hey, I want to get a jeep, and Im looking at getting a 94 wrangler s with 123k miles. My concern is how much longer the 2.5l will last. I am in highschool and am looking for a jeep that i can drive to and from school, and do some light off off roading in.
thanks.
I bought my '94 YJ 2.5L with about 110K miles, and it was in a similar situation as yours; the only rust was in the windshield frame (still is, but I plan to change that soon!), but otherwise, the jeep looked in good shape. I am now at about 120K miles (I travel a lot, so this means a year after I bought it), and I have had to change the exhaust, the catalitic converter (the guy that sold it to me changed it for the cheapest one he could get his hands on, and that's the one I stil got because it is still working), and there is a slight banging noise currently (I think it is the timing belt coming a bit loose). I also had to change the fuel pump, fuel rail, injectors and pressure regulator because the previous owner I think never changed the fuel filter (the fuel rail was filled with a mud-like slush!).
So in other words, keep in mind this is still a 13 year old rig, so you will have to do some work on it. For starters, you may want to do a complete fluid change (oil, transmission, TC, diffs) and ignition (rotor, cap, wires and plugs) just to be sure everything is up to par. Of course, if you do this yourself, you can (1) save a ton of money on laber, and (2) use the best product so you are sure you will not have any problems.
If you do find the rig for a good price, I think a well maintained 2.5L is still a very much fun rig to drive around, and a very capable one. The biggest difference (in my opinion) between the 2.5L and the 4.0L is noted mostly at highway speeds (obviesly torque is different at the low-end, but you can always change your gears to compensate for this while sacrificing top speed).
Felipe
