A Jeep Tech, Mechanic, & JT owner answers reliability questions

[DickensCPA]

I have an '04 Rubicon that I handed down to my son and it's super simple with a 4.0 and as long as we take care of it I'm hoping to play with it for much longer.

One of the headscratchers I had was him putting the 3.8 above the 3.6. I kept a TJ and refused to get the 3.8. I even waited to see how the 3.6 was doing for a while before getting a JK.

My wife had a Chrysler Town & Country with every bell and whistle made and that 3.8. It went thru so much oil I kept a 5 qt jug in the back to top it off. As a matter of fact I didn't put the top on good enough and ruined a favorite jacket.

The dealership kept telling me that the oil consumption was within spec but my argument was if I followed the recommended 5000 mile interval change with a 4.5 qt capacity I would run out of oil. Not to mention the plastic hoses from the radiator laying on the manifold and baking. I had to replace her radiator twice and I never seen a vehicle overheat like that.

Sponsored

 

[JRobes]

Him saying 385,000 miles on a Jeep in about a year was a head scratcher.

Yeah, I'm personally not buying that. That's an average of over a 1000 miles each and every day. Assume an average speed of 65 mph and that's over 15 hrs of drive time per day.

Seems like a horrible vehicle to choose to drive that much unless it's testing specifically put on my MOPAR to test the vehicle's long term performance.

 

[DickensCPA]

Yeah, I'm personally not buying that. That's an average of over a 1000 miles each and every day. Assume an average speed of 65 mph and that's over 15 hrs of drive time per day.

Seems like a horrible vehicle to choose to drive that much unless it's testing specifically put on my MOPAR to test the vehicle's long term performance.

The only caveat I can think of was he said it was in 2019 and the 2018 had only been out about a year. I guess they could've bought the 2018 in say Sept of 2017 and drove it a year and a half to two years old, but that's still more miles than I can fathom per day.

One hole in my theory was I believe (watched the video a day or so ago, facts fuzzy) he said it was a 2018 JL. 2018 was a half year for the Wrangler. First half JK and second half JL. So if it was a 2018 JL I doubt the JLs would've been available in 2017 and only last run JKs.

I'm not big on driving unless it's fun time offroad stuff. The only thing I hate more than driving is being out with someone and can't leave and go home when I want to so I drive more than I want. But even at 2 years 500 miles/day that's a lot to do EVERY day. I'd be a truck driver and at least get paid.

 

[ecidiego]

There you have it, death wobble can be fixed with a steering stabilizer !

Me when that part came on

 

[jebiruph]

The only caveat I can think of was he said it was in 2019 and the 2018 had only been out about a year. I guess they could've bought the 2018 in say Sept of 2017 and drove it a year and a half to two years old, but that's still more miles than I can fathom per day.

One hole in my theory was I believe (watched the video a day or so ago, facts fuzzy) he said it was a 2018 JL. 2018 was a half year for the Wrangler. First half JK and second half JL. So if it was a 2018 JL I doubt the JLs would've been available in 2017 and only last run JKs.

I'm not big on driving unless it's fun time offroad stuff. The only thing I hate more than driving is being out with someone and can't leave and go home when I want to so I drive more than I want. But even at 2 years 500 miles/day that's a lot to do EVERY day. I'd be a truck driver and at least get paid.

If I remember correctly, JKs and JLs were being built simultaneously in 2018 and I think some did get their JLs in 2017. As for the high mileage JL, seems like someone was using theirs as an escort vehicle for heavy equipment trailers, putting in the long days and accumulating excessive miles.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Me when that part came on

Just because someone is a tech doesn't mean they know anything at all.
Think back to the one that said my winch was draining my batteries (ignoring the big fat red switch right next to the batteries that was in the OFF position)
His fix? Move the winch ground cable from the top of the IBS over to the fender ground stud.
Now I wonder- where did he think that other black cable on that battery go, anyway?
To the fender ground stud! DUH. So he moved it from one ground stud to another ground stud and fixed it. Also ignoring the fact that a winch can ground through the winch plate to the frame to the - you guessed it - battery - without a dedicated ground cable.
So there's your tech's knowledge.
Oh, and did you know that Jeep ABS doesn't work below 35 mph? Yeah, that's what he said.

So when I see YT videos like this- I laugh and ignore it, or think to myself - imagine the clueless people looking at this crap and buying any of it.

Reminds me of all of the posts on forums and fakebook from a "former GM engineer" who said vacuum advance was invented to deal with air pollution - emissions.
LOL - I bet Plymouth didn't give a crap about air pollution in 1939 when the first vacuum advance was introduced by Plymouth - or by Ford a year later. Oh, but he was a former GM engineer! He knows all that stuff. Likely he decided where to put the hood latch with each new model year, that was his engineering feat.

 

[Geoarch]

There you have it, death wobble can be fixed with a steering stabilizer !

He also mentioned shocks.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

Glad to see what he said about the auto start/stop. I have always thought this was too much stress for the truck, though I didn't think about the battery.

 

[Blade1668]

I agree with some points that he said, but some I almost had a need for hip boots. I remember people that had continuous problems with the 3.8 engine in JK's and the steering stabilizer and D.W. Quality shocks are better than cheap ones... well duh. A few different years of the 4.0 life cycle are better for different reasons (IMHO) Some early and later generations had better heads vs better block (heavier casting) vs electronics, cast iron water inlet vs aluminum (easy to crack when damn thermostat slips out of place "been there myself " )
I did agree on the auto stop/ start, not for the small battery sake but the starter.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

He also mentioned shocks.

He should have mentioned tires, balance, tossing stuff on willy-nilly and screwing up geometry, caster waaaay out one way or the other, loose parts, worn parts, bent parts........

Glad to see what he said about the auto start/stop. I have always thought this was too much stress for the truck, though I didn't think about the battery.

You buy his wares??

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I did agree on the auto stop/ start, not for the small battery sake but the starter.

Really?
And yet these starters have been around for years with pretty much no issues.
I find the guy just to be another YT goof.

Starters have been starting engines at every single stop - every one of them, in other vehicles for years.
The ESS also monitors the number of stops, the starter temperature and more.
Starting a warm engine is super-easy, no load, almost no draw on the batteries on a warm start. It's ready to run in about 1 revolution of the crank.
Sorry, he's off base on too many issues to believe a lot of what he says in this area.

 

[Blade1668]

Really?
And yet these starters have been around for years with pretty much no issues.
I find the guy just to be another YT goof.

Starters have been starting engines at every single stop - everyone one of them, in other vehicles for years. The ESS also monitors the number of stops, the starter temperature and more.
Starting a warm engine is super-easy, no load, almost no draw on the batteries on a warm start. It's ready to run in about 1 revolution of the crank.
Sorry, he's off base on too many issues to believe a lot of what he says.

Yeah I know but about the only thing I've had to replace on all of my Jeeps has been a starter and always at the worst time or location. My 90XJ is on #3 starter. MJ #2, LJ on second. Not a problem except when your in middle of nowhere and don't have a way to get to parts store.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yeah I know but about the only thing I've had to replace on all of my Jeeps has been a starter and always at the worst time or location. My 90XJ is on #3 starter. MJ #2, LJ on second. Not a problem except when your in middle of nowhere and don't have a way to get to parts store.

I've talked to and found techs who have never replaced one of these starters.
The engine design, the IROX bearings, the fact they know and control where the engine stops, fire injectors and coils at the right time even out of normal timing, it's crazy how the engines and starters are designed for this - but then it's been around in Europe and Asia for long before it came to the states. The technology is not new by any stretch.
Auto makers have been putting engine bearings in the engines that can handle 250,000-300,000 start cycles, compared to the previous 100,000 cycles.
Same for the starter - it can handle 4 to 5 times the number of start cycles and starting a warm engine is a fraction of the load on a starter. They have also slowed the RPM of the starter because it's the time spinning down that wears brushes and commutators. So running the starter motor slower, moving away from carbon brushes, changing the commutator materials and using needle bearings instead of bronze bushings (although the Denso starters of the 90s had bearings as well - and lasted 150,000-200,000 miles)

A lot of assuming out there, and thinking as if this is stuff from 20 years ago, even from that YT guy, who obviously is still a lot of old-school without much current training.
What have hybrids done for years? Stop the engine at every single stop sign, start it again.

 

[Geoarch]

He should have mentioned tires, balance, tossing stuff on willy-nilly and screwing up geometry, caster waaaay out one way or the other, loose parts, worn parts, bent parts........

You buy his wares??

We just have to live with that damn battery, but I do the same thing he does and whenever I get in the JTR, I just turn it off. I think ShadowsPapa does the same thing. It's pretty automatic now.

 

[montechie]

Yeah I know but about the only thing I've had to replace on all of my Jeeps has been a starter and always at the worst time or location. My 90XJ is on #3 starter. MJ #2, LJ on second. Not a problem except when your in middle of nowhere and don't have a way to get to parts store.

Same for my vehicles, I've been fortunate and have only had really reliable vehicles. The only item to fail and get me stuck somewhere has been starters, at least on vehicles over 100K, 3 of them. Of course, those were all Fords, so maybe that's a "Ford thing"

Sponsored