XJ issues

[Maser]

The XJ has bunch of small and annoying problems that have been keeping me off the trails. Life has me busy that I've really haven't had time to fix these issues

1) I've been hearing a small but Loud squeaking noise that I can't find where it it is coming from.  One day it sounds like it is coming from the rear, the next time it sounds like it is coming from the front.

2) I've also got a loud rattling/creaking noise that sounds when when I take off and take a turn. It might be the exhaust pipe hitting everything - A friend of mine noticed it moving as he heard the noise when I was pulling out of his driveway.

3) I still have the fuel pump issue  where the XJ rarely starts on the first key turn.  I think it also having having issues when driving at highway speeds.  I've felt the the jeep almost stall  So I try to avoid highways until I get that sorted out.

4) I believe that there something messed up the the steering/ alignment. Ever since I put the lift on, and got it "aligned"  the steering wheel has been at about a 45 degree angle to the left, but seem to drive somewhat straight that way.  I've also replaced the steering pump with a heavy duty one and have noticed after a few days of driving the steering wheel has a lot of play in it again. Then one day when I was pulling out of my driveway one of the bolts on the quick disconnects snapped apart with a very loud "BANG!", people walking down the street turned their heads.

So yeah, I'm sort off any major trail riding until I get most of this sorted out.

 

[gorilla_skater]

1) I've been hearing a small but Loud squeaking noise that I can't find where it it is coming from.  One day it sounds like it is coming from the rear, the next time it sounds like it is coming from the front.

I've got nothing for you on this one. You need to be able to drive it and reproduce the squeak, and have someone outside of the Jeep trying to locate it. Does it happen when the suspension is working? Just rolling on a flat road?

2) I've also got a loud rattling/creaking noise that sounds when when I take off and take a turn. It might be the exhaust pipe hitting everything - A friend of mine noticed it moving as he heard the noise when I was pulling out of his driveway.

Get underneath, grab the tailpipe (when not hot) and shake the shit out of it. If it moves a lot, and you can make it hit stuff then check all the hangers and secure.

3) I still have the fuel pump issue  where the XJ rarely starts on the first key turn.  I think it also having having issues when driving at highway speeds.  I've felt the the jeep almost stall   So I try to avoid highways until I get that sorted out.

This one should rightfully keep you off the highway and/or trail. Did you replace the fuel pump?

4) I believe that there something messed up the the steering/ alignment. Ever since I put the lift on, and got it "aligned"  the steering wheel has been at about a 45 degree angle to the left, but seem to drive somewhat straight that way.  I've also replaced the steering pump with a heavy duty one and have noticed after a few days of driving the steering wheel has a lot of play in it again. Then one day when I was pulling out of my driveway one of the bolts on the quick disconnects snapped apart with a very loud "BANG!", people walking down the street turned their heads.

Whoever aligned it should have straightened the wheel by adjusting the drag link (the link that is connected your steering pitman arm), takes 5 min to do.

The quick disconnect problem could be separate issue. Did you replace the broken bolt? Are the quick disconnects adjusted to the correct length and equal on both sides?

KISS - replace the broken bolt and straighten the steering wheel

 

[Maser]

Well I had another friend look at the jeep today and he noticed that the passenger side Ball joint is shot which is probably the culprit for the noises. So look like I'll be replacing that too. How are NAPPA Parts for ball joints and such?

As for the Quick disconnects I've got to get new ones. Any recommendations? I was looking at these http://jksmfg.com/i-13306724-cherokee-xj-comanche-mj-1984-2001-quicker-disconnect-fits-4-0-6-0-lift.html

for the fuel pump, I heard people saying get the pump from the dealership because of the quality. The one I've got in there now came from Autozone because it was cheaper than the dealer and it is giving me the problems. I don't know the quality of the pumps at other places.

Thanks again.

 

[gorilla_skater]

NAPA parts are generally better than Autozone or Advance Auto.

If you are getting new disconnects, those JKS are the ones ot get. I ran those on my XJ and they worked great. just make sure you keep them greased.

I went with a NAPA pump on my Dakota and it's working great. It's a pain, but if you think it's the pump, I would take it out and bring it back for a warranty replacement. If the new one acts the same, then it's probably something other than the fuel pump itself. There is probably a better way to troubleshoot it though.

 

[rctrav]

Not sure ware you located but i got some like new RC disconnects i can let go for cheap.

 

[SpiderViper]

squeaking on my xj turned out to be the lca bushing make sure its tourqued to the right spec and maybe try soaking it with wd-40 that did the trick on mine... might as well soak all the joints when you are down there could be as simple as that...

 

[Maser]

I don't think the squeaking is a control arm bushing since the squeaking is happens to pulsate(squeak) with how fast I am going.  But I'll still check it out just to make sure everything is tight.

rctrav - RC? (rough country)? I have a 4.5 Rough Country lift and the quick disconnects that came with the kit are the ones  that snapped. It looks like the other one is in bad shape to.

Rey - I forgot to mention that the pulsating/squeaking happens on flat roads.

 

[PaulW]

Maser pm me a number, Id be happy to look at it.

 

[Maser]

Alright, got a update on the issues.  I seemed to fixed most of them.

The squealing from the back, turned out to be one of the parts in the rear drum breaks fell loose.  The little half-moon piece that puts tension on  the cable, which holds the leaver for the tension screw, fell out of its hole causing the little leaver to fall down, rubbing the inside of the drum. Which was making the annoying squealing everywhere I went. I put the moon piece back in its hole and up the rest of the brakes back together and everything seems to be fine now.

The rattling/clucking seemed to be the exhaust pipe hitting the new cross-member for the long arm kit. Threw a bit of exhaust wrap around the pipe where it was hitting and now the noise is gone.

Replaced the Pittman arm with heavy duty one which took out a lot of play in the steering wheel that I had. I also put the JKS Disconnects in, then I took the Jeep to Town Fair Tire to have them do alignment.  The Alignment was way off! The Total Front Toe was -0.75 and Steer Ahead was -0.10. Well they fixed that and my Steering wheel is finally facing straight up haha.

The fuel pump issue is still there.  I still have the starting issue. The weird thing is if is sitting over night (or just a really long time) it seems to start fine.  Yet Other times, it starts on the second try.  The stalling/shuttering could have been crappy gas, or moisture in the tank, I was thinking about trying the BG 44K stuff (http://www.bgprod.com/products/fuelair.html) - Has anyone tried this yet? I keep hearing advertisements on the radio for it.

I was also wondering if having a 4.5 inch lift and 32 inch tires can cause the automatic transmission to have issues changing gears at higher speeds such as 60-65 MPH? I am wondering because I'm thinking that maybe the computer still thinks I'm driving with stock wheels - my speedometer seems to be off by about 5mph. When the rpm's get higher the computer is telling the engine and transmission put only so much power to the wheels and then it has a little hiccup as it realizes that there isn't enough power and tries to correct itself.

I'm completely guessing on this theory here so I could be completely wrong. But if I am right.  Do you thing modding the computer with Superchips (or any other programer) could remedy that kind of problem?

Thanks again!

 

[clean4drxj]

32's on 4.5 inches of lift with stock gears the jeep shouldn't shift that bad, it wouldn't hurt to add and  aux cooler infront of the radiator tho.

 

[Maser]

Cool, ok.  With an aux cooler do you mean one for the tranny?

I had a friend drive with me and he said the shifting seems to be fine. Though he said he had a similar issues with his Mustang which it ended up being a electrical arching issues from the spark plug wires.

So I looked in the engine compartment and noticed the some of the spark plug wires were sort of melted a bit where they touching metal parts.  I'm thinking there might be issue with arching causing the the engine to misfire a bit. I'm going to change out the spark plugs, spark pug wires, and cap just be be sure besides I think I got those parts form Autozone - I had nothing but problem with parts from them in the past.

Come to think of it, I remember having a stalling issue a while ago, which ended up being a wire arching onto the mortar. I was able move the wire and re-insulate it which solved that problem. So I'm guessing the spark plug wiring could be causing the hiccups the jeep is having.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[clean4drxj]

Yep tranny cooler.. I bought mine from Advanced Auto  and it was for a chevy 1500/2500 and iirc it was something like 30 or so. I cut the line from the trans to the rad and ran that to the aux cooler and from the aux cooler back to the  rad(cooler). In most cases over cooling a trans can be as bad as over heating it. Not only did this keep the trans temp lower but also the engine coolant temps went down a little.

 

[PaulW]

I have an xj auto if you need one.

 

[Maser]

Ok, time for an update.

So the changing the spark plus and wires only helped in make the the engine seem a bit smother. But it really didn't help with the random loss of power.

I was able to put some dry gas in the tank and replace the fuel fill cap which has sees to help a little (not a whole lot) with that stalling issue. so hopefully it really is a faulty fuel pump.  I really do not want to have to swap out a tranny. haha.

Also I was wondering if a clogged cat on the exaust can cause issues. I heard that sometimes it can cause problems on other cars and I'm guessing that a jeep is no different. It is something I might to look at.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[pyagid]

Also I was wondering if a clogged cat on the exaust can cause issues. I heard that sometimes it can cause problems on other cars and I'm guessing that a jeep is no different. It is something I might to look at.

Thanks again everyone.

Tap on the CAT, if you hear rattling in it, I would replace it.  If the exhaust was/is hitting the crossmember pieces of the cat could break off.  And when on the gas running at 60-65mph the pieces could shift causing choking of the exhaust and loss of power.  IIRC too there is an exhaust mount that is attached to the transmission mount on older YJ's and XJ's?  The torking of the motor used to cause the cats to break apart too

I am not saying that is the problem, but could be a possibility.  I am not sure where you are located, but POPs exhaust in Manchester is VERY reasonable and they could adjust your exhaust off the cross member and let you know if you have other issues.

 

[Maser]

Cool, thanks, I'll have to take a look under the jeep again.  I know The exaust is hitting the cross member I can hear it rattling sometimes when I get moving after I stop at light or stop sign.  I'll Have to get under there and take a good look.  Thank you for the info.

 

[Maser]

Ok a little up date,  so I finally broke down and got a new fuel pump (factory replacement) and starter from NAPA. The starter was starting to go on me because of all the hard starts I'd have to do, Installed both. When I finally took out the old pump I was was in for a bit of a shock, First off I noticed the filter at the bottom on the pump was sitting at the bottom of the tank. Then entire assembly looked, and felt, as if it was about to fall apart in my hands. Not good.

Now that the new pump is in, it seems that  I have regained the power and performance again. I did a quick "speed up" test to simulate having to get out of the way of something quickly, That seemed to work fine.  I just need to do a highway test now. Though it seams like replacing crappy AutoZone up fuel filter did the trick.  When I'm finally able to get highway yest done, I'll let you know how it goes.

Tip to all: Don't buy inexpensive fuel pumps, the headaches are not worth the money hehe

 

[gorilla_skater]

Nice Jon! I usually try to save where I can, but when the fuel pump went on my Dakota, I din't go cheap.

 

[PaulW]

I don't always buy oem parts, but when I do, it's the 3rd time I've had to change it.