First vehicle that's actually mine. 05 Liberty. Have a few questions.

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rock_minute

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I bought an 05 Jeep Liberty from a friend last week. It had been sitting in his driveway for a year and a half. The tires were busted, and there were a couple other maintenance things wrong. I needed a car ASAP, so I couldn't do the immediate work myself. I replaced the tires, and had my tire shop do an alignment, and fix a few other things that were wrong with it due to sitting for so long.

Now that it's registered and back in my driveway, and my long trip is over, I feel like I can start working on it myself. But being a new person to working on my car, I have a few questions:

1. A very small part of the headliner, by the driver side window, is starting to sag out from underneath that hard plastic. I tried to push it back in, but no good. Since it's just that small section (no more than 2, maybe 3 inches), can I just glue it back in place? The headliner will need to be replaced sooner or later, I know, but this is literally the only section that is sagging, and flaps in the wind when the windows are down, so a whole replacement isn't needed.

2. I did some searching on these forums. I'm assuming for anything sub-5-mph I leave overdrive off, right? Once I hit the highway I turn it on?

3. After two alignment checks, I still feel it pulling to the right when I let go the steering wheel. I'm assuming this is just the slant in the road, but I've never had a previous car put this much before. My friend told me about an area in our city where the roads are extremely flat. I'm going to go test is out there. But, what do you think? Should I get a second opinion, and not from my tire shop?

4. Before my second alignment to recorrect the pulling right issue (although it's still doing it), I SWEAR my car would slowly, and automatically, drive forward / backward while in Drive / Reverse when I let off the brake only (foot not on gas). I had thoroughly enjoyed this. But ever since the second alignment, it feels like it only happens sporadically now, and when it does, it feel SUPER slow in doing so. An alignment correction wouldn't tighten the brake calipers enough to stop this, would it?

5. Lastly, my friend completely broke off the driver side arm rest on the door (not the console, but the door). I looked online, and it looks ike I may need to buy a whole panel to replace it. But can I somehow glue it back on? Would it hold?

Thank you! I'm super excited to get working on this car. I have a friend teaching me how to do my own oil changes, etc, and some other mechanical work (though he's kinda new to this as well).
 

tommudd

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1. Yes could more than likely glue it with correct type of glue
2. You can leave OD button alone unless you are pulling something, running larger tires etc or want more power , personally mine is off until I hit 50-55 , but live where there are a lot of hills, sharp curves etc
3 . Check brake calipers that they are not sticking
4 . see # 3
5. whole panel
With it sitting that long you need to replace all fluids, brake , transmission, transfer case, front and rear diffs, cooling system , tune up with correct plugs etc
 

LibertyTC

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For the headliner 3M & Permatex makes a spray on adhesive. Try not to touch headliner with oily fingers, use gloves.
If you step on the gas and the jeep moves one way then remove the gas & it moves other direction at highway speeds, that will be the rear lower control arms.
There was a recall for them. Online you can enter in you VIN # to see if the recall was performed.
Link: https://www.mopar.com/en-us/my-vehicle/recalls/search.html
 

rock_minute

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1. Yes could more than likely glue it with correct type of glue
2. You can leave OD button alone unless you are pulling something, running larger tires etc or want more power , personally mine is off until I hit 50-55 , but live where there are a lot of hills, sharp curves etc
3 . Check brake calipers that they are not sticking
4 . see # 3
5. whole panel
With it sitting that long you need to replace all fluids, brake , transmission, transfer case, front and rear diffs, cooling system , tune up with correct plugs etc
Thanks for your help!

2. I do like in a city with LOTS of hills. Even on daily driving around my city, I run into hills especially going west to east, massive ones in fact. Maybe just keep it on? ((I'm assuming when the O/D Off light is Off, it means it's on.))

3. I'll check these out asap.

Here is the work that we've done on it so far.

All fluids have been flushed / changed. Replaced a leaking power fluid hose. Transmission pan gasket needed replaced. Alignment. I had the mechanic (the guy who did my tires, they are full service) do a "trip / mechanic" check, and said besides what I listed above, it's a good car. My AC needs a new condenser. Should I look at the rest on my own? transfer case, front / rear diffs. I don't have a garage to get it off the ground super high, so it'll all be done in my home garage. At least I want to. if it's too complicated, def will send it to the mechanic (not the tire guy, but the mechanic I actually trust).
 

rock_minute

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For the headliner 3M & Permatex makes a spray on adhesive. Try not to touch headliner with oily fingers, use gloves.
If you step on the gas and the jeep moves one way then remove the gas & it moves other direction at highway speeds, that will be the rear lower control arms.
There was a recall for them. Online you can enter in you VIN # to see if the recall was performed.
Link: https://www.mopar.com/en-us/my-vehicle/recalls/search.html
Thanks. I'm hitting the highway today and I'll see what exactly it does. Right now, all I've been doing is going 30 - 40 mph, releasing the steering wheel on a straightaway, and seeing it pull.

So I have two recalls. 1., the lower control arms. And 2., Fuel tank has a chance to leak upon low impact collisions.

Assuming I just take those to the dealership and they get 'em fixed right up>
 

tommudd

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The two recalls , yes contact dealer
rear lower control arms and for the gas tank they install a hitch
 

rock_minute

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3 . Check brake calipers that they are not sticking
I've looked on google on how to remove / clean the calipers. However, how do I check that they are not sticking? Could the bolts just be overtightened, and I need to loosen them? Is there a way to measure how tight they should be?
 

DadOSix

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I've looked on google on how to remove / clean the calipers. However, how do I check that they are not sticking? Could the bolts just be overtightened, and I need to loosen them? Is there a way to measure how tight they should be?
Watch that video some more. The first 2 bolts you take off are the caliper mounting bolts. They secure caliper to the bracket.

a sticking caliper is usually crusty caliper slide pins - where you took off the bolts. Those flat metal pins should slide and rotate freely with little tension. If they don’t, you’ve found a problem.

doesnt matter if kj or whatever. Disc brakes are very similar.

other instance is the pads are crudded up at their slide points in the caliper.

watch a brake pad change video for detail.

if you’ve never done this type of work, ask a buddy who does.

3rd place for stuck caliper is the piston itself, not retracting when brake pedal lets up.

if you do change the pads, use the hardware included! It is a bit tricky, but ensures a safe job.
 

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