Topic: I Hate Jeeps

[stan98tj]

oh and to all you folks whose blood boiled after reading my comments: you should be pissed. i just trash talked something everyone here is passionate about. but many of you are forgetting that i too love the brand..enough that i poured a lot of my hard earned money into buying one. im not some dude who owns a honda who happens to come on this site and trash talk a jeep i saw on the side of the road...im a jeep fan who is merely venting about MY jeep and the problems i had with it. most of you here are writing about YOUR rigs and you all seem to have very nicely built rides, but i dont have that kind of money right now, so excuse me if i got rippin mad when my dream ride and (to me) massive investment sh*t the bed! some of you act like you have never been in such a position, never been stranded on the side of the road, never been told by the mechanic that it's totalled and never had to ask yourself...now what, how the hell am i gonna pay for this and the other crap i have. if anything im a bigger, more passionate fan then the lot of you (albeit a bit stubborn) cause i did the research and read the warnings about the jeeps but i loved em so much i bought one knowing that i wouldnt have too much cash on hand should something go wrong...but i didnt predict the whole engine. some of you act like your jeeps were made by masters of the trade and have never broken...well mine comes from the real world, where they break, and cost money a world where there are more reliable cars out there but a world that has guys like me who say screw it and buy em anyway.  and as for all your anti-defender/land rover comments...well facts are facts as ive said before...and i guess watching my neighbor drive away day after day in his 87 range rover without any flaws and twice the miliage my jeep has kinda irritates me..especially seeing him do it on the day ur ride craps out
sorry for the long post

[oldjeep]

to respond to jesse-james: when you have a half inch hole in the top of your #4 piston and the spark plug to that cyl is blown apart, i think it is a clear indicator to replace it. no one could tell me the cause of it. dealerships and mechanics checked all sensors and it all came back good. they even thought the fuel pump was shot. but in the end the jeep dealership looked at it for a day and found the compressions to be way under norm and fuel pump/sensors to be just fine.  engine needs to be replaced. and i plan on replacing it. but the jeep only has 85,000 miles on it...sorry if i expected the engine to last a bit longer.

Just so I understand.  You had a piston blow apart, and then you replaced it with a new std sized piston (didn't have the cylinders bored out).  Is that correct?  If you indeed replaced a blown up piston without boring the cylinder, it's not too shocking that your compression is bad.

[Jesse-James]

You are still ignoring the fact that you bought a vehicle for less than Blue Book value in "Fair" condition and now are surprised that you have to sink money into it. And again I will say that it doesn't matter what type of vehicle it is, if it wasn't properly cared for before you got it then it is to be expected.

BTW - I am also curious how you felt qualified to replace the bad piston, yet you take it to a dealer for service.

[garydubf]

Sounds like your neighbor takes care of his ride!!  Ever ask him what his maintenance bill is like?  I don't care what you drive, vehicles cost $ to keep them running.  Whether it be oil changes at correct intervals or replacing worn out components, it gets expensive.  My Dodge costs $150.00 every time I change the oil (every two months).  I think the take home message here is that it's not the Jeep you hate but maybe you're piss poor decision making that has got you all fired up!!

[stan98tj]

to respond to jesse: i honed out the cyl walls and replaced the piston...when the starting problems continued and my friends and i were left scratching our heads i took it to a dealership to have them throw it on the diagnostic computer and have someone who is really used to jeeps work on it.....and the end result is it needs a new engine..and as for "fair" condition, the vehicle only had 85k on it, no rust, ran smooth, shifted fine, no squeaks or noises...just as clean as you would want a vehicle i suppose...and then the piston went and now it needs an engine...i dont think i made piss poor decisions, i may have been had, but it wasnt blatently in need of work, in fact it seemed not to need any work. either way, i dont want to let it go, nor is it worth selling..its getting a new engine and we'll see how long it lasts this go round

[dexetr30]

The price you paid should have been a sign that it needed work. I've been there myself and got screwed in the end just like you. Suck it up, fix it or trash it... either way use it as a learning experience and make your next vehicle purchase a little more carefully.

[Jesse-James]

to respond to jesse: i honed out the cyl walls and replaced the piston...when the starting problems continued and my friends and i were left scratching our heads i took it to a dealership to have them throw it on the diagnostic computer and have someone who is really used to jeeps work on it.....

Fair enough, but at that point a rebuild is in order. Patchwork just doesn't cut it. I was more questioning the fact that if you took it out to have the block honed why it didn't get rebuilt at that point and why a dealer is replacing the motor at the tune of 3k when you can do the work.

as for "fair" condition, the vehicle only had 85k on it, no rust, ran smooth, shifted fine, no squeaks or noises...just as clean as you would want a vehicle i suppose...and then the piston went and now it needs an engine...i dont think i made piss poor decisions, i may have been had, but it wasnt blatently in need of work, in fact it seemed not to need any work. either way, i dont want to let it go, nor is it worth selling..its getting a new engine and we'll see how long it lasts this go round

And that is my point, blue book is about $7000 (depending on options) so that should have thrown a flag to look very closely at everything. People generally don't sell thing overly cheap out of the kindness of their hearts.

Now don't take this wrong. I am not trying to sit here and laugh at a guy for getting taken, I just want you to understand it was not the fault of Jeep that you are in this predicament. It was simply not taken care of and had hidden problems. That said, I do understand your need to vent. I have needed to many times in the course of owning my rig.

[garydubf]

Now don't take this wrong. I am not trying to sit here and laugh at a guy for getting taken, I just want you to understand it was not the fault of Jeep that you are in this predicament. It was simply not taken care of and had hidden problems. That said, I do understand your need to vent. I have needed to many times in the course of owning my rig.

Well said! I think that maybe I came across a little rough.  Being a fellow jeeper maybe I should have been a little more understanding of the situation.  Apologies to stan98tj!!   We've all been there. in my case was a Pontiac.  Good luck getting your rig back to working order.

[oldjeep]

Fair enough, but at that point a rebuild is in order. Patchwork just doesn't cut it. I was more questioning the fact that if you took it out to have the block honed why it didn't get rebuilt at that point and why a dealer is replacing the motor at the tune of 3k when you can do the work.

If I had to guess, I'd say that someone did it with the motor in the jeep and used a drill mounted hone.  No machine shop would do a real cylinder hone without checking the bore and disassembling the whole engine before machining.

[dexetr30]

Well said! I think that maybe I came across a little rough.  Being a fellow jeeper maybe I should have been a little more understanding of the situation.  Apologies to stan98tj!!   We've all been there. in my case was a Pontiac.  Good luck getting your rig back to working order.

I got screwed last year myself. As I posted on here, I picked up a YJ that looked pretty good for 3K. I got it home and it was a mess. I ended up taking a huge hit in the wallet and sold it for 500.00.  Lesson learned. Next time you can bet I'll be crawling over the vehicle with a flashlight and a magnet.

[neale_rs]

I've had to replace 4 of 6 u-joints (front axle among them), rear seat belts, rear seat mounts, PCM, rebuild the AX-5, many dash bulbs, steering shaft, a motor mount, front axle seals, oil pressure sensor, rear exhaust manifold stud, battery, a few tie rod ends, thermostat, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting right now.  My YJ also has rusted floorboards.  Amazingly, besides the PCM replacement, it has always run very well (only 85,000 miles) and when I redid the valve cover gasket, saw that it has no sludge up there.  I think the previous owner used it pretty hard but did regular oil changes nonetheless.

[garydubf]

I think the actual take home message here is to inspect what you're buying and if it sounds to good to be true it probably is! Also around here used car lots are now called "Previuosly Owned" dealers, mostly because (I think) that the American public as a majority view vehicles as disposable items.  When the vehicle gets past warranty it's time to trade it off!  The problems generally start there because the vehicles haven't been properly maintained. These problems inheriently get passed to the budjet minded consumer looking for a "good" deal on a "cool" ride!

[might4banger]

Find a "junkyard" 2.5L and swap it yourself... no where near $3K.   

[stan98tj]

to all who have read this post and left pissed off or even sent me pissed off emails....dont worry im not (and never even thought) of scrappin it or trading it in for a honda or anything like that. it will run again with a new engine and all. i basically see it as having its first massive heart attack, but it will live.  but im not appologizing to her or any of you for the nasty names i called her when she finally crapped out. i admit i let slip "shoulda had you built in japan" accidentally when i was slammin the throttle while turning the key to try and get her to start and maybe that comment was a bit harsh.....boy i hope i didnt start another riot when the lot of ya read that comment.

thanks garydubf for actually seeing this post was more frustration than harsh tongue lashing...had to get by the "what the hell am i gonna do now and how the hell am i gonna afford this" stage

[damon54]

Find a "junkyard" 2.5L and swap it yourself... no where near $3K.   

Sounds like you had a bad stroke of luck.  I agree with finding a used engine.  I have seen them go for 200$ around orlando.  Or you could order a short block for alot less than 3k if you feel better about that.  Alot of folks don't like the 4 banger and will toss a perfect running engine for a V-8 swap.  I would definately recommend researching what is available before I would choke up 3k.  Good luck.