Welcome to the unfortunate club.

I took my jeep in for some completely different work a few months back
(mine's also a 1997, with only 40k miles on it), and they called and
told me the exhaust manifold was shot. I looked up the install on a
few sites on the internet, decided it was outside what I felt like
undertaking, and told them to go ahead and fix it. Cost me in the
neighborhood of 600 bucks to get it replaced by them. And they didn't
even use any nifty aftermarket headers...just a "beefed up"
replacement manifold they claimed will never have the same problem.
And yes, I did check my old one before I left; they weren't lying,
there was a couple of cracks in it. I probably could've waited a bit
longer to get it fixed, but what the heck...it needed to be done
sometime, why not then?

This problem IS a popular one...sucks don't it? If only I'd known
before buying this used 97 rig. Didn't realize how much MAINTENANCE
money I'd dump into it...I was planning on using my extra $$$ for mods
and upgrades, not simply fixing broken stuff. Oh well! That's life! I
still love my jeep! (I'm not too eager to ever open a t-case again,
though...but that's fodder for another thread...)

/Bob

"Gary B." <jeepnmon@cinci.rr.com> wrote in message news:<uAXkb.33864$cK5.14140@fe1.columbus.rr.com>.. .
> Hello.
> Well it has finally happened to me. I bought my TJ new in Feb '97 and
> since accumulated a mere 31,402 miles on it since. Within the past month I
> noticed a slight ticking sound from the engine compartment while it was
> running. It has gotten louder since then. I contacted my dealership who
> said there wasn't anything they could do but that I should call DC customer
> service and see what they would do directly for me. I called them this
> morning and talked to a rep who basically stated that they wouldn't be able
> to do anything for me due to my vehicle being 4 years out of warranty. I
> replied by saying I understand that but I ONLY have 31,402 miles on my Jeep.
> She said they weren't willing to do anything, not even a split of the cost
> as I suggested. She stated that she was has the authority and is the final
> say in this matter! My biggest issue here is that I've been following this
> problem on the net for the past 4-5 years and I'm sure that DC knows it's a
> prevalent problem but won't rectify it properly, or not at all in my case.
> I've reported it to NHTSA but they only have 35 documented complaints about
> this problem on my Jeep. I know I've read about alot more instances of this
> occurring on various ng's. BTW, I've also tried going the Federal Emissions
> warranty route but was told that only includes the catalytic converter after
> the first 2 years/24000 miles up til 8 years/80,000 miles.
> What should I do now? Aftermarket headers? What Brand? What's Best? Mopar
> High Performance header? And, most importantly, how much is this going to
> cost me since DC has washed its hands of this/my problem? Anyone here
> experience this problem yet?
>
> Thanks for letting me vent. Any help, guidance or assistance would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> --
> Gary B.

 

Welcome to the unfortunate club.

I took my jeep in for some completely different work a few months back
(mine's also a 1997, with only 40k miles on it), and they called and
told me the exhaust manifold was shot. I looked up the install on a
few sites on the internet, decided it was outside what I felt like
undertaking, and told them to go ahead and fix it. Cost me in the
neighborhood of 600 bucks to get it replaced by them. And they didn't
even use any nifty aftermarket headers...just a "beefed up"
replacement manifold they claimed will never have the same problem.
And yes, I did check my old one before I left; they weren't lying,
there was a couple of cracks in it. I probably could've waited a bit
longer to get it fixed, but what the heck...it needed to be done
sometime, why not then?

This problem IS a popular one...sucks don't it? If only I'd known
before buying this used 97 rig. Didn't realize how much MAINTENANCE
money I'd dump into it...I was planning on using my extra $$$ for mods
and upgrades, not simply fixing broken stuff. Oh well! That's life! I
still love my jeep! (I'm not too eager to ever open a t-case again,
though...but that's fodder for another thread...)

/Bob

"Gary B." <jeepnmon@cinci.rr.com> wrote in message news:<uAXkb.33864$cK5.14140@fe1.columbus.rr.com>.. .
> Hello.
> Well it has finally happened to me. I bought my TJ new in Feb '97 and
> since accumulated a mere 31,402 miles on it since. Within the past month I
> noticed a slight ticking sound from the engine compartment while it was
> running. It has gotten louder since then. I contacted my dealership who
> said there wasn't anything they could do but that I should call DC customer
> service and see what they would do directly for me. I called them this
> morning and talked to a rep who basically stated that they wouldn't be able
> to do anything for me due to my vehicle being 4 years out of warranty. I
> replied by saying I understand that but I ONLY have 31,402 miles on my Jeep.
> She said they weren't willing to do anything, not even a split of the cost
> as I suggested. She stated that she was has the authority and is the final
> say in this matter! My biggest issue here is that I've been following this
> problem on the net for the past 4-5 years and I'm sure that DC knows it's a
> prevalent problem but won't rectify it properly, or not at all in my case.
> I've reported it to NHTSA but they only have 35 documented complaints about
> this problem on my Jeep. I know I've read about alot more instances of this
> occurring on various ng's. BTW, I've also tried going the Federal Emissions
> warranty route but was told that only includes the catalytic converter after
> the first 2 years/24000 miles up til 8 years/80,000 miles.
> What should I do now? Aftermarket headers? What Brand? What's Best? Mopar
> High Performance header? And, most importantly, how much is this going to
> cost me since DC has washed its hands of this/my problem? Anyone here
> experience this problem yet?
>
> Thanks for letting me vent. Any help, guidance or assistance would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> --
> Gary B.

 

Welcome to the unfortunate club.

I took my jeep in for some completely different work a few months back
(mine's also a 1997, with only 40k miles on it), and they called and
told me the exhaust manifold was shot. I looked up the install on a
few sites on the internet, decided it was outside what I felt like
undertaking, and told them to go ahead and fix it. Cost me in the
neighborhood of 600 bucks to get it replaced by them. And they didn't
even use any nifty aftermarket headers...just a "beefed up"
replacement manifold they claimed will never have the same problem.
And yes, I did check my old one before I left; they weren't lying,
there was a couple of cracks in it. I probably could've waited a bit
longer to get it fixed, but what the heck...it needed to be done
sometime, why not then?

This problem IS a popular one...sucks don't it? If only I'd known
before buying this used 97 rig. Didn't realize how much MAINTENANCE
money I'd dump into it...I was planning on using my extra $$$ for mods
and upgrades, not simply fixing broken stuff. Oh well! That's life! I
still love my jeep! (I'm not too eager to ever open a t-case again,
though...but that's fodder for another thread...)

/Bob

"Gary B." <jeepnmon@cinci.rr.com> wrote in message news:<uAXkb.33864$cK5.14140@fe1.columbus.rr.com>.. .
> Hello.
> Well it has finally happened to me. I bought my TJ new in Feb '97 and
> since accumulated a mere 31,402 miles on it since. Within the past month I
> noticed a slight ticking sound from the engine compartment while it was
> running. It has gotten louder since then. I contacted my dealership who
> said there wasn't anything they could do but that I should call DC customer
> service and see what they would do directly for me. I called them this
> morning and talked to a rep who basically stated that they wouldn't be able
> to do anything for me due to my vehicle being 4 years out of warranty. I
> replied by saying I understand that but I ONLY have 31,402 miles on my Jeep.
> She said they weren't willing to do anything, not even a split of the cost
> as I suggested. She stated that she was has the authority and is the final
> say in this matter! My biggest issue here is that I've been following this
> problem on the net for the past 4-5 years and I'm sure that DC knows it's a
> prevalent problem but won't rectify it properly, or not at all in my case.
> I've reported it to NHTSA but they only have 35 documented complaints about
> this problem on my Jeep. I know I've read about alot more instances of this
> occurring on various ng's. BTW, I've also tried going the Federal Emissions
> warranty route but was told that only includes the catalytic converter after
> the first 2 years/24000 miles up til 8 years/80,000 miles.
> What should I do now? Aftermarket headers? What Brand? What's Best? Mopar
> High Performance header? And, most importantly, how much is this going to
> cost me since DC has washed its hands of this/my problem? Anyone here
> experience this problem yet?
>
> Thanks for letting me vent. Any help, guidance or assistance would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> --
> Gary B.