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Jeep Wrangler Maintenance and Repair Questions 2007 and newer

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  • mac24mac24 Member Posts: 3,910
    .......a vibration in the rubicon? Usually around 20-30mph.

    Most commonly (in order):
    1: Wheel imbalance.
    2: Worn steering or suspension joint.
    3: Worn universal joint.
    4: Propeller shaft imbalance.

    1 & 4 usually caused by a lost balance weight.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    edited December 2011
    Point to better_half's H3, sorry jeep engineering, you goofed again.

    Bought new wipers for her H3 and the JK. H3 no problem. Remember reading about JK rear wiper on other forums. Picture of sombody standing on a stool leaning over spare tire but no flame here we all have brain farts sometimes. Anyway, opened rear gate unbolted the arm and the blade came apart. Sure the rain x blade fits but it has to have something other than missing, broken, or whatever plastic clips still in the arm. Even a new old caravan blade is $60 full retail, so $60 and new plastic JK arm. Jeep please look at the rear wiper on an H3 and maybe learn something.

    On a side note, either plastic pieces for the holes in the firewall where the cowling grill clips go were missing from the JK or never built. The squeak came back. Cut off all the braces on the plastic cowling grill and plastic bolted the grill to the cowling. Unless some heavy weight or a ton of frozen slush bends it, it should be ok. But since it is high strength thin steel with modern flexible paint, I'll just bend it out again. Again, sorry jeep engineers. Maybe the big boys need to quit hiring college grads with computers and hire people who drive and better yet wrench and been aroung the block a few times.

    And yes the area under the cowling looks like some paint got on the dust, rust, weld splashes or whatever, so the cowling will be easy to remove to repair future rust holes or add to the dealer list of things to do sometime down the line.
  • jobrein214jobrein214 Member Posts: 1
    I have no lights no blinkers no high beams and esp kicks on when i turn like im sliding in snow. Can anyone tell me what could be wrong. Would very appreciate it. Trying to help out a friend.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    New Kumho's installed today. LT265 70 17 C. Yes I know. Lighter than other choices and a lot lighter than the factory MT's. Almost considered Firestone AT because they always seem to be at the top at tirerack. Why not duratrac again. Didn't realize how much noise we have been subjected to. But they were a good road tire for 30K+ miles. At that point a discount tire store, not my purchasing store that road forced balanced the tires, said one tire wobbled so bad they had to break the bead and rotate the tire 180*. Huh? Rebalanced again xK miles later and a good employee noticed two tires with a wobble and three of four needed weights changed (balanced as found before rebalance). Keep the jk as factory as possible even if there are really no choices with that LT255 75 17 size. And keep the weight down to protect that just enough front end. At ~40k miles on them with tread left I had no wet traction. Gone today with 45K and one last spinout on sprinkler water on my way to get the new tires.

    Also going round and round about new shocks. At least one bill stine rear is shot and the others are just too soft. Drove the guys nuts at 4wp and they drove me nuts for weeks saying their shocks should be shipping. Past performance of kumho's on vehicles years ago reminded me of good kyb's I had years ago. Have no idea if I goofed by ordering gas-a just but they are ordered. Toyed with ideas of new non lifted springs but the only choice appears to be arb springs with a small lift that doesn't raise a rubicon as much as a sport jk as per arb. But saving that for a later day if needed.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    Happy and contented.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    edited July 2012
    Even though I just read Ed's latest Star Telegram article, you can call this complaining versus observations.

    Oil:
    Have used synthetic and sometime time last year when motor seemed to get noisy (not as bad as mobil 1 was in a previous vehicle) started blending 50 syn/50 dino. The small savings wasn't that important. Sometimes gassing up twice in the same day with the option of RUG without alcohol in OKC. That meant a lot of oil and many oil filters were used last year. I also kept up with posts at bitog and other wrangler forums.

    Oil useage:
    About the time I noticed a drop on the dipstick at ~60k miles , posts started to show up about oil burning. Even a local poster who was using 5w30 started using oil about the same mileage. Oil use on early jk's has been identified as manufacturing problems and the original pcv's. Bitog posts have shown up again with the thin as possible and as thick as necessary. Thin oil with high hths, is interesting. One post claimed the piston rings were weak and to keep the rpms down. Could it be carbon from the pcv blow thru.

    Oil in the intake:
    I posted about this a long time ago (and catch cans) and went thru the lousy crd design and still can't believe it should even exist. Had the dealer change out the working pcv valve just to see if things would change. Who needs to pull a suction thru the crankcase (a little bit of less resistance on the bottom end?) and suck oil into the intake plenum. I clean the throttle plate and reach in to clean some of the gunk but will not touch the screws and disassemble anything should an issue ever arise. Also there is the discussion about too frequent oil changes with oils having higher noack numbers aggravating oil in the intake with the pcv systems out there.

    Oil change chime;
    After the first reflash, my chime/message would go off ever 2499 miles no mattter what. One service person didn't know anything and another dealer's service manager said don't worry about it you are using a good synthetic and changing within the 6months 6K miles per the manual. Months later a post mentioned the dealer can change that oil change message to very 3k miles, hence the chime at 2499 for the oil change within the next 500 miles. Bingo come back to the dealer for that 3k mile change baloney.

    Gas:
    Two summers ago used mid grade and noticed better performance. Last summer bought RUG. Now with the last heat and humidity, went straight to premium since gas mileage has been dropping. Motor sounds better mileage still stinks. Gas climbing again so back to RUG for now. Yes I understand premium is for high compression and using it can cause carbon buildup and reduced mileage but it felt like the motor had a heavy 5w30 oil in it. Can the systems be messed up. Is the computer unable to effectively control timing. Is the knock sensor not working correctly. Someone posted that jeep can retard timing(but how far) but not advance the timing if things change, don't know. One can always do the disconnect battery trick to reset the computer. On a side note on another forum, someone posted about mileage dropping. Someone answered that so did theirs right before the tranny ate its' guts. A respected poster at bitog slipped in using mid grade gas in a civic in a post about something else. One response questioned that decision. I think that's where it ended. Even though alcohol has high octane rating, I believe he like others feel/know something too. Two years ago when I mentioned the 89 octane usage, an informed person said others are doing the half tank fill with premium then when down to half tank buy RUG.

    Who knows other than the shadow. Just ramblings...
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    Before buying the Kumho, I contacted Toyo about the new AT II. They confirmed the tire is coming but wouldn't confirm when or a direct stock rubicon replacement. Earlier this month, a safari hit found the tire picture at moderntiredealer. Discussion with Sean at SLC was the first knowledge of this tire coming which was supposed to be first quarter of 2013. Turns out that is the projected release for another new tire an AT/MT mix. Sounds familiar doesn't it like a present directional tire. Couldn't wait for a tire. Posted this because Toyo tires aren't in everybody's inventory. I have no complaints with the load range D on the H3 just can't afford a heavy tire on the stock rubicon. However it seems a tire thread keeps getting started all the time.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    edited August 2012
    Looks like I gave up more than my rim protectors. Like half the reviews for this tire, I gave up wet asphalt traction. I got a quiet tire and a nylon cap ply in its place. Everyone I talked to never repeated their purchase of Silent Armors, they moved to the next tire usually the hankook or falken. They liked the SA they wouldn't say why they didn't buy the same tire again. Won't be buying (again) the kumho made in Korea and shipped to TX discount tire from CA presumably after sitting there for well over a year in " the warehouse".
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    Gas. Believe in redline products even though I don't use the oil now because of my lifetime warranty. Believe in their FI cleaner even though the formula has changed since the "layer" doesn't exist at the bottom of the bottle. The price has gone up and even though it is the best over the counter product, I wondered how much upper cylinder lube is in it. With all the oil in intake, I wonder if it is needed. And yes car manufacturers say no additives at all and with the lifetime warranty is it worth the risk. Someone is using 87 octane and reduced MMO and claiming good engine performance. Yes, I even kept up with the latest MMO at Bitog in the pcmo thread. Just rambling again.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    Finally opened up the mag I got recently and the inside cover and next page was the toyo ad for the at2. Jumped to to toyo site because the LT265/70R17 is listed in the small white print in the mag ad. On their site that size was listed twice, one for white lettering and one for blackwall. Wow you don't even have to put the white lettering on the inside (sarcasm unless there is a blackwall for a substantially lower price).

    Now the good part, load range E. No thanks even if only 48lbs.

    You also lost a sale from me for new tires for the wife's H3. Have your load range D AT now and hate to watch the air pressure in the sweet spot where the steering doesn't feel like one is driving through glue or the center of the tire wears out.

    Good bye toyo.

    Slid in the rain with the 3k miles on the kumho's today as bad as the duratrac's did when they were down to 7/32 tread and 40K miles on them. But oh the duratrac noise after the weardown.

    I guess maybe one should never buy a little duty anything if it has load range C tires from the factory if one isn't going to mod the heck out of it. Or the search goes on.
  • tired_old_davetired_old_dave Member Posts: 710
    Almost started a new thread for check engine codes and messages but didn't. Other forums keep bringing up P0455. Got it yesterday. I don't rock crawl and bought a Rock Hard canister cover soon after JK purchase. In the past got the gas cap message and stopped and removed the locking gas cap and reinstalled it. Even though warranty on top of warranty, I checked with Autozone for the free diagnostic. Believe the purge valve is thirty dollars but the mature man said check your hoses. And before I left after talking him to death (it is what I do) he reiterated check your hoses. Sure enough the hose clip on the fuel filler tube closest to the plastic tank inlet was very loose. Of course the head of the screw drive was at the top just under the floor pan. Negative battery terminal off wait reinstall. Drove yesterday and all day today and no check engine light. On a side note, better-half and I got to meet Ed Wallace and donate a very small amount to his Christmas charity because there is a lot of need and without millions you can only do so much.
  • sportygrlysportygrly Member Posts: 1
    I may not know all the correct verbiage, but I know Jeeps well enough, as I had a '97 for 6 yrs and a 2005 for a few years. Now I have a 2008 (first time buying used) and have never been so disappointed. I had transmission issues, but luckily I knew it immediately and CarMax had 30 days warranty. I thought most Wranglers were pretty much alike, but apparently they keep changing them every so many years (not for the better). My gripe right now, is the soft top. Now remember, I know Jeeps. I do have to get used to the noise in the very front - that's different, but my issue is the back, side windows. I took them out several months back and only put them back on a few days ago (my first time with this type of top). On my other Wranglers, I had plastic all over - this one I have roll down windows. What I am having issues with is the piece of the window that is parallel to the door. The older models used to have a hard plastic piece along the side (just like on the bottom) which tucked under the metal. These don't have that. They apparently are just supposed to lay against the Jeep.. to be held in place by the door? I don't know, but there is nothing holding this side of the window down, so when I drive on the highway, it flaps in the wind and I have air flowing into the vehicle and causing drag. This is really annoying and I'm about to get some duct tape and tape it down. I shouldn't have to do this. The top corner (near the door) will not stay tucked under and stick to the velcro. What can I do. Please help!
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