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[prozac]

I've just had the 60th Anniversary 4.0L oil serviced at Listers Jeep in Coventry (£175 :0. )
They've come up with a list of stuff that should be looked at.......
Drivebelt cracked Req New £78.92 inc
Front Halfshaft Seal Leaking Req New - £285.93 inc
Rear Diff Pinion Seal Leaking Req New - £58.08 inc
Earth Strap on Battery - £112.96 inc !!!!!!
Slight Leak coming from Rear Main Oil seal req New - £739.64 inc
OSF Heated Seat Inop Req New Cover - £727.78 Inc


What is serious?
Worth having a go at my self?
Worth paying someone else to do?
Not worth doing at all (like having a warm butt).?

Where would be a sensible localish garage?

Cheers
Martin

[greggmo]

think of a price and double it... sounds like a steelership to me. it would be nice if you said hello to the peeople you are asking for advise.

[Woody]

Hi again Martin

I'm the idjit that recommended this bunch of loonies.  Forgot to warn you we can be quite acerbic on here  What Greggmo is saying is it's polite to pop into Introductions and tell us about yourself

The serpentine belt is a doddle to fit yourself.
If you aren't worried about a heated driver's seat then live with a cool bum or keep an eye out for someone breaking a Cherokee that has one.
The earth strap should be an easy DIY.

Woody

[Anonymous]

Hi Martin, welcome aboard!! I see that it was recommended you try here for advice from another forum......we will do our best to help!!

1st off, how are your spannering skills??

Some of your list is fairly easy, some a little more challenging, some is best done by a garage (in my opinion)

the drivebelt is simple enough, no more difficult than changing any alternator belt & you should be able to pick up a belt from any motor factors for about £20ish...

front halfshaft seal is not too bad if you approach it logically, the front driveshafts are easy enough to pop out!

same goes for the diff pinion seal....

earth strap on battery, piece of cake, get em from halfords or your motor factors for a few quid!!

rear main seal.......quite a big job for a home mechanic, personally, i would rather pay someone else!!

heated seat repair, fiddly but can be done.....from what i have heard/read this is a common fault where a wire in the seat has broken.....can be soldered.....i would ask myself how much i want a heated seat???

all the prices you have given sound very steep to me, if you dont fancy having a crack at it yourself go to a small local garage, dealership prices will ALWAYS be higher as greggmo said, they think of a figure & double it!!

[trent]

Martin,
It's all do-able if you don't mind getting your hands dirty :wink: .
Drive belt,half shaft seal and diff pinion seal.......as KD says.
Earth strap, easy.
Get yourself a torque wrench and a decent set of spanners/sockets and save yourself.................a grand at least!


Oh welcome to the site, and the world of jeep

[Anonymous]

I use a dealership (Westbury) but these guys are taking the piss ..big time
and I'm a mechanical muppet

Drive belt is ..£20?? from Lighthouse...Few quid to change at a local tyre depot...

EDM in Biscster get a lot of mentions for below  dealer price work

Good luck let us know how you get on....Oh and howdo

Stew

[Mike Pavelin]

Don't know what they're labour rate is, but around here it doesn't take long to rack up a big bill at around £100/hour.
Replacing the front halfshaft seals requires removing both the front hubs, shafts plus the front differential itself, and the seals quite tricky to fit. As it is a big job, you usually do both at the same time as the one you don't change is gauranteed to leak otherwise. the parts aren't expensive, but it's several hours work.
I would guess they're looking at removing the transmission to replace the rear main at that price. I wouldn't worry if it isn't leaking badly.
Rear pinion seal is about 1/2 hour job if you know what you're doing.
Drive belt is 10 min DIY job
Heated seat, Grand Cherokee ones were always going wrong, and could be repaired, but i'm not sure about XJs. If the cover is required, they are very expensive.
The battery earth strap may be repairable if it just needs a new connector on the end.

[prozac]

Thanks for all the replies.
I humbly apologise for not introducing myself, my mind was in a state of shock and I forgot the etiquette  :lol:

It's the earth strap that made me laugh  £112!!!!
I recently got a massive manual for the 1999 Cherokee (mines a 2001, but I'm sure it's gonna be pretty similar. (I hope)) off of Ebay.... it's huge, about 3" thick and seems pretty good. I'm not a seriously mechanical person but I can follow destructions and know my own limitations. I managed to change my disks and pads on a BMW without any major issues.

I'll start with the earth strap and take it from there.

Thanks for your advice.

Martin

[prozac]

Well I've just been to Nyanza (a motor factor place in Coventry) and they've said an earth strap will be between £2 & £4 depending on length!!  
I've looked at the XJ one, and it looks about 18" long with an eye on each end.

£112 :?

Next I'll go for the belt.

Cheers
Martin

[prozac]

Transpires the dodgy earth lead was not the one I thought, but the short one coming out of the lead terminal..... the eye had snapped off the lead and the lead was flappin' loose. I've crimped a pucka heavy duty battery terminal 'eye' on now so it's pretty secure. Not sure why it'd have 2 chassis grounds (a backup maybe?)

£3 for 2.

I've ordered the oil filler cap and the serpentine belt from Lighthouse.

Looks a bit of a fiddly job to fit the belt........

[Anonymous]

tis fiddly & be prepared to lose a knuckle or 2........but easy enough really!!

[prozac]

It's arrived!!

Oil filler cap is on...I managed that myself...
Just got the belt to do. I can't see any cracks longtitudinally along the belt, there are plenty of small ones across it belt I believe that is normal.

How can I tell it needs replacing?

[Anonymous]

if its got cracks going across it, change it, then keep the old one as a spare!!

[Anonymous]

Don't keep it its stretched already....(Soz KD)

[MOCAJ]

but it might just get you home one day  :roll:

even with cracks  

[Anonymous]

but it might just get you home one day  :roll:

even with cracks  :roll:

Listen Stew, I have told you before......"Stay out of things you know nuffink about, like the tech section!" :lol:  :lol: