The addition of a brake booster to the braking system in your Jeep Cherokee XJ makes it easier to stop the SUV. When this booster goes out, that additional power goes away, leaving you with a hard to depress brake pedal and a vehicle that's difficult to stop. To fix that problem, the defective brake booster must be removed and a replacement installed. This should take about an hour to do.
Pop the hood on your Cherokee. Loosen the bolts holding the master cylinder to the brake booster with an open-end wrench but do not remove them from the booster.
Open the driver's door and remove the trim panel underneath the steering column with a 3/8-inch ratchet and socket. Take off the retaining clip at the top of the brake pedal that holds the booster linkage to the pedal by hand. Take off the bolts holding the booster to the chassis with the 3/8-inch ratchet and socket.
Take off the vacuum hose clip on the brake booster manually. Remove the bolts holding the master cylinder to the booster. Slide the master cylinder off of the booster and the booster out of the firewall. Insert the replacement booster onto the firewall and loosely install the master cylinder to the booster with the stock hardware.
Bolt the booster to the chassis from the inside of the cab and reconnect the booster push rod to the brake pedal with the original retaining clip. Reattach the vacuum hose clip to the booster and tighten the nuts holding the master cylinder to the booster with the open-end wrench.
