"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/29/2015 at 17:57 • Filed to: None
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"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/29/2015 at 17:57 • Filed to: None | 4
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Just about 11 months ago, I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I like it, and I still do. But this is a vehicle that’s known to not exactly be the most reliable out there. I’ve spent the past year or so getting it up to snuff. Here’s what it cost me.
The dealer that sold me the Jeep had done a decent amount of reconditioning on it. There was one issue that they diagnosed but hadn’t actually fixed: a bad EGR valve and fouled spark plugs. Since they were about an hour away from me and I didn’t want to have to wait for them to fix these things, they knocked an extra $500 off the sale price of the Jeep and I had the work done locally.
9/26/2014 - Diagnosed engine bucking problem as a bad EGR valve and spark plugs, but didn’t actually perform repair - $125.00 (not charged to me)
10/9/2014 - Engine oil & filter change, inspection, replace rear brake pads & rotors, replace parking brake shoes and hardware, replace transfer case encoder motor. - $1158.59 (not charged to me)
10/14/2014 - Make a new key and program the fob, fix a sunroof drain leak - $318.07 (not charged to me)
12/4/2014 - I bought the thing
12/4/2014 - Rugged Ridge floor liners front & rear - $93.88
12/15/2014 - Replaced the air filter & dumped a bottle of fuel system cleaner into the tank - $17.91
12/17/2014 - EGR and all 16 spark plugs replaced by shop - $550.15
12/18/2014 - Replaced the wiper blades - $15.59
1/13/2015 - Replaced the Goodyear Fortera HL tires that came on it with General Grabber AT2s after terrible snow driving experience with the Forteras - $651.99
3/23/2015 - !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! + $200 for me!
3/31/2015 - Replace all 4 oxygen sensors, oil & filter change - $387.15
9/17/2015 - Replace muffler - $220
10/26/2015 - Replace front brake pads & rotors - $211.29
Total money I’ve actually spent: $1448
Additional repairs covered by dealer: $2101.66
Total: $3549.66
All in all, this is a not-insignificant amount of money spent on a 10 year-old Jeep with a 4-figure sale price. But at this point while there a couple little things here and there that could need work, hopefully it’s now in good shape going forward where I can just drive it. I actually really like this Jeep. It drives nice, it’s super capable in bad weather, it’s comfy, and while it has an early-’00s Playskool Chrysler plastic interior, it’s actually a decently nice place to spend some time.
I’ve documented all these costs, and have scans of all the receipts, which I plan to continue doing for the whole time I own this Jeep. So when it comes time to sell, I will have all these records to show prospective buyers all the work that’s put into it. With any luck I’ll retain as much value as possible.
Welcome to Jeep ownership!
Jcarr
> Textured Soy Protein
10/29/2015 at 18:01 |
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Have you had any trouble with water getting into the intake when it’s really cold (-5 or below)? My ‘03 Ram Hemi would frequently have this problem. No one (dealer or independent) could figure out why, so eventually I got fed up and got rid of it.
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Textured Soy Protein
> Jcarr
10/29/2015 at 18:06 |
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Not that I know of? There’s an intermittent issue where sometimes it can’t hold a steady idle RPM. I’ve been able to temporarily fix it by doing a throttle relearn (basically disconnecting and reconnecting the battery then doing a sequence of ignition switch turning and gas pedal pressing). The likely more-permanent fix is to take the throttle body off and give it a good cleaning, which I hope to do this weekend.
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Jcarr
> Textured Soy Protein
10/29/2015 at 18:16 |
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The water would cause a similar symptom. It would idle all over the place and the throttle would be almost non-existent. I would give it gas and it would just kind of idle a little higher. I wish I could have gotten it figured out because I really loved the truck.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> Textured Soy Protein
10/29/2015 at 18:20 |
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Sixteen spark plugs... moneymoneymoney.
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Textured Soy Protein
> Jcarr
10/31/2015 at 11:50 |
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Mine will often idle fine, but then sometimes it’ll act like it wants to shut off while idling then catch itself and jump the revs up to like 1000 rpm, and keep repeating that until I get going again.
The problem always go away when I do a throttle relearn. That’s where you disconnect the battery for a while then do a sequence with the key and gas pedal.
In reading the shop manual, the way the throttle position sensor works on the Hemi, it’s integrated into the throttle. There’s a little idle valve also integrated into the throttle. The ECU remembers the exact position it needs to place the throttle butterfly and idle valve to achieve a desired idle rpm. But if the throttle is all gunked up the stepper motor for the idle valve doesn’t behave in the way the ECU expects, so the ECU tries to mess with the idle valve on the fly, which makes the idle bounce.
The more times the idle goes wacky, the weirder the readings in the ECU’s memory get, and the more erratic the idle gets. So when you do the throttle relearn, it clears the ECU’s memory of the funky positions of the idle valve, and the idle bounce disappears. I’ve done this a few times now and eventually the problem comes back.
Supposedly if I take the throttle off and hit it with a bunch of brake cleaner, not throttle cleaner, that’ll get the gunk out of the idle valve area and fix the issue.