DoctorWorm

Hi folks, I have a long list of symptoms on my 213,000 mile '99 cherokee sport. Some of them have to do with the neglect that she experienced as I was finishing a phd degree (obviously it's not in automotive mechanics).

So, 4 and 3 years ago, I had to replace, I think, a transfer case and a front bearing (i.e. I paid for someone to do it). The transfer case was done by a dealership who assured me the used replacement had either no warranty or barely one, and the bearing I'm unsure of.

It has been a noisy beast for most of the 10 years I've owned it. Since before the bearing work, it always had kind of a "chug-chug-chug" almost diesel sound to it, but it was drowned out by gunked up valve cover area. In the last couple years it's been getting louder, despite my frequent questions to the garage when it was getting routine things like tires, breaks, inspections, AC and cooling system stuff, and oil changes. Lately, I've been moving down the list of things to quiet it, so this past year I did tires, valve cover, tune-up, distributor cap, transmission (Dex/Merc) fluid (which is probably different from what's in it, so I'm planning to do several changes) ... but the past few months the chug-chug-chug noise has become more mechanical than in the past. The check engine light has been on, except when it rains (this may be a distraction to the issue, but it motivated me to do a tune-up and start checking fluids, and change the valve cover). So I am aware that the Cat-converter is likely *a* culprit for noise, but what I'm talking about is something that I feel- a rumbling or whine that gets loud when you lay off the accelerator, but also a rumble when going really fast (70mph).

Whilst doing the tranny fluid change, a few days ago, I stopped at an autozone and asked what the clerk thought about the noise, and I pointed out that the ATF seemed thin (but pink- although when it came out the drain, it was brown). The clerk had me move through the gears and put it in 4wd. When I moved down to 4wd-lo, high, 2wd, etc. it was really banging into gear. Also didn't mesh well on one shift (sitting still in neutral, I've heard this is a no-no).. This was before my first ATF change (just drained from pan, no flush, and it might be a change from ATF+4 .. so that might have been sitting up in the rest of the transmission when I drained the pan. That might be what's going on?) When I went down under after the visit to autozone, to pull the plug and drain the ATF pan, I noticed that the transmission related box that sits kind of in the middle underneath the body was covered in a fluid, like it was dripping down? This is a ball looking thing, maybe a differential? I am very newb about the underbelly of this thing. I cussed at it and felt the seal to see if it was the source of leakage, but couldn't tell. It occurred to me today that maybe when I had switched through my 4wd settings for the store clerk, something might have blown a plug or something, which would explain today's newly intense noises and feelings while driving.

So today, I drove about 140 miles and during that drive, the jeep seemed to be grinding on something, almost dragging or hesitating; maybe slipping. It sounded like the noisy 4wd that I used to hear when driving in deep snow, so then I'm wondering "transfer case?"

I am comfortable getting under the thing and doing fluid changes, but if I took off a cover and saw little metal shavings, I'd probably freak out and buy a Subaru. I really don't want that kind of car payment right now, so any ideas on what I should do with this jeep? My inclination is to go under and check the fluid levels and/or replace fluids in the differentials and transfer case, and put another course of dex/merc into the transmission?

Platime

Wow, um, could be so many things.

The transmission related thing is the transfer case. Pull the rear drive shaft and change the oil seal on the slip yolk to stop the leak. Chang the universal joints while you're at it. The fill the transfer case back up with dex merc to the top fill bolt.

Other than that will probably need more info or a video.

DoctorWorm

Oh, one thing, I do know that I am in for a cat-converter and a muffler already, the engine shudders once in a while when it idles, and listening all over the jeep, I detected an occasional rattle from inside the catalytic converter, which already lost (rusted apart) one of its pipe gasket bracket things. The muffler has a nice crunchy feel to it, like you expect melted cheese to come forth. But none ever comes. Just black soot (which had led me back to doing the tune-up, which yielded .80 gaps on its poor old sparkplugs!)

DoctorWorm

Any idea what that would cost to have a garage do it? I live in an apartment complex, and after breaking off a screw in my distributor 2 days ago and having to drill it out and put in a smaller screw and bolt, I'm timid about working on this thing, especially with a drive shaft.

xjsnake

No idea what it would cost. It sounds like you need to find a reputable mechanic to give it a good looking over since you aren't equipped to diagnose it yourself.

It could be that your transfer case chain has developed slack and is rubbing on the inside of the case, that would explain the noise.

BTW Congrats on finishing your PhD. I'm planning on starting mine soon (currently teaching after finishing a masters).

DoctorWorm

ok, thank you!
Would you tow it to the mechanic or drive it? A mechanic is about 5 miles from me. I have AAA so I can tow it if I need to.