|
So several months back, I asked IoC if I could start my own WJ Jeep related thread instead of constantly piggybacking on his. It took me this long to worry about risking a ban if the thread sucked. For those who don't know, the Jeep WJ was the internal model name of Grand Cherokees produced for the 1999 through 2004 model years. Several different trims, powertrain and four wheel drive systems were available, but in the US, we got the long celebrated and sometimes maligned by automotive press 4.0 straight six and the all new Power Tech 4.7 V8. Personally, I was always a fan of the old school XJ Cherokees. I purchased my second car, a 1992 Jeep Cherokee sport in the fall of 2001 after my firsf car, a 1987 Dodge Charger blew a headgasket and found out it would cost more than the car was worth to fix it. My '92 Cherokee was a silver 2 door with the 4.0 HO, five speed and NO 4x4. That was the only reason I was able to afford it. I ran the doors off of it anyway, and besides getting stuck out a few times when four wheel drive would have helped, I loved that thing. It wasn't fast, the headliner started sagging the last few years I had it, but dammit it was a Jeep and amazingly I never really had to pay the Chrysler price. Aside from maintenance and wear items, I never had a single issue with it, it even had the same battery in it when I was forced to say goodbye. After an on the job injury, I found myself having difficulty shifting the five speed. Also, there was a hole rusted through the floor right where passengers in the back would put their feet. Random as hell. So, flush with a bit of insurance. settlement money, I started looking for. a new Jeep. At first, I concentrated on Cherokees, preferrably from the south. Even in the early 20-teens, Cherokees., at least those with decent to low mileage and with a good body, were getting harder and harder to find. So I saw (and bought) this 2002 Grand Cherokee Limited from a small independent dealer my grandfather was friends with.  So, it was my daily driver to and from work the three years I was paying on itb and it was mostly reliable. I had a small issue with the heat going out, but that was remedied with the help of Rock Auto part numbers and Amazon Prime free shipping.    So the Jeep soldiered on. Soon, a wild Magnaflow appeared!  Old and busted. Then, it happened. The Jeep that bore my wife and I on our honeymoon to Gettysburg was rear ended one morning on my way home from work.  The rear glass would no longer raise, the rear wiper wouldn't even contact the glass..it was a mess. Suddenly, a lift appeared to raise my spirits!  Pancake keeps the box from floating away. The box contained brand new lift springs good for an additional (claimed) two inches..  An Addco rear sway bar..  New vs old and etc, etc.. And Bilstein 5100 series shocks..  So, with the lift on, I tackled the brutal winters of..southwest Virginia. And here we are with the most recent picture, taken back in December of last year, fresh from mounting new tires.  So my plans for this Jeep and thread: 1. Replace shitbox O2 sensors. 2. Flush and fill radiator with correct HOAT coolant. Zerex G-05. 3. Drain and replace fluid in front and rear diffs, transfer case and maybe transmission. 4. Sand down and try my hand and rust repair. 5. Saw out and weld in new rock sliders/rocker panels. 6. Replace rear hatch. (Finally) 7. Remove seats and either replace foam or build up existing foams in drivers seat using..I dunno, old couch cushions? 8. Replace or fix broken drivers seat butt and nut warmer. 9. Paint and maybe strengthen existing seat mounts. 10. If I'm able to fix crappy rust spots on hood, try tackling the rear quarter panels and rear drivers side dogleg. 11. Find out the source of my magically disappearing coolant. 12. Replace front tie rods, track bar, drag link and tie rod tube. 13. Everything else that breaks every day, all the time. I'm partially using this thread as a kick in the bag to keep me to task, as there are alot of routine maintenance items that need doing, in addition to larger repairs. Since it's my daily driver, since my wife and I are two working poor schmucks paying student loans and working jobs that will leave us free of student debt and since why not, I'll be doing as much of this as I can. I'll try to use new pictures I haven't shared, but if anyone has any reason to see dozens of various Jeep and cat pictures, they can be made available. Also, I exclusively post from the app on my phone, usually overnights from work, so if tables are broken, words are spelled weird or I go off on a weird sleep deprived tangent one morning at 4am, I apologize in advance. Technical specs: 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 Litre V8 (non HO) Quadra Drive II Transfer case, with front and rear Vari Lok differentials gileadexile fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Aug 19, 2017 |
#
¿
Aug 18, 2017 07:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 06:58 |
|
|
Yep, replaced my first window regulator in..I'm thinking October or November of 2015. Tried repairing the old one, but plastic, etc. Blend doors..ehhhh, I have a feeling they've needed replacing for a while now, A\C doesn't blow as cool from the passenger side. And good looking out on the timg, I'll edit the pics when I get home. Another question, would youtube embedding of various Jeep adventures be kosher? gileadexile fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Aug 18, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Aug 18, 2017 11:57
|
|
|
You're right, I had to start the thread using Chrome on my phone and did what I could, gonna edit it in a bit, add some stuff, along with kitty rollcall.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2017 02:27
|
|
|
So since you have all met Pancake, I'll show the rest of my brood. This is Simone. She's 12, the pariah of the bunch, so she's constantly sneaking around, making the other cats, (mostly Pancake, Jack and sometimes Wembley) see her as prey.  This is Wembley. Third oldest.  He..tries.  Next up is Mouse.  The AI catte supreme, Jack..   She absolutely loved Top Gear. It's freaky. Youngest is Ygritte.  And these are all my too many drat cats. But I would't give a single one up for the world. gileadexile fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Aug 19, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2017 03:05
|
|
|
Some short (mis)adventures! https://youtu.be/uhNw-8SxGWM Going home from work in the snow. First time driving it in snow. https://youtu.be/lrevgmvWHas First properly deep snow. Was the only one going to work, company wide. https://youtu.be/O4KZ1rSe2-Q A bad cell video of a short fire road session. https://youtu.be/CxsMsKwWLc0 Being stupid on the way home one morning. https://youtu.be/ZXuWCObTKFg Shows just how scary effective this thing is in hard packed snow and ice. gileadexile fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Aug 19, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2017 03:30
|
|
|
Alot of the other forums have WJ owners going with Red Line or other brands with modifier already added, but I've always been leery of that. I have a few bottles lying around somewhere waiting on a good day to change it. Was gonna use Mobil 1 or some other decent brand of synthetic. She's a rusty piece of poo poo, but I don't wanna take too many chances.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2017 10:13
|
|
|
I wind up having to dump a charge in every summer, it has a leak somewhere in the system that's been vexing me for a while. I've wondered if it has anything to do witb the faint chemical/maybe coolant smell when I have the defrost turned on. Windows never fog though.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 21, 2017 01:34
|
|
|
So google has let me down once again. Random question. I've had slow leaks in both tires on the passenger side. They both still read the TPMS sensors and display on the EVIC, however the one in front is a hard, aluminum bodied stem, while the one in back is an older rubber floppy one. Now granted, the one in back NEVER reads accurate and is apparently leaking like a sieve the past week. I'd like to purchase 4 all around, as the only one that's been replaced is the one now leaking. The drivers side don't read at all, which really I don't care about, I check them once a week with a manual gauge anyway. Not knowing what type to get, do I have to get 4 TPMS capable ones? Can I just buy 4..I dunno, regular stems and have them work with my wheels?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2017 03:18
|
|
|
Purchased 4 1 inch aluminum bodied valve stems. I have a tentative appointment with the family mechanic this Saturday morning after work to put em in and try to get the O2's installed with some heat and some violence.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2017 05:22
|
|
|
Whelp, tomorrows written off, he's been working on a friend's 50's rat rod that he has to finish, so I guess I'm gonna hold out hope for some Jeep attention mid to late next week when I'll be off. Just can't wait around 'til the afternoon to work on it, my work schedule is Wednesday and Thursday nights 8 to 12, then 8 to 8s all the way until the next Wednesday, when it's an 8 to 12 midnight, then I'm off again until 12 midnight the next week. It's already tough enough to grab 5 or 6 hours of sleep every day on my 12's between neighbors and everyday life noise outside. In other news, my drivers side mirror has gone floppy recently, so I'm gonna take a look at that. It'll probably boil down to putting a tiny bit of epoxy on the detents to get a bit more traction out of em, not spending that much for a new heated and auto dimming mirror when the glass and features still work fine. I've rather been hoping that the strange idle, transmission shifting and power loss was from the O2 sensors having poo poo the bed, but I'm also wondering if it's because I bought an Advance store brand TPS sensor a few months back. It comes and goes, so it's a Jeep mystery. Let's see, other daily driver issues.. Front and rear passenger side tires still losing air at prodigious rates, front around 1 or 2 lbs a day, rear probably closer to 8 or 10. I keep the local Sheetz air pump busy. Have also been noticing some coolant loss. Really hoping it's not a headgasket, gonna see about getting a block tester on payday. I've noticed the coolant in the rad itself seems to have an oily film on top, but my oil dipstick smells regular, a bit gassy as I'm coming up on my 5,000 mile interval, but it seems ok. Lots of mushy buildup on the rad cap itself too, along with a vestige of green coolant I've not been able to get completely out from either the PO or dealership. It WAS a new radiator and hoses when I got it in 2012, but the clamps are starting to look crusty. There is a bit of white overspray, but a VDOT truck dropped a few buckets of white paint while painting lines earlier this summer and I went over it while it could have still been fresh, so I'm guessing that's it, as it doesn't just scratch off like I'd assume coolant spray would. Could also explain the white crust stuff on some of the coolant clamps. Anyway, guess that's all for this week..ugh. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 2, 2017 05:27
|
|
|
Smelled coolant when I turned my defrost on this morning. Pulled the carpet a bit, does this look like a leaky heatercore to anyone? Also, pretty sure air isn't meant to be going this direction, right? https://youtu.be/2RERVsuEjFI
|
|
#
¿
Sep 2, 2017 14:05
|
|
|
Hahahah. Was just looking for a few other opinions before I take a day to pull the dash and steering out to do the core. I've always had an odor come from the vents, but it always seemed to be more concentrated when the defrost was on. Also, that small amount wasn't wet, was more gummy? But it definitely looks like some has come out at one point, yeah. Ugh. Rockauto only seems to have aluminum cores available, payday is this Friday. That means I could pay for it, pay for expedited shipping, weather permitting get everything disassembled and waiting Monday and start putting it back together immediately hopefully in time for work again that next Wednesday night.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2017 07:15
|
|
|
That's actually how I usually use Rockauto, based on some goons advice way back when I first joined, either you or Ken I'm pretty sure. I'm basically trying to find one that's copper cored and go from there. OEM is around 60, Omix Ada, which is a Jeep specialty manufacturer has one for an rear end in a top hat puckeringly large price, so..*shrug*..guess Imma Am-Prime it up. So it definitely does look like it's been seeping to you guys too?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2017 08:35
|
|
|
I've definitely been seeing a discoloration on the bottom of the glass, I first noticed it after having my windshield replaced this past November, but I thought it might have been some sort of coating reacting to vape smoke or something. Looks almost like heatwaves or something, doubt it would show up in a pic, but I could try.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2017 11:10
|
|
|
Yeah, Napa brand is the same Spectra that keeps popping up on Amazon and Rockauto, so I'm gonna do some figuring on what I can get here fastest and cheapest. It lists for 70.99, and I can get it a bit cheaper from Rockauto with quick shipping or about the same from Amazon with my Prime. After driving my wifes new little commuter the past few days, I want back in my Jeep. Nothing really wrong with it and it's peppier than I'd have thought, but it's so low to the ground everyone elses lights are always in my eyes.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2017 01:23
|
|
|
Heatercore came in on Tuesday. Was a day earlier than Amazon showed, but I held off on tearing the dash apart over the weekend in preparation for it, as the remnants of Irma got us for a good bit of rain. I'm on my work run now, won't be off again until next Wednesday night. Anybody have recommendations on what to do about the AC? It says I'm supposed to vent it, but I'm not evem sure how to do that. It won't be open to the elements for any amount of time more than it takes to remove the HVAC housing, pop the new core in and get everything back in.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 15, 2017 07:10
|
|
|
I'm getting to the point of being tired of waiting around for mechanic uncle to do my tires and O2's. I pump the two passenger tires up to 40. I can go most of a workweek on the front, but really, 2 days is the max I'm able to get put of the rear. It conservatively loses about 10lbs an overnight 12hr shift. Doing research online, since my WJ has the Rogue Chrome wheels, I ordered a set of clamp in style one inch tire stems. Also researching online, it says that by using a long handled screwdriver, it should be possible to remove the tire from the rim. If it's possible, I'd probably wind up using a prybar along with a combo of jumping on the tire. Now, would this be enough room to remove the TPMS module and insert the clamp in stem? What about getting it reseated? I have a feeling this weekend is gonna be all Jeep repair, but maybe that can turn out ok..
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2017 11:18
|
|
|
Yup, leaking like a sieve around the stem itself. It's a basic rubber stem, not..entirely sure how long it's even been on there to be honest. I took a video about a month ago to send to my boss when I called in, and was genuinely surprised it was leaking THAT bad, so it really feels like it went bad within the past few months or so. Thanks for the advice, reckon I'll call around and price a few places and see if I can shake something extra loose from my paycheck.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2017 01:13
|
|
|
Ok, passenger side tires re-valved, re-mounted and balanced! Came to 34.89 after taxes and general stuff, but it rides better than it has in a while! Also found out they charge 54.99 for alignment, which seems alright, and 30 bucks or so to pull the refrigerant out of my A/C system, so a week from Friday, my payday and off Friday, I'm gonna go back up there and have the drivers side valve stems done. Only leaking a bit on the back tire, but the valce threads on the front are hosed, worn smooth somehow, so gonna have some rubbers poked in there too. New stems holding air just fine, rides great, life's not too bad!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2017 06:09
|
|
|
PS, wonder if I can find these wheels in my bolt pattern? Wish I knew what they were called, look alot like old school Ansens. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2017 06:43
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 06:58 |
|
|
Had some family stuff come up a few weeks back and it caused some of the Jeep stuff to be pushed back a bit. Guess this is more of an anti archive bump than anything.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 25, 2017 15:54
|
|