New car added to fleet- 98 JGC/updates

[Nick R]

Note: per previous thread, this vehicle is for my "sister" not myself

Actually picked it up the other day with her, haven't had time to take pictures during the day till now, after I cleaned it up and stuff. So it's a 1998 Grand cherokee, bought for $1,500. It had a bad rough idle, changed out spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor, and now idles perfectly.

Cleaned it up, there are a few small issues, the interior light bulbs are burnt out and the amp for the radio doesn't work. Other than that, it's in pretty good condition considering. The only real "issue" is that when cold the 42RE tends to slip from 1st to 2nd gear under moderate throttle. Under WOT or light throttle it's fine, but moderate throttle slips during the shift, and generally only when cold. From what I've seen/read, this isn't an alarming problem and will probably last for a long time with it. If I need to though I can always pull one out of a junkyard car for it for a song.


Work I've done to it so far
-Plugs (replaced with Champion Coppers)
-Plug Wires (xact brand from Advance)
-Distributor cap and rotor (NAPA Brand)
-Lubegard red in ATF (Last owner used B&M Trickshift, will change with ATF+4 eventually)
-air filter (Puro classic)
-Oil change (QSGB 5W-30 w/Purolator Classic
-Added some Maxlife PSF to Power steering resovoir
-Had new pads put in before we got it.

Work to do- replace interior bulbs, tensioner pulley squeals, radio amp.

It runs beautifully, certainly feels like a 1998 Jeep though, reminds me a lot of our wrangler in the way it drives.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Looking good for $1500 + few hundreds for all the replacement parts that you just replaced for it.

 

[Tdbo]

Nice looking older GC for the money. What happened to the dash trim around the HVAC controls?

 

[eljefino]

Hey not too shabby. Did you detail it or did the seller?

 

[Donald]

I would add some Auto-Rx to the transmission and run it for whatever they say and change it & filter to new ATF.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Be aware that one of the best UOA's Blackstone EVER got on a Jeep 4.0 was mine (170,000+ miles!) with 10W-30 Quaker State Defy. Also, a larger filter (PH8A, FL-1, Puro 30001) will fit in place of the little one that it calls for.

 

[rjundi]

Looks good.

Besides some nice treatment for the transmission (RX or something) I would not spend lots of money on this thing(including UOA) except safety items.The transmission is going to send it to the junkyard hopefully latter.

 

[JHZR2]

Yeah the AT scares me but the truck looks nice and real clean... So if solid all around, I'd just start saving for the shift piston/solenoid/rebuilt AT so the planning is proactive.

Looks real clean.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Nice looking older GC for the money. What happened to the dash trim around the HVAC controls?


The previous owner probably still has it. I'm gonna ask him about it today.

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Hey not too shabby. Did you detail it or did the seller?


I did, that's what I spent most of yesterday doing was cleaning it, vacuuming, wiping the dash and everything down, shampooing the carpets, bought the new floor mats and the steering wheel cover. Came out pretty well I think.

 

[Volvohead]

Congrats on the nice clean GC!

All the best with it.

I don't know too much about that particular slush box. But in some instances, a loose 1-2 shift is sometimes just a simple overdue band adjustment. A fluid change can sometimes also improve things somewhat, particularly if it's a cold weather prone condition.

 

[wn1998]

My 98 has had a 2nd-3rd gear slip since I purchased it with 100k. It never has gotten worse but has not gotten better even with a pan drop and band adjustment(done by a local transmission shop). Actually it was better for about a week and then went back to normal.

If it were mine, in addition to what you have done, I'd change all of the fluids: brake, power steering, ATF, transfer-case, and both diffs. Make sure to take the cover off the diffs and spray them out with brake cleaner. The transfer case is two plugs and should only take 10 minutes. Just make sure to unscrew the fill plug before the drain plug.

Just before your next oil change, I'd buy some throttle body cleaner and pull the air cleaner from the TB and spray it down to clean all of the junk off the butter fly and the body of the TB. I try to do this once a year. You will be amazed by how dirty it is.

With that kind of mileage, the only other thing I can this of is maybe a drive-shaft rebuild? If you start to hear "angry birds" a high pitched squeak when driving, you may need to replace the u joints and center of your drive-shaft.

Enjoy!

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: wn1998
My 98 has had a 2nd-3rd gear slip since I purchased it with 100k. It never has gotten worse but has not gotten better even with a pan drop and band adjustment(done by a local transmission shop). Actually it was better for about a week and then went back to normal.

If it were mine, in addition to what you have done, I'd change all of the fluids: brake, power steering, ATF, transfer-case, and both diffs. Make sure to take the cover off the diffs and spray them out with brake cleaner. The transfer case is two plugs and should only take 10 minutes. Just make sure to unscrew the fill plug before the drain plug.

Just before your next oil change, I'd buy some throttle body cleaner and pull the air cleaner from the TB and spray it down to clean all of the junk off the butter fly and the body of the TB. I try to do this once a year. You will be amazed by how dirty it is.

With that kind of mileage, the only other thing I can this of is maybe a drive-shaft rebuild? If you start to hear "angry birds" a high pitched squeak when driving, you may need to replace the u joints and center of your drive-shaft.

Enjoy!


The last owner bought it from a guy, and did a bunch of stuff. Including driveshaft rebuild, diff, and transfer case fluid. I also did clean the top of the throttle body, especially the IAC.

 

[Nick R]

 

[rslifkin]

If you end up needing that dash trim, I've got a full set of the darker colored wood trim the 5.9s had hanging out in my parts Jeep.

 

[GMBoy]

Looks like you got the good transfer case!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Congrats on the nice clean GC!

All the best with it.

I don't know too much about that particular slush box. But in some instances, a loose 1-2 shift is sometimes just a simple overdue band adjustment. A fluid change can sometimes also improve things somewhat, particularly if it's a cold weather prone condition.


Yes...the 42RE does use adjustable bands! Procedure (and I think parts) are the same as the classic 904 and 727 TorqueFlifes.

 

[jeepman3071]

Besides the squeaking idler pulley ($10 fix), that 4.0L sounds healthy.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Also check to make sure the TV cable is adjusted right. That made a HUGE difference on my '97 Dakota (with a very similar 44RE).

 

[rslifkin]

As Jarlaxle and Hokiefyd have said, adjust the bands and make sure the TV cable is set right, and it should shift better. If the 1-2 is still loose, but better, you could try going a hair tighter than spec on the front band adjustment to see if it improves.

Also, add an aux trans cooler if it doesn't already have one. Those trannies run hot in stock form, and they don't like heat.

 

[Volvohead]

If it has an adjustable modulator (most don't anymore and I don't know this RE series), the other thing you can do is tweak it a hair for a slightly harder shift. Showing my age.

I prefer a firmer vs. a softer shift, as too much of the latter can stray into slippage.

But I'd start with a band adjustment and a fluid/filter/screen change before digging any deeper.

An auxiliary cooler is ALWAYS a good idea. With 4X4, I'm surprised it doesn't have one already.