Jeep Liberty: Problems & Solutions

oldntired1950

Just got back from my weekly trip into the mountains - all on paved roads. Anyone who knows what the Taconic Parkway in New York is like will agree that it is a challenging road. It was designed and built in the 20s and 30s to help facilitate travel from New York City to Albany. It is a narrow twisty road with rock walls on one side and a drop off on the other for much of the road. My new Liberty handles as well on this road as the sedans I used to drive. Lowering the suspension less than an inch is just a concession by DC to the public nervousness about the vehicle. My Liberty was produced in 12/01 and I can find nothing wrong with the way it handles. As a matter of fact, I can't find anything wrong with this SUV at all - Just love my Liberty!

xtred

My wife has been driving my Liberty Ltd and swears that when she puts it in Drive it starts to go backwards. Seems like I read something about this earlier here but don't remember. Is this the norm or is something seriously wrong? I have been driving my work truck so I'm haven't driven the Jeep much in the last few weeks but I guess I need to test it out. Anyone else have this happen?

lenchud

To Jafo2001, you obvoiusly did not utilize this website to its fullest. Go to the reviews link and click on "2002" Jeep Liberty - Spin Around Town link. There is extensive info concerning the rollover issue (ROLLOVER REDUX). According to this info, posted in March 2002, only one mag was able to flip the Liberty and their test track was found to be highly suspect and a contributory factor to the roll. NHTSA was unable to flip this vehicle in their standard test and the Liberty was awarded 2 stars for rollover, which happens to be the same rating as the Ford Explorer, Expedition & Nissan Xterra and Pathfinder were given. This is a safe vehicle or I would not put my kids into it. It also happens to look awesome. The interior exudes much more quality than any of the competition in this price range and this vehicle drives beautifully. Don't believe the hype. Read Rollover Redux for yourself and form your own opinions. My liberty has set me free. Thanks JEEP & DC.

jafo2001

Len,

This seems to be one of those "motherhood" issues. You can insult someone's dog, you can insult his house. You can even insult his wife. But God help you if you cast disparaging remarks against his car.

Because of this I'm not going to discuss it any further because it will just go on and on.

Enjoy your car.

cdkelly23

My God, are you all still harping on the rollover issue? Almighty, give it a rest already.

If you are concerned about the potential of the Liberty rolling over, then don't buy one. It's as simple as that. Me, I have no concerns of my Liberty rolling over, as I know how to drive it.

I don't whip around curves at 60 mph. I don't drive it like a sports car.

Can we please move on to another topic, and stop the whining over the rollover potential of the Liberty.

miberry

I am considering a Liberty and I have read reviews that the back seat is a little too upright and a little uncomfortable. Of course, it wasn't made to be "cushy" like a Grand Cherokee. Does anyone agree with this? I absolutely LOVE everything else about it!

I actually worked for a dealership for a while and there was a lady all set to buy one until her mother tried it out. They were about to take a rather long trip and the mother refused to ride in the backseat being that it was SO uncomfortable to her. Needless to say, it was never purchased!

soulfinger

I tend to ride in the front when I drive, but none of my passengers has ever complained about seat comfort in the back. It's bouncy, I'm sure, because you're sitting smack on top of the axle. And it's tough for older or bigger people to squeeze through the narrow door opening because the wheel opening intrudes rather severely. But as far as actual seat comfort, I've gotten no complaints.

jafo2001

Does anyone else here find the seat cushions too narrow and the seat back too short? Im 6ft.

mad0865

Jafo, do you own a Liberty? I commute with others during the week for work, and they don't complain about the rear seat. They love the cup holders in the doors, and basically enjoy the ride.

rexmasters

I have had my new Liberty five days. With the Owner's Manual in-hand, I attempted to program my two remote controls--one is for a gate, and the other a garage door. Let me mention that I have a friend with a new Grand Cherokee who visits often, so his control is programmed to open my gage, which works flawlesslessly, and was a breeze to program.

When I pressed the two outer buttons for what seemed like an eternity, I never got the message indicating that the exisiting codes were cancelled, or any other message, for that matter--the two little dots blinked a few times, and everything went black.

I tried this procedure no fewer than six times. Car on, car off. I also tried to get the car computer to accept the gate signals, to no avail.

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE OR TIPS IN THIS MATTER?

If you could write to my e-mail directly, it would be much more convenient.

Thanks and regards,

Rex

rexmasters@hotmail.com

soulfinger

I was never able to set mine using the directions in the owner's manual either, and to make it worse I kept erasing the programming in my other car. This topic's been addressed before. Others have said the instructions on the homelink website, http://www.homelink.com are much better.

oldntired1950

Since there are so few new posts to this topic, I guess that Jeep has found a winner with the Liberty. My 3 month old Sport 3.7L has just 3K miles, and will have its second oil change next week, and still there are no problems for the dealer to correct. I've had at least 15 new vehicles in my life, and I've never had one as reliable as my new Liberty. Hope it stays that way, but with my 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty and a dealer I've been dealing with for the last 11 years, I know that this will be a long and wonderful relationship. Love that Liberty!!!

grundtag

Even if I didn't work for Chrysler, this would be the 1st SUV on my list. The roll over complaints are bull. The Liberty is one of the most stable truck-like vehicles I have ever driven. I love driving the Liberty when I can PRY the keys away from my wife. It is the BEST vehicle I have ever driven and that comes from an ASE certified auto mechanic turned machine repairman. I would and have recommended the Liberty to anyone who will listen. The ONLY problem I have had in 6000 miles is with the moon roof that I didn't want. I only accepted that to get my hands on the only Liberty left on the lot. I hope everyone enjoys their Jeep as much as I love mine. It is a lease but I WILL buy it at the end of the contract and possibly lease another one, that is if DC doesn't come up with something better in the mean time. Buy American and Buy Jeep.

cdkelly23

Grundtag, you hit the nail squarely on the head.

I, too, love my Liberty. And I would not hesitate recommending it anyone who is looking to drive an SUV.

For those who keep harping on the rollover potential of a Liberty, I say buy a Camaro or TransAm, and whip around corners and bends at 60 mph all you want.

rexmasters

For anyone interested, with the help of another Edmund's user, I have both my gate and garage doors programmed and operating using the Liberty control. What threw me off was the fact that the computer readout DOES NOT give the messages that the manual mentions. I have a feeling that they took this text from the instructions for Grand Cherokees, however, the systems are not identical.

MY LATEST DILEMMA IS AS FOLLOWS:

As I have posted before, I live in Puerto Rico, where the roads are very uneven, and full of cracks, potholes, and other surprises. Even highway driving in many places is not smooth.

When I first got my car, I thought that I was hearing a loud squeak-like noise from the rear of the car when I passed over large bumps. I ignored the situation, and admittedly, often drive with music, which made this inaudible. The sound is akin to that of a spring, that is very consistent in tone and pitch, as well as duration, which is very short.

Now the Liberty has only been driven about 400 miles so far. Yesterday, with the radio off, on a 40 mile trip, I noted this sound getting louder, and more obvious, as I kept driving. By the time I got off the highway and used the city roads to get to my home, I heard the noise over ever inch of uneven pavement. My passengers were getting mad at me, since I was very upset, as they told me that "cars made noises" and that I was over-reacting.

Considering that this car is brand-new, and hasn't even consumed two tanks of gasoline, I don't think that I should be hearing any noises, whatsoever, while driving. Furthermore, this is the reason that I buy a new car every two or three years, since old cars with loose rattles and noises drive me up the wall.

I admit to not having read ALL of the posts on this thread--if anyone is aware of this being mentioned before, please let me know. Otherwise, any thoughts or suggestions as to what this could be, would be appreciated. Obviously, this will have to be checked out at the dealer level. However, my experience here is that unless you can point the dealer in the right direction, so to speak, as to what could be wrong, they will laugh you out of the office.

Thanks & Regards,

Rex

rexmasters@hotmail.com

andy81

I had the same noise. Took it back to the dealer last week and he found 2 items - both contributing to the noise. Problem is that I only half paid attention to what the dealer said. One was diff related - a loose bolt. And the other was the rear struts - again a loose bolt.

If were you - take it back to the dealer and get them to check ALL bolt tensions at the rear.

BTW - mine is now completely silent (apart from the gear whine which is there is 2WD and damn loud in 4WD but I like it).

Cheers,

Andy

rexmasters

Andy,

Thanks so much for your thoughts. I am actually going to take the car to my private mechanic first and ask them to check what you are suggesting, even if it costs me $50.00 just to have him look at it, since the dealer will make me want to slit my wrists because of their service.

One question--did you ever draw any correlation between this problem, and how long the car had been driven, or warmed up? I have determined that the problem only occurs when the car has been driven about 30 minutes. Leaving my house there are no noises. The return trip home, however, is another story altogether. Also, the longer I drive, THE WORSE THIS NOISE GETS, to the point where after driving for about 45 minutes, my new Liberty, complete with 600 miles on the odometer, resembles an old, broken-down jalopy in terms of noises.

If you can, please write to me at my e-mail address: rexmasters@hotmail.com

Thanks & Regards,

Rex

oldntired1950

Rex -
I've had my Liberty Sport 3.7L 4X4 for 3 months and 3K miles now, and just brought it in for its second oil change. It's as solid as a rock - no rattles, squeaks or other noises that go bump in the night. It's the first vehicle that I can remember owning that hasn't needed one thing fixed by the dealer. To me, the dealer relationship is more important than price. I've been dealing with my Chrysler-Jeep dealer for about 12 years and 4 vehicles. I'm always treated like gold - the service department is fantastic - very responsive to owner's needs. Yesterday, I mentioned to the service manager that I would like the Liberty back at around 2:30, and at 2:25 my office phone rang - the service department telling me the truck was ready. Hope you have good luck with your problems.

rexmasters

You obviously don't have any friends or relatives that live in Puerto Rico--any dealer here is a problem, including Mercedes and BMW. Most major makes are monopolozied by one or two giants that have exclusive contracts with automakers, so competition is minimal.

Glad to hear that you are satisfied, but I'm afraid I am living a totally different reality.

Regards,

Rex

bsmart1

Drove a Liberty this weekend while looking for a second vehicle. 1st impression was so so. It's a heavy little rascal, pretty smooth ride, solid feeling,comfy seats in front. Looks SHARP inside and out, neat little circles everywhere (vents, door handles, lights etc)
Handling was fair to poor, steering was sluggish and slow, engine was capable but slow to get moving, reved quickly but no transfer of power to the drive train for about a second or two. That was disappointing. Brakes were OK, but nothing to write home about. Interior room was adequate in front seats. Front seats were very comfortable with good support for the thighs. Leather was nice to the touch. Fit and finish overall pretty good. Back seat was CRAMPED and tight. Anyone over 5 ft tall would have problems being back ther for over 20 minutes. Its basically for kids, not adults. Area behind the back seat, VERY SMALL. Hardly room for a couple suite cases!! What was DC thinking?? You might get a small ice chest back there, but there wouldn't be room for your favorite Labradore, or Doberman. Decided to pass on this vehicle. Much more car for the money in an ISUZU Trooper.

soulfinger

Wow. That sure doesn't sound like my Liberty, particularly your assessment of the rear seats. The rear door openings are somewhat narrow, which makes it awkward to get in and out, but once you're in, there's tons of room. The headroom is the most of any vehicle I've ever seen, and the leg room is at least adequate. As far as the cargo space, there's plenty behind the seats for most purposes. I've fit six suitcases back there without stacking them above the seat back. And if you need more, there's a lot of room when you fold the rear seats. They don't quite fold flat, which is a minor annoyance.

And please don't take this as a personal attack or a flame, but you really should check spelling when you post. When your message is riddled with misspelled words, people are less likely to take you seriously.

paisan

I own a Trooper and my buddy owns a Liberty and a Trooper. The liberty is for his wife. She loves it, but she is only 5'2" tall. When my buddy and I get in it it is pretty cramped in the front seats. The biggest gripe we have with it? The front footwells are riddled with intrusion from the transmission housing. Literally your right foot is buldged almost off the gas pedal due to it. The rear seat is great for kids but adults won't like it for long trips. Power is decent and handling is flatter than the Trooper, probably due to weight. It's a shame that they dropped the height down since my buddy's pre-drop-down liberty didn't show signs of rolling. Overall a nice vehicle, but we'll see how reliable they are long-term. Big-3 vehicles aren't know for their long term fit-finish lasting. Only time will tell.

-mike

tidester

When your message is riddled with misspelled words, people are less likely to take you seriously.

That's assuming the reader recognizes misspelling! ;-)

Seriously, we do have a spell checker available right below the entry field for creating posts. It's handy.

tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories

rsholland

is handy but next to useless. If you're more than two letters off, it won't work. I end up using MS Word's spell checker, which is much more robust.

Bob

tidester

rsholland,

Whatever works! Either one will benefit the chronic typo artist and misspeller.

tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories

wenhill

Bought a Liberty in March and am really enjoying this vehicle. My Lab enjoys it too and fits fine in the back with the seats up--in fact, I have put a large dog bed back there and it fits perfectly. I enjoy how easily the seats fold down so that she has even more room to hang out. She goes basically everywhere my husband and I go and we often park her outside a restaurant with the glass up and she gets lots of lovin' from passersby!

Only problem I have is that squeaky noise mentioned by a couple posters. Taking to dealer next week to be seen by main Chrysler guy so hopefully I can post additional info on that afterwards.

wenhill

I mentioned noises in my last post . Apparently in my case, the rubber bushings underneath are creating the havoc (sounds like an old creaky wooden door). The dealer lubed everything up but cautioned that it would take a couple of days to soak in. The noise has diminished some over the 6 ensuing days---may take back for more lube in about another week and see if it will finally go away.

swak1224

I have owned my Jeep Liberty Sport (2002) for one year. I bought it June 20,2001, it has 12,800 miles on it. I noticed today a slight crunching noise when I hit the break in both the break and the steering? I am taking it to the dealer Thursday, but I was just wondering if it sounded familiar to anyone? My power mirrors are also not working, but other then that the car has been just fine so far!

tbunder

please, you know as well as i do that that ONE misspelled word he typed was an obvious typo. his message wasn't riddled with misspelled words like you say. you're just mad cuz he dissed your liberty. big deal, let him have his opinion.

and please, dont take this personally, but please get your facts straight before posting. when you totally misstate the facts people tend to not take you seriously.

luca1

Okay, I have been noticing a rattling noise coming from underneath the driver's side front. When it first started, I noticed it when pulling out of my garage. Then I noticed that when driving I could still hear it. In addition, whenever I turned the steering wheel, it would rub and make a squeaking sound. I took her in last Wednesday and the diagnosis was that she needed zinc coated rivits. The steering wheel too needs some part. The bottom line here is that these parts need to be ordered. In the meantime I'm a bit nervous as to what this all means. I asked the manager and he said these rivits were from the drivetrain. Some were loose and some were missing. Now I realize I know virtually nothing about vehicles, but this seems to be a bit serious. Has anyone else had anything like this? I noticed today when using my turn signals, I get a clicking sound. Maybe it's been there all the time, but now I'm listening to everything. I have only had my Liberty for 2 months and I have 2700 miles on her. If anyone has any input, I would certainly appreciate it.

wendy
2wd Limited Patriot Blue

soulfinger

I never meant to make a big deal of the spelling. Just trying to politely point out a problem. I count at least four misspelled words in that post. I can list them if you're having trouble. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

luca1

Okay, I had my baby in today for her new rivits. I shall quote directly from the paperwork.
"As per TSP #13-001-02, remove the front fascia and front grill. Drill frame to crossmember and install rivits to frame from crossmember and re install fascia and grill". Okay, clear as mud to me. The service manager said that this was a problem that he had not encountered. The closest problem was relating to the rivits involved with a skid plate. I have a 2wd Liberty so I can't imagine that a skid plate would be involved. I know that they had a Chrysler rep oversee the repairs. From the information I got when I first brought her in, there were rivits missing and some that were loose. I'm sure that I'm still not explaining this really well and I did try to get as much info as I could. I would suggest that if anyone is experiencing anything like this, they should let their service guy know that the noises could be coming from this.
Thanks to all on this board for continuing to be of great help, especially to those like me who know nothing about mechanics. My Liberty is running and sounding good and I'm ready to take her out on another road trip!!

wendy

mad0865

I just noticed that TSB recently, and have been on other boards that describe the same exact problem. As for the other comment, skid plates have nothing to do with it being a 2wd. It's a truck, so drivers will tend to go offroad with it, regardless of it being a 4x4 or not. With a proper rear locker, you can probably do some fun offroading (not rock climbing). Thanks for the info.
-Mad

tfare

When my a.c. is on in my Liberty, I hear a "gurgling" noise. Is this normal? Anyone else noticed this?

soulfinger

Mine does it too. Perfectly normal as far as I know.

john325

"Perfectly normal as far as I know" doesn't sound all that convincing. Have you looked into it, or do you just assume it's "normal" because yours does it too? I've never had an air conditioner make gurgling noises. Sounds a bit odd to me. (Hopefully everything's spelled okay here; no time to use spell-checker.)

soulfinger

I wasn't trying to convince anyone of anything, so I don't much care if you thought I was convincing. I was offering my opinion to someone who solicited it.

I think it's normal for a couple of reasons:

1) I've had my Liberty for 9 months and it has 19,000 miles on it, with the a/c running for the vast majority of those miles. It's still cold and it's not leaking anything.

2) Lots of things (refrigerators come to mind) that contain refrigerant make gurgling sounds.

And yes, you spelled them all correctly.

john325

My observation was merely that it seems odd. I don't even think my refrigerator that is 10 years old gurgles, although I could be wrong. None of my cars w/ a/c have gurgled, although I used to have a '92 Chrysler Van w/ a/c that just plain stopped working after about 55,000 miles. Luckily I hardly need a/c at all.

I would just think it would make sense to ask someone who knows if this a/c gurgling noise is truly "normal", rather than just assuming it is. Perhaps there are others posting here that have a/c which does not gurgle. That's the beauty of the Edmunds Town Hall. People can compare their experiences and determine what is defective and what isn't. Just my 2 cents, and hopefully nothing's misspelled.

soulfinger

OK, so I posted my opinion. Why does that bother you, then, if that's the beauty of Edmunds? I didn't say it was the only possible opinion, or even that it was correct.

If I thought the noise was a problem, I'd have it checked out. It's barely audible, happens only rarely, and doesn't affect the performance of the a/c at all. In my book, that's not a problem. Maybe the person who wrote the original post has a more serious problem. There was very little detail there.

And you can let go of your spelling obsession any time you like. It's not funny or clever, just immature.

gmlover1

I've heard a lot of a.c.s gurgle.

thecobles3

Posted awhile back (Jeep Liberty Board #2826 on 5/26) re: a check engine light that came on. Also saw a post here (#228) about the same thing. And it isn't the gas cap (as had been offered to me before)...

The idle motor (AIC) went bad and also took with it the main computer. Had that fixed and less than one month later THE SAME THING HAPPENED! This time we were on vacation in the Texas Hill Country... had to leave our Jeep at the local 5 Star dealer and give-up on any off-roading expeditions until it was fixed (how nice that it was fixed just as we ended our vacation so we could at least drive it home!). Again, the idle control motor was replaced.

Sure enough... two weeks later, right after my husband put gas in the car (always starts then...), the Jeep stalled in a bizarre way: would start but then, when he took his foot off of the gas pedal and let it IDLE (hmmm... seeing a pattern here), it died. Finally got it home. The check OIL light had come on this time, but when we took it to the dealer it was off. Also, it wasn't stalling anymore. They found NOTHING, so they updated our computer.

That was one week ago. Now, it is in the shop AGAIN for the same thing... stalling. After two days of running tests, the dealer cannot seem to find the problem... and it isn't stalling anymore again.

Quite frankly, we are at a loss of what to do. Should we just wait for it to do this again... perhaps while we are driving from Texas to Virginia in 3 WEEKS when we MOVE with our 3 year-old daughter and cats in the vehicle?!

Anyone have ANY IDEA what the H**L is going on? Please reply soon... we are running out of time!

thanks -- sarah

tidester

FWIW, AC systems use coolants that transition between liquid and gaseous phases moving from one location to another in order to transfer heat. Whether it's audible or not, the mechanism for "gurgling" is there.

tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories

soulfinger

Sarah, my condolences. That's a lot to go through. Does Texas have a lemon law? That might be your only recourse if they can't fix it this time.

jefferson1964

but i have had a car that made a gurgle it was a 84 camero.. Just so long as it works I guess...

thecobles3

we do... but that might cost us a lot of money from what we hear... will call DC on Monday to see what they suggest.

as for an update: got the Lib this am... still no answer from the dealer (5 star) but they gave it to us anyway... 40min later we called to have it towed in again! this time they gave us a rental and we won't take the car back until it's fixed.

thanks for the well-wishes... i'll pass them on to my husband.

-- sarah

john325

It seems that the hissing sound in the a/c just may not be normal. You may want to look into it. However, based on 2 other posts here, it seems that the gurgling A/C in the Liberty might indeed be normal. Thanks Tidester for pointing out that some cars indeed have "audible" gurgling.

Soulfinger: It seems you're the one that's hung up on spelling! You take a pretty "high horse" position when you say you just might not take the poster seriously (Your Post #371) because he/she merely misspelled a few words, rather than riddled his/her post w/ them as you contend. I believe tbunder (post #379) hit the nail on the head. I think cutting the posters a little slack might be nice, even though you find their misspelling "offensive". As for me, I could care less if there are misspelled words in a post; as long as I can understand the communication from the poster, I'm happy.

tidester

Having been involved with online discussion in one form or another over more years than I care to admit, I have observed that those most sensitive to spelling errors are the ones most recently introduced to this medium.

Certainly, we want our resumes, reports and publications to be error free, but I think it's asking a bit much for online chatters and posters. Some tolerance is recommended!

Nevertheless, we do provide a spell checking service which you can access by clicking the "check spelling" button right next to the "post my message button" below.

tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories

soulfinger

John325: For the record, I mentioned spelling only ONE time when I was not responding to someone else's diatribe about that ONE post. I thought I phrased that original post politely. On the other hand, you've been very rude. As I stated in that ONE post, I meant no offense. I was trying to politely point out a problem. Misspellings are more than cosmetic. They slow comprehension. I've already apologized if I offended anyone, so I won't bother apologizing again. All I really did was suggest that the person use spell check. The spelling problem seems to be yours. You're the one who won't let it go.

With all due respect, Tidester, this has nothing to do with length of exposure to the medium. I've been online for many years, and I've been following the forums on Edmunds and have used other discussion sites for some time. And I am willing to cut people some slack when it comes to spelling. In fact, that may be the Internet's saving grace: a modicum of literacy is necessary to make it work, unlike other popular media like television. Everyone makes typos now and then. But tripping over too many of them gives me a headache.

tidester

I was trying to politely point out a problem.

Shall we go after grammar too? Split infinitives hurt my head! :-)

Seriously, I agree that it is distracting but my real intent was politely to say that complaints about spelling divert us from the topic which is "Jeep Liberty Problems."

Or was that Geep? :-)

tidester
Host
SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories

soulfinger

I appreciate your effort to put a halt to the pointless spelling debate, Tidester. And I didn't miss the not-so-subtle hint. But you and john325 raised a couple of points that I felt the need to respond to because one directly criticized me and I thought the other might have mischaracterized me. Sometimes people see only half of the conversation and get the wrong impression of a person. I could not agree more that we ought to be getting back to the topic at hand, the Jeep Liberty.

And, tongue firmly in cheek, I must point out that "politely to point" is rather stilted. Most grammar police (and I actually get paid to be one) struck that rule from the penal code long ago. Any Star Trek fans care for "boldly to go where no man has gone before"? ;-)