Grand Cherokee will it stay or will it go ?

[macabethiel]

As I have posted previously her indoors is not smitten with the Jeep but things are looking much better as this weekend the final part of the jigsaw is sorted.

First improvement was the tracking being miles out on the offside front last phase has been new drop links for the rear ARB.
The Jeep was already fitted with the ADCO aftermarket upgrade so should have been sound but the extra stiffness is hard on the ARB links and the rubbers were shot. http://www.wjjeeps.com/swaybars.htm .Yesterday the rear ARB links were finally fitted as it needed new bolts. Picked her up today and it's a transformation in steering response and lack of clatter / nose from the rear suspension. Might need to do the clamp bushes in the future busy trying to source possible replacements on Amazon.

She is going on a run to Chester on Wednesday so it should give me a good idea of its mpg on a run up to now its been a return of 23.2, 27.19 & 30.15 mpg over three tank fulls of fuel.

Added to the mix is memory fade and getting used to as new drive experience so am optimistic that it might get through its probabtionary period ! lol

 

[johnb5177]

It is quite interesting, that you have had to correct these faults to make it a nice drive. Maybe the previous owner moved it on because of the poor drive?

Because you have the common sense and knowledge, you have turned the car around........I wonder how often this happens?

I also wonder about the ability, or lack of, that previous technicians did not find these faults.....:nenau

 

[macabethiel]

Reasons for owner sale ?

It is quite interesting, that you have had to correct these faults to make it a nice drive. Maybe the previous owner moved it on because of the poor drive?

Because you have the common sense and knowledge, you have turned the car around........I wonder how often this happens?

I also wonder about the ability, or lack of, that previous technicians did not find these faults.....:nenau

I too wondered what the reason for selling was it had been owned for only 18 months by the last keeper. It came with full service history from new with no gaps but there were a couple of repair bills from the last keeper one dated November 2014 for a whopping £1014 from a firm in Wolverhampton who had replaced the gearlever mechanism the part being a tad under £700 ! The gearbox sump had been inspected and found to be debris free with a new sump filter and ATF.

My guess is that bigish bill might have scared him. Its obviously had some drive shaft boots replaced recently and if you can't do it yourself thats a big labour charge.

I had the Techie at work look over it and he found only one future issue and that was that the heat exchanger for the aircon that sits in front of the radiator had sagged a little in the middle so was likely to need replacing in the future. Only immediate job is to get the rear end Waxoyled when the weather warms up a little.

Buying a used vehicle is always a risk but up to now I have never had a major component failure such as engine or gearbox but I am a stickler for doing things like changing axle oils and transfer case oil when I buy a motor with 70k pus miles on.

Yesterday I went to a local smallholding that has a Farm Shop where I buy my Duck Eggs. The bloke there bought a Range Rover it's an 03 plate that he has had for about 6 months. When he bought it I said I did not have enough money to throw into a potential money pit even though I like them to look at.

I had to restrain a smug expression when he told me what he had spent on it this year though he was evasive as to the full cost as his wife was in earshot. New low pressure fuel pump in tank, new injectors,new relay unit, new glow plugs, new crankase breather filter to stop the smoke when reversing or stationary. He has also lost some LCD display on part of the dash as well. But it does look nice !

 

[Banshee]

I too wondered what the reason for selling was it had been owned for only 18 months by the last keeper. It came with full service history from new with no gaps but there were a couple of repair bills from the last keeper one dated November 2014 for a whopping £1014 from a firm in Wolverhampton who had replaced the gearlever mechanism the part being a tad under £700 ! The gearbox sump had been inspected and found to be debris free with a new sump filter and ATF.

My guess is that bigish bill might have scared him. Its obviously had some drive shaft boots replaced recently and if you can't do it yourself thats a big labour charge.

I had the Techie at work look over it and he found only one future issue and that was that the heat exchanger for the aircon that sits in front of the radiator had sagged a little in the middle so was likely to need replacing in the future. Only immediate job is to get the rear end Waxoyled when the weather warms up a little.

Buying a used vehicle is always a risk but up to now I have never had a major component failure such as engine or gearbox but I am a stickler for doing things like changing axle oils and transfer case oil when I buy a motor with 70k pus miles on.

Yesterday I went to a local smallholding that has a Farm Shop where I buy my Duck Eggs. The bloke there bought a Range Rover it's an 03 plate that he has had for about 6 months. When he bought it I said I did not have enough money to throw into a potential money pit even though I like them to look at.

I had to restrain a smug expression when he told me what he had spent on it this year though he was evasive as to the full cost as his wife was in earshot. New low pressure fuel pump in tank, new injectors,new relay unit, new glow plugs, new crankase breather filter to stop the smoke when reversing or stationary. He has also lost some LCD display on part of the dash as well. But it does look nice !

Quality :thumb2

Fair play mate, I'm glad you've stuck it out, I feel partly responsible given I was egging you on to buy it :lol

Hope it passes it's probation period as it's a seriously smart truck

 

[rustic]

With all those problems on the Range Rover, don't forget, sometimes we need the odd glow plug too... hey... but only that from his list lol....

:lol:lol

I must admit that the LRs do look nice though, pity they don't have the running gear to match it.
I think they have gone too techy, even a minor fault requires a very expensive replacement module.
I'm sure if these modules could be fixed, it would only cost a few pence in components.

When I was in electronic design, I had to design power supplies to drive my electronics.
I always used the rule of thumb, of ... design the power supply for a minimum of twice the full power requirements. I never had a PSU fail, now with mass production, the car modules are designed down to price, to be just capable of doing the job for maybe 100 k miles or three years.
This means that many will fall short of this and fail prematurely, and some might even last twice that ie 6 years... wow...
Now... after 20 years.... all my Maverick electronics are fully working, with the exception of...
The electric aerial, replaced with a manual one.
Front washer pump, replaced
Rear washer pump, replaced
A few bulbs, replaced.

Again, this is the reason I keep my Mav.:thumb2:thumb2

 

[AlexD333]

They are identical tech to the new jags, you'd be baffled if you saw the gizmos and modules inside... Really... It's bonkers.. When the electrical teccys tells me about some of these and what they do I'm like

If anyone is interested they actually run on a fiber optics cable through the car with about 6/7 modules all in sync for audio, sat nav, GPS, adaptive lights and many more, if one fails... It can be a needle in a hay stack...

 

[macabethiel]

The Jeep is staying its official !!!!

Well now we have racked up 1,900 miles on the Jeep without any issues (aside from rear ARB drop links & tracking) her indoors has finally decided the Jeep is staying as it is not so bad after all. The unexpected economy has helped too though I pay for the fuel.

It has helped that her Brother's used Navara 4 Cab broke down after a few weeks of ownership with a blown head gasket and has taken 3 weeks to fix by the dealer in Nottingham.

Also comments by other 4 x 4 owners at her workplace such as " We always fancied a Jeep" have helped as well.

That said I will remain a member when my sub falls due as I like our community and the banter in the Virtual Pub !