Hi we are new Jeep owners. We bought a one owner 97 Sport 4.0, manual, hardtop, all stock with 203,000 miles from our neighbor. Long story short mechanic looked it over and thought it was really in great shape. We bought it, had some "must have" work done, new fluids,p and a detail, but on the way home from the shop the engine blew. A month later we now have it home with a new remanufactured motor, hoses, clutch, distributor cap, computer, battery and other things I am forgetting. We decided to go ahead with a 2.5" RC lift since the coils were original and sagging. We also added K02 31" tires.
When we picked it up our mechanic said the ac wasn't working and had no freon. We agreed to look at it next month after we recouped from the recent repair bill. I took it upon myself to try and recharge the system with freon (using the bottle with a gauge and dye) to try and see if we could at least find the leak. I have never done this before, but after watching some YouTube videos I felt comfortable. The compressor was running, but the clutch was not spinning initially. After about ten seconds of depressing the freon bottle the clutch started spinning (spinning and stopping.) Then suddenly there was a loud pop. I quickly disconnected the freon, and put the cap on the low pressure fill point. I heard a hiss which was coming from a rubber hose connected to the compressor. The engine has continued to idle fine in the driveway, but I have not driven it. The hiss continued after I shut the engine off. I assume it was discharging the small amount of freon in the system. I used some gorilla tape to temporarily seal the 1/2 slit in the hose. Any idea where the pop came from? Should I have any concerns about driving it (with the ac off of course?)
Lastly, in regards to the suspension. Since installing the lift and new tires when making tight turns there is a metal on metal banging occurring. It occurs near whichever wheel is turning the tightest. Would this have something to do with the lift/tire install or is this a separate issue?
Our knowledge base is very small. We would like to eventually be able to tackle some diy repairs on the jeep, but for now our skills don't extend past diy oil changes and tire rotations. We have been searching and reading the massive amount of information on this site, which has been a big help already. We are currently at the point where we know more jeep related information, but we don't know how to do the work yet.
Fwiw this jeep is my husband's daily driver to work. I am asking the questions since I am the "googler" in the family. Thanks in advance for any guidance you all can give us.
When we picked it up our mechanic said the ac wasn't working and had no freon. We agreed to look at it next month after we recouped from the recent repair bill. I took it upon myself to try and recharge the system with freon (using the bottle with a gauge and dye) to try and see if we could at least find the leak. I have never done this before, but after watching some YouTube videos I felt comfortable. The compressor was running, but the clutch was not spinning initially. After about ten seconds of depressing the freon bottle the clutch started spinning (spinning and stopping.) Then suddenly there was a loud pop. I quickly disconnected the freon, and put the cap on the low pressure fill point. I heard a hiss which was coming from a rubber hose connected to the compressor. The engine has continued to idle fine in the driveway, but I have not driven it. The hiss continued after I shut the engine off. I assume it was discharging the small amount of freon in the system. I used some gorilla tape to temporarily seal the 1/2 slit in the hose. Any idea where the pop came from? Should I have any concerns about driving it (with the ac off of course?)
Lastly, in regards to the suspension. Since installing the lift and new tires when making tight turns there is a metal on metal banging occurring. It occurs near whichever wheel is turning the tightest. Would this have something to do with the lift/tire install or is this a separate issue?
Our knowledge base is very small. We would like to eventually be able to tackle some diy repairs on the jeep, but for now our skills don't extend past diy oil changes and tire rotations. We have been searching and reading the massive amount of information on this site, which has been a big help already. We are currently at the point where we know more jeep related information, but we don't know how to do the work yet.
Fwiw this jeep is my husband's daily driver to work. I am asking the questions since I am the "googler" in the family. Thanks in advance for any guidance you all can give us.
