2001 Grand Cherokee Laredo making LOUD strange noise
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Model: Cherokee
SOLVED - 2001 Grand Cherokee Laredo making LOUD strange noise
Hey guys! I'm so thankful this forum exists, and I thank you for all your help in advance! Let's get right to it.
a sound clip
I have owned my Grand Cherokee Laredo for several years and put about 60K of the current 221K miles on it. It only had one previous owner, my mother-in-law, who babied it and drove it like a little old lady. She always did maintenance and repairs through the dealership. It has never had any major engine or trans related repairs, and has always run smooth. Since I took it over, I have done a few minor repairs myself. I replaced the radiator due to a crack, and replaced a pressurized power steering line. At one point I replaced both sets of front brake rotors and calipers. I've replaced the water pump once a long time ago and the fuel rail was replaced when an anti fuel hammering/pressure device (tiny brass nub on the rail) started leaking. It has a single small current issue; the park sensor that prevents start in drive is hinky. I had it replaced once but every once in a while it won't start in park and has to be put into neutral to start maybe once a month. The last repair was the radiator swap which was about six months ago and it has run fine since. Those are probably the worst things that ever happened to this jeep.
Its a straight 6, 4WD. Last night it started making this god-awful noise out of nowhere. It seems to change when accelerating, and is present when driving and in neutral. It's pretty loud, comes from the top end, and sounds very much like someone is rattling around a can of marbles under the valve cover. I would have assumed that it was a valve, lifter, or cam issue, except for the fact that there is also a slight squeak going on. You can hear it throughout my video, but you can hear it best towards the end. The main noise doesn't SEEM to be coming from the water pump either.
I checked all of the fluid levels, and everything is clean and full. All the gauges read normal, including RPM, and there is no check engine light. I just replaced the battery, when my previous battery started giving out and it was having idle speed issues, after continuously losing idle speed settings when the battery would die. However, I have no idea if this is related or not. The battery was replaced about three weeks ago, and it has run smooth ever since.
Other than this terrible noise it runs great. I drove it a little bit to see how it would perform and there are no other issues, but I'm afraid to keep using it in the current condition. Any ideas??? Any help or thoughts is greatly appreciated!!!
UPDATE: I took a stethoscope to the engine while it was running. Thermostat housing sounds clean and smooth, so do the tensioner and idle pulleys. I can't get to the water pump while it is running to check it. The power steering pump sounds good too. It sounds like it is coming from just under the valve cover in the very front. I have an idea what it could be but don't want to jinx anybody's opinion.
I have owned my Grand Cherokee Laredo for several years and put about 60K of the current 221K miles on it. It only had one previous owner, my mother-in-law, who babied it and drove it like a little old lady. She always did maintenance and repairs through the dealership. It has never had any major engine or trans related repairs, and has always run smooth. Since I took it over, I have done a few minor repairs myself. I replaced the radiator due to a crack, and replaced a pressurized power steering line. At one point I replaced both sets of front brake rotors and calipers. I've replaced the water pump once a long time ago and the fuel rail was replaced when an anti fuel hammering/pressure device (tiny brass nub on the rail) started leaking. It has a single small current issue; the park sensor that prevents start in drive is hinky. I had it replaced once but every once in a while it won't start in park and has to be put into neutral to start maybe once a month. The last repair was the radiator swap which was about six months ago and it has run fine since. Those are probably the worst things that ever happened to this jeep.
Its a straight 6, 4WD. Last night it started making this god-awful noise out of nowhere. It seems to change when accelerating, and is present when driving and in neutral. It's pretty loud, comes from the top end, and sounds very much like someone is rattling around a can of marbles under the valve cover. I would have assumed that it was a valve, lifter, or cam issue, except for the fact that there is also a slight squeak going on. You can hear it throughout my video, but you can hear it best towards the end. The main noise doesn't SEEM to be coming from the water pump either.
I checked all of the fluid levels, and everything is clean and full. All the gauges read normal, including RPM, and there is no check engine light. I just replaced the battery, when my previous battery started giving out and it was having idle speed issues, after continuously losing idle speed settings when the battery would die. However, I have no idea if this is related or not. The battery was replaced about three weeks ago, and it has run smooth ever since.
Other than this terrible noise it runs great. I drove it a little bit to see how it would perform and there are no other issues, but I'm afraid to keep using it in the current condition. Any ideas??? Any help or thoughts is greatly appreciated!!!
UPDATE: I took a stethoscope to the engine while it was running. Thermostat housing sounds clean and smooth, so do the tensioner and idle pulleys. I can't get to the water pump while it is running to check it. The power steering pump sounds good too. It sounds like it is coming from just under the valve cover in the very front. I have an idea what it could be but don't want to jinx anybody's opinion.
Last edited by Disead; Apr 3, 2017 at 03:58 AM. Reason: SOLVED
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Joined: Apr 2017
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Model: Cherokee
SOLUTION
As it turns out, it was in fact the water pump. I took the serpentine belt off and started turning pulleys. They sounded great until I got to the water pump. It sounded like it was full of gravel when I turned it. This new video is first turning the new pump by hand and then the old pump. I don't think the old one is supposed to sound like that...