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New to XJs, trying to figure out issues

Rohr397

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Fallbrook, CA
Yesterday I picked up a 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ after searching for a few months. Long story short, I've wanted one for about as long as I can remember and I finally pulled the trigger. For the most part, I'm pretty stoked with the Jeep and it has a ton of good things going for it, but there are some issues that I'd like to address.

All of my mechanical experience has been with ATVs, dirt bikes, and that sort of stuff, so this is really my first time taking a swing at anything like this. I figured the best thing I could do was hop on here and ask questions.

As far as the Jeep goes, it's a 4.0L 4x4 with the automatic transmission. It has the NP231 transfer case and a slip yoke eliminator has been installed. As far as modifications go relevant to what the issue may be, it has a 6" lift and a 1 ton under the knuckle steering kit. Also, it has the 8.25 rear axle and is running on 33" tires. It has spent it's entire life in Arizona and Southern California, and at 169k miles it is totally rust free and looks almost brand new underneath and inside and out.

NOW... as far as what's wrong with it?

First and foremost, there is a squeaking sound that is already driving me crazy. After replacing the serpentine belt per the previous owner's recommendation, it is still present. All pulley's seemed good as well as the fan and all that. More research led me to the "Angry Sparrows," which this squeaking sound is similar to from what I can tell. It seems to only come on right around 1,500 RPMs when driving, under acceleration or deceleration, with only an occasional squeak at other RPMs. It also seems to get better after driving it around for a bit. Front driveshaft and U-joints seem to be in really good shape, but I'm not totally eliminating that possibility. The rear driveshaft, however, did have some torn up blue plastic sticking out of the joint on the transfer case end. This leads me to believe it could be something with the rear...

Additionally, the steering wheel is totally crooked. I realize this is alignment so that's no big deal, but it's worth mentioning. The Jeep seems to wander a decent amount and steers easier to the right than to the left. The steering wheel is turned to the left to go straight, so I'm assuming this is also an alignment issue.

Finally, the issue that is the most troubling is what happens when I let off the throttle. Whenever I let off the throttle while driving, the Jeep pulls to the right. Sometimes it's no big deal, but other times it can be really unsettling. It doesn't pull in any direction when accelerating, braking, or any other time. Even with the crooked steering wheel, it still drives perfectly straight down the road.

So, those are the issues I'm having. It seems entirely possible that they could all be connected to some extent, but as I said I'm new to this and trying to get a feel for how it all works. I also realize that a lifted vehicle like this is never going to drive perfectly, but I'd at least like to make it as good as I can.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
As for the squeak, it could be a lot of things - Water pump, idler bearing, mechanical fan bearing, a/c comp, etc.....

For the rest, a lot more info would be helpful plus pics!
 
How did you set the tension on the belt? I used to own a '96. For some reason you could use the "Yeah that looks about right" method for the tension. My '00 on the other hand not so much. I could get away with it being quiet when just running but when you turned on the AC whoa. Finally broke down and bought that Krikit II. Part # 91132.

People post tension should be:

180-200 lbs for a new belt
140-160 for an old one

Somebody suggested using the lower numbers when doing it. Don't want the belt to tight around the alternator, water pump, etc. Put mine at 140 was good to go.
 
No problem!

Here's everything from the for sale listing, which is virtually everything I know. I'll work on getting better pictures later today as I don't have any at the moment.

"2000 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 4.0 Auto
Has 168K Mikes on it. Will go up since it's my daily driver.
-Running a 6"inch rough country Lift.
-SYE slip yoke eliminator.
-Complete Orange repaint. Door jams and all.
-DinoMax exhaust.
-New Mickey Thompson beat lock wheels with New 33" Mastercraft tires. (With spare included.)
-New K&N cold air intake.
-Complete engine reseal including all New belt and hoses, New steering components with New steering box, New HD radiator, New water pump, New fan clutch etc.
-New Truck lite- "skyjacker" DOT headlights.
-Smoked Gray XJ Taillight Combo Kit with Side markers.
-1Ton Steering Kit. (Under knuckle) New upgrade to the Jeep market.
-Chrysler 8.25 rear end complete with RT diff cover on the back. With 3.55 gears all around.
-Bushwacker Fender flares all around.
-Red Glow Cluster Face Overlay.
-Original interior still looks new.
-Clean Title with Pink slip in hand.
-No check engine lights."
 
For the belt I followed information online and had a buddy come by to check it out and put the finishing touches on the tension. He's an actual mechanic so I have some faith in what he did. We were able to totally check the belt off the list for the sound too.

Later today I'll drive it around the neighborhood and get a video of the sound for reference.
 
The info we need is......(there may be more)

Short arms, short arms w/ D b's, or long arms?
What's your caster, camber, toe-in, and thrust angles?
Is your axle centered? The steering wheel is easy to adjust!
What are your drag-link angles?
Have you checked the pads, rotors, calipers, caliper brackets, and brake lines?
What width tire/rims and backspacing?
 
Given that you have a 4wd, and an SYE, it should be easy to rule out driveshafts. Remove one and drive the Jeep around enough to determine if the squeak has been affected. If not, try the other one. If no change regardless of which driveshaft is out then I would scratch driveshafts off the list. (While you are at it, give the U-joints a good rotation or three through your hands and make sure they feel smooth. Address issues there as needed.)

For the alignment issues, given your experience level and the number of variables involved (Sale listing says steering components have been replaced, yet steering wheel is substantially off center tells me the job was done by someone who was less than detail oriented at best) I am going to recommend you take it to a good alignment shop and have someone who really knows what they are doing look things over and adjust things properly to start. From there forward you probably need to learn how to readjust as the rocks try to readjust things for you, but you will have a better sense of what is right for your rig then.

Do you have any idea if the motor/trans mounts have been replaced? If not, you should plan to do them, and you might want to be checking to see if your squeak could be caused by something such as the engine driven fan getting friendly with its shroud.

I have no idea if the camshaft position sensor on a 2000 can make a squeaking noise, but I know that the distributors can do this when their bearings get old. It wouldn't hurt to pay a bit of attention to that component. I use a wooden dowel for this job. Press one end against the base of the housing and then hold your ear to the other end. If the noise is happening at idle you should be able to tell if that is the source.

Just some thoughts you can pursue if they seem reasonable to you.
 
:confused1

Thank you for the lead on that one. I never would have expected that noise. That has to be a pretty good deal of slop to result in that noise.

That underscores the value of checking that sensor/oil drive.
 
The info we need is......(there may be more)

Short arms, short arms w/ D b's, or long arms?
What's your caster, camber, toe-in, and thrust angles?
Is your axle centered? The steering wheel is easy to adjust!
What are your drag-link angles?
Have you checked the pads, rotors, calipers, caliper brackets, and brake lines?
What width tire/rims and backspacing?

Oh boy... to be honest with you, I'm not sure how to tell short arms from long arms or figure out if the axle is centered or not. Angles and caster, camber, toe-in are going to be tough as I don't have a level/flat place to park at the moment.

Steering wheel seems pretty straightforward, but since the front end isn't stock it looks like the procedure might be slightly different.

All braking components have been checked out and they're all good. I'll grab the tire/wheel info here shortly.

For the alignment issues, given your experience level and the number of variables involved (Sale listing says steering components have been replaced, yet steering wheel is substantially off center tells me the job was done by someone who was less than detail oriented at best) I am going to recommend you take it to a good alignment shop and have someone who really knows what they are doing look things over and adjust things properly to start.

I agree with you here. The guy worked at a shop and all of the work was done there. In fact, they're even active on this forum from what I've seen. That said, while the alignment was apparently done along with other work, I don't think the focus was on the small details. The average person would probably overlook some of this stuff anyways, but it doesn't take much to send me into a fit of OCD... :dunno:

Do you have any idea if the motor/trans mounts have been replaced? If not, you should plan to do them, and you might want to be checking to see if your squeak could be caused by something such as the engine driven fan getting friendly with its shroud.

I have no idea if the camshaft position sensor on a 2000 can make a squeaking noise, but I know that the distributors can do this when their bearings get old. It wouldn't hurt to pay a bit of attention to that component. I use a wooden dowel for this job. Press one end against the base of the housing and then hold your ear to the other end. If the noise is happening at idle you should be able to tell if that is the source.

No idea on the motor/trans mounts, but I have read up on this quite a bit. I did scope out the fan and made sure it isn't that. I'll check out those other two you mentioned though. The noise only seems to happen at low speeds around 1,500 RPMs but it wouldn't hurt to check it out either way.

Pictures and video coming very shortly...
 
Additionally, here are photos of the blue piece of plastic that came out of the rear driveshaft on the transfer case end of it.





This leads me to believe that this joint needs to be replaced at the very least? That blue piece appears to be one of the bushings in the joint.
 
You definitely need to do something about the CA angles, either drop brackets or go with some long arms. Steering angles don't look bad but you may get some tie rod roll.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrYWN1LkkY

This video captures the squeak/chirp. Took about 15 minutes to even make it happen, as it's pretty sporadic.

During that drive, I got a "Check Gauges" light on the dash..... :roll: only happens at a dead stop after driving for a few minutes and goes away when I start driving again. Either the oil pressure drops to zero or the temperate spikes as far as it can go.

Researching this a bit leads me to believe that I need to replace the oil pressure sending unit, but the temperate throws me off a bit. However, I feel like it could very easily be due to the aftermarket gauge cluster. Any thoughts on this?
 
That blue piece is the seal that keeps the grease in and the grit out. How it would be damaged like that is beyond me. Before replacing it I would take a good look at how things move around in that joint and see if you can pin down the cause of the damage. Replacement certainly needs to happen, but you might need to accomplish something else at the same time.

And since it sounds like you are in doubt, those are short arms on your front suspension. You can get drop brackets to improve the angles on those, or you can switch to a long arm set up that will move the pivot point on the frame back to about where your transmission crossmember is.

You can pretty easily center your steering wheel by loosening the jam nuts on either end of the drag link (the upper orange bar that comes down at an angle) and twisting that bar to change the length of that drag link assembly. Simplest technique is to drive the car in a straight line forward. Stop without altering the position of the steering wheel, loosen the jam nuts and rotate the drag link, go check the steering wheel to make sure you are going the right direction, adjust as needed until the steering wheel ends up centered. Then tighten everything back down and take it for a test spin. That task is fairly simple. But if the Jeep is pulling one direction or another there is more going on that needs to be looked at by someone who knows what they are doing.
 
Watching/listening to the video I would start with that U-joint. You know something is wrong in there, and you know you need to address it.

Be aware that there is also a centering ball in that double cardan joint. Those centering balls seem to get overlooked, and they can create some interesting problems for you.

I would block both sides of the front wheels, jack up the rear and support the axle on jackstands, put the transmission or transfer case in neutral and get someone to rotate the rear tires while watching and feeling that double cardan joint. Make sure that as that joint goes through its range of motion nothing is binding or rubbing against anything. Rotate it slowly with a hand on it (and no fingers in positions to get crushed) and feel for any clicks or irregular movements as it operates. From there you can talk to a driveshaft shop about replacing the joints and checking the balance.

Get that done and then see if your squeak is still there.
 
I don't think that squeak is "rotational", it sounds like something rubbing(as in loose). You might start by spraying some good lube on various things!
 
Funny thing is, today I was out in front of the house doing some little projects on the XJ and the neighbor, who has a JKU, walks over to check it out. I mentioned it needed a few things worked on and he immediately replied, "You know, I heard it squeaking as you drove up the other day. It sounds like a U-Joint."

Needless to say, the U-Joint is definitely a good starting point for all of this, along with an alignment. I ordered the parts to get that joint fixed and they should show up tomorrow, so I'll get that swapped out, then get it aligned, and see how it goes from there!

Now I just have to figure out this "Check Gauges" situation because that's a whole other can of worms lol
 
Just an update to this situation, today I installed a new rear driveshaft on the XJ with all-new u-joints. Unfortunately, I am waiting for the proper tool to finish the job and get everything greased up, but I think this should solve the problem.

I noticed that the current rear driveshaft with the bad u-joint was completely maxed out with the jeep sitting level and suspected that it might be too short. The new one is about 2 inches longer and looks much, much better. Fingers crossed that this solves the problem!

I'll post an update on Thursday when I'm able to finish up the job and take it for a spin.
 
Update to the situation. Got the new driveshaft greased up this morning and drove it to work. No more noise and things definitely seem better!

...HOWEVER...

Now I have a Check Engine Light on... I didn't come anywhere near anything electrical during the driveshaft install and truth be told, I didn't really touch the Jeep after parking it to do that job. No light when I shut it off on Monday, but today there's a light.

Fun part? I have to get it smogged today or tomorrow and it won't pass with that light. This should be fun... :looney:
 
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