Just my little bit; 177k seems like a LOT of miles for an island
that's only about 45 x 25 miles. Being a rental it probably wasn't
treated the best. Look for broken anything underneath that's been
welded back up. RUST. Look for RUST. The kind that flakes off in
thick pieces maybe 1/16th or even 1/8th inch thick. Especially look
for rust where the transmission/transfercase skid plate bolts to the
frame. There are three bolts on each side of this plate, make sure
they're all there. Where those bolts pass through the skid plate is
where I saw most of the rust I'm telling you to look for; rusting the
plate and the frame. Of course you don't have snow, ergo, no salted
roads...but I betcha got beaches and people seem to love to drive
through the surf (like in television commercials), and that'll eat one
up.
Make sure that things like seat bolt locations on the floor board are
solid, look under any carpeting in the front floor board especially
for rust/rust-out. Take a solid pocket knife with you so you can poke
and prod at the rusted areas. Watch for the under carriage to be
painted (recently) black to hide rust.
Check out the 4x4. Look on the front axle, passenger's side. There's
a vaccuum activator there that locks the hubs to the drive line (I
think that's what it does); regardless, if it doesn't work then 4WD
won't work (the transfercase is only one piece of this puzzle).
Anyway, look to make sure the rubber boot with two vaccuum lines going
to it is still intact and attached to the vaccuum device (looks like a
flying saucer standing vertical). I've seen those rusted so bad the
little tits the rubber boot went on had rusted off and were lodged
inside the rubber boot which was now not attached to anything.
Put the Jeep in 4 Hi with the transfercase shifter and drive it about
5 feet or so. The 4WD light on the dash should light up. If not, not
big deal, maybe the light or something else. Test the 4x4 by driving
with 4WD engaged (transfercase in 4 Hi) on a hard surface (pavement or
such). Drive the Jeep in a tight circle. If 4WD is really working
the Jeep will stutter and lunge repeatedly (this is because the rear
wheels have less distance to travel than the front wheels in a turn,
but there is no differential between the front and rear axles, so
they're locked together, so it spools (or winds) up, hence the
herky-jerky ride on a solid surface, in a turn, with 4WD engaged.
All that to say, that's how I test to see if the 4WD is still
operational. Quick, easy.
As for the reliability bit, I used to hear people say they were always
workin' on their Jeeps, but they were talkin' about the CJ's. A
mechanic friend of mine says the I-6 in these things (like my 92 YJ)
is bullet-proof. Parts are cheap for them (the ones I've checked on;
brake calipers, wheel cylinders, pads, shoes, rotors, drums, starter)
HTH, have fun.
--HC
ryan@asu.com (Ryan Abel) wrote in message news:<e0bbd40a.0310072206.5d4bdd0d@posting.google.com>...
> Hi All,
>
> I am new to jeeps and am looking to buy a '92 Jeep Wrangler, 5 spd,
> PS, PB, 177K miles. I test drove it and it seems to drive fine. It
> was previous a rental jeep here on Maui. My question is on how
> reliable these vehicles are, typically? Lots of people tell me that
> their friends have jeeps and there always fixing them. I want to buy
> something that will last me just a year or two, without much trouble.
> Is this the vehicle to go for? Or, should I look for a different
> year/model jeep?
>
> Thanks a ton for any advice you have!
>
> Ryan
