motoo344

Picked up a 98 cherokee a little over two weeks ago now. I got it real cheap so I figured there would be some things to fix plus I am catching it up on maintenance because I feel like it was lacking.

Today I've done

Plugs
Valve cover gasket

Last week I spent a few days trying get rid of all the ghetto crap in it, stupid di noc wrapped parts, added a new head unit, ripped out the unreliable aftermarket alarm.

Going to be taking care of the diff fluid, tranny fluid, wires, cap and rotor and liftgate struts. Parts are just sitting in the garage right now.

Future plans are all new suspension parts.


Anyway, I've done some searching but I have two leaks, one I am pretty sure is the rear main seal, oil drips down between the oil pan and bell housing. That is a slow one as it does not always show up. I replaced the valve cover gasket as well as a precaution.

The other is some tranny fluid. I am assuming it is one of the houses that runs up into the transfer case. It drips but not constantly and now all the time. Sometimes I go a day or two without seeing anything and other days I get a bunch of drops. I've been monitoring fluid levels over the last week and I haven't had to add any.

Is this common, what hoses, if any should I check out? If you look in the pic, right near the front tier you can see a dot on the cardboard that is where it is dripping from.

I only have one key, I notice they sell blank ones, I have the black capped key, can I just get a blank and get a copy made or do I need to go to the dealer for this. Never bothered with any other cars because they usually have a chip in them but I don't think these do but I wanted to check it out.

Anyway, here is a pic!

austinjoe13

Looks nice and clean! The oil filter adapter is the next spot to check for oil, you'll have to go to the dealership for that. As for the tranny lines there are little o-rings in the fittings that my be dried up.

What kind of gasket did you use? I hope it's the fel-pro rubber one.

If you're going to replace the whole suspension you might as well lift it 2-3 inches and 31s

Check your exhaust manifold, it's probably cracked. Look for the APN header, it only costs about $10 more than a stock replacement.

I'm pretty sure the keys are not chipped, my dad's 96 isn't.

odin2free

Have the same thing with my 92 the rear main seal is known to have issues , replaced but haven't done the valve cover gasket yet
This is pretty sweet setup
The key you should be able to get made a duplicate at a dealer or body shop.. Just make sure you bring registration on to prove its yours.. Had to when I made mine for two backs ups next the two I already own ( tendencies to loose keys fairly easily)

motoo344

Yeah, I used the rubber gasket. Let it idle and took it for a drive and double checked everything. I will check the bolts later this week and make sure nothing is backing out.

I was thinking the oil filter adapter might actually be leaking. Might be a dumb question but I am assuming the oil filter adapter is the piece the oil filter screws onto? I am pretty sure that might have a slight leak because I cleaned off the oil filter and and when I was under there today there was some oil on the bottom again. I thought I remember seeing those online though? Don't they also make a part that changes the position of the oil filter?

I will save the exhaust manifold stuff for a little further down the road, thanks for reminding me. I believe I already have a link for the header book marked.


Thanks. Overall its in good condition for its age and mileage, just rolled over 185,000 the other day. The pass fender is dented right near the corner light but I could pull one out of a junkyard for cheap I am sure and the front panel is cracked at the top but other than that just normal wear and tear. I've put about 300 on it so far, maybe a little more.


One issue I forgot, this is the one that bugs me a little more than the other two. It is hard to start sometimes and I am not sure what to check. Basically, sometimes when I try to start it, it cranks a few times and you could tell its trying to turnover but it will stumble and either fire up and run fine or stall. Then it fires up fine and it doesn't do it all the time. I was thinking maybe the battery is messed up because it died on me the other day but I am not sure.

odin2free

Clean the terminals and cables... Is the battery new or original.. ( if you have invoices and receipts of parts from past owner see when it was replaced and such)
Might be a starter issue or the distributor
I'm also learning a grip o stuff about the jeep myself new owner and will say I have also a lot of work to get this back to winter ready condition..
Have you had heat issues coming from the center console where the e brake is and the shifter??
I have a heat issue I'm workin out right now ( gotta do a cleaning flush of all fluids and such to see if that alleviates or fixes the problem of heat from that area) though found that the cat converter is right there to but that was replaced 20,000 ago and I should not have problems with it but who knows North Dakota likes to do work

odin2free

Oh could you link me to te header?? Would like to see some new shiny toy ha

The oil issue might be from that adapter for the oil filter but not sure again I'm at work now and trying to figure what I have to go to a hop to get cleaned out ( I don't have a good place to do fluid flushes an everything on the jeep kinda blows but a good mechanic is letting me use his shop for a night of wild times

scottmphoto

With your oil leak you should clean the engine well first. Take it to the car wash or something. Get it good and clean. A lot of people suspect the RMS but you should start looking at the top of the engine first, then work your way down as the valve cover, the dist. gaskets and the oil sending unit can leak and run toward the rear of the engine and look like it's the RMS. So, before you just jump in and replace the RMS, check higher first and rule out the easy stuff.

motoo344

Cleaned the terminals the other day, there was some corrosion but it was not that bad. Cleaned the grounds on the fuse box, fender and today I got the one that goes to the block behind the valve cover.

No heat issues outside of nothing normal. My gauge was starting to creep a little on me while sitting in Philly traffic in 90+ with the air on but I turned the air off and it went down. Jeep isn't exactly a city car, good thing I don't live there lol.



Not sure if linking is allowed, if its not remove it but this is the header I found in another thread.

http://www.ineedparts.com/apn-jeep-e...-manifold.html


Yeah, I just haven't gotten around to cleaning the car up yet. Good suggestions though and I will try it out. At least I got the valve cover done, I could not find any visible leaks but it was a little wet for sure so it couldn't hurt. I can definitely see how it could be something else leaking. Did not even think of dist gaskets, to be honest I've never owned a car with plugs and wires, well I did, one of my first cars but I did not work on them back then. Any tips on checking them?

motoo344

The car has been sitting for a few days and I've noticed a touch of trans fluid under the tranny pan area, along with a little oil. Not sure if its traveling down the hosing or dripping from right there.

Noticed when I went to fix my exhaust leak, decided on just a new cat back and now I am replacing the cat because the end of the cat closest to the front of the car decided to disintegrate in my hand so there is nothing to slip back over the pipe, should have that all fixed Friday...hopefully.

MindEddy

@Motoo-nice looking Jeep. Thanks for the exhaust manifold link: I just got a 1992 Cherkee that seems to need valve seals - and have had a few thoughts of pulling head and replacing exhaust. [or not] Runs so good I should probably let it stay cracked.

I actually had an oil leak around the valve cover gasket, but after cleaning engine real well and replacing plugs [real bad], missing vacuum lines, and what-not - it ran like a dream and the oil leak has subsided. (??) Still burning a lot of oil after it warms up [valve seals I suppose], so it will probably foul the plugs over time - but was surprised this old '92 isn't dripping a drop of nothing and seems to have stopped leaking. [Yes, it does have fluids in it.]