clueless new guy

[livewire21]

We test drove a 2000 grand cherokee limited yesterday. The first one had a load roar/rubbing sound coming from the drivetrain.....front tires appeared to have wear on the outsides. It also had two fans.....a mechanical one and an electric one (is this right?). Also, the brake light was on.
We drove two other jeeps, the first one drove a lot more quiet. The second was a 2005 Overland that had some drivetrain noise..........but not quite as loud as the first.
What is considered normal for these jeeps???
Any opinions and suggestions very welcomed!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks!!!
Terry

 

[SteelHeadz]

There are multiple Configurations on the WJ Cooling systems. Older ones comes with a Clutch fan and an aux Electric fan. Later on the Viscuos clutch fan was replaced with a Hydraulic unit thats partially electronically controlled but hydraulically powered by the power steering pump, and still has the electric aux fan..The drivetrain of a WJ should not make any roar or rubbing noise. one way to find or isolate the noise would be to place the vehicle on a lift where all 4 tires are off the gound, prefferably supported on the axles so the angles of the axles are close to as if it was on the pavement..if the noise is still evident the further isolation is required to diagnose the source. the ABS lamp may indicate a failure to one of the wheel speed sensor or another ABS component, Either way there should be a DTC logged on to the ABS or other control modules to know where to start with this issue.. Knobby tires, Scalloped , feathered tires are notorious for creating some undescribable noises, so take that into consideration whe you test drive a Vehicle.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Many of the Grand Cherokees came with a full-time transfer case, these tend to fail when they get over 100k miles. Could have been the roar you heard.

Any noise from the transfer case or difficulty shifting is likely to mean time for a rebuild or replacement. I personally would stay away from anything with a 247 or 249 transfer case (model number in plain view on round tag on rear case half).