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 Post subject: Engine seized
PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:23 am 
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We were on a day trip about 5.5 hours from home in the desert when we started hearing a clanking noise. We pulled off to check under the hood as we thought it might be a belt. No warning lights came on, and the engine wasn't overheating. The belt looked fine. So we turned around to get back to the nearest town and got about a mile further when the car made a loud bang, we got a puff of smoke from the backend and it died. Still, no warning lights, no overheating. Turns out the engine seized and is unrepairable. It's a 2002, we're still paying on, and a new engine will cost over $7,000!

We've had nothing but problems this year. Once it hit over 100k in mileage, this thing has been falling apart left and right. The part that doesn't make any sense is that we had it in the shop for the last two months now, in a row, for work on the AC and the place we took it to, checks all the fluid levels as standard practice. Both times, the oil checked out fine and didn't need a change. So what the heck happened????

The dealership said they couldn't find any oil leakage although there was oil on the outside of the engine. They can't figure out why this happened. Now we're stuck without a car, without the money to get a new one, and praying that somehow our insurance company will help us out. We're waiting now for the inspector to check it out. Luckily, the car shop that checked the oil for the last two months is writing a letter regarding their checks and such. But, we don't know how much it will help.

I thought I would be a loyal Jeep owner, but after the last year, I could never buy another.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:14 pm 
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Don't know about Jeeps - but I've seen some Chevy's drop the Oil pump pickup due to vibration and age - instant no oil pressure - which should have had lights - and it you keep running - it'll kill something (typically the crankshaft turns a really pretty blue).


But you should get some analysis of the engine - an oil pressure problem will pressure weld pieces together - a broken valve or piston rod, timing chain(does it have a chain or belt) - will jam the engine with the broken part.

if you have a timing belt (the Diesel does) it can fail - strip out the inner 'teeth' and kill all the valves

You need more analysis than 'the engine seized'

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:45 am 
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Well we still don't have the exact breakdown of what happened. We're waiting for the inspector's full write up, but it was confirmed as mechanical error so the insurance can't cover it. This year has been a nightmare with the Jeep. It blows my mind that a 5 year old car, with proper maintenance, could die like this. I googled the situation and found several other Libby owners with the same problem. I have a feeling it is going to come out as some manufacturing issue in the future. I wish you all good luck with yours, and caution you to watch for issues as yours reaches over 100K. I was ready to be a loyal customer, but I won't purchase again. I've enjoyed reading the site for many years and my dead Libby still has the LOST sticker on the back. Thanks for a helpful and friendly site, and good luck with your KJs!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:30 am 
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Im sorry that happend to your liberty. But this engine seizing is not very common, i could only find 6-7 different instances when this happend and theres hundreds of thousands out there lol. so 6/800000+ doesnt seem to be tooo common.

Also who knows how many were the customers doing with poor maintaince. Im not saying you didnt do maintance, you just happend to get a lemon.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:15 am 
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Sorry to hear about your situation, If you didn't buy it new then you really don't know how well it was maintained before you got it. I would say very little. Anyway You should look into a good used engine out of a salvage yard. There are plenty of low mileage engines in wrecked jeeps. Around here you can get an engine for $500.00 to $1000.00 and have it installed or do it yourself.

$7000.00 for a engine is completely out of line, Sounds like a dealer price to me...

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:02 am 
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You're right, $7000 is way out of line, and the Jeep isn't worth it. We pondered fixing the Jeep, but have had so many problems with so many things on it this year, we just weren't willing to keep going through it. We purchased it used, but it was only 1 year old when we did. We didn't pamper the car, it's an off-road vehicle. But we did all proper scheduled maintenance and oil changes. It had a lot of miles on it because we're ex-military and moved alot. It never gave us a single problem until we hit 100k at the end of last year. Then every single month this thing started breaking down. We would be stranded (and living in a desert climate with three little kids, it gets a bit nerve wracking). But the last time, we were 20 miles from the nearest civilization and in a really dangerous position.

We recently met a guy who's a mechanic for Jeep and he told us that once a Jeep hits the 100k mark, it's a maintenance nightmare. He said he has two Jeeps himself, but you have to be willing to do alot of work on them. I wish we had met him prior to our purchase. It's one thing to have a second vehicle that requires a little bit "extra". It's a whole other thing to have this as your daily driver and family car.

I don't know if Jeeps share any of the same engine's as other Chrysler vehicles, but there seems to be a theme with the reliability of their engines in the long run. I don't know if it's a mistake in engineering or just a lack of quality. It's a shame as Jeep has so much going for them, and the quality of much older Jeeps seems to be there. Maybe it's just a symptom of a company trying to cut corners as they all seem to do these days. I don't know. But, I will be glad when we can put the Jeep behind us, finish up with the insurance company and get it paid off.

I sincerely hope that none of you have to deal with this in the future. I would suggest really watching oil levels as your Jeep ages. My father taught me to check mine once a month, but that still didn't help us. I would suggest once every fill up or every other one at least.

We will truly miss the site as it's one of the only ones that we've encountered that didn't have a bunch of members fighting. It's nice to see the overall helpfulness on here. Thanks for everything!!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:50 am 
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Even if you no longer have a Jeep you can still keep tabs on the rest of us. :D

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:03 pm 
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Thanks! You guys wouldn't happen to take an honorary Jeep member with a Montero would ya??? :D

I'll have to post this elsewhere on the forum as well.......is anyone in the Northern NM, Southern CO area that might be interested in a dead libby? We're going up there in the near future to get the safari rack, as it fits our new vehicle, and take out the stereo (which will be for sale), and the spare and anything else we can easily get off, but if someone else wants the vehicle to work on or get other parts, let us know. Otherwise, we're just going to sell it to a scrap yard.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:49 pm 
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If you had any skids installed you might pull them and see if someone wants them.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:58 pm 
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Location: Maple Ridge B.C
most jeep owners locally that i know all have well over 200k on their jeeps with little maintance. And there are a fair share of KJ's over 100k on here doing fine as well. I would not take that one guys word for it because most people i know that own a jeep all haver WELL over 100k on theirs and no complaints

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:57 am 
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I would definitely be interested in skids if you have them. my wife has an 02 as well.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:32 am 
elmuyloco5 wrote:
Thanks! You guys wouldn't happen to take an honorary Jeep member with a Montero would ya??? :D

I'll have to post this elsewhere on the forum as well.......is anyone in the Northern NM, Southern CO area that might be interested in a dead libby? We're going up there in the near future to get the safari rack, as it fits our new vehicle, and take out the stereo (which will be for sale), and the spare and anything else we can easily get off, but if someone else wants the vehicle to work on or get other parts, let us know. Otherwise, we're just going to sell it to a scrap yard.


After owning a Montero and currently owning a Liberty, I'll honestly ask you...

Why are you trading down?

That being said, how much do you want for your KJ? PM me if ya would:)


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 Post subject: Re: Engine seized
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:51 am 
elmuyloco5 wrote:
Both times, the oil checked out fine and didn't need a change.


Just out of curiosity...how OFTEN do you change the oil? Oil shouldn't be checked at 3,000 miles to see if it needs changed..it should just be changed.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 12:06 pm 
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I have an 2002 with 117500 miles on it. Have had pretty good luck with it. Hopefully your luck is not a reflection on the kjs reliability. I have found low mile motors for relativley low cost 1500 bucks for a motor with 25000 miles on it. Sorry for your bad experience. If you are going to part some of it out please pm me.

Chris

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:52 am 
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We changed the oil regularly. The comment was that, in addition to the changes, the shop also checked the oil every time the vehicle was taken in to be fixed, and still showed up as ok (filled up properly, good consistency, not gunky looking). No leak was found on the engine, and yet it all disappeared. It had the mechanic confused, the inspector confused, and us as well.

I'll let you all know when we can sell it. We purchased the GAP insurance when we bought the car and we're currently waiting for the process to complete and see if we are covered. It's taking forever! Our auto policy can't cover it as there was no "accident" so we're hoping the GAP insurance will. After that, it's going to depend on whether or not the GAP covers it. If it doesn't, we'll still owe on the car and can't sell until it's paid off or we can't hand over the title.

As for trading down, I don't think we did. We got what we could afford at the time, and we honestly like it more. It suits our family better as far as the size and seating available (has third row) and it has handled well off road so far. It has a larger turn radius, but that's the only thing we can find fault with. It's a more comfortable ride, and much quieter than the Jeep. The seats are way more comfortable, and it doesn't have the front hump thing caused from the dash area so we can sit forward without leaning one of our legs in. The Jeep used to kill my back because of that. But, it's not about this car being better or the Jeep. It's about a car not falling apart every 5 seconds. I know all cars break down, but the Jeep has been a nightmare this year. Here's to hoping this one will be better!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:14 pm 
Good luck with your Montero, I'm glad you like it! I just don't really like Mitsubishis...not so much because of the one I owned, it's pretty much the same reason I don't like Hondas.

I had a '91. Was a good vehicle...reliable, didn't do anything but burn oil (about a quart and a half between changes), but boy when it broke, it made sure you were broke too :lol:

What year is yours?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:27 pm 
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It's a 97, regular....not sport. I hope it won't have anything major at least for the next 2 years, but it was our best option in our limited time frame. It's hard to find a good car here in NM, and we had to have 4wd or AWD at the least because of all the snow where we are in the mountains.....and we like to get off the beaten path quite often too. We ended up driving down to the inlaws in TX to get this one. The people here just beat the heck out of their cars. Maybe it's the places we've lived, but we've always had a heck of a time finding parts for the Jeep and it usually has to be a Mopar part. We just moved here from Hawaii and everything here and there has to be ordered and costs a fortune.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:04 am 
Wow, that's weird having trouble finding a Jeep part. Good luck wiht the Mitsu! If I didn't have a prebuilt hatred for Mitsubishis (and this is in no way directed toward yours in particular) before I got mine, I probably would've liked it instead of felt apathy toward it:)


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