Hi! I'm from the Philippines and I just got a '97 Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0 v6 gasoline yesterday, while I'm not really familiar on the platform, I wanted to try something else and I really dig the classic look of the ZJ. Been driving a Chevy Silverado and Ford Expedition for the last 8 years. Got them both bnew back then. Anyways, the Jeep that I got has around 86k miles on the clock, the problem is it's been stuck and was never used for almost 5 months, just sitting on the garage of the previous owner. I test drive it last night, the things I noticed and I hope experts here can give me some headers are, the A/C is not that good but I'll have it checked by next week, coz being in a tropical country I think that A/C set-up will be different I suppose. I also thingk there's a problem with the suspension coz while cruisng the steering is quite uncontrollable, it sways to the right, and pretty much wiggles a lot, I don't know if it's just tire issue. Also when idle at drive and neutral, there's vibrations on the inside that's makes me feel crumble and uncomfortable, feels like the earth is shaking or something. And the most that concerns me is that the inside smells like gasoline and it bothers me coz I have 2 kids and another one on the way. So I want them to be totally safe. I'm not really mechanically incline and a DIY guy. So any advice or suggestions from you guys that I have to watch out for and keep in track for my Jeep to be a good family car will be so much appreciated, TIA!

 

well.. for one, your steering box is probably bad.. but it might want to check the bushing in the front, such as control arm, sway bar, etc and make sure none of those need to be replaced

for the smell of gas, you probably have a gas leak.. check the fuel tank and lines for leaks, follow the lines to the engine and make sure its not leaking anywhere

the vibrations at idle when you rev it means you probably have to replace one or more engine mounts, so youll want to check where the engine bolts to the frame and try to locate busted mounts and replace those too...

it has a lot of work to do, labor intensive, and itll cost you a bit, but in the end it should be worth it all

 

For the fumes, open the hood and make sure the rubber seal at the rear of the engine compartment near the windshield wipers is still on fully. It keeps engine fumes out of the heater/ac air intake at the base of the windshield.