixed with a quick trip to the machine shop. There are carb replacements and FI kits.

This site has a picture of the BA 10/5 tranny. http://www.jeepforum.com/wiki/index.php/BA-10/5

But I will say, I love my '89, though it can be a love/hate relationship.

 

[The Swiss]

Gentlemen,

You are more helpful that the guys on the dedicated Jeep forums :wings: I looked at a '97 TJ yesterday with 240 kmls, sound but rough body, replacement 4 cyl engine with about 60 kmls. The motor does not appear to run right under little load (owner called it backfiring, it did it ever since they put the replacement engine in, he thinks it's a timing problem, he drove it like this for the last 6 months), engine sounds good at idle and under more load. And then there is a '94 with the 4 cyl, no top, good condition, but the owner thinks its worth it's weight in gold.

Where is that famous dusty Jeep in the barn you can get for a song and a dance when you need it? :elkgrin:

Save your money and take your time finding a '91 - '95 4.0i YJ. The '95 benefitted from better fuel injection, transmission drivetrain. I still own my '95 and even though the ride in my wife's 4-door JK is nicer I still love driving my Jeep.

Under "normal" circumstances I would fully agree with you. But this Jeep will be for my son who's birthday is coming up. So there is a deadline. Unluckily I am also not the kind of dad who wants to spend tons of money to give their kids a perfect car, but a good solid base where they can learn turning a wrench to get it to the stage they want to have it.

But great input, everybody, really appreciate it.

 

[The Swiss]

Here is a picture of an AX15 I just rebuilt a couple of months ago. See how it splits side to side. (A BA/10 will split up and down the center)

And here's what it looks like naked.

I hope that helps!

-Jake

Gotcha now :elkgrin: It's definitely not the AX15. Could be the Peugot, but it does not look identical to the pics redbeard posted

I'll generally agree that the 91+ is a better bet. But for the 89, you'll probably end up doing either 1 of 2 things for the tranny.

1) You can run it till the tranny is nearly out ...

Probably what I end up doing. The gear shift felt very solid, and the Jeep defenately spent it's life so far as pavement queen.

If you have smog where you are at, you'll probably wish you had FI.

No smog here in rural GA :ylsmoke:

 

[redbeard]

I just remembered, I think the mustang t-5 manual trans swaps in as well. I got nearly 200k out of my trans.

I like mine a lot. A good car to have, forces you to learn. The motor is generally good for 200k if you take good care of it.

If you end up having to get a new tranny in, PM me (or post), I can let you know what I learned.

 

[Amauri]

:victory:

That's a great first car. My dad bought me a Samurai on 35's when I turned 16, that thing was a POS but I loved it. I remember when he gave me the keys and I tried to start it it wouldn't turn over, we had to push start it. I miss that pig.

 

[The Swiss]

Well, the deal is on hold right now. The guy at the used car sales lot claims his offer was just good for 24 hrs and went now up 900 bucks on the price as it was 48 hours until I got back to him. Can't stand these kind of jerks. I'm in sales myself and these are exactly the people that give our profession a bad name.

Oh well, back to square one. His loss, not mine.