DusterDude72

I am new to the forum, I just picked up this 97 cherokee 4x4, 4.0l,auto and I havnt had much of a chance to look it over just yet but figured it wouldnt hurt to do a little research on a few things I want to mess with so here goes.

check engine light is on, the jeep has a miss to it,smells like it burns very rich,o2 sensor on the cat is busted off.

I pulled all the spark plugs and cleaned them up and checked the gaps and reinstalled them,checked all the wires,checked for vacuum leaks,found the front o2 sensor wires melted from laying on the header so I retapped the wires and moved them away from the header.

the jeep seems to rev up nice but when you go to drive down the road it has "no *****" if you mash the gas pedal to the floor its like it almost gets to a certain RPM and hangs there all the while making a somewhat "bogging" noise in the intake (no popping or sputtering or anything though).

I also notice that after warming up that my cat rattles alot.

my question I guess is......would this rear o2 sensor not being hooked up cause the jeep to run this poor? ( I have unhooked o2 sensors from vehicles before and they still ran like brand new for months after the fact)...........or could my cat be plugged? any suggestions on what someone who has experience with these jeeps might think?

also a couple other little things i am curious about......when giving it gas it sounds like I have a large "turbo" ....sounds asthough its coming from under the jeep but does not sound like an exhaust leak because it is quite at an idle with no sputtering exhaust leaks relivent (sounds like a loud spooling gush of air).....any ideas on this problem? could it be I have a plugged cat causing the trouble and the engine is trying to exhaust faster than the cat can breath and the excess exhaust is escaping out of somewhere making the "whooshing" sound by chance?

and another thing.....all power windows work but only from the drivers side switch ....I have tried clicking the child safety button on and off and still no luck....any common problems that cause this? could it be the button is broke and its is stuck in child safety mode (only allowing power to run to the windows from the drivers side switch)?

anyhow, thank you all in advance and sorry for the long post ...I jsut wanted to try and get all of it out there on the table and see if you guys can help me get some things figured out.

Thanks

superj

your cat might be plugged up. does it run warm also? i know sometimes a plugged up cat can also make it run warmer then normal as well as give it a no power situation after running for a little while or no power over a certain rpm.

the other stuff, no idea. my cherokee is a base model with hand crank windows. i know on our grand cherokee though, it was the driver's side window switch being messed up and that is why none of the other window switches worked. ours was a 93 grand

DusterDude72

nope it doesnt get hot or overheat or anything,the needle will sit steady right in the middle of the temp gauge.

the power window issue i am not so much worried about right now...I just figured i would mention it.

but the other issues I would like to get figured out....so any and all input is appreciated.

I know my way around a vehicle well so I am sure regardless I will figure out the problem eventually....I just figured that maybe there is some common problems with these jeeps and maybe this was one of them and one of you guys would have a good tip on what to look for.

I havnt had but about a half of an hour to mess around with it yet so when I get the time I will check it out more.

any help in the mean time is appreciated though.

SloPok

i has the same problems not too long ago after i broke off the O2 sensor off the cat... except it would spew black smoke like a desiel. I wasn't sure either, so i replaced the cat... still had the snoke and no power. so i replaced the o2 sensor and all was well again. for some reason the 97's need the 2 sensors...

I'm having the same problem with my power windows... there are threads on here that say how to jump a wire to cancel out the child safety locks... i might just find a switch board at a JY and try it... still working on that one tho...

the large turbo noise, i have it narrowed dowm to the maunal fan or the belt... i haven't had any troubles with it yet so i'm not worried... (i like the sound, sounds like my work truck) but to me, if it isn't killing my jepp i dont care till it breaks... lol

best of luck, if you fiqure out the switches let me know!

DusterDude72

Thanks for chiming in on it.......a buddy on mine also mentioned that it may be the O2 causing it....he said these jeeps are picky and when the computer senses there is no O2 signal it will switch in to limp mode and not perform properly.

now....I will most likely replace the cat with a chunk of straight pipe tube......is there a place that sells the O2 sensor simulators that i will need for the jeep that someone can recommend? or does anyone have a schematic on how to make my own out of resistors and such that I can pick up at a radio shack or something?

when I get around to messing with the windows I will let you know but I am assuming it won't be "too" tricky...probably all in that safety switch causing that problem.

I don't believe that the gushing air sound I am hearing is from a fan or a belt though so I will have to look into that.

any other input would be great , Thanks

hubs97xj

Before you do anything else, take it to AutoZone or a buddy and have the codes read.

4x4utahcherokee

The newer jeeps are really sensitive as far as sensors are concerned. If you don't have both your o2's it's gonna run crappy. I just went through the same issues as you. When i first got my jeep my cat rattled alot turned out the filtration element in it had broken off. I found a high flow magnaflow cat with o2 bung on ebay for 100 bucks brand new.

4x4utahcherokee

Oh yeah. My jeep started bogging out on me like you were saying about a year ago. After awhile it will probably start backfiring in the intake and sputtering. What it was with mine was the o2 sensor on the downpipe. Just thought I'd throw that out there if your problem doesn't get solved other ways.

sgt.arafak

Yeah I had same problem with the windows. It's a short in the cut-off button. I just stuck a paper clip into the wire sockets on the connector and it just always completes the circuit there's a thread around here somewhere about it.

davida

When I got my 96 it had no cat, the O2 was tied up above the rear of the transfer case, The jeep would stumble so bad you could not drive it, I'd clear the trouble codes and I'd be driving around and it would start to stumble, I'd check the codes and the O2 would show up again, I put in a new exhaust (MagnaFlow) we drilled out a hole so we could install the O2 in the straight pipe. It works great now. I replaced both O2 sensors. Be aware that the two sensors are different, (I believe they send a signal to the PCM at different levels of Oxygen that they since).

DusterDude72

Im not going to bother with taking the jeep to a "wanna be mechanic" behind the counter at autozone lol....I already know that it needs an O2 sensor so I know thats what is going to show up on a code reader.

also....installing an O2 sensor into a straight pipe without a cat would seem like it would be pointless.....because there a is a pre-cat and post-cat O2 sensor....one to read the levels directly after leaving the engine and one to read the levels after it has passed through the cat .....if there is no cat the rear O2 would sense that the levels are about the same as what was picked up at the front O2 sensor and it would richin/lean out the air/fuel ratio to compensate and would still make it run like crap.

if in fact it is an O2 sensor problem I am having, I will either need to get a new cat and a new O2 sensor (mine is busted) or I can eliminate the cat and replace it with a straight pipe.....and I can then get an O2 sensor simulator (if they make them for these jeeps) to trick the computer into thinking the O2 sensor is plugged in and making correct readings.

anyone else want to chime in on the subject?

truckntractorhick

here is the window thing.....
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/win...working-13287/

DusterDude72

Thanks for the thread link....I will keep that in mind

DusterDude72

BUMP

Anyone else have any ideas?

DusterDude72

anyone else have any ideas?

and can anyone tell me where I might be able to find an O2 simulator for my jeep or if there is a thread here by chance on how to make your own simulator?