New KJ owner, some issues

[Blackhawk77]

Hey all,
Picked up a really clean 2002 limited with the 3.7 and 150k miles last night. These are a couple issues that I have noticed so far, hopefully you guys can help provide some guidance or feedback. It's our first Jeep and my son's first car so I'd really like to enjoy it.

1. After a little spirited driving on the way home last night I noticed thin blue smoke coming out the tail pipe a idle and while accelerating. It runs smoothly though with no check engine lights and doesn't sound like any abnormal noise while running.

My first thought is to replace the PCV valve, I do hear the rattling when I shake the one that is on there and I noticed the line going to the intake definitely has some oil in it. I'm guessing it may have some blowby at 150k and will probably try a catch can after that if the PCV valve doesn't help. It is just a car for my son to get around town at moment so if it runs good but uses oil I may try to just keep it running as long as I can without getting into the motor. Compression and leakdown tests will be done if I can't get the smoking to go away.



2. The speedo doesn't work at all. From what I've read it looks like it could be the wire to the speed sensor or the sensor itself. I'll be trying to trace that one back this weekend.


3. The car blows hot air even with the selector on cold. Guessing a blend door problem or potentially a problem with the control module.

Thanks in advance for any advice or feedback.

 

[Billwill]

Check my recent reply to another post about the speedo not working.

I also posted a link to the Service Manuals for all years except 2004.

Apart from the Wiring Diagrams there are Theory Of Ops sections that explain things such as how the Blend Door operates!

 

[Blackhawk77]

Thanks, I'll check it out. The saga continues, there is no check engine light but the code scanner shows p0158, p1495, p0141, and p0551. Does the check engine light normally flash with the indicators when starting the car up? I am afraid they may have disabled it some how. I will try pushing the odometer reset as mentioned in the other thread if that will light all indicators.

 

[LibertyTC]

I am beginning to wonder if your Jeep is feeling a little insulted...
62388[/ATTACH]"]

You must be registered for see images attach

Anyways...You do have to deal with the 02 sensor codes etc, use NTK sensors, Jeep will like it.
The light blue oil issue/consumption, replace the pcv, clean the lines out, do a oil & filter change, use Valvoline MaxLife High Mileage, with a blue bottle of STP in there, and see if the smoke is better, & consumption is reduced.
The max life will help with stem seal conditioning, and the STP will coat the rings and offer a bit better compression.
Hope you can sort out the speedometer issue & also the heater.
The Jeep likes fresh gear oil in the rear diff frequently, and only refer to your owners manual for the correct fluid specifications.
Is yours a 4x4? No history of repair?

 

[Blackhawk77]

Ok got it, Jeep not a car It is a 4x4 and there are no records of work done.

The story gets worse actually, the check engine light does't light up at all. :favorites68: Apparently the car was due for emissions and the seller must not have wanted to fix it. I'll have a year until I get an emissions test notice to get things sorted out so I will start with the O2sensors (NTK only, got it) and see if that helps.


Also found out it was registered with 180k on the clock in 2012 and magically was registered at only 136K in 2017. I'm guessing the mileage on the motor is more like 250k unless it was replaced already at some point.

I'm going to throw on a catch can with with new pcv valve. Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely try the oil and additive for sure.

Thanks for your help, trying to make my sons first Jeep a good experience and not a nightmare.

I am beginning to wonder if your Jeep is feeling a little insulted...
62390[/ATTACH]"]

You must be registered for see images attach

Anyways...You do have to deal with the 02 sensor codes etc, use NTK sensors, Jeep will like it.
The light blue oil issue/consumption, replace the pcv, clean the lines out, do a oil & filter change, use Valvoline MaxLife High Mileage, with a blue bottle of STP in there, and see if the smoke is better, & consumption is reduced.
The max life will help with stem seal conditioning, and the STP will coat the rings and offer a bit better compression.
Hope you can sort out the speedometer issue & also the heater.
The Jeep likes fresh gear oil in the rear diff frequently, and only refer to your owners manual for the correct fluid specifications.
Is yours a 4x4? No history of repair?

 

[GitEmSteveDave]

Do you have any recourse to the seller? Did they offer some guarantee of drivability? Can you prove they rolled back the odo?

 

[Blackhawk77]

Private party, you are pretty much hosed when you sign the bill of sale. The guy said there were no mechanical issues. We did call him and he didn't even deny knowing the Jeep had issues, he just kept saying you signed the bill of sale. Karma will catch up to him some day.

Shame on me for not throwing a code scanner on it and running the VIN, it won't happen again. It was 1800 bucks, luckily I do most things myself. I may keep an eye out for a good deal on a local spare motor I can rebuild. The body has had some rust repaired but is in decent shape and the interior isn't too bad.

Do you have any recourse to the seller? Did they offer some guarantee of drivability? Can you prove they rolled back the odo?

 

[Billwill]

Yeah if you remove and open up the cluster you may find some of the LEDS soldered onto the main board have been pried off to kill any warning lights!

 

[Blackhawk77]

I'll find out soon enough, I found a cluster on ebay with pretty much the same miles I will be swapping in.

Yeah if you remove and open up the cluster you may find some of the LEDS soldered onto the main board have been pried off to kill any warning lights!

 

[JasonJ]

Yeah if you remove and open up the cluster you may find some of the LEDS soldered onto the main board have been pried off to kill any warning lights!

It wouldn't surprise me to find that the entire cluster was replaced previously... I presume the mileage is stored within the cluster like most other vehicles... would explain the mileage discrepancy.

At $1800, you've got some room to do some pretty major repairs as needed and still come away in good shape, provided you then retain ownership and drive/use the vehicle. Trying to flip it at that point might not recover all the money invested, but if it's a practical vehicle for you and it gets used, then it doesn't matter what you could sell it for.

If you're already considering engine replacement, then I would go ahead and try every band-aid, backyard mechanic, bubba said so way to remedy the engine oil consumption/burning issue. Nothing to lose really.