Flazer

Hey guys, this may or may not be my first post, but it's probably as good as any first post.

About 6 months ago, after looking at several Cherokees with my dad and uncle, we stumbled upon one that was in good cosmetic condition, but that needed a little engine work, or so we thought (more on that in a minute). My uncle, who had his own '89 for a long time, said the noise the '91 we were looking at was probably the water pump about to go, and if we could get the jeep for cheap enough, it would be a great rig.

So we bought the rig for $500, and drove it home. We slipped the drive belt off the water pump pulley, only to our dismay, that the loud noise was still occurring (aka...the water pump was not the issue). After digging a little deeper, it turns out the kid that owned it, drove it, hauling a small trailer, low on oil, and basically cooked the motor.

But hey, for $500, still a good deal right? . . .

Long story short, we replaced the engine with a remanufactured one, had a family friend who was a laid off Ford mechanic put it in. A side issue with the replacement, the mechanic had a stroke mid job, and farmed out a good portion of the work.

This brings us to the current status. After replacing several other pieces and parts, like the radiator, and various seals that were leaking, there is now this "hellacious rattle" as my dad puts it, coming from the engine bay.

Here are some of the details, we are pretty tech/mech savvy, but we're having trouble diagnosing this issue:
-seems to be coming from oil pan on driver's side, but no evidence of damage inside the pan
-not the exhaust pipes or heat shields that we can tell
-rattling varies in frequency and loudness with engine speed.
-not loose torque converter bolts to flex plate either
-on the gas (accelerating) seems to make the rattle/noise worse
-standstil power brake reduces noise
-cruising, decel, also sometimes reduces noise

We originally thought something was loose, and was possibly banging the oil pan, but we've taken the pan off and tightened everything up, so we haven't seen any evidence of that.

The noise is constant, but the engine runs smooth (not missing).

Any and all suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated .

Thanks

VTJeep

Sounds like something rubbing against something else.. It's not the fan shroud hitting the fan is it? Can cause a pretty bad noise. I knows its random and simple.. But those are the best fixes..

landon71

i had a similar problem but it ended up being the heat shield above the cat..

Flazer

Thanks guys, I'll check these things when I get a chance. It's at my dad's house, not mine, so I may have to relay some things to him. Hopefully it is a simple fix. As far as the fan goes, it sounds more like a metallic sound (metal on metal), which sounds more like a heat shield issue, or something loose within the motor.

I'll try recording the noise, it always helps to actually hear it.

VTJeep

If it's metallic then maybe heat shield like stated..

Flazer

Just got a text from my dad, now he's saying he just tried turning the engine by hand, to torque bearings, which made a strange clunking noise.

Now he's thinking it may be a broken torque converter?

Again, I apologize, because I am a total newb when it comes to this