I own a 1997 Jeep Cherokee XJ SE, 4.0L I6. I’ve owned it since I bought it new off the lot in August of 1997… yeah, it’s 20-yrs old. Aaaaand it’s starting to get finicky.
Just Empty Every Pocket
This year I’ve spent three times its Kelly Blue Book value just to maintain it, and that’s just to keep it on the road. Yesterday was no exception. While driving to Fort Collins, Colorado, from my home of Colorado Springs, I started to smell a “burning electrical something.” Having owned the Jeep for so long, I’m very accustomed to ever creak, squeak, pop, groan, and smell in the vehicle. Earlier in the week I could smell something “warm” in the Jeep, but I chose to ignore it. Sometimes, I swear the Jeep is simply vying for my attention if I’m mountain biking or motorcycling too much.
By the time I arrived in Fort Collins 2-hours later, the “burning electrical something” smell had all but vanished. That just meant that it was done burning whatever was burnable. In this case the burning was the melting of the air conditioning compressor’s bearings and the wire sheathing. The underside of the engine compartment hood was covered in brown soot from the molten bearing dust. Ugh…
Fight the Panic
First… don’t lose control… don’t lose control. Next… I YouTube’d videos of “1997 Jeep Cherokee XJ A/C compressor replacement” while driving to an auto parts store with a replacement in stock. Then, I purchased the replacement compressor and compressor oil, drove home, and conducted a fast-and-furious out-with-the-old / in-with-the-new shade-tree swap before the sunset. It wasn’t supposed to be a difficult job… I was budgeting 1-hr of my afternoon.
I did it in 20-min and spent the next hour trying to reinstall the serpentine belt. Worst serpentine belt install job of my life. All I could do is curse the Jeep and laugh, riiiiight up until I snapped the belt tensioner bolt. Then I was left with no choice but to swallow my rage with a stoic calm. Fortunately, I had just “mostly” seated the belt, and after bumping the ignition for a 1/4-sec, it seated fully. Whew…
Strangely, the belt tension is fine, although I’m not quite sure how or why because the tensioner itself is nowhere near where it was before I started this “quick” project. So I need a new belt tensioner… eventually. But I’m gonna let the cuts and bruises on my knuckles to heal first.
What About You?
Do you have a love / hate or full-on hate / hate relationship with mechanical objects in your life? What are they; e.g. cars, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, VCRs (?!), etc.?
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