love my new jeep. what should I do?

This thread is copy pasted form my sticky notes, so please for give any format issues.

Intro: Just got a 2004 grand cherokee with the 4.0. need some advice.





1. Year of your XJ/MJ.

2004 grand cherokee laredo

2. Engine (I.E.: 4.0, 2.5, 2.8).

4.0

3. Transmission (Manual or auto).

auto

4. Differential/transfer case.

was told it should be a 242 but have not confirmed. have the hopping around corners issue and want this rectified before the winter. it only hops when in 4x4 just fyi. i keep it in 2wd all times and dont wheel any right now.

I was informed by the 4x4 guy at pollard jeep in boulder that it is common place for the 242 crowd to do a swap with a new tcase. Is that true? I've read a little bit about them and seaw the main differnece was the locking full time as opposed to the awd sorta feature ive got now.

my truck has 236k miles and id like it to go alot further, especially as seeing me and my wife currently sleep in it in boulder colorado.

i bought the truck from my old land lord for 1k$. all maintenece was performed meticulously. im keeping up on oil changes. no pink milkshake in the trans and the break fluid is black. lol will be getting a break flush very soon as well as tire rotation, oil change and maybe a trans flush if applicable.

ac works, everything works on the inside. overall, its an awesome truck, drive goos, handels good, is just high milage.

any input is greatly appreciated and will be taken to heart,. I do have experience with basic maintenence and fell I could do the tcase, with guidance, but alas, I have no tools.





edit: PS is crapping out. Whats the culprit mostly? It pulls hard at low speed, steers fine at high speed. whines a little but nothing like my cougar did when it finally went.


another edit: heres a pic of the jeep.

You sir, have a Bubble-J. OK, a WJ. While it will share some driveline parts with the XJ series, they are totally different vehicles.

If you have a 242 tcase, then you will have settings for 2wd, 4wd full time, 4wd part time, and 4wd low range. If you do not see the 4wd Full Time option, then that explains the hopping on the street and you should NOT drive in 4wd on pavement. Only the 4wd Full Time should be driven on hard surfaces.

Also, please learn the difference between "break" and "brake".

DieselSJ said:

You sir, have a Bubble-J. OK, a WJ. While it will share some driveline parts with the XJ series, they are totally different vehicles.

If you have a 242 tcase, then you will have settings for 2wd, 4wd full time, 4wd part time, and 4wd low range. If you do not see the 4wd Full Time option, then that explains the hopping on the street and you should NOT drive in 4wd on pavement. Only the 4wd Full Time should be driven on hard surfaces.

Also, please learn the difference between "break" and "brake".

Click to expand...

The selections you mentioned are exactly what I have. I know I shouldnt drive on oavement, just needed to show a guy It works. Which I guess it doesn't.

The guy at the deAlership say it was an xj. So it's a wj? How similar is the drivetrain? I could care less about the body and astetics, just the maintenence and upgrades.

4.0L is basically the same, the 242 TC is basically the same. Trans is different. Both have solid axles front and rear.
In a way I hope you got a killer deal since it was an "XJ" and not a "WJ"
Your WJ has better steering and brakes than an XJ.
As I am sure you know, all car makers have some kind of alphanumeric designation for vehicles, and such. Here's a short list of Chryco Jeep ones..

XJ: 84-01 Jeep Cherokee (non-FSJ, compact SUV)
ZJ: 93-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee
WJ: 99-04 Jeep Grand Cherokee
YJ: 87-95 Jeep Wrangler
TJ/TJU(aka LJ): 96-06 Jeep Wranger/Unlimited
KJ: 02-05? Jeep Liberty
etc.. you get the idea.

Paid 1k$ for it. I fell I got a good deal.

You probably did get a good deal, it's still a grand cherokee tho. Definately not an xj.



Completely differant vehicle.

Guess i shouldn't always listen to the jeep guy. Is the tcase still the same? I just really want my 4x4 to work

mrpenguin said:

Guess i shouldn't always listen to the jeep guy. Is the tcase still the same? I just really want my 4x4 to work

Click to expand...

Yes, the 242 is the same between the XJ and the WJ. It is OK to drive on pavement in the "4WD Full Time" mode, just not in the "4WD Part Time" mode. The easy way to remember is anything in green (2wd, 4wd Full time) is OK for pavement, while anything yellow (4wd Part Time and 4wd Low) is not.

If that is rust free, then $1K is a good deal. Just don't buy "XJ" parts because they won't all fit.

DieselSJ said:

Yes, the 242 is the same between the XJ and the WJ. It is OK to drive on pavement in the "4WD Full Time" mode, just not in the "4WD Part Time" mode. The easy way to remember is anything in green (2wd, 4wd Full time) is OK for pavement, while anything yellow (4wd Part Time and 4wd Low) is not.

If that is rust free, then $1K is a good deal. Just don't buy "XJ" parts because they won't all fit.

Click to expand...

I have 1 in green. Lol. It's the 2wd option. 4 full time is awd-ish? 4lo and 4part time are what? I've only had 4 hi and lo. I was also told that when in 4 part time and even 4lo, it's not actually locked in. Is that true?

mrpenguin said:

I have 1 in green. Lol. It's the 2wd option. 4 full time is awd-ish? 4lo and 4part time are what? I've only had 4 hi and lo. I was also told that when in 4 part time and even 4lo, it's not actually locked in. Is that true?

Click to expand...

OK, tell me again EXACTLY which options are on your shifter? I asked if you had the "4wd Full Time" setting and you said yes. Now you are saying no. You need to give us accurate information if you want help.

If you do not have the "4WD Full Time" option then you do NOT have the 242 transfer case. The 4wd Low Range and 4WD Part Time are locked in and should not be driven on the street.

Better idea - go underneath and read the numbers on the small round label that is on the back of the transfer case.

It's a 242. Just went down there.

242-272 gears.

03/04 mfr date

09104---it's to the right of the mfr date???

2 wire plug??

From top to bottom-
2wd-green square around it
4 part time
4 full time
N press down
4 lo

It's super clean on the tcase too.

Just so I'm clear, the forum here doesn't support my jeep body,but the forum does support the engine. Right?

Just wanting to be able to get the best information for the maintenance.

Is a trans flush needed? When is it needed? Mine shifts pretty well for the amount of miles. Nothing rough.

Breaks...my rotors are warped and my break fluid is black. I'm gonna be redoing as much of them as I can. What is recommended? Not a fan of drilled rotors. Slotted is fine but drilled squeak cause of rocks.

So, the 4lo is locked in? As is 4hi? But not the full time. Right?

Sorry to sound like a dummy........

Jeep forum Covers WJ's and other bodies. The rotors on my wife's WJ are great best brakes I own.
Buy a Chilton book.

I like the breaks. They are good. Will be getting them replaced soon tho. Next couple days.

Chilton will be bought. Was gonna get one from the library but the one for 2004 jeeps was gone.

Side note. Got another set of wheels and tires the other day. Stock jeep wheels. Thinking about getting them powder coated to black.

Time to find crossbars and a cargo box.

it appears you have the 4WD part hashed out. i can address the noisy power steering issue.
our 04 WJ has a new pump and it is loud, so did the old one i made the dealer replace when i bought it.
so it isn't "bad" but i've done alot of reading on swapping this pump onto the XJ for better performance and i found some references to a fitting in the system with a metered orifice whereas the XJ fitting has no metering. the hole had been drilled out for better performance and it was mentioned that it had quieted the pump down. i havent revisited the issue yet but my thought is that they restricted the flow on the 4.0L vehicles and probably didnt restrict the V8 vehicles.
it's noisy and it makes me crazy, but it's the wife's daily driver, not mine and she just turns up the radio to ignore things like that.
if i ever have to tear into the system i'll look closer at it, but it's not worth the hassle to chase it right now.
$1000 sounds like a good deal to me if the driveline is good and the body is not rusted.
pay VERY close attention to the transmisssion.. these are weak and are know for OD and 2nd gear failures. if you ever feel any slippage in day to day driving, adress it right away before it gets worse.
a new trans is pretty spendy.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking for a wrecked jeep now so I can pull some stuff and rebuild some stuff. Place in town wants 450 for a np242 with 110k miles on it. Can get one off eBay for 100$.

mrpenguin said:

Thanks for the info. I'm looking for a wrecked jeep now so I can pull some stuff and rebuild some stuff. Place in town wants 450 for a np242 with 110k miles on it. Can get one off eBay for 100$.

Click to expand...

And why do you want to do this? Those tcases are pretty much bullet proof. There isn't anything that can burn up or go bad. Just make sure it has oil. If it isn't making noise then don't worry about it. If it makes you feel better, change the fluid and see what the old fluid looks like. It uses Dex III ATF. It is a simple drain and refill.

So there is nothing to rebuild if it craps out? As it sits now, to fix my 4x4, is it a swap? Or a drain and fill an see what happens? Hell, itight even work. It just doesn't fell right. Idk.

mrpenguin said:

So there is nothing to rebuild if it craps out? As it sits now, to fix my 4x4, is it a swap? Or a drain and fill an see what happens? Hell, itight even work. It just doesn't fell right. Idk.

Click to expand...

Why are you convinced that it is broken?

When I drive it, it fells weird and like it shouldn't be driven. Fells like its binding. When I turn, it fells like its hoping. It just doesn't fell right. Wish I could explain it better. When I shift into the 4wheel, only the part time lights come on. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Anyone close by? I'll swing it by an we can talk about it. Lol