hi,
i have a 97 xj and whenever i am at idle at a stop like there is a funny rattling noise coming from my 4wd selector handle, or below it... sounds like a chipmunk in your house wall. . . slightly faint. if i hold the 4wd selector handle real hard to one side(toward my knee or toward passenger door), it seems to go away . it doesnt annoy me too much , just curious what it is.

the only other noise i hear is the exhaust rattle when i turn off the engine, or sometimes on takeoff .

has anyone had the exhaust rub on the differential slightly? if so, i prolly just have to replace the rubber hanger no?

plus , theres a slight oil leak. .. one drop per every time i park it. its back behind the oil plug though. . . towards the secondary plug, im asssuming thats the transmission fluid plg in the middle. .. is that typical? just a gasket maybe? i think shes just marking her territory!

thanks guys!!!

 

have you been driving my jeep? sounds like mine.

 

The exhaust rattle may be a broken Cat converter. I just had to replace mine because of the same noise. The oil leak is most likely the rear main seal 4.0's are famous for this leak also the oil filter housing O rings will leak .

 

Heck, the one I just bought is pretty darn wet underneath (I think some of it is a leaky PS pump). I'll go through the effort of replacing the oil filter adaptor o-rings, but I'm not messing with the rear main.

As far as rattles go, it's not that bad. I noticed a couple of loose u-clamps on the exhaust (they're almost completely rusted off), but it really just hums down the road for the most part. And with the new shocks I put on all four corners, it seems to handle corners and bumps really well too.

 

yeah . . my cat took a dump last week. did you do oem replacement? what did you go with?
. . . i also have a rear main seal leak.

 

I put a Magna flo Hi Perf cat on its smaller but you have to weld in a ox sender bung. I had mandrel bent 2 1/2 exhaust with a turbo muffler installed at the same time all togather around $370.00 parts and labor.

 

well i found out one of the noises.
the one was a rubbing exhaust on the corner of my dana 30 differential pumpkin ball. i replaced the rubber hanger, but it seems just as close to the lower corner of the diff as it was before : about 1/2" .

the noise that was below the 4wd selector i found out too...
when you move the lever from 2H to 4H , there are a set of pulley-style arms, and the one that attaches closest to the rocker panel is an elbow , and the elbow is worn out. i sprayed her with wd40... oh well. not that important. it shifts from 2H to 4L perfectly... so i dont care. may replace the elbow joint... looks like you just pop off the 2 bolts that go into the rocker panel area.

 

I climbed underneath to cut off the rusted u-clamps yesterday afternoon and noticed that my cat also has a rattle to it, like something inside is loose.

I thought about just cutting it out and replacing it with straight pipe, but noticed there's an O2 sensor in the cat. So to do that, I'd have to weld an bung on the pipe for the sensor (PITA).

So my next thought was why not just cut out the cat, take a big screwdriver or pipe and bust up everything that's inside it, shake it out, and then reinstall it with a couple of band clamps. Would that work, or would the computer know the cat had it's guts ripped out?

 

Running a hollowed cat isn't the best idea for power. It makes a large open spot in the exhaust flow, making for increased turbulence and decreased flow. You are probably better off getting the magnaflow cat, or a straight pipe and welding in the o2 bung, welding in an o2 bung is very simple.

And HTh3r0, I have a 95 too, and when my cat crapped out on me, I also replaced it with a Magnaflow direct fit replacement. It was a super easy install as we have OBDI trucks and don't have the rear O2 sensor to worry about. I also did a catback at the same time and talk about a world of difference!

 

the tcase handle rattle theres a TSB for it and jeep sells a kit with new bushings and stuff for it. i have the kit sitting in my glovebox, just havent installed it.

 

Ditched mine, cut the bung out of the old cat, welded in pipe installed a turbo muffler. Better mileage, runs great.

 

some CATs are replaced under factory recall. Go to http://www.jeep.com/en/owners/ and enter the last 8 of your VIN in the box at the bottom left of the page and see what recalls are open on your XJ. Maybe you'll get lucky like I did.

s

 

Go to http://www.jeep.com/en/owners/ and enter your last 8 from your VIN. There might be a factory recall on your CAT, which means free.

s

 

DAMN! i was hoping Id be on the list but im not.

Thanks though for the hope!