jshepardson

Hi everyone
I am a proud new owner of a 97 Jeep Cherokee TSi. This Jeep is a fairly low mileage Jeep and runs great, however I have a couple questions on whether or not something is normal.
First off when driving everything seems smooth but from time to time there is this rumble. It happens mainly when sitting at a stop light or sign with the Jeep in Drive and the foot on the brake, it sort of has the feeling like your on a motorcycle while idling, though not quite as intense. If you put it in neutral while sitting it is perfectly smooth, like a brand new car; no shaking or hesitating. This rumble also appears when the Tach reaches about 1500 RPM especially around 45-55 MPH. below 1500 it's smooth and around 2000 it's fairly smooth (feels like a truck)
Second question is there seems to be quite a bit of noise coming from the rear cargo area when driving, the best I can describe it; is take a empty soda or beer can and blow into the opening. It's a windy tubular sound. the loudness stays about the same no matter what speed your going or breaking. It's really not that loud just sounds strange. The person I bought it from said it's just that the cargo area is pretty open and there's not much to insulate the sound. I have noticed that the seal around the hatch door is fairly age worn, maybe that is a factor?

Apart from that the only things wrong with the Jeep is the defroster comes on climbing hills (which I may have found the answer for that here in the forum, with a leaky vacuum line) and the drivers side seat heat does not work, but the passengers does.

I have to say honestly I can not stand American Automobiles, but I really love this Jeep.

Thanks guys

ol"blue

Welcome to CF.
First thing is the rumble. On the '97 V8 ZJ I had for 6 years, when I first bought it it had a similar rumble so I took it in and had it looked over. They said it was the catalytic convertor. I took it to my friends exhaust shop and had it replaced and the issue went away.
Second thing is the noise issue from the rear. A new rear seal will definitely help, but I picked up a factory cargo cover for the rear and that cut down on the noise quite a bit in mine. It is a roller design, and the bottom attaches behind the rear seat, and the other end attaches to the hatch below the glass, which was opened on mine. When you opened the hatch the cover lifted with it. If you had large boxes or things, the cover could be unhooked and rolled into the bottom as it was spring loaded. They came in different colors.
Here's a pic of mine down, and with the hatch open so you get the idea.

jshepardson

Hi, thanks for the reply.
I do have the cargo cover but have not tried it yet, I'll be sure to do that the next time I head out.
With your converter did you notice a loss of power or anything? My Jeep's running strong and don't give any indication of a bad converter like on some other cars, such as worse than normal gas mileage or lack of power.

ol"blue

Not really. It had the V8, and always had plenty of power, even before the replacement. There might have been an improvement in MPGs though, but I don't have my records anymore.

jshepardson

Well, I hooked the cargo cover to the rear door and it did make a dramatic improvement. It's kinda funny just how much a piece of vinyl will damper noise.
Thanks again for that tip

ol"blue

Glad to help out. Yeah it's surprising the difference it makes.

Rabbit566

I also experience the rumbling and i found out that the heat shield for the exhaust had fallen down and was vibrating. Another possibility is the muffler might be vibrating against the upper mounting bolt of the rear control arm. my 2 cents.