My head is warped

[opek]

Sludge in the valvecover and leaky rings in one cylinder. I'm a sad monkey. Any suggestions on reliable sub 5000 dollar vehicles? Obviously I'm looking for low miles. If I could get something with a tiny bit of towing capacity that would be great, but I am willing to pony up and grab a civic if need be. Am I crazy for wanting a 10 year old Cherokee?

[666]

A good clean Civic sounds like the way to go!

[thatguy]

Ok, So its only good for 50 thousand more miles. Drive it till it dies. It aint close yet.

[opek]

Originally Posted by 666

A good clean Civic sounds like the way to go!

They are expensive, but might be my best option. And I know my way around one.

Originally Posted by thatguy

Ok, So its only good for 50 thousand more miles. Drive it till it dies. It aint close yet.

It eats tons of coolant right now. I can only imagine I would have to mill the head and I don't have the hook on a same day turnaround. But what do I have to lose just throwing a new gasket in - even if I find the head is not flat. Maybe I will do that tomorrow.

These are my two big shoppers right now:
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/3089454625.html
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/3091995067.html

[johnnyh66]

1991 Audi 200 Avant. Everything you could ever want from a sub $5000 car... on my top 10 list!

[itsjust me]

or just put another motor in the cherokee. unless its a giant chunk of crap. its still got to cost less then spending 5000 on something else and you should have a warranty on the motor. after you spend the money on a cash car, you may have to fix what ever the previous owner didn't want to fix( tires, brakes, head gasket). im finding most people sell off there cars when its time to put money into them.

[PFC FNG]

Double up the head gaskets. Not the most permanent or reliable fix. But it will make up for some of the surface imperfections.

[boisetrucker]

Buy a new or machined head to replace the old one.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by PFC FNG

Double up the head gaskets.

Can't be serious.

Civics are awesome, period. Especially 92-95 generation. 96-2000 is okay also.

[SwampDawg]

civics are great for mileage but id drop a used ...maybe rebuilt mill into that cherokee if it were me

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by opek

Am I crazy for wanting a 10 year old Cherokee?

I drive a 27 year old 4Runner.

[BLKXJ 96]

Originally Posted by opek

Am I crazy for wanting a 10 year old Cherokee?

No, if you find one that has been taken care of with an aw4 trans and a 4.0, it will run nearly for ever. It can tow, take you camping and, and off road........I have two, both have over 200k on them and I would drive them anywhere.

[BJoe]

Originally Posted by BLKXJ 96

No, if you find one that has been taken care of with an aw4 trans and a 4.0, it will run nearly for ever. It can tow, take you camping and, and off road........I have two, both have over 200k on them and I would drive them anywhere.

I kept my 14 year old XJ after buying my 200, it only has 156k on it after all. Why not drop a stroker in the truck?

[xjman]

My 2000 XJ had 250k on it when I sold it. The guy still drives it every day and last I saw him had over 300k.

Any vehicle that is well taken care of will run for ages, some are just a little more hearty when it comes to surviving abuse, and not being taken care of.

[MuddyOval]

Swap a used engine in it and go. $5000 won't get anything worth a crap anymore.
The "double up head gasket" suggestion had to be a joke... if not, don't listen to that guy about anything car related.
Stick a can of Restore in the oil and some Subaru "coolant conditioner" (they don't call is block sealer so they don't have to admit their engines suck) and you're good for another year. The Subaru sealer is awesome- I don't know who makes it for them though.

[SwampDawg]

double up the head gaskets? fuuuuuuu..........
dont forget your blinker fluid and exhaust bearings too! lol

get another mill for that badass cherokee, youll regret going to a girls civic!

[microgoat]

Fix what ya got. Anything you can buy for 5 grand is gonna have problems you don't know about. Your current ride has problems, too, but at least you know what they are. You can fix the head for a hell of a lot less than $5,000.

[SwampDawg]

his cylinder is leaking, it will need a rebuild!
atleast a honing to all cylinders and new ringlands & bearings.
Then reshave the heads and new gaskets and bolts in the least.

but yea...a rebuild should run you around 3k and then youd have a new runnin jeeparoo!

[opek]

Any comments on the 01 pathfinder w/ the 3.5? The internet seems to like them.

I have an amazing inability to communicate thoroughly on the internet: I drive a Miata.

A Miata with quite a bit of transmission noise in 2nd and 3rd gear. I picked it up for a solid deal at 135k and now it's sitting at just over 205k miles. I still have some money left over from a previous car theft and will probably be looking for something that can give me another few years of drive.

Edit: This would be much less of an issue if I had a second vehicle. It is the busy season and I cannot take a day or two off work for a big weekend where I can swap out the engine/tranny. It seems a little shitty to spend near 2 thousand dollars on a used engine/tranny combo of "low" (read: unknown) miles. I certainly don't have the time or transportation to pull an engine/transmission from a known mileage car and bring it home. There are about 200 dollars worth of water pump, hoses, and whatnot I would need to replace in addition to the headgasket - again without getting it resurfaced - just to get the car to continue to drive any sizeable distance. Right now it's eating about a gallon of water every 10 miles; which is just enough to get me to work and back for the next week.

I don't think I could have a rebuild done by next weekend, though that would lower the chances of me being dealt a shitty hand and still be a bit cheaper than a new bucket of problems.

[CREEPERBOB]

A motorcycle. Some will even tow something.