Chirping/squeeling from distributor, jeep putters off

So im pretty sure this is coming from the distributor, perhaps this is a common thing that people can confirm for me. But right now ill drive for a little, and then eventually the chirping will begin, and every so often when i come to a stop, say at a red light, the jeep will try and die off, sometimes actually die, and sometimes keep itself alive. Is this a distributor thing? if so, how much money am i lookin at here and how difficult a job is it? i assume its not too bad but distributors are one thing ive had 0 experience with.

any help id appreciate it guys thanks

p.s. naxja membership coming soon to a heavymetal near you

Sounds like the bushings on the distributor shaft may be worn. When mine went, it didn't try to die out, but did make a pretty good squeal at idle.

Replacement isn't difficult as all of the timing is handled by the ECM. Take the cap off, mark where the rotor points, MARK THE NEW DISTRIBUTOR in the same location. Remove the hold down clamp, and pull the old distributor out. The gear on the shaft is a helical cut so it will rotate on the way out. Don't be surprised by this, it's expected and why we mark both before removing anything. Do keep an eye on which direction and how far the rotor moves on the way out, and set the new distributor in the same way. Insert the new distributor. You may have to pull it out a couple of times to get it to the right spot, and you may also have to reach in with a long flat blade screw driver to turn the oil pump a bit to get everything to line up. Reinstall the hold down clamp, and put on a new cap. Should be a 15 minute job.

BTW, I am assuming a 4.0l I6. It'd help if you post up exactly what year and engine you have.

HeavyMetal said:

So im pretty sure this is coming from the distributor, perhaps this is a common thing that people can confirm for me. But right now ill drive for a little, and then eventually the chirping will begin, and every so often when i come to a stop, say at a red light, the jeep will try and die off, sometimes actually die, and sometimes keep itself alive. Is this a distributor thing? if so, how much money am i lookin at here and how difficult a job is it? i assume its not too bad but distributors are one thing ive had 0 experience with.

any help id appreciate it guys thanks

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Sounds (chirping) like it may be the bearing(s) in the distributor (shot). Distributor is real easy to get to and swap out.

Have you checked the inside of the cap and rotor yet???? Do that first and make sure they have not gone bad and started making physical contact. Could just be a bad rotor and cap!

Replacing the distributor:

The trick is making sure the rotor is pointing in the correct direction when you replace distributor. Search this forum for the how to replace instructions and read them thoroughly :read::read::read: before you touch the distributor. Physically it is easy to do, but procedure must be followed carefully :read: or you will end up learning :read: all about how to set the engine at TDC to reset the timing (a lot more work :shiver: that is unnessary if you follow the procedure properly to start with) in order to install the distributor correctly!!!!.

Also be sure you keep, get the wires on the cap in the right order.

Good search words would be: Distributor install timing replace

Good luck!

ok thanks for the replies thus far. some very good helpful stuff thanks guys

ChiXJeff said:

BTW, I am assuming a 4.0l I6. It'd help if you post up exactly what year and engine you have.

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yeah its a 97 cherokee with the 4.0 I6

so can i assume in the end the fact the jeep is dieing out is because of the worn distributor

HeavyMetal said:

so can i assume in the end the fact the jeep is dieing out is because of the worn distributor

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You can, but there's the possibility that it's something else. The others just pointed you to the likely culprit. Often, a test or fault code won't conclusively point out the failing part. You just need to figure out the most likely cause of the problem and start your troubleshooting/parts replacement from there.