liberty engine kicked the bucket at 111k

superj · **Posted:** Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:25 pm

well guys, i lost the motor in the liberty on new year's eve. we were 3 hours from the house and the radiator blew out. the gauge never moved so by the time i knew something was wrong, the engine had shut down.

i talked with a buddy of mine who worked for the jeep dealer here, before they closed down, and he told me that the new dodge motors have a design flaw with the sensors they use. something about the sensor and the placement makes the gauge stay at whatever it was reading when it is out of the coolant, like when the bottom of your radiator breaks out. he said mine will be the fourth liberty he has worked on with this problem in the last 6 months. (another guy at work had the same issue 2 months ago).

anyways, a used replacement engine is 1500 bucks from houston or its going to be 12-1500 to fix this one so, happy new year to me.

the wife (its actually her truck) said it will be for sale as soon as the engine is fixed and she wants to go back to a grand cherokee or cherokee with the good ol' I6 so if you know anyone in the market for a 2002 liberty with a nice brush guard and a 2.5 inch lift, send them this way

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:55 pm

Unfortunately the temp gauge on the Liberty is less "gauge" and more "idiot light".

The gauge slowly climbs towards the middle as the engine warms up, then stays locked dead center as long as engine temp is less than 255*F.

If the engine goes over 260*F the gauge is moved to the 3/4 position to indicate "high" temperature.

If the temp reaches 269*F the gauge is moved all the way to the right to indicate a "critical" temperature.

For those of us who have driven older vehicles with temp gauges (or have half a clue) this is annoying and misleading. But it was designed for the average clueless driver who would panic if the gauge moved up from center at all.

Regardless, it sucks that your engine cooked itself. My radiator started leaking last week, but luckily I noticed it before the whole thing blew.

Good luck on the repairs!

superj · **Posted:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:30 pm

wow, what a horrible design for a sensor. that really sucks.

well, the jeep got put on the back sensor as yesterday my bmw quit. the bmw is more important to fix so the jeep will sit until i can get to it. it really sucks to have two vehicles kick out like that at the same time. luckily the good ol 81 bmw is still running. it would be even better if it wasn't set up for autocross and still had fuel injection or even chokes for the carb but i put an electric blanket on the motor at night and it starts up fine in the morning

JeepsterJohn2012 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:12 am

I always had a feeling the temp gauge was misleading...

superj,
If the KJ is 4WD I am always in the market, just waiting for the nicest rig for the price.

project renegade · **Posted:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:38 am

Man that sux! If you decide you want to part with the lift I may be interested depending on what lift it is.

Let me know.

superj · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:20 pm

still looking for a motor

ihatemybike · **Posted:** Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:48 am

Where are you looking?

liberty engine kicked the bucket at 111k

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