96 GC rescue mission

Lisa did pass the time by typing:

Shaking on turns and/or going pop-pop-pop-pop as you turn is a symptom of a dying CV joint. Your 96 may have U joints up front and if one is broken it certainly will cause shaking. You can also hear it when backing up and going forward as a real loud *KLONK* from that wheel. Or jack the vehicle up and roll the wheel back and forth.

Starting here. The engine mount, axle, shocks, and brakes are all things that can be done fairly easily if you have a reasonable set of tools and the time/inclination to do it. If your doing mounts it's sometimes a good idea to look at both sides and the tranny mount also.

I'd question the power steering, unless the jeep had some serious lift and larger tires the system should be fine. The do develop leaks between the reservoir and pump, but that's just an O-ring and a few hours work moving parts.

As for the tranny, I'd want a second opinion. If your problem is the front axle then that has beans all to do with the tranny. How does the tranny pan look? was it mashed in on a rock?

Or a "I own your wallet/purse" sort of way.

for the work and parts, yes. But my BS detector says seek another opinion on the tranny and ps.

depends. with a 96, like my 93 your not going to get the money back if you sell it. If your planning on keeping it and the body is in good shape then I'd say it is worth it.

Without seeing the vehicle myself I can't say.

Not a clu. But I have ripped the back bumper off my zj on rocks before. It don't rattle, just kinda goes *Riiiiiippp rubba rubba* Metal kinda goes *SKRONK!* :(

If all the parts mentioned REALLY are shot, just call the wrecker and walk away from it. But a vehicle with 90,000 miles will have some issues, you may be able to live with some of them, fix the obvious ones.

A broken engine mount is not too unusual, it may cause some funny noises on a turn when the engine shifts over. New mount should run about $30 or so, an hour of labor to replace unless the thing is one of the miserable ones to get at.

Brakes and shocks at 90,000 miles are just normal maintenance. I'm to the point where I just replace both the rotors and pads, runs about $125 in parts per axle, plus an hour of labor per axle. All 4 corners should run around $350 (with new rotors, half that if you just need pads) Shock costs are all over the place depending on what you want but OEM grade shouldn't cost more that $200 for all four corners installed.

Crunchy noises from the front end tend to be CV joints, run about $80 for a rebuilt half shaft, $250 installed.

Get a second opinion on the tranny. If it is shot, I would have serious doubts if you want to dump the money into it. I've had good luck with just getting a tranny service with a flush, clean the pan, new filter, and new fluid.

I think you need to get a complete second opinion.

Lisa wrote:

I have a 95 GC and love it. It now has 160,000 miles, and runs great. Ive kept up with the maintaince very well. Just from your Dad running over some rocks, I dont believe it damaged all the components the repair facility said was bad. I certainly would take it to someone else that had a decent reputation and get a second opinion. Sounds like its possible for the engine mount to be broken, and very possible the CV joint. Even so, these will not cost much to repair. When you take it else where for estimate, dont tell them what the other place said, and dont leave the estimate in glove box for them to look at either. If its as nice as you say, I would easily invest not over 2000.00 in it. But i feel you will fix it for about 500.00. Climbing over the rocks could not damage the transmission unless it hit the bottom of the pan, and that is unlikely. If in fact all of that is truly damaged. I would turn it over to my insurance agency, and file a claim as a accident. Perhaps might want to put it under your fathers since he was driving. Hope this helps somewhat.

Take Care Robie