Newbie with some questions

[punkguy]

Well I'm looking at purchasing a Liberty and I have been poking around here for about a week now. I have a couple Renegades I'm looking at getting and I was wondering if there was anything I should be looking for in particular that these vehicles have problems with?
I read that the lights on top of the Renegades might whistle?
Do the trannys hold up descent in these?
I'm not worried about gas mileage cuz anything is better then the Ram that I had! Any other info I should look for would be great. I come from the Dodge forum and I look forward to being in this community in the near future!

 

[ms5490renegade]

my light bar doesnt whistle. i suggest getting a v6 with the rock rails and tow package. you never know when you might need to tow something.

 

[punkguy]

Thats good to hear about the lights, thanks. I have a boat to pull around so the tow package is a must.

Is there any common problems that the Liberty has that I should look for when test driving them?

 

[kb0nly]

If you get a Rene with the lightbar make sure it has all four of the covers for the lights, they are hard as hell to find from what i have read on here and most states will ticket you for not having them covered... Other than that, i haven't heard anyone on here or other Jeep forums say their lightbar whistles going down the road.

Common problems???

Hmm.. I know of one. When you test drive it run the front and rear windows up and down all the way a half dozen times, to check for a broken or failing window regulator, thats the only common problem the Liberty has.

As for the gas mileage, yeah your going to gain over the Ram, trust me on that!!

 

[sleeve]

Common Issues:

Post 2004 - Window Regulator failures. There is a Chrysler fix now, but they charge you for it.

All Model years - body seam (behind the rear flipper glass) is prone to rusting. Inspect the area with the rear glass open and you will see where the upper half of the body meets the lower. At that seam - there are rusting KJ's. Also check the rear doors for rust at the lower door seam area.

All Model years, except 2007 [too new] - plastic radiator end caps are prone to developing a hairline crack on the driver side which isn't catastrophic but annoying. You can either epoxy the crack as a patch [temporary] or replace the radiator.

Renny Models have a 160A alternator

Regular KJs [limited and Sport] will have a 132A alternator

2002-april 2003 KJ's have a 45RFE transmission out of the dodge ram. Post [some pre] April 2003 KJ's have a 42RLE transmission. Both are fine and will last as long as you take care of them. - just FYI

Post April 2003 - all KJ's had rear disk brakes, Pre April were drums in the rear.

Post April 2003 KJ's had a 19.5 gallon gas tank. Pre April only had 18.5 gallons.

Watch for flickering lights in the insturment cluster. This is a sign that the multifunction stalk [lights and turn signal arm side] has a bum connection in it. Not hard to repair - but just FYI.

Verify that the lower ball joint recall was done. [enter the vin into the Jeep.com website and it'll notify you of any outstanding recalls]

Tow Package is highly recommended... comes with a 7 pin harness for trailer brakes. KJ is not pre-wired for a trailer brake controller though. [I'll dig up the post on install instructions if you need a controller]

I'm sure there is more...


Edit: See Kb's post - there are a few KJ's that have the 42RLE, Rear Disks, Retuned Powersteering curve and shorter springs before the April Cut off. All of these models were 2003 era though.

 

[kb0nly]

Post April 2003 - all KJ's had rear disk brakes, Pre April were drums in the rear.

Nope...

Seems my Feb 2003 KJ is an exception to most of these. I have rear disc brakes and i'm pre April, i also have the 42RLE Trans.

 

[sleeve]

Right there were onezies and twozies that went down the assembly line before the April 20th switch over. For general shopping purposes though - these are the basic rules of the KJ.

 

[punkguy]

Thanks for all the info guys! Ram ****** huh........great, i was hoping to get away from that! I'll keep my eyes open for everything you listed. Hopefully I'll have some pics posted of the new girl by this weekend! Thanks again.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Welcome.....

punkguy, what engine did your Ram have. I have an 05 Hemi Durango, and it gets no worse mileage than the KJ!SHOCKED.gif

 

[kb0nly]

Welcome.....

punkguy, what engine did your Ram have. I have an 05 Hemi Durango, and it gets no worse mileage than the KJ!SHOCKED.gif

Wow your KJ must get bad mileage then?? I average 24-25mpg.

 

[kb0nly]

Thanks for all the info guys! Ram ****** huh........great, i was hoping to get away from that! I'll keep my eyes open for everything you listed. Hopefully I'll have some pics posted of the new girl by this weekend! Thanks again.

Only if you buy an 02' or early 03' model year KJ that ended up with one. If your looking at an 03' count the bolts in the trans pan to find out.

15 bolts is 45RFE from the Ram
13 bolts is 42RLE

But both are good trans. From what i see online its just the accumulator plate that can fail on the 45RFE.

 

[punkguy]

'99 1500 5.9L (360) Wanna buy it! It has a custom snapped crankshaft and everything

 

[HoosierJeeper]

'99 1500 5.9L (360) Wanna buy it! It has a custom snapped crankshaft and everything

Ahh....your KJ will be like a Prius compared to that!!!

 

[punkguy]

haha i know. I was averaging around 14-15 with the Ram though......which for the most part, is a lot better then what most people were getting with theres.

 

[Dave]

Don't forget the Pic's......(popcorn)

Oh, and welcome.

Dave

 

[kb0nly]

'99 1500 5.9L (360) Wanna buy it! It has a custom snapped crankshaft and everything

(lol)

perfect10.gif

 

[punkguy]

Thanks and I will be sure to post pics of the new KJ and put everything in my sig for you guys.

 

[Marlon_JB2]

Where's those pics? LOL.

I'm j/k. We're really not THAT impatient around here.

Oh, and I haven't seen one single '03 with rear drum brakes. Period.

 

[punkguy]

Havent bought one yet. I'm waiting on a few people that supposedly "want" to "sell" there Libertys but dont check there email or put a phone number in the ad where I can reach them at.

 

[TAHOE]

As stated before...
window regulator problems, ball joint faliures, 2005 had issues with burnt valves ( waiting for ours to die someday, I just keep adding cleaner to tank in hopes of preventing the carbon build up)
My wife gets maybe 15-16 mpg in the city on her 05, maybe 21-22 on highway.