Hello, everyone

I have been looking through the forums and found many solutions to problems that my jeep had, for example my 1997 jeep cherokee 4x4 inline6 had the death wobble which was fixed by putting two new tires on the front and balancing them since the old ones were flat, and fixed other small things, i have five questions.

1. When I hit the gas real quick the jeep jumps a little like it slips going from second to first is this normal or would i need the tranny rebuilt? it has 117k miles on it.

2. I believe i have singled it out to the steering box, but at times when my wheels are at a certain position i get the death wobble and i just slightly turn the wheel and it stops completely, i'm not sure if it's u-joints, tie rods, shocks, or the steering box, i think that's what it is but i'm not sure. Also it feels like it is starting from the front driver side wheel don't know if that helps.

3. I have a small rattle when i hit a bump that sounds like it's coming from my front driver side tire but it may be the old muffler bracket underneath any opinions?

4. The jeep has a small leak in the a/c i have used the uv light r134a refrigerant and i can't find the leak at all any ideas?

5. how do i shift into 4x4? so yes i bought it without knowing if the transfer case works or not. but hey for 1100$ i can't complain

And now to introduce myself. I live in miami florida, going to be moving up to Gainesville Fl in january, i am 19 years old and will be 20 in august. Just bought a 1997 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 inline6 getting roughly 14-18 mpg ranging from highway to city hoping that's normal. Any other questions ask and i will do my best to answer.

 

what do you mean it jumps??? also i doubt its your steering box that's causing the DW.

Give this a read and see if this helps? https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/di...-wobble-55021/

 

like it feels like it's trying to buck like the tranny's trying to find the right gear or something, lets say for example your driving then you press the break real fast so the jeep leans forward then you press the gas and it leans back a little now imagine that really fast and over exaggerated like a hard gas press and a hard brake press for 4 or 5 times. tried to explain that as best i could, it has only happened twice in the couple of months i have owned it.

 

As for the AC, if you have a small leak and can't see the where it's leaking, you've got to take it in to an AC mechanic and have him use an electric "sniffer" to isolate the leak. It could be at any point in the system. You could have them find the leak, evacuate your system and try to fix it yourself. Then bring it back to fill back up.

 

Q1, try this.

 

Shift into 4H at any normal road speed by pulling the lever up to 4H. I normally let off the accelerator, shift the transfer case, step on the accelerator again. Same process to go back to 2H.
4L requires you stop, shift, start moving again.

Gas mileage is in the ballpark.

It isn't the steering box unless yours is so worn you have inches of slop in the steering.
Check the front suspension over piece by piece. Tie rod ends, ball joints, bearings, track bar.

 

So let me make sure i have this right, while i'm driving at lets say 30 mph all i do is let off the accelerator pull the lever up to 4h and push the accelerator, i don't have to put it in neutral or anything before hand? how would i know if it worked or if the case is bad?

Also i have no idea what "TB" is but i'll look for it to fix it thanks for that suggestion, i'll probably take some pictures of everything on the jeep and get your opinions if that is ok. Thank you everyone for your input so far, hope i'm not being too much of a pain.

 

TB= throttle body the piece where the air filter box tubeing attaches to.
on your a/c you likely need the evaporator core replaced its a common failure item on these cherokees. its really involved though the entire dashboard has to be removed.if you get more than a few weeks worth of a/c when u fill it were it me id just keep adding it. if you can get away with twice a summer than thats what i would do.
on the tranny issue, hows the fluid level, is it red or blackish,red does it smell burned.
if you dont know the history change it. you can probably find a video by useing google.
google is your friend
this is for a 4.7 v8 motor but gives you an idea

 

so i have taken some pictures of things hopefully so that way i can show you what i see, any good sites you'd recommend for me to upload them?

 

imgur.com

 

Yep. That's something I really like about my Jeeps Vs. some other 4X4's- can shift in and out of 4H while it's moving. No need to get out and lock the hubs, stop, back up a few feet, do any magic transfer case handshake, etc. Just shift and go.

You can see if you are in 4WD by finding a gravel road, mashing it and seeing if all four have power or just the rears spin.....or make a tight low-speed turn (like pulling into a parking space). The front wheels will hop hop hop in tight turns with 4WD engaged.

 

will try that eventually possibly friday., if i do that would it make any noises? grinding, clinking, etc.

 

dude go to google and search for owners man uals for jeep cherokees keep looking until you find 1 for free then download it lots of your questions are answered there .like someone said put it in 4 hi go into a parking lot start making some turns is the front wheel start hopping yes you know it in 4 wheel drive if you want to try 4 wheel low put transmission in neutral below 25 miles an hour or at a dead stop. Shift to 4 Lo it may grind a bit. Do it quickly and firmly. Give it some gas ,but be aware it will take off quick in 4 Lo but will wind out around 25. Mph. have fun

 

sorry... just making sure i won't harm the jeep and if it'll make any noises i figure that people who have done this would know better, since the owners manual would only say how to do it, not how it feels if any sounds are made etc. just realized something new, my oil gauge, while i'm driving stays at about 40 fluctuates a little bit, but then when i'm stopped and idling it goes down to 0 and the "check gauges" light comes on, is this bad? or is this normal or i might just have to change something?

 

<iframe class="imgur-album" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" src="http://imgur.com/a/3zT5h/embed"></iframe> dunno how this works

http://imgur.com/a/3zT5h#0 for simplicity?

pictures of things i have questions about, something i don;t know what they are, others are things i plan to fix.