What did you do to your jeep today?

[derekj]

Out for an afternoon drive in the rain.

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[Deb'nKJ]

Finally got it started, after being parked up for a couple of months. Jumped it from my trusty Suzuki support vehicle ('cos the only other running Jeep also has a flat batter) having wasted best part of the price of a new battery on another useless starter pack (obviously in that market, output, make & price mean nothing). It was very reluctant though & the cranking was accompanied by a strange ticking sound and a veritable lightshow on the dash. Anyway, it sat there idling happily enough while I put everything away & moved the Suzuki to another car park & drove well enough for a few 100 yards, then died at traffic lights - & wouldn't start, no matter what we tried. Pushed it out of the way of other traffic, removed battery to take home & put on charge. Returned several hours later with the battery refitted it & - it was just the same! By now convinced problem was the the starter so, having little choice now, called out my recovery service - & the guy diagnosed it as a flat battery (has a 5 year guarantee, only 15 months old & been on charge all afternoon!). Sure enough, with his giant, industrial weight starter pack, it fired straight up. Then, why I still don't know, I drove it home, instead of back to its secure storage. This was all yesterday (it certainly felt like all yesterday), so this morning, with battery reading 12.9 volts on my meter, having been on charge overnight, I tried again & -nothing! Finally, in desperation, 'cos it couldn't stay where it was & I had other plans for the day, I hooked up a 2nd battery (also, to my amazement, register 12v+, after sitting for months) & with the same strange noises & flashing dash lights, it just started. Now back in storage &, over coffee, before setting off for the day, I made an offer for a battery that just happened to come up on Evilbay, ironically in a town I'd be passing this morning bit, of course, I couldn't wait for a response before leaving.

Some good did come out of it though, while underneath, contemplating the starter - with the aid of a hammer, I noticed a clean ring round the inside of the left front wheels, seems the caliper's somehow touching the wheel in reverse, which was causing the noise that I thought was the rear caliper not fully freeing off - & I found one X-member bolt is missing & the other was loose: rather add that to the list of things to do now, than the inevitable disaster waiting to happen.

 

[sota]

been a not fun couple weeks.
most notably, 2 nights ago the jeep finally decided it was time I deal with the right front corner, and started shaking like crazy.
I hate living in a Rust Belt state, makes working on stuff a disaster.
finally got the axle and shaft out; they were stuck together.
there's a TON of play at the axle/CV shaft union, and when I got them apart the splines look like trash.
also discovered the "spare" axle I bought is the wrong length.
fun fact: ours are 16 7/8" long. the spare one I bought is longer by a good bit.
waiting on a new credit card to come in (cash back purchase bonus) to order parts.
also doing all 4 brakes complete (rotors, pads, calipers) and the parking brake system.

 

[sota]

also anyone got a current rock auto code?

 

[exacerbated]

also anyone got a current rock auto code?

Try 27080741396975259.

And good luck with all that!! Let us know how it shakes out.

 

[sota]

well that didn't work.
tried to drive it tonight. didn't even get out of the driveway and it's thump thump thumping just as loudly.
will pull the front driveshaft hopefully tomorrow, and re-test. that would mean the only thing spinning the diff is the left front wheel.

also, anyone know the part number of the front differential seal that's on the passenger output side? It's the one the axle shaft rides in. I'm thinking i should order at least one, since the seal looked pretty foul while I was doing all this.

 

[duderz7]

well that didn't work.
tried to drive it tonight. didn't even get out of the driveway and it's thump thump thumping just as loudly.
will pull the front driveshaft hopefully tomorrow, and re-test. that would mean the only thing spinning the diff is the left front wheel.

also, anyone know the part number of the front differential seal that's on the passenger output side? It's the one the axle shaft rides in. I'm thinking i should order at least one, since the seal looked pretty foul while I was doing all this.

I think it can ne found on rock auto or Amazon. It's the same on both sides.

 

[Gyro]

Rolled over 110,000kms (68,350miles) today. 59,000 kms when I got it in 2012.
If I can keep a body under it, this could be the last auto I ever own.

Gyro

 

[DadOSix]

Lib ‘04 decided to take a break in Lowes parking lot overnite.

Masquerading as a low battery, it ended up being time to replace the starter. I could only find 1 available between 3 parts stores, so the Carquest reman got the job this time. I do not expect it to last 20 years like the last one, but needed to get on the road.

I was going to attempt the dreaded parking lot swap, but lack of tools (after I made 2 trips), the heat and my impatience lead to a $125 tow since no one was open to rent the tow dolly today.

Turned out to be a winner afterall, as there is ac in my garage and cold beverages available. Oh - and no gawkers coming by to see what was going on!

 

[KJowner]

Topped up my gearbox with ATF4+ and bought a boat for it to tow.
Now the proud owner of an old Laser, last sailed one around 30 years ago, hope I can remember how!! Should be fun on the river and sea with the kids.

 

[sota]

So as I continue to attempt a diagnosis of what the hell is actually broken, I decided to pull the front drive shaft. Disregarding the fact that I found one of the driveshaft bolts loose up by the differential, removing the shaft did not eliminate the noise being heard from the front. The only thing driving the diff at that point was the driver's cv shaft. I reinstalled the front drive shaft, and figure my next and final step is going to be to pull the driver side CV shaft out, and see if the noise is eliminated then. If not, then I'm going to have to condemn the differential. Not totally ironically, I happen to have a spare 3.55 geared front diff sitting under the deck. However, if I'm going to go through the whole hassle of installing a replacement diff, I should perhaps consider swapping out to the 3.73 sets from the parts Jeep I have. That would also include swapping the entire rear differential assembly as well. But, since I'm planning on doing an entire brake job all the way around, including calipers, that might not be that horrible an idea.

I suspect however there's going to be a couple of months where my Jeep only has two wheel drive.