Hi, my name is Nate. My main vehicle threw a rod in late August, so on Labor Day weekend my dad gave me a 91 XJ that had been sitting in a pasture for several years. Interior is trashed, heater smells like a mouse nest, glass is busted, and the engine makes horrific noises.
I was only expecting to use this Jeep as a stop-gap until I could find a new engine for my other car. Despite all of it's significant flaws (and they are significant. It's embarrassing to drop my kids off at school with the noises it makes right now) I have a real crush on this car and would like to bring it back to life.

The biggest problems right now are the engine noises and the mice in the heater. Any suggestions as to where to start? Thanks!

 

Welcome to our forum!

I would look in the heater for the mouse smell.

As for the noise, where is it coming from? Bottom of the motor? Top?

Get a good coolant and oil change/flush.

 

welcome,
if you think there may still be mice in the dash, get some regular old mouse traps, get them out before they chew any wires. put them under the seats and in the floor every night and check them every morning.

for the noise, more details, could be anything from an exhuast leak to major motor problems. where's it coming from on the truck, whats your oil pressure, temp, might want to do a compression check if its been sitting that long, and def. do a oild change, coolant flush, tranny, tc and diff fluid change, and run all the old gas out of it, check belts and hoses.

 

You can also remove the heater fan because that's where mice might nest if trapped in the heater assembly. Also those white toilet bowl fresheners are a good repellent, and some people report the same thing from Bounce dryer sheets.

 

I've changed the oil and filter twice since I got it. I used 10w 30 and some Lucas oil treatment. Changed the AT fluid once.

The main worrying noise right now is a loud "clack" that seems to be coming from inside the engine. The clack speeds up as RPMs go up.

Weird thing is the clack disappears when I get the car up to highway speed for a little while, just gradually quiets down until it's gone altogether, even in lower gears. But if I drive in town for a while, it comes back.

 

I sucked the dead mice out of the heater as much as I could with a shop vac. There aren't any live mice left. Is the heater fan under the dash?

 

It should be under the hood. This should be of help. >->http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/...ower_Motor.htm

 

Just drove about 50 highway miles and the clacking noise appears to be gone for now. Oil pressure went between 20 and 40 on the drive, stabilized around 30.

 

It was probably a stuck lifter.

 

sounds like the jeep sat for a REALLY REALLY long time and like ol blue stated a collapsed lifter that finally pumped itself back up, i would just keep an eye on all your fluids and make sure everything looks normal and sounds good and prolly pop the valve cover and take a peek in there, make sure nothing seems out of place i.e rust, water, metal, etc

 

Sounds like you may have lucked out on the lifter/noise.

 

Been DYING to pop the valve cover. I've done a little wrenching, but I'm not a seasoned mechanic. Is that a straightforward thing? I'll need a new gasket to do it, correct?

 

Just pulled some NASTY mouse homes out of the heater after taking out the heater fan. Hantavirus here we come!

 

Clacking is back. Sounded good all day, now it sounds terrible. Ran it in park for a bit to check the heater fan, and the noise came back. Drove it about 15 miles, noise disappears at 35 mph. Comes back if I give it gas and it shifts down.

 

Update, the clacking appears to be loose bolts holding the flexplate to the torque converter.