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Serpentine belt squeal, sudden trans leak, dealer service and my 2 cents

Electrichorseman

NAXJA Forum User
I had a squeal coming from the engine compartment (as does a multitude of Cherokee owners) of my ’88 for over a year. I did the usual... changed the belt (twice), checked belt tension, replaced the idler pulley, cleaned everything, sprayed can after can of gunk on the belt only to quiet the noise and have it shortly return. Nothing seamed to work. Last month the squeal became so loud it was embarrassing to drive. I recently discovered the NAXJA site and joined in an effort to figure out the problem. I read a number of posts on the subject and found a surprising number of members who have gone to parts changing extremes (that’s putting it nicely) in an effort to quiet their squeals. I became so desperate that I took it to a dealer. Besides the “cry for help” from the engine compartment I also had a trans fluid leak which appeared over night. I was surprised (maybe disbelief is a better word) when the service manager told me that the crankshaft pulley needed to be replace in order to stop the squeal ($200.00) and the trans leak was caused by... bad front seal, bad rear seal, bad trans pan gasket and a bad dip stick seal ($$$$$$). I kindly explained that the estimate for the repairs exceeded the book value of the vehicle and gladly paid $45.00 for the diagnoses. The next day I went to the dealers parts department and told the manger (who’s seen my face so often he knows the years of both my Cherokees) I needed a trans pan gasket and a crank shaft pulley. He explained that Daimler Chrysler no longer carried trans pan gaskets for the older (AMC) Cherokees and asked why I needed one. I told him about the trans leak that started out of the blue and he told me to try replacing the dip stick o-ring (about $2.00). Then he asked why I was replacing the crank shaft pulley. I explained that their service department told me that it was shot and it was causing the belt squeal. He said yes, if the rubber connecting the two sections of the pulley shifted it has probably put the belt out of alignment and may also be digging into the timing chain cover. I bought the pulley ($90.00)

This past weekend I stopped by the NAPA store and was able to buy the trans pan gasket (Horah for aftermarkets). While in the process of replacing the pan gasket I discovered the reason for the trans leak. That $2.00 o-ring which seals the two piece dip stick tube had lost its sealing capabilities. Installation of the new o-ring solved the trans leak. I changed the pan gasket and added new trans fluid as a preventative maintainance measure.
Tonight I replaced the crank shaft pulley and as the parts manger said the rubber connecting the two pieces of the old pulley had failed and the pulley was misaligned. This was causing the belt squeal and it was digging into the timing chain cover.

During my searches of the OEM forum I noticed a few comments from members...
Spraying stuff on a squealing belt may quiet the squeal, but it’s probably masking a major problem. Find the cause of the squeal rather then working on a solution to eliminate the noise. Did that ever make sense! Another member had mentioned the possibility of the crankshaft pulley as being the cause of the belt squeal. Was he ever right!

I hope that my experiences will help other members with their squeal problems and hopefully there are other parts dept. managers who are as helpful as mine.

Ken C.


'88 Cherokee, '86 Cherokee (original owner) and '42 Willys MB (not original owner)
 
Update...

After driving around with the new crankshaft pulley for a few days I noticed a major improvement in the engine. It's obvious that the seperated pulley was throwing off the harmonic balancer.

Best $90 I've ever spent!

Ken C.
 
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