Reliability and maintainance

roznerd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:39 pm

Hey everyone, I'm new here and I just bought my first Jeep. You can read my signature for the specs.

After buying my 2002 4x4 auto sport I was doing some more research about the KJ and found alot of folks on the epinion forums talking about how they have had soo many problems with their KJ's.
That kind of freaked me out since I just bought one. Mine is really clean, and it had a good track record (ball joints done, regular oil changes). It has 69k on it and I got it from the orig. owner for $9800.

From your experience, will this be a good reliable family truck for the next 20 or 30K miles?

I'm a DIY mechanic kind of guy.

What kind of maintainance should I plan on doing to keep it running nice?

I was thinking doing a rear diff oil change, and convert the engine to synthetic after a SeaFoam treatment in the oil.

What about the timing chain? When is that due?

Little issues it has:

It had some scalloping wear and a partial sepo on the front right tire, and BigOTires told me I need struts, but the truck doesn't feel bouncy, and struts aren't leaking. Any thoughts, they are OEM.

It clunks/jerks a tiny bit when you shift from P to R or R to D.

It clunks on braking as the truck barely comes to a stop, and again when you barely start going. From reading here, this is pretty normal. It feels like the engine is sliding forward and backward like a 1/2" when this happens.I want to lube the driveline splines as mentioned and check the sway bar links.

Anything you can offer is great. I know there's alot here. I will repost them seperately if needed. Thanks - Brian

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:43 pm

2004 Renegade and not one issue with mine.....*Knock on Wood*

I am the original owner and did my own upgrades.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 7:06 pm

roznerd wrote:

After buying my 2002 4x4 auto sport I was doing some more research about the KJ and found alot of folks on the epinion forums talking about how they have had soo many problems with their KJ's.

While some people do have a random problem, for the most part the Liberty (or KJ) is a very reliable vehicle. Congratulations on your purchase!

roznerd wrote:

That kind of freaked me out since I just bought one. Mine is really clean, and it had a good track record (ball joints done, regular oil changes). It has 69k on it and I got it from the orig. owner for $9800.

That is a great deal! I've owned my 2002 Liberty forever and its never let me down

roznerd wrote:

From your experience, will this be a good reliable family truck for the next 20 or 30K miles?

I'm planning to hit at least 200K miles with mine barring a serious mechanical failure. You'll be prefectly safe driving up to the 120K mile mark.

roznerd wrote:

What kind of maintainance should I plan on doing to keep it running nice?

Follow the owners manual. Go over the 60K mile service interval just to make sure everything is good.

roznerd wrote:

I was thinking doing a rear diff oil change, and convert the engine to synthetic after a SeaFoam treatment in the oil.

Don't forget the TC and front diff if you've got a 4x4 version. Skip the Seafoaming... I did mine at 62K miles and nothing happened smoke wise.

roznerd wrote:

What about the timing chain? When is that due?

Never

roznerd wrote:

It had some scalloping wear and a partial sepo on the front right tire, and BigOTires told me I need struts, but the truck doesn't feel bouncy, and struts aren't leaking. Any thoughts, they are OEM.

There is a tire section here... read threw the threads and try to pick out a new set of tires that suits your needs.

The shocks and struts do not need replacing unless they are broken. My truck has the same amount of mileage and rides great

roznerd wrote:

It clunks/jerks a tiny bit when you shift from P to R or R to D.

Normal

Oh and welcome aboard!

Rush345 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:20 pm

I like you bought my '02 Liberty Sport auto a year ago. Did you buy it from an individual or a stealership? I bought mine from a local Stealer ship on a push pull or drag sale. ('95 Dakota 4x4 5.2 L with a blown timing chain) Any way right off the lot found out the A/C didn't work (they charged me $100. deductable to replace the enitire A/C system. Then took it to a Muffler shop and while it was up on the lift found the radiator had a serious leek. Back to the stealership angirer the a wet hornet they replace the radiator no additional charges. Then went to my local Mech a 5 Star cetrified shop. I took it there to replace all fluids with Amsoil (Highly Reccomended). He found the rear differental was shot so another $100. warranty repair. Both front rotors were warped and he took it to a different dealership for Lower ball joint warranty replacement. By this time in less then 2 weeks I had to shell out $300.00 for warranty repairs . I paid for the synthetic change over out of pocket just to make things right.
I then bought a spare tire cover from Autozone and went to a local sowing shop and bought fabric stick on letters and had (RAPED BY MEDFED) installed on the cover. I then went back to Medfed (stealership I bought the Liberty from) and showed my tire cover on the Jeep to the General Manager and the Owner. How amazing the wrote me a refund check on the condition I remove the letters off my spare tire cover. Go figure!! Anyway the best way to protect you investment is convert it to synthetic from bumper to bumper. After that just read this forum and you will find a pleathera of MODs in any direction you want to go. Mufflers, Air filteration, suspencion lifts , wheel & tires. SO MANY MODS SO LITTLE MONEY.
But as far as advise and ideas, you could never ask for a better group of people to advise and encorage you to having the ride of your dreams.
Welcome to L.O.S.T. and let your imagination set you free

spencevans · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:47 pm

Mine is an 05 Diesel with 50K miles and I expect it to go for another 150K miles without any major issues. 69K miles is nothing for these Liberty's if they have been properly maintained. These aren't Geo Metro's.

hooperswish · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:33 am

Sure looks like you got a good deal....even though they say it had regular oil changes, you might want to check under the oil cap to look for any baked on junk/sludge. If you do, maybe a treatment of autor/x is needed. (do a search on that stuff, gentle cleaner, not solvent, that really cleans the engine well). It probably is clean....but as said, go full synthetic with all fluids in order to ensure top protection. Welcome to the club!! Great vehicle...

Neatus · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:40 am

I have 109,000 miles on my 03 and have had very few problems. After about 40,000 miles my blower fan resistor died. At 95k I did break my front drive shaft but that was my fault and at about 105k my a/c went out. That is about the extent of problems with my KJ. Most problems are created by me.

Oh, my light bar swith broke once.

Welcome to the KJ club dude.

_UnLiMiTeD_ · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:31 am

Im a proud owner of an 04 rene. So far the only mechanicalish thing is one of my tire sensors in my TPM went out and is being fixed under warranty. Other then that, its been awesome

slikjr · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 3:36 am

I had an 02 until I got my 07 in April. It did the hard "clunk" and stiff shifting into or out of Park sometimes too. Not a big deal, my wife is a warranty administrator at a dealership in town here. Ppl always call about this, but there is nothing wrong. It's a "KJ Thing". Just leanr to love it. No worries!

For the record, other than the routine maintenance, ZERO problems. Had to replace two rear u-joints but the 3" lift, 32" tires and A LOT of mud were the culprit of that. You have a great vehicle for at least the next few years that's for sure!

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:07 am

Looks like all the comments you are getting are helpful, except possibly one.

About the "Timing Chain" issue.

The Timing Chain is internal and should never have to be changed, if it does, the whole engine has issues.

the Cerpentine Belt is another story. Many people get those confused since that one belt runs EVERYTHING and is as important as the timing chain in many asspects.

That should be changed every 50k. GOOD insurance to do that.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:31 pm

About the serpentine belt... I was trained to look at it for cracks on the ribbing pattern as it passes over a pulley. If the cracks are severe and start to pass beyond 50% of the rib depth, than the belt required changing.

I check my original Mopar belt every oil change and have zero cracks or missing sections from the belt. I'm at 64K miles as of this morning...

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:48 pm

A point to consider that many overlook when they "hear" about problems with the KJs is that it is the best selling SUV in its class. With that many out there, you are bound to hear some negatives. Bad News seems to travel faster and louder than Good News.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 5:37 pm

I guess I better make WoodyKJ happy.

Since you bought this from the original owner, did you ask him/her about everything done to it since he/she had bought it? Get as much history from the owner as you can. How much off-roading did they do, maintenance, replacement parts, warranted repairs. The whole enchilada.

The struts are probably due for replacement so you might want to go for replacement (think LIFT.....hehehe). I do have stock struts coils and shocks for sale with only about 5k on them.

roznerd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:26 pm

Thanks you guys for all the input. I feel alot better about my choice.

I don't think I asked enough questions about the truck, but I do know they didn't to much offroading and when they did it was mild.

As for repairs, the CARFAX only showed one trip to the shop. I don't know what for, but I figure it was resolved.

The PO was a single 30-something woman and I think was pretty conservative with the truck.

I will be converting to synthetic everywhere I can, doing a radiator flush, front struts, and I will probably have more questions in the future.

Do you think I should re-flash the computer to learn my driving habits?

Thanks for the welcome and the awesome response.

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:34 pm

It should eventually pick up on your style, I believe.

JeepBeat · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:14 pm

I am much the same as you. I bought my 2002 Limited back in May, from a private owner, who is a friend of mine. He treated the Liberty like a baby, and has had NO issues with the vehicle. It has never let him down, and I haven't had a problem witin the last four months since I have had it. I too wondered if the clunk when shifting from P to D or Reverse was normal, and from the other's replies, yes it is.

Don't listen to others when they say Liberty's have lots of problems......their just jealous!!

Being in Canada, with winter weather and salt and sanded roads for 5+ months of the year, the previous owner had the Jeep Gel Undercoated every year, since 2002. I had it done today for $75 and will continue to do so. This is a big rust saver if you happen to live in such a climate.

No need to go overboard, just keep up with the recommended maintenance schedules and the Jeep will serve you many years.

elephantrider · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:48 pm

i just changed my spark plugs @ 44k miles.

i would recommend doing this around 35k or so.

the ones i replaced were way gone. should have swapped em out 8k miles ago..

Reliability and maintainance

Who is online