If it's not the brakes, then what IS it?

[artrageous]

Originally Posted by BillD

Sharon, as Jam 454 and others stated, drive it till it's hot.(Dry conditions) Then try to pull into a tight parking spot. You'll feel and hear binding noises. This is the time to show the sellers. It's a powertrain warrenty issue. My mistake when I test drove mine was I didn't get it hot enough to act up. I drove it in tight circles in a parking lot trouble free. It's after I bought it and really ran it where the problems began. I'm gonna change out my VC as I'm convinced that what it is. I've had many Jeep Cj's and I know what they do in 4wd on dry pavement, just what the GC is doing.
Let us know how you make out.
Good Luck
BD
BD

This afternoon I ran it at 70 on the interstate with the AC on full blast and over a mountain to boot. When I pulled into a parking lot and made a POINT of pulling into a tight space requiring a sharp turn, it was totally quiet and nothing happened.

On the way home I was on interstate part of the way, then on some country roads which included steep hills. I made one stop at my uncle's house for about 10 minutes, then was on regular roads to my mom's where I left it running in her driveway for several minutes. FINALLY as I was leaving there, I turned sharper than I needed to--first left and then right, backwards and forwards, and there was just a *slight* amount of knocking and binding--nothing like what I experienced the first time that this happened.

If ANY knocking and binding is abnormal, then I suppose it's still something that the dealer needs to be made aware of. I think the limited warranty just covers transmission and engine--so does this fit?

Also, I'm going to call the local Jeep dealership to talk about the recalls on this that haven't been repaired.

But I honestly don't know if I can *make* this act up on cue, though I'll certainly run it pretty hard before I take it in for them to see. I've wondered, too, if the fact that it wasn't run for about a week (while it was on the lot at the dealer's) had anything to do with the big, bad reaction I had the first day that I did a lot of running around in it?

When you say you're going to change out your VC, are you going to put the same type back in?


But aside, from all this, my god is it fun to drive!

[YtseJam454]

The hotter it is the worse it'll act up. As far as your warranty goes, read the fine print. Yes you would replace it with a new one. If it gets bad you'll have no choice but to fix it or you'll hate your new ride

[porkmclain]

I don't think there's a time limit on the recalls. The dealer can provide a VIP Summary report from which I believe any open recalls would show up.

I had recall # B02 floor shifter secondary detent system done 7-04, and it had been issued 9-02.

#733 brake pedal shift interlock was done 7-04 and was issued 9-97.

Seems like there was a third one done early in the life of this GC.

Finally got around to getting 'em done. My daughter now drives the GC to school, so I wanted to keep it up to snuff. Hang in there with your situation. The GC is a fine vehicle. We're right at 180K with ours, and have not spent anything more than for routine maintance, except to replace the exhaust manifold (totally a jeep engineering goof up which I understood plagued the '93 (?) to '98 models). Otherwise a great vehicle.

Good luck

[JDPascal]

Sounds to me like there is a possibility that it is the clutch plates in the limited slip differential.

Mine were slipping and grabbing in tight turns very similar to what you describe.

I changed the oil and put in 4 ounces (half bottle) of the limited slip additive from chrysler. The symptoms totally changed and no longer slip and grab to the same extent.

I imagine that the whole bottle would do away with it entirely.

This would be worth a try as the additive costs less than $10. Just give it a while to work its way in (5-7 hundred miles).

Jd

[artrageous]

Originally Posted by JDPascal

Sounds to me like there is a possibility that it is the clutch plates in the limited slip differential.

Mine were slipping and grabbing in tight turns very similar to what you describe.

I changed the oil and put in 4 ounces (half bottle) of the limited slip additive from chrysler. The symptoms totally changed and no longer slip and grab to the same extent.

I imagine that the whole bottle would do away with it entirely.

This would be worth a try as the additive costs less than $10. Just give it a while to work its way in (5-7 hundred miles).

Jd

Worth a shot. Where do you get the additive since it's a Chrysler product?

[Myrtle Beach]

You get the additive from Jeep- You can also get additive from Napa or other auto stores- Just ask for a limited slip additive (friction modifier). Becareful, I know there is a friction modifier ( I think it is called Trans-X) that states to not use on Jeeps with quadradrive or quadratrac.

[JDPascal]

Sorry I didn't include where to get it.

I got mine from Chrysler/jeep dealer.

JD

[artrageous]

Originally Posted by BillD

Sharon, as Jam 454 and others stated, drive it till it's hot.(Dry conditions) Then try to pull into a tight parking spot. You'll feel and hear binding noises. This is the time to show the sellers. It's a powertrain warrenty issue. My mistake when I test drove mine was I didn't get it hot enough to act up. I drove it in tight circles in a parking lot trouble free. It's after I bought it and really ran it where the problems began. I'm gonna change out my VC as I'm convinced that what it is. I've had many Jeep Cj's and I know what they do in 4wd on dry pavement, just what the GC is doing.
Let us know how you make out.
Good Luck
BD
BD

Thanks, Bill! I have an appointment on Wednesday to take it to the local Jeep dealership to see what recall work needs to be done. (Looks like there are two, based on entering my VIN on the Jeep website owners section.) If they have the parts, they'll fix it then, if not I'll have to take it back.

I plan to take my time getting there on Wednesday (driving a lot first) so that maybe, JUST maybe, I can get it to knock so that a mechanic can hear it. If I try to pursue the warranty issue, I know the place I bought it from will require a couple of estimates, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to start there....

Didn't drive it much today but it was flawless.

[porkmclain]

Sharon,

I checked out the site you recommended in my post about recalls and service bulletins. I also did a search for service bulletins through Google. Go to http://home.sc.rr.com/janet/. Look at bulletin no. 05-09-96 about brake noise. It's general brake sounds but read the part about the ABS/clunk. Don't know that this will resolve your issue, but another tid bit of info to muddy the waters.

[artrageous]

Originally Posted by porkmclain

Sharon,

I checked out the site you recommended in my post about recalls and service bulletins. I also did a search for service bulletins through Google. Go to http://home.sc.rr.com/janet/. Look at bulletin no. 05-09-96 about brake noise. It's general brake sounds but read the part about the ABS/clunk. Don't know that this will resolve your issue, but another tid bit of info to muddy the waters.

Interesting.... The other day when I was backing out of my driveway, I heard/felt something like this, though just for a second. At least (according to this bulletin) this seems to be kind of a NORMAL thing, but if amplified a bunch, it was a similar sound to the BIG clunks from last Wednesday....

I'm afraid to ask, but is a ...rattle?... a normal sound when the Jeep is idling? It actually idles quietly (from the inside, with the windows up), but from outside (or with windows down) I've noticed this. Doesn't particularly concern me, and I think I actually saw a post about this....

[ByronP]

I see the site is back up and running. It's starting to sound less like a VC from they way you describe it. Someone had suggested pulling the front driveshaft and I would caution against that. I'm not sure what year NP249 transfer case you can do that to whithout damaging the case. I think it's the 93-95 NP249s that don't have a lock-up feature in 4wd. Without this, removing the drive shaft will quickly overheat the VC and cause failure. Let us know what you find out from the shop.
ByronP

[artrageous]

Originally Posted by ByronP

Let us know what you find out from the shop.
ByronP

I had what I thought was an "appointment" this morning to have basically an evaluation for the recall work (two issues--something about rotors on the front and the shift detent). I knew there was a possibility that I'd have to bring it back in to have the actual work done, but planned to wait as they checked it out.

The service guy I met with this morning said they were "really busy" and it would probably be around 1:30 before they'd even look at it! This was before 8 AM, the time they'd said to get there! So much for "appointment," huh? He said he could probably line up something for next week.

So.....I called another Jeep service place in another town and they were also busy, but I liked their attitude better. I'll be taking it there (ALSO next week.)

Had to make a tight turn into a parking space this morning and there was no binding at all (and I'd run it pretty good before taking it in, as planned--though talking to a mechanic wasn't even close to being an option...).

So we'll see!

[ChadEbert]

Wow, this is fun. This is better than cable. "As Sharon Turns" Please, keep me posted. I'll set aside my workout AND law and order to keep reading this saga.

[artrageous]

Originally Posted by ChadEbert

Wow, this is fun. This is better than cable. "As Sharon Turns" Please, keep me posted. I'll set aside my workout AND law and order to keep reading this saga.

Can't say that I'm surprised that this has turned into a "saga"--seems to be the way things have been going recently! OT, but have you, by chance, checked out my adventures in trying to put in a preformed pond?
http://www.art-rageous.net/PreformedPond.html

[YtseJam454]

Originally Posted by artrageous

my adventures in trying to put in a preformed pond?
http://www.art-rageous.net/PreformedPond.html

Hey I wanna email you pix of my pond that I built