Bought our second KJ - Bad news

[Dave]

^^I generally agree with Socks and Marlon about buying vehicles from a dealer that represents the brand you are buying......... But, Shaffer is in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains where it is God's Country and an hour and a half drive to any real civilization. Just mountains, and bear moose and deer and Shaffer up there. Anyway, you guys didn't realize where he is. On most roads up there it is a half hour or more drive just between houses and cell phones are dead. I have driven most of them many times.

So Shaffer, keep us posted on what happens.

Dave

 

[Marlon_JB2]

^^I generally agree with Socks and Marlon about buying vehicles from a dealer that represents the brand you are buying......... But, Shaffer is in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains where it is God's Country and an hour and a half drive to any real civilization. Just mountains, and bear moose and deer and Shaffer up there. Anyway, you guys didn't realize where he is. On most roads up there it is a half hour or more drive just between houses and cell phones are dead. I have driven most of them many times.

So Shaffer, keep us posted on what happens.

Dave

Ah. It's all a matter of personal preference. I'd have still taken the drive. Also, talking down dealers isn't at all difficult. I use this method called leaving. They usually run to catch you. Works every time.

 

[jnaut]

Ah. It's all a matter of personal preference. I'd have still taken the drive. Also, talking down dealers isn't at all difficult. I use this method called leaving. They usually run to catch you. Works every time.

Best time to buy a vehicle is when you don't need one.

It'll amaze you at how many vehicles get sold as a "loss".

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Ah. It's all a matter of personal preference. I'd have still taken the drive. Also, talking down dealers isn't at all difficult. I use this method called leaving. They usually run to catch you. Works every time.

Very well said Marlon.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

This is just my way of doing business when it come to buying a motor vehicle.
If I am serious about buying said vehicle, I take it to an independent "Canadian Automobile Association" (AAA for the USA) Certified/Authorized mechanic and have the vehicle completely inspected. At which time you can decide weather or not the vehicle is worth purchasing. With this written (And dealer recognized) report you can go back to any licensed dealer and hit the bargaining table to establish a selling price.
The least the dealer can say is no!
There are enough vehicles on the used auto market to choose from. So what if you have to drive an hour or two to purchase a vehicle! If the buyer does not take all the precautions and steps to ensure that they are buying what they think is a good reliable suitable motor vehicle, then it is the fault of the purchaser, not the seller, as they want to unload problematic (lemons) for as much as possible. After all, they are in it for the money and nothing else.
I would also insist in a written clause in the sales contract that if the vehicle is problematic that they get it back within 30 days.
If the dealership says no.
Go to another dealer!
It's not like there are not enough in North America!
It is after all "Buyer beware" and a dealership is under no obligation to disclose body damage (here in BC under $3000) of mechanical problems.
This, after all is why dealers get and have poor reputations!
And if spending 10's of thousands of dollars for a vehicle is not good enough incentive to spend some time traveling to buy the "right vehicle" , then, you get what you pay for and ultimately it's your own fault and problem!
If what I just typed here hurts or offends you, then maybe you needed to be offended.

 

[ShafferNY]

We got the Jeep back a few days ago and it's been running great. No complaints.

I finally got an invoice from the Jeep dealer and it looks like all they did was replace both head gaskets. Other than that, the only other parts on the invoice are those related to changing them, such as the intake gasket, throttle body gasket....

I believe it was the left cylinder head gasket that let go according to the invoice because it says..."gasket,cylinder head - replace (left)". Then it starts listing parts.

It was throwing a code for cylinder 5 random/multiple misfires...I thought cylinder 5 was on the passenger's side. That doesn't make sense.

None the less, we got it back and it's running great.

 

[Marlon_JB2]

We got the Jeep back a few days ago and it's been running great. No complaints.

I finally got an invoice from the Jeep dealer and it looks like all they did was replace both head gaskets. Other than that, the only other parts on the invoice are those related to changing them, such as the intake gasket, throttle body gasket....

I believe it was the left cylinder head gasket that let go according to the invoice because it says..."gasket,cylinder head - replace (left)". Then it starts listing parts.

It was throwing a code for cylinder 5 random/multiple misfires...I thought cylinder 5 was on the passenger's side. That doesn't make sense.

None the less, we got it back and it's running great.

From my understanding, if you're standing in front of the KJ looking at the engine with the hood open... the cylinder order is like this

6-5
4-3
2-1

 

[k99jk99j]

great i am glad this saga is coming to a good ending! any listing on the invoice for head work? i guess it was overheated at one point (causing the headgasket failure)? mike

 

[Dave]

None the less, we got it back and it's running great.

Good .... Now you can enjoy it.

Dave

 

[adamkrz]

Mine went in to the dealer Fri. for p0300 & p0306 codes, I've had these on and off for a couple of years and it wasn't the plugs or coil packs, It ran perfect so I never bothered with it.

Anyway they called and said it was internal and covered under the 7/70 warranty, That's great because I have over 60k on it and it's over 5 years old now.

We just got hit with a snowstorm with another coming tomorrow and all I have to drive is my kid's civic, Man I miss my KJ..

 

[offrovering]

sounds like they tried to make right.

hope they machined the heads

 

[ShafferNY]

Well, we've had it for a few weeks now and it runs like a champ.

To my knowledge there was no machine work to the heads, just an inspection by the machine shop.

I was told that the machine shop has to inspect the heads before they went back on or they wouldn't cover it under the 7/70 warranty.

I'm happy with the vehicle and I'm satisfied with the way they handled it. I think they handled the whole situation as best they could.

 

[offrovering]

thats all you can hope for. as long as they inspected them, that is fine, they would be able to tell if they needed to be machined. I would bet you didnt have an overheat but just a faulty gasket or something

 

[ShafferNY]

That's what I'm thinking.

From my experiene, aluminium heads are almost disposable. They crack, warp, etc. They don't deal well with overheating at all. Cast iron is a little more forgiving.

 

[adamkrz]

Dealer has had mine for 2 days , No news yet, Also have 2 cracks in my windshield that may wait till winters over with.

 

[snowsport]

Also have 2 cracks in my windshield that may wait till winters over with.

My KJ is nearly ready for its 4th windshield. But I think I'll wait til spring too....

 

[adamkrz]

Just got it back, All new intake valves and all the other parts to remove and replace, On the work sheet it states that the valves were pitted.Done under warranty w/100 deductable.

Well I guess I'm a happy camper, Glad to have the jeep back.

 

[ShafferNY]

Well...This is where this story ends.

We were driving the Jeep tonight and the check engine light came back on. Since we were 10 minutes from the Jeep dealer that performed all the work we took it right back there.

They pulled the codes and it looks like cylinder three is misfiring this time. They did a leak down test and it was about 2%. You don't get much better than that. They tested the injector and coils and they were fine. They tried swapping things around to see if the problem would follow from one cylinder to the next and it did not.

Long story short. I'm done with it. I contacted the guy I bought it from while we were at the Jeep dealer and told him what was going on.

I think he kinda knew I had had enough and couldn't blame me. He wasn't going to argue with me. He said to come in tomorrow and see what we can work out. He's got an '07 Liberty Sport sitting on his lot with about the same milage.

Tell ya the truth, I'm a little gun shy about taking anything from this dealer at this point.

Sad part about it is, I already made the first payment on this Jeep and it wasn't even due yet. Maybe I can get it refunded. ha-ha.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Best of luck with ya and I hope everything gets sorted.
If not, see if you can go after the stealership legally.
Failling that, smear them.
Remember what they say, if you tell one person one bad thing, they will tell ten people, and so on and so.

 

[k99jk99j]

get the tsb done and you will be good to go! unfortunatly it was mis diagnosed to begin with and you are going to have to be assertive to get it diagnosed and fixed right with the tsb. good luck! mike