Kj gone bad-anybody know the problem??

[kjgirl05]

Fellow KJ owners, I need your help! I am the proud mama of an '05 Red KJ Rocky Mountain Edition. I have had her for 4 years and she has been so good for me. Lately however, random and seemingly unrelated things keep happening that concern me.
The biggest thing that has happened (and the latest) was a couple days ago. I turned her on and she didnt start. So I figure, ok dead battery-but the battery warning light never came on.
also, when i removed the key my rear door lock started locking and unlocking itself nonstop (I was not touching the key or the car) and it didnt stop for hours (finally left it at the mechanics)
the lights were flicking all crazy and the radio would not turn on. then all of a sudden the rear window pops up on its own-it was locked before.

so the tow truck came and was able to jump it, altho it kept cutting off. took it to the mechanic and they checked it out, said it was only a dead battery. when i drove it home and put her into reverse, she turned off suddenly. since then shes been ok, altho everytime i switch gears she lurches and there is a significant delay--which was happening before the battery incident but it worse now.

ok all this being said, the following is a list of all the little things that i have encountered driving my kj over the last year-i just want to post them in case someone can figure out if they are all related and stem from one major problem (before its too late!)

1. Electrical outlet i use to charge my cell phone and gps will sometimes turn on the overdrive when i plug in the charger. then i can only turn off teh overdrive by twisting the charger back and forth. (got the wires looked at and they look normal)

2. Cruise control has significant delay (up to 10 miles) when using on hwy and going up and down hills-ive gotten pulled because of this!

3. shifting from reverse to drive and vice versa-slight lurch and delay

4. when pumping gas the gas overflows some gas stations instead of clicking off at a full tank

5. had a problem with the AC but i got it checked out and had my freon replaced and some leaks were found and fixed.

Please help me kj lovers!

 

[bugnout]

so the tow truck came and was able to jump it, altho it kept cutting off. took it to the mechanic and they checked it out, said it was only a dead battery.

Weird things happen when you have a marginal battery. lights don't come on or fail to shut off, codes, etc. Good that they replaced it. Unless you have another electrical problem that caused the battery to go bad, you probably fixed the majority of your issues.

1. Electrical outlet i use to charge my cell phone and gps will sometimes turn on the overdrive when i plug in the charger. then i can only turn off teh overdrive by twisting the charger back and forth. (got the wires looked at and they look normal)

Don't you leave the overdrive button on? No reason to turn it off unless your towing

2. Cruise control has significant delay (up to 10 miles) when using on hwy and going up and down hills-ive gotten pulled because of this!

Does touching the brake pedal disengage it?

3. shifting from reverse to drive and vice versa-slight lurch and delay

Different people have different experiences, but I've always advised that you should pause at Neutral when shifting between reverse and drive. It will make your transmission last longer. Not just for Jeeps, any vehicle benefits from this. You see a lot of people backout and jam it into drive, I shudder everytime I see someone do that.

4. when pumping gas the gas overflows some gas stations instead of clicking off at a full tank

Has more to do with the gas station pumps than the Liberty.

 

[kjgirl05]

Don't you leave the overdrive button on? No reason to turn it off unless your towing

Does touching the brake pedal disengage it?

Yes, it does. Just annoying when I want to use cruise control and it will slow down when going up hill by almost 10 mph and when going downhill increases by 10 mph. Didn't know if that was something I should have looked into.

Thanks for all your other advice! Eased my mind...
Jana

 

[khakilibby07]

Our KJ does the gas overflow thing too. Just pump slower and it wont spit gas out.

 

[VeitzJeep]

Yes, it does. Just annoying when I want to use cruise control and it will slow down when going up hill by almost 10 mph and when going downhill increases by 10 mph. Didn't know if that was something I should have looked into.

That seems very normal to me. It'll happen with any vehicle regardless of make or even using cruise control or not. You have to give it more gas to make it up a steep or long grade hill and downshift or brake going downhill. Your Lib should eventually change gears to maintain speed, but if it's one specific hill you drive all the time, you may be over the hill just before the cruise control accelerates/decelerates depending on going up hill or down.

Also with all your electrical issues, particularly the cigar lighter outlet, double check the fuses-- visually and with a tester. It's port #3 for the front outlet. I had a fuse that tested okay but looked bad. The outlet acted like it had a loose connection, but a spark was arcing accross the fuse that had blown. New fuse=no problem. Fuses are almost always overlooked.