cypher

Hey all
I'm bummin now...took my ZJ to a mechanic buddy of mine today and got some rather unsavory news about it. Found out that the rear end is in fact, pretty much toast. Not only is the pinion seal wasted, the pinion bearing is wasted and it could be that the entire differential may be wasted. Grabbed hold of the rear drive shaft and and it was flopping all over the place...guess I found the source of my grinding and roaring noise. He made a call and found me a used rear axle with only 35,000 miles on it for $350. Once he gets the jeep up and looks at it, he'll let me know how bad it is. If it's just the bearings, I'm looking at about a $350 repair job...if the whole axle is toast I'm looking at about $750, parts and labor included.
So, I'm thinkin' I'll repair the front end, take out the rear drive shaft and drive it using the front end.
Then, on top of that, I had him check out my charging system...with the engine running and everything but the stereo on, the alternator was only registering 4 amps....even with the new battery. The alternator is only 8 months old. So I went back to Autozone and swapped out the alternator for another one...no dice. Still wasn't reading right. Not sure what to do about that one...I'm stumped.
So...there goes my summer. Gotta start saving for that rear end. I'm looking at maybe being able to get it done in October, if I'm diligent about saving for it. Looks like I'll be eating Ramen noodles and pb & j's for a while.....sorry for the whine session...needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Donnie_K

Sounds like a trip to pick-n-pull and some wrench spinnin' beer drinking fun to me.

Bustedback

X2! A trip to pick-n-pull for a $150 rear axle, some friends and beer, have it done in no time.