I found out that the loud sound coming from my 95XJ 2WD is coming from the engine , Rod or something, dont know. Someone told me to just keep driving it, it has power and always starts and actually runs good. I know a place that I can get a rebuilt 4.0 for a little over 2K installed but It needs tires, front springs and front ball joints and some other things.

POLL

Should I do the engine first then all the other things or just drive it and do the suspension things, tires and steering components first

Thanks

 

that is a tough one. maybe even look at a junkyard one for the time being, save some money and get the other things done. my personal opinion

 

If its coming from the back of the motor I would check the flex plate. see if any bolts are loose. Its common for the flex plate bolts to come loose..here is a link on the fix. Im just guessing but thats where I would start.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/ho...ocking-125547/
Everyone that has told me that their motor is knocking turns out to be the flex plate bolt,, not all but most.

Here is the sound of the flex plate knock .

 

Unfortunately its not the flex plate
I took the cover off and made sure the bolts were tight and checked with a flashlight and I didnt see any cracks.
Just before the dummy oil light goes out there is a very noticeable knock, then it disappears after the light goes out. Theres no knock at idle, but when I get around 30 it starts to pound away... LOL. and its has gotten louder as the days got hotter......
So last sunday I changed the oil and put in some thicker 10-40 with some thick oil additive just as a test, and the knock is nowhere near as loud as before. I inspected the oil very carefully and did not see any metal flakes or any shiny/metallic reflections from the old oil at all.
A friend told me to just drive it and keep the rpms low.

 

hmm bummer,, good job on checking the flexP first.

 

I have a slight rod knock. Everyone just says to run it. It's not even that bad. I put in new bearings last year and it went away for about 20k miles, but is slowly coming back. This is because any wear to the bearings also takes a toll on the crankshaft lobes.

If you want, just rebuild the bottom end every year with rod bearings. It takes about 3 hours to roll them in. You'll keep it running quiet and you just do an oil change afterwards. And you don't even have to remove the engine from the Jeep.

 

Build a stroker- hehe

 

Is your jeep a 2 door or 4 door?If its a 4 door i would look in to buying another jeep.

 

Four door.
What does that matter?

 

cheaper and easier to come by, less rare and easier to give up, sometimes...

 

Didnt know that. I like the 4 door for the space to store stuff.

I am actually thinking of buying another jeep maybe a running wrangler or another XJ but 4 WD, fix and use the 2WD XJ as a daily driver then work on the 4 WD and use it as a fun car but this would be a long term plan, but not sure if I am ready to do this again.

My last project was a Baja bug and it lasted over 10 years, dont know if my body and financial situation would allow for another one of those long term projects............

 

Can it be driven on the current suspension, or is it dangerous?

The way I look at it, if you do the suspension, and then the engine gives up, you're not driving it anyway, and the money was wasted.

If the suspension can wait, and you do the engine, you can keep driving until you have the money to do the suspension.

I personally would have a hard time spending any money on a vehicle with a bad engine until the engine problem was fixed. But YMMV.

 

It can be driven, its not dangerous at all. I am driving it everyday, The suspension is little hard and I have already purchased leaf springs for it and had planned on replacing them.
But Yea, I dont want to build up a car around the most important part that is going to fail.

 

If you look hard you can find a 4x4 xj for 2 grand or less in good shape.Yeah the reason i asked if its a 2 door because they are rarer to find now a days while the 4 doors are everywhere.

 

i just happened to get lucky and get a 98 xj 2 door, 5 speed for 500 bucks in very good spade