Chrysler Repair: LHS Lemon 1994, jeep grand cherokee, grand cherokee

Question
I have a 94 LHS with about 130K miles.  I have some of the common issues I have read in the other postings.  The noisy heat/air shutter motor thing- not so much worried about that.  Since I've had it the tranny jerks when shifted and it has progressed to not shifting out of 2nd and the cruise control is very hit and miss.  Usually it just doesn't work unless I shut down the car, restart it, and then proceed to the interstate without slowing down and then it will work.  Then yesterday the v belt flipped upside down and made a tremendous knocking noise in the rear of the motor.  I let it sit over night and then made a very noisy drive for about a mile until it shut down and now will not even turn over.  I recently had the timing belt and serp. belt replaced due to it jumping time and eating up the belt.  Now I am at a serious loss on what to do.  I read about a camshaft and rocker arm replacement that seemed to have the same symptoms.  Do you agree and would it be of any benefit?  I'm wondering if I should replace the engine and tranny with one that has about 30K on it.  Perhaps I could have an "accident" with my other lemon- the 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee that breaks down at about $2K a pop.  ANY recommedation would be much appreciated.  Brandon StPaul MN

Answer
Hi Brandon,
It sounds like you have several problems there.
The trans is possibly the most concert. It might be worth getting a code readout of its controller memory for fault codes that would say whether it can be fixed without removing the trans, or does it require removal and rebuild is the question that needs to be answered. The latter repair is going to cost in the range of $1500-2000 so you need to know if that is part of getting it running or not.
The presesnt non-starting might be helped in diagnosis by doing a code readout on the engine controller memory. You can do this yourself:
Ignition key: turn it "on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing this within an elapsed time of 5 seconds or less. The check engine light will remain on but then begin to flash, pause, flash, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause, keep track of them; then pair the numbers up to form two digit numbers in the order that they readout. Then repeat to make sure you have the numbers correct. The last number should by 55 which means end of readout.
Then write back with the result of the engine readout. The trans readout can only be done with a plug in code reader, probably most accurately at a Chrysler dealer. Get the codes for the trans faults, what they mean, what would have to be done to correct the faults, and how much would it cost. Let me know the results and I'll evaluate them by comparing what you were told with the shop manual.
I can't make too much sense out of the v-belt flip and noises prior to failure, not am I sure about the fixes that you mentioned.
If the 30k drivetrain is in good shape it might be less expensive than making repairs on the present unit. But see what codes you can readout. Do you have the tools necessary for minor/major repairs?
Roland