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87 4.0 random sounds and smells (video)

B

blibra

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Wilsonville Or
Hello,
I have been having this intermittent problem with my Jeep for a while now. I am having to use it to commute for work now and this is getting more and more common so I need to address it.
I have a 87 Jeep Cherokee with a 4.0 AW4 d30/d44. PS and A/C.

There are a few things going on but this one drives me nuts and I can't quite figure out where it is coming from. When its warmed up and im driving or sitting somewhere all of the sudden it will make this really loud sound and smell. It does seem to be sluggish while its happening but maybe its just me. Lasts for 30 secs to a couple minutes.

The sound is somewhat like sticking a straw in a fan or like I used to stick baseball cards in my bike spokes back in the day.:laugh: It increases with RPM's and stays on/off the gas.

The smell is like burnt ATF or P/S Fluid. Comes instantly through the vents and hot boxes the cab. no smoke.

My self diagnosis but I really have no idea, is that maybe when the aux fan is coming on that the fan is blowing on my P/S pump creating the smell, but my p/s pump has been replaced and does NOT leak. Also it did this once or twice before I replaced the pump. I have pulled over and lifted the hood when this happens and didnt really smell the smell as much as in the cab. SO im lost with that. And the sound seemed to be coming from the firewall area not the front. A buddy said that the bearings going out on the climate control fan could be making this noise. But the smell? and it also makes this sound regardless of fan speeds on/off etc.. The Blower controls are all functional and i usually have it on fan mode. I really dont have the time to just start ripping dash stuff apart. Any ideas about what maybe could be going on. Ideas, engine aux fan? CC/heater fan motor bearings OR electrical gremlins? When it goes away, like todays it ends with a POOF-HISS sound out of the vents. HELP this is driving me crazy.

I tryed an attempt on a quick cell phone vid, but its hard to hear the sound. :dunno:




http://s177.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/87xjlaredo/VIDEO_043.flv


http://s177.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/87xjlaredo/VIDEO_042.flv
 
Last edited:
are you sure it smells like atf and not coolant? you may have a leaking heater core, which would produce a foul smell through the ac/heat vents. roll the windows up and turn the heater on for a few mins with the vehicle running, then rub your finger on the inside of the window, if it feels greasy its most likely the heater core, vaporized coolant will condense on the windows and you can feel it.

hope this helps
-mike
 
Well i have absolutely no oil, coolant, ATF leaks anywhere on the ground under my Jeep and I park in the same spot everyday. Tried the window test and my heater core is fine. It only occurs when the sound happens. It just happened tonight again. It seems to be coming from the lower center of the dash. Could it be a torque converter issue? I swear it smells like ATF. But it FLOWs out of the vents when it happens. Anybody? I searched but Naxja has such a broad search engine. Anyone else have this similar problem?:banghead:
 
I can personally vouch for everything blibra is stating, -he's not crazy! We were out in his XJ one night and it did "it's thing". He is right, it smells like either burnt ATF or burnt steering fluid.

It is definitely one of the most bizarre things I have ever witnessed.

For a brief moment, I was tempted to tell him that his XJ was pissed and he needed to get rid of it and get a different one!

It does almost sound like the flexplate or torque converter is rubbing on something, because as he stated, the noise increases and decreases perfectly proportional to engine RPM, -then, it just disappears.

The really strange thing is the hiss noise that comes out of the HVAC vents once the noise subsides.

Strange problem indeed.
 
I've got a far fetched one but......output seal on the t-case is leaking, throwing fluid on the muffler, and the smell is coming through the rust holes in the floor??????

I don't know where the vents come in, but I think it is a good thought!
 
bump Thanks but i checked that. There are absolutely no leaks and it only smells when it does the sound. It happened 5 times on the way home from work today went away with a poof-hiss from the vents everytime. ITS POSESSED! i have to drive my Jeep 40 miles ($20-30 worth of gas) a day round trip to work now. Someone help! :bawl: ON A BUDGET for the next month. TIA

I'm also getting like 130 miles to a full tank of gas driving like a grandpa.hasta I just swapped out my injectors for a non-leaking clean set from the junkyard with lower miles and gently hosed down the engine with simple green (covered dizzy, and put dielectric grease in all connectors didnt spray tps)<Which is adjusted properly>. I ran lucas fuel injector cleaner/fuel stablizer 2 tanks ago after swapping injectors. REPLACED fuel filter correctly, I have been noticing a lot of blowby for some reason Just cleaned the valve cover before that pic.
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPGQ|Rup6lJQ|/of=50,553,443

(sorry for the choppy post)

SYMPTOMS: bogs up hills, maybe weak spark? decent clean burning plugs/soft wires/cap/rotor, wont downshift and shifts quick and is crusing at 1500rpms @like 55mph, if i get on it it doesnt go anywhere. 55psi cold 25-39psi warm 216k. Im sooo lost? I cant even afford to go to work. I might be having to get a daily commuter :doh:


IF YOU READ THIS PLEASE BUMP! Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
vents are controled by vaccum. Have you checked the vaccum line near the blower motor that runs through the firewall? Does your battery have a dry cell??? I know a dry cell will stink pretty bad.

The vaccum leak could account for your loss of power and the dry cell could account for the smell.
 
Jess said:
I've got a far fetched one but......output seal on the t-case is leaking, throwing fluid on the muffler, and the smell is coming through the rust holes in the floor??????

I don't know where the vents come in, but I think it is a good thought!
Click to expand...

here is a bump and a X2 on the T case. I didn't realize my t case was empty. u may not be seeing leeks becuse it's empty. a dry T case gets pretty hot and can stink pretty damn bad. once i figured this out and added fluid, the leek was very apparent.
 
When I have the A/C on (you have it on because your defroster is on) I sometimes get a strange sound from "behind the glovebox".....

It's loud enough to hear over the radio. I'm not sure what it is! It's not the A/C compressor....it's something A/C related near the firewall.

Sounds SIMILAR to your noise although "not the same" and I don't have a smell when I hear it.

FYI I also have a small vacuum leak. If I have heat off (so heater valve is shut), it will only stay shut a few minutes after the Jeep is turned off. Then you'll see the heater valve open....I have to locate the tiny leak.
 
Thanks all for the responses. Im going to go outside now to look for any vacuum leaks. Also when it starts to happen now i noticed a click noise like the a/c pump kicking on. But how could this be i have the settings on vent most of the time not on defrost.:huh:I'll explain the sound again. It ticks like something is switching on, (relay,pump etc).. then it makes the rod knock sounding noise that increases with rpm. It does this for about 1-2 minutes only when its warmed up never cold. As soon as it starts it smells like ps fuild or atf. the vents seem like they are blowing but they arent, I can turn the fan on and it starts to blow air all speeds. Then if i rev the engine slightly it helps it stop, and it ends with a poof sound out of the vents?

The t-case was just serviced and is not leaking.

If the blower motor happened to be on its way out would it still function properly? Without the sound it sounds just fine. All of the speeds and settings immediately change and shut off. The smell is the biggest annoyance. I noticed i have a black canister with vacuum lines attached to the firewall and one side is missing im going to take some pics right now and post them up. And I have this rod that connects to the shifter that isnt hooked up and laying under my steering column? Maybe someone can identify it with my pics. I have been looking through my chilton and cant find jack ....

And my gas guage is posessed also, today it was bouncing from full to half and i know i had 1/4 of a tank. What could be causing that?
The Jeep is just going down hill. I havent replaced anything besides the fuel injectors, and fuel filter. I'm on somewhat of a budget right now and i dont really have the money to just start replacing everything.
Thanks everyone.:worship:
 
blibra said:
Hello,
I have been having this intermittent problem with my Jeep for a while now. I am having to use it to commute for work now and this is getting more and more common so I need to address it.
I have a 87 Jeep Cherokee with a 4.0 AW4 d30/d44. PS and A/C.

There are a few things going on but this one drives me nuts and I can't quite figure out where it is coming from. When its warmed up and im driving or sitting somewhere all of the sudden it will make this really loud sound and smell. It does seem to be sluggish while its happening but maybe its just me. Lasts for 30 secs to a couple minutes.

The sound is somewhat like sticking a straw in a fan or like I used to stick baseball cards in my bike spokes back in the day.:laugh: It increases with RPM's and stays on/off the gas.

The smell is like burnt ATF or P/S Fluid. Comes instantly through the vents and hot boxes the cab. no smoke.

My self diagnosis but I really have no idea, is that maybe when the aux fan is coming on that the fan is blowing on my P/S pump creating the smell, but my p/s pump has been replaced and does NOT leak. Also it did this once or twice before I replaced the pump. I have pulled over and lifted the hood when this happens and didnt really smell the smell as much as in the cab. SO im lost with that. And the sound seemed to be coming from the firewall area not the front. A buddy said that the bearings going out on the climate control fan could be making this noise. But the smell? and it also makes this sound regardless of fan speeds on/off etc.. The Blower controls are all functional and i usually have it on fan mode. I really dont have the time to just start ripping dash stuff apart. Any ideas about what maybe could be going on. Ideas, engine aux fan? CC/heater fan motor bearings OR electrical gremlins? When it goes away, like todays it ends with a POOF-HISS sound out of the vents. HELP this is driving me crazy.

I tryed an attempt on a quick cell phone vid, but its hard to hear the sound. :dunno:




http://s177.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/87xjlaredo/VIDEO_043.flv


http://s177.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid177.photobucket.com/albums/w201/87xjlaredo/VIDEO_042.flv
Click to expand...



I only read some of the posts above. Here is my suggestion. Check the AC compressor. My wifes XJ makes a simalar sound when the clutch on the compressor kicks in. If the bearings are bad enough it will drain engine power, increase the rpms and possibly be burning the oil that is used in the AC system! That would explain the crap comming out of your vents.

-J
 
blibra said:
And my gas guage is posessed also, today it was bouncing from full to half and i know i had 1/4 of a tank. What could be causing that?
The Jeep is just going down hill. I havent replaced anything besides the fuel injectors, and fuel filter. I'm on somewhat of a budget right now and i dont really have the money to just start replacing everything.
Thanks everyone.:worship:
Click to expand...



A sticky ball float in the gas tank.
 
sweet thanks for all of the ideas everyone. I do have a vacuum leak when i shut off the motor last night i could hear it make a hiss noise so i got a FSM and im going to check the vacuum system. The A/C compressor would make sense. My a/c has never worked. but it makes the sound when its on vent, and doesnt make it happen when the a/c switch is on. I can hear the compressor which just started to make a lot of noise, but not nearly as loud as the annoying noise and with the a/c on it doesnt smell..:repair: :explosion
 
If the A/C or defrost cycle is on when your problem occures then it sounds like a refrigerant/refrigerant oil leak in the evaporator coil and it also sounds like a simultaneous mechanical problem inside the A/C compressor itself that is overheating it. Try disconnecting the magnetic clutch wire that leads to the A/C compressor, single wire, easy to locate. Disconnect and see if the the problem goes away partly or entirely.

If it does not go away it sounds like an electrical / hardware problem in the dash near the A/C controls. If that is the case, only way to find it is to pull the dash and go through it looking for burned wiring insulation, etc.
 
blibra said:
sweet thanks for all of the ideas everyone. I do have a vacuum leak when i shut off the motor last night i could hear it make a hiss noise so i got a FSM and im going to check the vacuum system. The A/C compressor would make sense. My a/c has never worked. but it makes the sound when its on vent, and doesnt make it happen when the a/c switch is on. I can hear the compressor which just started to make a lot of noise, but not nearly as loud as the annoying noise and with the a/c on it doesnt smell..:repair: :explosion
Click to expand...
Well, so much my last post here. :dunno:

I had an odor problem (no noise) like that for months that would came and go, turned out to be the head light switch and wiring harness connector attached to it slowly burning and melting, making it smoke when it overheated. Poor contacts and corroded wires and age got to it. It got bad enough one night that I could see the smoke source finally. Nearly caught on fire.

Does it do it with the A/C, heat, blower switch turned completely off?

When does the compressor make noise? All the time, or when ___________???
 
I get a strange sound from my headlight switch sometimes........It sounds like a tightly wound spring is unwinding really quickly, but then stops in a second or so..... The only time it's ever happened is shortly when you turn the switch OFF.

It's the strangest thing ever.
 
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