Hi! I have been listening to you guys for years, when my parents first played you on long car trips I would roll my eyes and beg to change the station, but as I grew older and wiser I hate to miss a show and I hang on every gem of wisdom! I have a 1996 Jepp grand cherokee laredo 8 cylinder 4WD vehicle and I love it. It recently (last couple of months) has been making a grinding noise in the left front drivers side wheel well. I have also noticed in the last 2 weeks when i am at a complete stop, the car has trouble accelerating. My rpm’s dont go up high at all, it jsut really has a hard time picking up speed. once i get going, its no problem, its only when I am at a complete stop. I took it to a guy that got a good review from some friends of mine, and he said that regarding the acceleration I was just low on transmission fluid. He originally said the grinding noise was my left front wheel bearing, but when he went to fix it he said the wheel bearing was fine but it was my front differential that was the problem. He also said my rear differential needed to be replaced. so thats about $2000 he quoted me for work. I am not sure what to do, does that sound legit? And for the price? And my car has about 188,000 miles on it, would it be worth putting that much money into the car or just goinng out and getting a used car? I am at a crossroads, and I would appreciate any advice.
I would have thought something like a seized caliper might be your issue up front. You may not get the traditional pull due to the front live axle making the other wheel also brake and any true differential to be soaked up via inter-axle coupling.
I think you have the Selectatrac transfer case which has optional part time or full time 4wd. If you don’t have the option, but merely full time or LOCKED, then you’ve got Quadratrac. No 2wd mode available.
If you have the Selectatrac, I’d cycle it in and out and see if any/all of your conditions change. This might add credence to the mechanic’s feeling that you’ve got front differential issues.
To do a refit on a differential should not cost nearly that much. Half would be stretching it. That’s with new gears and bearings …set up. The rarity of the need for such service would have very few being very good at this. It’s work I would give to someone with a good reputation. The learning curve is pretty unforgiving on this item.