New in CT

[mmc757]

Greetings all.

Just bought an 05 Liberty Limited, ATX, selec-trac, light khaki, 3.7 for my 16 yr old daughter.
Definitely going to need a few minor things to get it up to where it should be but the engine sounds great. It does have 165K on it, but Im kind of past the point in my life where I stress about a number. Will post pics later, dont have any yet.

The bad that I know of so far:
-front bumper is a little smashed up by the p side blinker light, including the lens for the light.
-Rear bumper is cracked in the license plate area
-dent on the rear p side fender
-Blower only works on 4
-Some suspicious noises from the rear suspension...havent looked close under there yet.
-The alloy wheels leak slowly due to corrosion

The good:
-Cant find a spec of rust
-Exactly the vehicle we were looking for
-The exterior parts that arent listed above are in extremely good shape - the paint looks brand new.
-Interior is a little worn, but in good shape
-New tires
-Its a Jeep

I'm originally from the Denver area, but have been in the Navy for 17 years, so Ct is home now. Married with two daughters, 5 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 frogs.

Current other vehicles: 01 Mercury Cougar (mine):icon_smile:, 07 Ram 1500 (hers):icon_smile:
Past vehicles: 03 Durango:yawn:, 95 Grand Cherokee ltd:icon_smile:, 94 Dodge Colt:yawn:, 85 RX-7p:, 86 Chevy Spectrump:p:, 87 Samurai:icon_smile:.

I am over my trolling days, so I am here to learn about the vehicle and hopefully provide some insight in return once I am up to speed. I do pretty much all of my own maintenance except for oil changes (not worth it) and things that cant be done with normal tools.
In the immediate future (this weekend) I will be doing plugs, air filter, PCV, and getting all the fluids done, as well as trying to research the blower issue (suspect resistor, anyone confirm?). Any other recommendations as to things I should do immediately? I dont have any information about how religious the previous owner was about maintenance, but my guess would be not that good.
The kid is just now really starting to learn how to drive, so this is her training wheels over the next few months. Turns out trying to teach her in the Ram or the Cougar just wasnt working. She was afraid of the Cougar because its a stick and because its so low to the ground, and I was afraid in the Ram because its just too much truck for a timid learner. I think the Liberty will be perfect though, and will give me lots of piece of mind once she gets her license and hits the road on her own.

Scott

 

[Dave]

Welcome to the forum Scott. Thanks for your service to Our Country.

I am sure your daughter will like the KJ. The selec-trac will be good for her. She can set it in full-time and not worry about different road surfaces and be safe. The heater working on only "4" is probably the blower resistor as you suspect. Changing all the fluids is a good start since you don't know how the prior owner serviced it. If you have an owners manual (in the slot above the glove box) it will help. If not you can download one off the jeep.com website under owners services. You can also request a "build sheet" from jeep and it will give you all the options and specs that were in it when it left the factory. The information will be helpfull. There are a lot of how-to's and people on here to help.

There was a lower ball joint recall and you can find out if it was done on the jeep.com website under owners services "recalls" by putting in the vin#. Since it was a recall they are obliged to do it at no cost.

Enjoy the forum.

Dave

 

[mmc757]

Thanks Dave.
Replaced my plugs the other night, no major issues but an 18" ratchet extension would be helpful.
Did the Blower resistor today; How-to's on this were very helpful. IAT the steps in the how-to's, I also blew out the contacts with electronic cleaner, and lubed the plastic casing of the new one a little bit with some dielectric grease since it appears that I can expect to do this job again someday.
Also did the PCV today. The old one was NASTY! First thing I did was shatter the three way fitting leading from the two valve covers to the air box while trying to move that line out of the way so I could better access the PCV... Turns out messing with these lines probably isnt a good idea in 14 degree weather! Ill replace that whole line of brittle plastic tubing with some nice heavy duty rubber stuff tonight or tomorrow.

Decided the $400 quote I got to do the fluids is completely ridiculous so Ill do all the oils myself this weekend or early next week and just get the coolant flush done professionally. $140 at autozone gets me all the oil and filters I need so...yeah.

 

[mmc757]

Fixed the broken PCV inlet line today. Used some nice heavy duty rubber hose and plastic fittings. Should hold up much better than the brittle OEM stuff.

Next up: troubleshoot the D side speakers and change the fluids.

 

[jeeper4life]

Welcome! sounds like you got some stuff to fix heh

 

[mmc757]

Got the oil and front diff done today.
Changed the trans. oil too but had the wrong filter from the parts store, and didnt have other wheels available to go get the right one so I had to put the old filter back in again. Went back to the parts store afterwards, and they didnt charge me the extra $12 for the right filter, but they would not give me a break on the extra 4 quarts of ATF-4 I need to buy now. Wont be going back to that advance auto again...
Note to self: next time get a new transmission oil pan first, then just punch a hole in the old one in order to drain it. That will be much easier and cleaner. Will see if I can get one after Xmas now that I have the right filter.
When I do that, I still need to get the rear diff and the Xfer case done.
Also ordered a new gatorback belt. Tried to just buy one at the goodyear store but they said they cant sell parts, and that they would have to install it for me. They charge in 1/2 hr increments so it would have been like $75 for a $20 belt and three minutes of work. SCREW THAT. Nearest authorized distributor is like 45 minutes away so I just ordered one off amazon.

So...updated to-do list:

Change Trans. oil AGAIN.
Rear diff oil change
Xfer case oil change
belt
troubleshoot and fix left speakers
Coolant flush

While I had it on the lift, I was able to closely inspect the bottom. All the rubber parts look good, no obvious leaks or anything, so thats good.