2007 ****** Trouble?

[MarkB]

I have a 2007 Liberty Sport. It has approx. 5500 miles on it. Since new it has surged and felt like it was cutting out at 35 mph. I have taken it back to the dealer 4 times and they have tried a PCM, replacing plugs, switching injectors and most recent replaced the torque converter along with new software. The last corrected the problem for approx. 1500 miles. Now it is back and worse. The service manager claimed he drove 2 other new ones off the lot and they had the same problem. Now he is telling me the new converter is bad and it is a manufacturing flaw. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? This is my first Jeep. I really like the Liberty but, can't stand the surging. Let me know,
Mark in Texas

 

[JeepJeepster]

Could just be the normal dead spot. They upshift into 4th to early which lugs the engine. If they have any used 04+ Jeeps on the lot, see if they will let you take one for a spin to see if it does it too.

Try pushing the little button on the side of the gear shift to see if that changes anything.

 

[MarkB]

Tried all of the above. Plus cruise on, cruise off traction control on, and off a/c on and off, no effect. It will drive you nuts. Started out at 35 mph. Now it is from 35 - 55. Actually feels like it is about to die at times.

 

[tjkj2002]

The surge is normal for the 42RLE ******.

The dead spot leads me to believe 1 of 2 things are messed up:1st is the Throttle Position Sensor is bad:2nd the "drive by wire" throttle is messed up or not calibrated.

I have a really hard time thinking a bad torque converter will cause your dead spot,but with the "drive by wire" throttle anything could be possible.

 

[MarkB]

Thats the thing doesn't feel like a dead spot. Its not like you come to a dead spot and can just speed up a little and get past it. I have experienced those before on other vehicles. This actually feels like a hard miss in 3 cylinders.

 

[MarkB]

The first trip to the dealer. Service actually told me it was random mis-firing on 1,3,6. This was at 1,306 miles. They told me I got some bad gas and that they replaced the spark plugs and added some fuel treatment. I wasn't born yesterday! Bad gas does not differentiate between cylinders. If it were true I had bad gas it would random mis-fire on all 6.

 

[Atrus]

I think I know what you're talking about. I've experienced it slightly on my '07. It's been rare and not very severe for me from what I can remember. I'll pay more close attention. I'll try and see what happens on the way home from the office.

I may be kind of numb to it. My last car did that...I noticed it at 50k miles and it was still doing it at 130k when I sold it. A lot of people had the same issue - some replaced the torque converter control solenoid, some replaced/cleaned the valve body, some re-flashed the PCM, some did a full rebuild. In each case, some people had success and some didn't. I left well enough alone as there was no guaranteed cure and I wasn't about to drop cash into a "maybe" solution. So, I may not really notice it as easily.

 

[MoladoGuy]

Any MIL light and codes?

 

[MarkB]

No codes or any lights. The problem has worsened with the replaced converter. It feels like a miss but, could very well be a shutter from the converter not locking solid. With the original converter it was only noticable between 35 and 40 or until it shifted to overdrive. Once the converter locked and it shifted into overdrive it ran like a top. The biggest problem is the majority of the streets around town are 35 mph. Therefore it will drive you crazy.

 

[tjkj2002]

No codes or any lights. The problem has worsened with the replaced converter. It feels like a miss but, could very well be a shutter from the converter not locking solid. With the original converter it was only noticable between 35 and 40 or until it shifted to overdrive. Once the converter locked and it shifted into overdrive it ran like a top. The biggest problem is the majority of the streets around town are 35 mph. Therefore it will drive you crazy.

Take it back to the dealer and have them check the fluid level and then have then do a "quick relearn" on the ******,that might help.It seems that the KJ's trannies act funny after a fluid change(which was done when your converter was changed) without the qiuck relearn done on them.

 

[MarkB]

That's the deal. This re-designed converter required a complete new program. When it was doing this with the old converter, engineering was going to re-write the software and realized the new software wasn't compatible with the old converter. Then we had to wait on the new converter to arrive and there was 5 pages of instruction for the change. This was the first one of these that the dealer has done. They were in communication with engineering the whole time.

 

[MarkB]

Well the dealer sent a truck to pick it up today. They are going to get the Chrysler service rep to make a call on what to do. Hopefully they will get a resolution one way or the other.

 

[07Latitude]

My 07 shudders and short-shifts too. It likes to labor in high gear as stated previously by others. Around town, I revert to driving w/the traction control off and the O/D off...not that it helps much.

My trans has been rough from the start also: Day 2 of owning it, I found the shift cable was misaligned and partially disconnected. So, I had to figure out where Drive was so I could limp it to the dealership.

I also had them repeatedly look at the trans for my trans issues. They did a quicklearn which helped my shifting issues some (locked up at a slightly different point--not quite as early, but it is still much more rough to drive/jerky than my girlfriend's 06. Part of it is the crap throttle response of the "drive by wire" electronic throttle found new for 2007. I've recalibrated the electronic throttle and that too helped a little bit.

Most of the time I'm manually shifting it though, as it won't downshift when it should, and typically upshifts when it shouldn't. Not to mention, if I have to pull into traffic and it isn't FULLY warmed up, it lags before downshifting and taking off (almost like a stumble/hesitation, only it is caused by the trans not the motor misfiring).

So, let me/us know how it pans out for you. I'd be curious what they say.

 

[Atrus]

How did you do the throttle recalibration? Was this something you can do yourself, or something the dealer has to do?

That's really my one complaint...I don't care for the electronic throttle. Just seems very sluggish.

 

[07Latitude]

How did you do the throttle recalibration? Was this something you can do yourself, or something the dealer has to do?

That's really my one complaint...I don't care for the electronic throttle. Just seems very sluggish.

Search here and the LOST board. I believe you turn the key on and leave it for like 15 or 20 seconds, depress the throttle (not missile-fast, but not super slow either) to the floor and back up ONCE (some people say twice, but I heard once is the correct way), and turn the key back off.

Search though, as I may be off on the timing or whatnot.

 

[Atrus]

Cool, thanks - I'll look it up. I'd like to give that a shot.

 

[MarkB]

I did get a call from the service manager on Monday. He said he wasn't getting much support from engineering with a fix. He told me he was ordering a NEW complete ****** assembly from Jeep. Hopefully they will get it installed before the weekend so I can give it the true test. I will keep you updated on the results. My confidence level is declining. This is the same service manager that said he drove 2 new ones off the line and they had the same problem. Now he is back peddling saying he thought it was the same but, he really had to concentrate to feel it. You don't have to concentrate on mine. In fact this past week 2 different times if you let off slightly and then re-applied light throttle it felt like someone hit me from behind. Felt like 1/2 a rotation of slack in the driveline with a loud clank to go with it.

 

[RickM]

Does your state have a lemon law? If it's been back to the dealer that many times for the same problem, it's time to get a new car or get your money back.

My 04 Liberty seemed to shift into over drive waaaaaaaaay too early. After it had shifted into OD, and I needed to accelerate, I had to push down on the accelerator pedal quite a ways to get it to shift down and out of OD. Everytime I did this, it seemed like a big hesitation or lag... anyway, it was strange. I'm happy to say my 08 Liberty doesn't have the same problem

 

[MarkB]

Yes, we have the lemon law. This is the 5th trip but, only the 4th repair order since they left one of the ROs open for 2 trips. Our lemon law is 4 unsuccessful attempts for the same problem during the warranty period. This is the final one. I hope it will be fixed but, if not I do like the 08s.

 

[JIMMY JEEP]

Is the throttle re calibration teqhnique possible on the CRD ,and if so can some one post the linky to the item on Lost I've looked but had no luck.
Also i thought ****** Trouble was when you met a girl in a bar and shortly later you discovered she had the wrong under carriage.