Your XJ Maintenance vs Your Other Vehicles

[702XJCruiser]

I was reviewing my maintenance records for my vehicles and my ol lady walks up and looks at my 92 Cherokee sheet and 97 DR650 sheet and she says, "wow that's a lot of stuff". "What about the 2005 Honda Accord"? I said, "I don't have a log for that I just jot down in the owners manual whenever I change the oil". Then she goes on about how the Honda never needs anything.

I enjoy the Honda for the lack of work that it needs and I enjoy the XJ even more for the work that it does need.

The DR650
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac80/djmell762/xjtalk/dr650filesc.jpg

The XJ
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac80/djmell762/xjtalk/xjfilesc.jpg

The Honda Accord: Change oil/refuel as needed.

How's your home fleet maintenance stack up?

[bigjim350]

Mine is pretty simple. I change the oil in my XJ about once a year. Then I change my trackbar tre about once a month, and thats it....
Edit: Wait, does cleaning out beer cans often count as maintenance?

[Carves]

My jeeps have never needed anymore fixed than other vehicles Ive owned ..... but they certainly need some bits maintained/replaced more often.

Lotsa washboard road use down here makes a mockery of the, back the front, trailing arm suspension used as the TJ & XJ front suspension ...
Suspension rubber life is shorter ... but its the price one pays, in having a live front axle, passenger vehicle - that meets govt crumple rate requirements.

The barely adequate cooling system always needs to be top notch condition - to be worry free ... so gets more luvvin than a homegrown vehicles cooling system. Again its not a fault as such ... its what you get for buying a vehicle sold here rather than designed for here.

Premature sensor failures due to engine bay temps is another PITA ... but theres ways to improve that situation.

All up tho, and just IMHO .... buying a 2nd XJ and tidying it up as a longterm DD is still better value than buying the midsized, overpriced blingfests, in toyota and nissan showrooms.

[bluedragon436]

My XJ maintenance is def. way better and easier than my other vehicle. My XJ I change the oil usually twice a year, just due to being deployed for almost half the year. Other than that I really don't have too much issue.. I have had to replace the CPS once since owning it.. Other than that I only have replaced the thermostat in hopes it would take care of the lack of heat issue.. come to find out just needed a good flush in the end..

My wife's 04' Ram on the other hand.. gets the oil changed every 3k miles, and spark plugs changed every other or third oil change.. Has had both front and rear diff covers and seals replaced, as well as the rear posi unit... The Ram gets all services taken care of at the dealership... not at all by my choice.. But for an engine that has 8cyl, 16 spark plugs it takes a bit of money and upkeep!!

[msmoorenburg]

Well with my fleet i don't want to keep track :D

The xj keeps getting upgrades, and when the wife fusses I tell her I can't have a 4wheeler at the same price :D

As far as the others

84 Porsche 944 chevy lt1 swap = money pit on hold for now
67 Sunbeam Alpine = starting restoration (been collecting parts for 10 years)
61 Ford Galaxe = Parked and waiting for free time (needs motor to start with)
1997 Dodge Neon = I'll be tearing up the streets this winter (i miss turbo's on cold weather)
2005 Jeep Liberty = Daily Driver / Bus stop beater

[LizardRunner]

I change the oil around 8k miles, the other fluids get the same once a year. Did the rear brakes all new parts including drums when I got it. Will be doing the front hats and pads as soon as I get the doc bills paid off, again. Other than that it's more of a fix what's broken, leaking thing. At this point I still need to do the rear engine seal, put in my new steering box and new hoses and replace the booster/master cylinder. then I'll be ready to do the lift and paint job.

[702XJCruiser]

Yeah all thing's considered she doesn't need much for an 19 year old vehicle mostly just replacing 19 year old parts with better ones here and there.

[Joliet Johnny]

I have found myself replacing things before they go bad on the XJ. That way I have know good working parts if I run into trouble. I have already learned it sucks to be out in 0 changing a water pump/ radiator.

[cpttuna]

Just my 2cents: maintenance seems easier when you have more than one of the same kind of vehicle and when the same part fits all. Example: all the xj"s the 78 bronco and the 97 grand caravan can use the same NAPA gold 1515 oil filter. When I work on a certain part on one XJ, the same part on the others gets checked.

[saar]

My XJ is much cheaper and easy to maintain than the Peguet (307) that we own, and it is much much cheaper than the Alfa Spider that I restore...

[pvt.tadpolxj]

I have been driving my XJ as a daily driver for about three year's now. I say IF it is not broke don't fix it.:out:

[cantab27]

do the oil about every 10k.... fluids and such get change a bit due too the swimming it does..have figured it out that if one seal goes say on one a axle you may as well do both sides....i'm just glad parts don't cost much...... as for the work ute, company pays for it all so every 10k she gets everything done on the old girl..shes a diesel so ya gotta keep the services up.....wifes car,,,its a yota i dont care

[XJ Wheeler]

It is annoying on my xj changing the oil with the filter upside down, be sure to have rags handy. Although its a piece of cake in comparison to my bronco 2 2.9l. Ford managed to wedge the filter in between the frame rail, engine, and engine cross member. I have changed it twice so far and both times i crushed the filter trying to get it off. Last time it took me an hour.

[steph74]

I do maintenance myself... I got the jeep to learn these things.... the other vehicles ? well we got a card from the dealer when we get them with free oil changes for 2 years... we are at the end of the 2 years so we will see what to decide next oil change ;)

[cpttuna]

XJ WHEELER: I use a plastic 5 gallon container with one side cut off to catch the oil when doing oil changes.(my son has a 92). works well for me. I just had to make sure that I cut enough off so it would side underneath the front axle. It it easy to empty the used oil out of by undoing the cap and pouring it into whatever container I have. When I undo the filter ,I just let the oil empty into the 5 gal jug. I do not use rags.

[jeepxj95]

XJ WHEELER: I use a plastic 5 gallon container with one side cut off to catch the oil when doing oil changes.(my son has a 92). works well for me. I just had to make sure that I cut enough off so it would side underneath the front axle. It it easy to empty the used oil out of by undoing the cap and pouring it into whatever container I have. When I undo the filter ,I just let the oil empty into the 5 gal jug. I do not use rags.

thats what i do