Fuzz Townshend takes us behind the scenes of Car SOS’s latest restos. This week, a Jeep Grand Cherokee plagued by a poorly engine and transmission
‘I f ever there was a Car SOS project that showed the importance of working together as a team to achieve a common goal, it was former military veteran Stephan’s 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2.7-litre diesel.
‘This was Car SOS’s most modern car to date, but at 20 years of age and with its miles clearly hard won, it was most certainly at the end of its useful life. Its Mercedes-Benz five-pot diesel engine was suffering from a 20 per cent lack of commitment in the cylinder department and its high-pressure pump was weeping. Years of use as a mud-coated second-car hack had turned much of the perimeter steel to rust and its gearbox was reluctant to change ratios at the pre-ordained moments.
‘All of these problems required solutions but an additional brief of attempting to make the car a more capable off-roader left us reliant on the goodwill of our old friends at Britpart and partner company Terrafirma. These two titans of off-road vehicle parts not only offered to supply us with a US-sourced high-lift kit but also offered to fit it in Britpart’s Craven Arms base’s workshop, complete with actual hands-on assistance from director Paul Myers, Terrafirma’s equivalent, Eddie Priscott and Britpart’s ace workshop engineer, Steve, providing thoughtful solutions to the problems thrown up by such a conversion.
‘Repairs were first made to the car’s body and the electrical circuits were tested and rectified wherever problems were found. The engine’s ailments were solved and the many hardening O-rings featured in the fuel system were replaced with supple new components, the aforementioned high-pressure pump having been tested by more chums at Carwood in Coventry.
‘This generation of Grand Cherokee might not have seemed vastly ancient but parts supply for service items proved to be tricky to say the least, which appears to be a c
