ElectricevoIX

so I just picked up a 99 Cherokee sport. When I picked up the car I heard the car had a tick and chalked it up to low oil level since the car had been through a car auction or 2 and no one took care of it. After some more careful review I saw a MOPAR sticker on the head of the motor that said remanufactured part, so i'm assuming a previous owner blew the head on this car before and had it repaired.

The power windows all work from the driver's side but do not work from the other doors, also when I turn the car off and push the headlight switch in the headlights stay on, could there be a short or a bad fuse I should be checking?


Also last night my oil pressure guage was working and now all of a sudden drops to zero and I get the check gauges light on the dash. It went away this morning after the car sat all night and they came back again and dropped to zero. Had the oil changed and the oil came out squeaky clean and I check all the connections on the plugs, the plugs seemed pretty new and made sure they were all connected.

Now after reading through some threads on here and some research online what would cause the oil gauge to drop to zero? bad sending unit? or something else I should check?

As far as the tick I read in a thread it could be a shaky rod, I hope to god it isn't that but how would I check for that? I opened the overflow tank and radiator and there was alot of rust in there. Few people told me that might be a reason for the tick and to flush the motor and rad. Also was told could be a sticky lifter.

Anyone have any experience with this or advice as to how to check for some of these issues. The car is a 99 cherokee with 85k original miles. Sorry for all the questions just need to this truck and not very familiar with the innerworkings of it just yet so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Imabodybuilder

Do you have any white smoke coming out? I had the same thing happen to mine and it turned out to be the sending unit...it had come loose and oil was leaking out causing lots of white smoke...

Mine also has a tick..everyone that has looked at it says i have an exhost leak

a

95Cherokee

Go buy some mechanics tools.................lots and lots of mechanics tools.

Jeep Guy

x2 on the oil sending unit. pick up another one. even if it's not leaking oil from the sending unit it still could be bad. I just replaced mine a couple months ago and it was acting the same as you describe.

x2 on the possibility of being an exhaust leak as well. check the header for any cracks or get a hose and listen around.

ElectricevoIX

no no white smoke care drives fine no issue but the tick of course gets faster as I accerlerate and then you can barely hear it on highway

seriously an exhaust leak would cause that tick?

haha I have a good amount of tools from working on my evo

damn a cracked header? didn't know an exhaust leak would cause a tick like that, the rust from the rad might not be affecting it?

Jeep Guy

i'm not sure about the rust from the rad affecting or causing a tick in the engine. your best bet would be to try and locate where the tick is coming from. I have a tick in mine and I was able to trace it to an exhaust leak with a hose.

Imabodybuilder

Yes the stock exhaust manifolds on the cherokees do tend to crack...i know mine has...

ElectricevoIX

ok prob good idea to get the rad flushed out anyway to get that rust out and out of the block. I'll see if my buddy has a stethiscope to try to pinpoint the noise.

ElectricevoIX

ok thanks for the heads up i'll have a look into the manifold as well

ElectricevoIX

any ideas about the window door problems and the headlights not going off with the switch pushed in

moparboy

Sending unit on mine took a crap after the first oil change I did on my '98 (month or so ago). Auto parts guy said that and the plastic heater valves are some of the most common replacement parts he sells for Cherokees.

ElectricevoIX

well after talking to 2 people I feel kinda dumb in not being able to recognize it before I bought the car but I chalked it up to low oil and/or a bad lifter. It turns out the knocking is in fact a bad rod, it's like a jackhammer when I accerlerate, sounds so fuggin bad. Looks like i'm in the market for a new motor, sucks.

I was also reading something about a flexplate, can anyone point in the direction of where I can find this so called flexplate? Tough to come by XJ motors around here in jersey. Any leads where I can get a motor in decent shape?

not sure if the bad rod/bearing is causing the oil pressure unit to crap out or might that have already been crapped out to be begin with. I put in about a 1/2 qt of some thicker oil to keep the crank a little extra lubricated and hopefully the motor holds off till I can get my hands on a new one.

littleredXJ

there is a delay on the head lights if you turn the jeep off before you turn the lights off. they will turn off eventually on their own. or at least they should

UserID6095

About 30 seconds after shut down they should go out. If they do not, then I would check the relay/fuses for the timer. Or just turn the lights off before you shut the engine off.