New here with 06' liberty

[libertyandfreedom]

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Hello! I bought this Liberty in Dallas, Tx. In July 2022. 2 weeks after I bought it the battery died. I replaced it with a cheap autozone battery, and surprisingly it's held up even after jumping over 100 vehicles. Then a week later my alternator stopped working, and so I opted for a new duralast brand and haven't had any issues. Then in December my water pump failed, so I replaced it at autozone again. Couple weeks later radiator freeze plug blew out, and instead of fixing it I decided to put a new one in. A couple months later my tensioner pulley bearing blew out and slipped the serpentine belt off. Piss poor design if you ask me. It's not even a sealed bearing. I recommend duralast because it has a sealed bearing. My belt was a bit tattered so I replaced it as well with a duralast belt.
After spending a few hundred bucks on parts at autozone and a few hours of labor I didn't have any issues for about 4 months. Then one day I was at my office, and I went to leave, and it was cranking but not starting. No luck for about an hour, but it eventually started up again, but everytime I'd turn it off after it was warmed up it wouldn't start again. Did a diagnostic check for dtc error codes and it was telling me I had a bad coil pack so I replaced all 6. It seemed to.get better in the short term but it didn't completely fix the issue. I dove head first into my engine bay and started going through all the wires, but couldn't find any obvious answers. I got underneath the engine, and I noticed my 02 sensor wires had been chewed through by I'm assuming a small rodent that lives in the tree by where I park at home. I bought a new plug harness, and wired it into the old wires. Still no luck. I decided to check my fuel pump by spraying starting fluid into the throttle body, and wouldn't you know it started right up. It didn't die though so I ruled out the Fuel pump. I decided I must have clogged injectors so I pulled them out and they were gunked up. After cleaning them with fuel injector cleaner the problem went away so I bought new injectors just to be on the safe side, and boom! It starts when warm now!
No problems for another few months, and then my cam sensors failed in the heat at the end of last summer so I replaced them too. I figured I might as well get ahead of the game and replace the Crank shaft sensor while I'm at it. Since then I replaced the coolant reservoir because it was cracked at the hose that goes to the radiator. It kept springing a leak in the new hose, and after about 4 times re-cutting the hose I decided it was a cheap hose and half the thickness of the original, so I put the original hose back on, and I've had no issues until the other day when I was checking my oil. Smh I noticed coolant on my dipstick, and most of us all know what that means! head gasket time! So my next repairs will be head gaskets, and timing chain as a prevention.
This kj had a heart transplant before I bought it and I'm not sure of the mileage. I have 218xxx on the odometer, and the dealer I bought it from thinks there was around 90k on the transplant motor. I've put around 22k miles on it since I bought it in July 22' so it's probably around 112k - 120k now. So you figure ill have to replace timing chain every 5 years give or take at the rate I'm driving at. Honestly, I'm at the point now where it's a paid off vehicle, and I'm ready for a new daily driver, and I'll just turn Libby into a dedicated trail rig. Now I'm deciding if I want to fab some long arms for the IFS, or go all out with a SAS. What would you do?

 

[libertyandfreedom]

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Hello! I bought this Liberty in Dallas, Tx. In July 2022. 2 weeks after I bought it the battery died. I replaced it with a cheap autozone battery, and surprisingly it's held up even after jumping over 100 vehicles. Then a week later my alternator stopped working, and so I opted for a new duralast brand and haven't had any issues. Then in December my water pump failed, so I replaced it at autozone again. Couple weeks later radiator freeze plug blew out, and instead of fixing it I decided to put a new one in. A couple months later my tensioner pulley bearing blew out and slipped the serpentine belt off. Piss poor design if you ask me. It's not even a sealed bearing. I recommend duralast because it has a sealed bearing. My belt was a bit tattered so I replaced it as well with a duralast belt.
After spending a few hundred bucks on parts at autozone and a few hours of labor I didn't have any issues for about 4 months. Then one day I was at my office, and I went to leave, and it was cranking but not starting. No luck for about an hour, but it eventually started up again, but everytime I'd turn it off after it was warmed up it wouldn't start again. Did a diagnostic check for dtc error codes and it was telling me I had a bad coil pack so I replaced all 6. It seemed to.get better in the short term but it didn't completely fix the issue. I dove head first into my engine bay and started going through all the wires, but couldn't find any obvious answers. I got underneath the engine, and I noticed my 02 sensor wires had been chewed through by I'm assuming a small rodent that lives in the tree by where I park at home. I bought a new plug harness, and wired it into the old wires. Still no luck. I decided to check my fuel pump by spraying starting fluid into the throttle body, and wouldn't you know it started right up. It didn't die though so I ruled out the Fuel pump. I decided I must have clogged injectors so I pulled them out and they were gunked up. After cleaning them with fuel injector cleaner the problem went away so I bought new injectors just to be on the safe side, and boom! It starts when warm now!
No problems for another few months, and then my cam sensors failed in the heat at the end of last summer so I replaced them too. I figured I might as well get ahead of the game and replace the Crank shaft sensor while I'm at it. Since then I replaced the coolant reservoir because it was cracked at the hose that goes to the radiator. It kept springing a leak in the new hose, and after about 4 times resulting the hose I decided it was a cheap hose and half the thickness of the original so I put the original hose back on, and I've had no issues until the other day when I was checking my oil. Smh I noticed coolant on my lipstick, and most of us all know what that means head gasket time! So my next repairs will be head gaskets, and timing chain as a prevention. This kj had a heart transplant before I bought it and I'm not sure of the mileage. I have 218xxx on the odometer, and the dealer I bought it from thinks there was around 90k on the transplant motor. I've put around 22k miles on it since I bought it in July 22' so it's probably around 112k - 120k now. So you figure ill have to replace timing chain every 5 years give or take at the rate I'm driving at. Honestly, I'm at the point now where it's a paid of vehicle, and I'm ready for a new daily driver, and I'll just turn Libby into a dedicated trail rig. I'm deciding if I want to fab some long arms for the it's or go all out with a SAS. What would you do?

Oh and now that I'm reminiscing of the repairs I've done so far. I also replaced both lower ball joints after they sheared off on the highway about 6 months apart. I should have replaced both at the same time, but at the time I didn't have time lol luckily I had the 2nd ball joint on me when it failed. I fixed it on the side of the highway, and continued my busy day. I also still have brand new uca's I need to install still fml

 

[libertyandfreedom]

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[libertyandfreedom]

And now that I'm looking through my pictures I remember I had to replace the rear hatch glass too because I backed into a concrete ledge smh

 

[libertyandfreedom]

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Yes, I'm a mechanic, and my KJ is my service vehicle.

 

[ccg2301]

Hi and welcome to the forum, sounds like your well equipped to handle all your Liberty's little issues. Hope you find the forum as useful as I have.

 

[Jeremy-WI]

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I guess ball joints failing might bemore common than I expected. The drivers side failed on mine a couple years ago in my driveway

 

[libertyandfreedom]

Hi and welcome to the forum, sounds like your well equipped to handle all your Liberty's little issues. Hope you find the forum as useful as I have.

Thank you!

 

[libertyandfreedom]

I guess ball joints failing might bemore common than I expected. The drivers side failed on mine a couple years ago in my driveway

Very common

 

[jeepop]

Welcome to club 06! My ball joints failed. The rear joint of the propeller shaft also fails often.

 

[CraigK]

Looks like this thread is pretty new. My main brakelights are out. All other rear lights work and the third brake light works. Any ideas?

 

[klc]

Check the fixtures and bulb holders for heat damage.

 

[Billwill]

Yeah there have been problems whereby the heat of the Bulb and the heat of the current running through the bulb melts the plastic where the bulb contacts are....so the contacts sink into the plastic and no longer make contact!

 

[jeepop]

Bend out the tabs in the socket for a temp fix. Buy new sockets for a lasting fix. I think I got a couple of dorman replacement parts and they have done great.

 

[CraigK]

Looks like this thread is pretty new. My main brakelights are out. All other rear lights work and the third brake light works. Any ideas?

Thanx, I'll look at them closer.

 

[Boueux]

Welcome! We just joined after getting an 06 about three week ago Already high and deep but thanks to so many answers here, have already gotten going. Looking forward to more.

 

[CraigK]

Here's a quick update on the Brake lights.
I just had to troubleshoot the rear lights on an 05 CRD, what a pain. Third (center) Brake light worked, while both the side lights were out. I had to replace one light socket the #700 AutoZone part and one bulb. I got to the connecter under the inside body panel (by fender well) and had power there. I needed to check something so plugged thing back in and noticed one side was working. The only thing I can figure is a contact had disconnected and reseated while troubleshooting.

 

[seafish]

The only thing I can figure is a contact had disconnected and reseated while troubleshooting.

Note that even light corrosion from moisture intrusion or even unseen condensation can inhibit proper contact of the bulb or socket. Often simply wiggling or reconnecting the bulb will remove enough of the corrosion away to temporarily fix the problem, but a longer term solution is to more closely inspect the the bulb and socket for corrosion and overall integrity and then clean them as needed with fine sandpaper or even a Dremel tool with a brass brush set on low speed. Using a light dab of dielectric grease in the socket can also help prevent the problem from happening again.

 

[WheelNut]

Wow, quite the list of repairs! The previous owner must have neglected and/or used terrible quality replacement parts on that poor Liberty. As part of the trail rig conversion process I would definitely go ahead and do some proactive maintenance throughout the vehicle! New rear upper ball joint on the Y link (just replace the whole unit), fresh shocks as part of a lift, new front upper suspension arms with fresh bushings, new rad hoses, new fan clutch, check the transfer case selector bushing at the TC end, and do a super thorough check of all the hoses and rubber bits on the Jeep to see if any are bulged or cracking. Just get that thing in shape to not fail you on trail. Moog suspension parts are available on RockAuto for good prices. Get some new tires on there ASAP too. Those bald cracking tires are giving me nightmares!

A long arm conversion would surely be very interesting! You could get a bit more travel and you could continue to run wheel with a high ET so as to give yourself less clearance issues at full steering lock. Not sure how you'd address the fender to tire interference issues, but if you are able to fab suspension arms competently then you can probably build new fender flares too?