Hey Guys, I recently picked up my 99 cherokee that I had abandoned for quite a few years and have decided to make it my daily driver in a effort to elliminate one of our car notes. I bought the jeep 10 years ago when i was 16 as my first vehicle and drove it hard for a few years and later opted for vehicles with better mpg ratings. Obviously being young and dumb at the time stupid things happened...long story short the vehicle was neutral dropped at 4k while off road one day and snapped the drive shaft/yoke. The drive shaft and yoke were replaced after the incident but the vehicle was never the same.....now moving on to present day.....

The jeep body, interior, and engine are all in great condition. There are currently 220K on the engine but compression is still great, no smoke, no overheating, etc....exactly what is to be expected from a 4.0. Since I am wanting to make this the DD i would like to solve the main issue I am having with it that started after the "incident" 10 years ago. When accelerating (aprox 20mph and up) there is a terrible shudder that begins. It feels like a very hard rumble similar to driving over gravel. The frequency changes as rpms and speed changes. I have been suspecting the torque converter is the cause of this but would like to get a little more input on other things to check before I start the process of replacing the converter.
1. No CEL present
2. joints seem to be good
3. drive shafts were balanced when replaced
4. no overheating
5. nothing metalic in tranny fluid
6. extreme loss of torque
7. fluid level is good
8. rps go up and down from a about 700-little over 1k at idle
9. when stopping the vehicle seems to lunge forward in increments (almost feels like a warped rotor)
10. when at idle you can feel the vehicle lunge slightly when rpms go up

Any questions or suggestions? Time to buy a new Converter and possibly TPS?

Thanks in advance
Jon

 

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Bent pinion??? From when the shaft snapped. OR bent/twisted axles? bent shafts in the XCase or trans from same incident. Frozen u-joints. Failing torque converter. out of balance tires. bad bearing(s) This list is much longer not to mention possible contributors, motor related that should be added.