New DD (Jeep Goodness Inside)

[Shifting_Gears]

Finally broke down and did it. I purchased my third Jeep today, I should probably be put in a straight jacket.

Little background - my first vehicle was a 97 Cherokee (XJ, for those that speak the language). The thing was an absolute tank and have a drivetrain that wouldn't quit. I sold it in 2013 and missed it dearly.

I then ended up in an 04 Grand Cherokee (WJ) Columbia Edition. 2wd, 4.7HO which is essentially what Ford could've done with the 2v 4.6 (the 4.7HO had 265hp and 330lb ft). At the time I was commuting about 40 mi/day to and from work and gas was a blistering nearly $4.00/gallon at the time. I traded that in on my former Focus ST and with the savings in gas and repairs, I was coming out on top with the Focus ST monthly.

Traded my ST for my GT in late 2018. Still missed my old Jeeps pretty much every day in between. Something about how comfortable and simple they are, plus the ability to explore the unpaved wilderness has always been a part of my life since I was a kid.

Fast forward to the past few weeks. I started browsing Craigslist/Offerup/Autotrader for Grand Cherokees to DD and keep the miles off the Stang, haul my bike to the trails and ideally get into some other outdoor activities that require cargo capability or off-road capability. The ones I found were either being sold by dealers for more than my budget, or they were beat to hell and back. I looked at two, one of which sold the same day - and that was OK as it was an auction car and looked like it had been buried underground for a decade.

Found a private seller, '02 Overland (top of the line back then), Quadradrive (still one of the best 4wd systems around), 3" lift and wheels/tires off a newer Wrangler. 183k on the odometer and the interior was actually clean, seats not all busted up, etc. Overall it's in pretty good shape for an 18 year old truck but definitely needs some things and I'm OK with that. The PO did a lot of maintenance items and disclosed everything I found as far as things that need fixing. TO my shock and awe all the windows, hatch/glass and sunroof work. It's going to teach me some things I haven't tackled (rust repair for a spot on the roof) and some other fun stuff. Air is ICE cold, but blend doors need to be done and there's no heat (core is bad), but I could care less being in South Florida. The engine still makes good power and sounds healthy, but I believe it needs valve guide seals which are a pretty common thing on higher mile 4.7 mills. Puffs a little smoke (blue) on startup and idling for an extended period when you give it some gas. But you know what, I don't really care. I am so freaking excited to be back in a Jeep and it just brings back a lot of good memories AND I get to keep the miles off the GT. I got it for under $2k.

Anyway, without further delay (yes, that's a snorkel on the other side):

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[Shifting_Gears]

Have done the following in the last week or so:

Pick and pull trip for:
Cargo cover
Center console arm rest
Updated change holder/accessory power outlets
Passenger side mirror
10 disk changer assembly
Hatch glass struts

Maintenance:
Front and rear diff fluid drain/clean/refill
Transfer case drain/refill - helped with transfer case engagement and some drivetrain binding QuadraDrive is known for
PCV valve replaced
New gas cap (chasing a CEL and it was clear the old one wasn’t sealing well)

Next week-ish:
Drop the trans pan, change filters, refill/flush old trans fluid. Trans isn’t happy shifting under WOT and I’m hoping a good cleaning and fresh fluid will help. Was also thinking throttle position sensor could be a culprit.

The good:
Has a Flowmaster 50 series (too quite) and goes from 2.5 to 3” for the tailpipe. So it would be easy to build a 3” system and connect to the existing tailpipe.

Previous, or second previous owner installed airbags on the rear end. I would like to add on-board air so adjustments are quick and easy.

No rust other than rock rails and sunroof area, which needs to be addressed.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Obviously this period of downtime has gifted a lot of free time so I’ve done a few things.

A few weeks ago I did the trans pan drop, filter change and “flush”. Smoothed things out but the old fluid wasn’t in that bad of shape which was good to see. It didn’t fix my WOT shifting issue though.

Also changed the fuel filter/regulator (one unit). That didn’t fix my shifting either, but it does feel it’s fuel related as I can feel the engine losing power up top. Anything below 4K rpm or so is fine. This isn’t a race car but I need to be able to have merging/passing power when needed.

Yesterday I changed the radiator. Had a small leak when I got it that lead to having to add coolant every day before driving, got tired of that real quick.

The old one doesn’t seem to be in too bad of shape... lol.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Chrysler for making some absolutely bullshit designs with the cooling system.

1: Single core radiator. Some of us live closer to hell than others. Sure it works, but it would be nice to have a 2+ row especially on a heavy SUV with 4x4 and tow package.

2: Plastic end tanks - this is the third radiator I’ve replaced. One per Jeep. Absolutely God aweful design that doesn’t handle heat well at all. It starts with a small weep and loss of pressure and goes to hell from there.

3: The fan is powered by the steering pump. There’s two hard lines and a soft line that attach to the fan assembly. The fan assembly has to come out with the radiator, because it’d be damn near impossible to reach and loosen the bolts that attach it to the radiator AND squeeze the rad out.

4: Impossible bolts. The best way is to remove the front skid plate to get to everything. Well, because the bolts are difficult to reach, even with swivels I had to kiss that goodbye once I realized they were rusted in place. I had to contort myself in ways I rather forget to reach everything with the skid on.

 

[Ebm]

Your WJ looks to be in good shape. Nice find. I have a '96 Jeep XJ that I've been modding for a few years. Unfortunately the Just Empty Every Pocket acronym can be true lol. These things are getting on up there in age now.

With your radiator leak, did you see a puddle on the ground or was it evaporating before it hit the ground? I'm having a coolant loss issue as well.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Your WJ looks to be in good shape. Nice find. I have a '96 Jeep XJ that I've been modding for a few years. Unfortunately the Just Empty Every Pocket acronym can be true lol. These things are getting on up there in age now.

With your radiator leak, did you see a puddle on the ground or was it evaporating before it hit the ground? I'm having a coolant loss issue as well.

Thank you. I had a 97 XJ as my first vehicle and it was awesome. What all do you have done to yours?

It would drip on the ground after parking it. It was running down the end tank and would come out between the bumper cover and skid plate. Problem with mine was the AC condenser and trans cooler block the view to the radiator from the front and the fan shroud from behind, so it was hard to pinpoint the source. I had a WJ a few years ago that had the same failure (end cap leak).

Have you checked your water pump? When they go bad they leak out of the weep hole which often causes it to drip in obscure places or not at all once the engine is off. I miss working on a 4.0, so freaking simple.

 

[Ebm]

Thank you. I had a 97 XJ as my first vehicle and it was awesome. What all do you have done to yours?

It would drip on the ground after parking it. It was running down the end tank and would come out between the bumper cover and skid plate. Problem with mine was the AC condenser and trans cooler block the view to the radiator from the front and the fan shroud from behind, so it was hard to pinpoint the source. I had a WJ a few years ago that had the same failure (end cap leak).

Have you checked your water pump? When they go bad they leak out of the weep hole which often causes it to drip in obscure places or not at all once the engine is off. I miss working on a 4.0, so freaking simple.

I've got a lift with 33s, aftermarket bumpers, and hopefully about to re-gear in the next two weeks or so. A fairly simple build compared to some, but I just wanted something reliable that I could drive in bad conditions or run a trail every now and then but still occasionally drives on the highway.

I haven't checked the water pump, but that's a good idea. I wonder if I should clean everything up and put some UV dye in the coolant to track it. Might not be a bad idea.

Do you like the WJ better than your XJ? I bet the comfort is much better in the WJ lol.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I've got a lift with 33s, aftermarket bumpers, and hopefully about to re-gear in the next two weeks or so. A fairly simple build compared to some, but I just wanted something reliable that I could drive in bad conditions or run a trail every now and then but still occasionally drives on the highway.

I haven't checked the water pump, but that's a good idea. I wonder if I should clean everything up and put some UV dye in the coolant to track it. Might not be a bad idea.

Do you like the WJ better than your XJ? I bet the comfort is much better in the WJ lol.

Nice. They’re super capable even with a little work. My “dream” with my old one would’ve been a nice long arm setup.

UV dye would probably work. I’ve also read 4.0’s can be prone to “air lock” which is basically a pocket of air forming somewhere in the coolant system and reducing cooling ability. Not sure if this is your case but what I read said the fix is drawing vacuum in the cooling system to pull the air pocket out. May be worth researching if the obvious suspects aren’t the cause.

They both have their pros and cons. For outright off-road ability and simplicity of modifying I rather have the XJ. For comfort, power, and day to day ease the WJ is way ahead of the XJ. For whatever reason I like the idea of a mid-size SUV with a solid V8 which is a big draw to the WJ for me. But if I were going to war in a Jeep it’d be 4.0 powered lol.

WJ’s can be plenty capable off-road as well but they’re larger and heavier so that works against it. My WJ has QuadraDrive which is a bad ass system. Unfortunately I don’t have any places less than a 2-3 hr drive to test it out. I had the 242 transfer case on my XJ all open differentials and it was still really capable.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Had a major breakthrough today.

I’ve been chasing a loss of power and no-shift at wide open throttle. Everything was ok until 3500-4000RPM and then the brick wall hits. The engine struggled beyond that point and it wouldn’t shift unless I let off the gas.

Trans service and fuel filter netted no results. Fuel pump was relatively new.

I changed the throttle position sensor, as I was having a fluctuating idle issue. Hoping to kill two birds with one stone, this fixed the idle issue but not lack of power or shifting.

The culprit was a clogged 3rd cat. Like - when removed all that came out was powdered ceramic. It was horrible. Fixing that restored 100% power and resolved the WOT shifting as well.

If anyone is familiar - the 4.7 is basically Chrysler’s 4.6 2V. VERY similar motors and the 4.7 HO made 265hp/330lb ft of torque. It moves the Jeep REALLY well.. especially with the 3.73’s the Overland has.

It was literally like bolting on a supercharger, haha.

Anyway - I also replaced the passenger window regulator today amongst that and the TPS.

I think this thing is helping me cope with all the other BS going on in the world. Project vehicles rule.

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