I don't think I've ever posted in the Garage, but I'm having some trouble with my 99 Jeep Cherokee recently.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was getting a very loud intermittent whoosing/grinding noise that I could find a connection to. I wasn't running A/C, and it never did it in conjunction with anything else, just randomly. Then today, no noise all the way into work, but when I get here I start to smell burning rubber. Under the hood there is a small amount of smoke coming from the serpentine belt, but only in one place:

(not my actual engine, but pretty damn close.)

The belt probably does need to be replaced, but I would image it would smoke in more than one place if that's why it was smoking.

Anyone have any ideas before I take it somewhere?

Thanks.

9/6/2007 10:03:35 AM

a/c compressor clutch is seized causing the pulley not to spin freely which would explain the smoke from the belt.

9/6/2007 10:24:53 AM

big money big money big money/

before i read your caption, i thought to myself, why does his engine compartment look so bad.

9/6/2007 10:41:20 AM

Damn, not what I wanted to hear, but better than not knowing, thanks!

9/6/2007 11:31:15 AM

Yeah man, that pulley is probably seized up and the belt is slipping across it. I'm surprised it hasn't shredded the belt all to hell and broken it already. I'm assuming that belt drives the water pump, so you can't really run the vehicle without it. Better get this fixed with the quickness.

9/6/2007 11:36:53 AM

Quote :

"a/c compressor clutch is seized causing the pulley not to spin freely which would explain the smoke from the belt."

had an a/c compressor seize on my 94 trans am. shit was a bitch to change.

9/6/2007 12:11:01 PM

his will be a hell of a lot easier at least

9/6/2007 12:11:58 PM

plus, it seems to be only his clutch bearings going bad... not the compressor itself.

9/6/2007 12:14:24 PM

true, true

9/6/2007 12:24:59 PM

Remove compressor and pick up a shorty belt for a cheap fix. (If that even possible on this ride)

9/6/2007 12:26:53 PM

the cheap fix right now is to just buy a belt that would by pass the a/c untill you have money to fix.

9/6/2007 12:38:21 PM

wait, didn't he just say that?

[Edited on September 6, 2007 at 12:41 PM. Reason : asdf]

9/6/2007 12:41:33 PM

Well,,,,,I thought I did.

9/6/2007 1:10:09 PM

just because it was said once doesnt mean i can second that opinion. i did read the posts. thanks though.

9/6/2007 3:03:27 PM

Hey guys, I'm back again.

Last time it was the A/C compressor, got it replaced and everything was running fine.

However...

Tonight I drove up to Eckerds, I'm in for maybe 5 min, come back out and the car won't start. The battery obviously isn't dead, the lights, radio, etc come on and it is a less than a year old battery. The car doesn't even try to turn over, no clicking at all when I turn the key.

I tried starting it in Neutral, tapping on the starter cap, and rocking the car, all with no effect.

Ideas?

Again, thanks so much, you guys saved me tons of time and trouble last time around.

9/21/2007 9:52:54 PM

starter relay, starter, neutral saftey switch... i'd check those things first.

9/21/2007 9:59:16 PM

Very likely to be the neutral safety switch. Happens allll the time on jeeps. Try cycling through every gear a few times, stopping in each gear for one or two seconds. Sometimes that will "reset" it and get you going. Good news is the neutral safety swtich only costs like 8 or 9 bucks at advance auto parts and takes all of about 30 seconds to replace.

9/22/2007 1:26:41 PM

Hmmm, I was under the impression that if it was the NSS gone bad, then the back-up lights wouldn't come on when you put it in reverse, and they still work.

9/23/2007 10:12:25 AM

Jump the signal wire on the solenoid. If you get a start you know its something related to the ignition switch/nss/something on that side. If you get no start, you need new starter. There's a good place to start.

9/23/2007 10:59:43 PM

^^no, that's completely un related.

9/23/2007 11:06:21 PM

Try cleaning your battery terminals. I only say this because I left the hood open one night and the dew caused the terminal connection to power the radio and lights but not the starter and gave the same symptoms you listed above.

9/24/2007 8:00:33 AM

Apparently the correct answer is: some sort of harness that connects the ignition switch to the starter.

$1000 with labor.

9/26/2007 3:15:53 PM