Hi KJ & KK peeps,
Don’t worry, I am not selling or engine swapping my Liberty!
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I would like to ask some advice from people here on the forum who own anything with the 4.7L V8. I am looking at adding a second vehicle to the stable, and the 05-10 WK Grand Cherokee or the XK Commander fit the budget. Our family has grown by 2 teenagers and we now need to be able to go more than one place simultaneously. We also need a bigger Jeep for long trips. I would consider WJ’s too but from 02-04, ABS was not required, but I want ABS brakes on anything my teenagers drive. Some of them have it as an option.
We have been seriously looking at Commanders today and it is like a grown up version of our KK Liberty. We like them. We’re looking at the 4.7L V8 engine because the V6 would probably struggle with such a large vehicle, especially towing. The V8 models come with 4-Low also, which is nice. All commanders have full time 4WD-High. Since Commanders were only built from 05-10, finding a nice used one can be challenging. We looked at three today and two of them had issues that immediately took them out of the running. The third was very nice and we like it very much.
It is a Rocky Mountain Edition, a silver 07. It has about 150,000 miles and a 4.7L V8, but the previous owners took really good care of it. The interior is in good shape and the engine purrs. The AC is cold and the heat is hot. Everything works as it should. There are no funny smells, either inside or out. After our test drive I hooked up my OBDII scanner and there were no codes or pending codes. Engine temperature was 204-206, which is normal (and relevant to my question coming up). It does have a few cosmetic issues of course, but I can either ignore or fix those and they aren’t really a factor.
There are a couple of things I wanted to run by y’all, which could be significant enough issues to rule this particular Jeep out. I am looking for advice. What would you do?
1) The coolant reservoir was empty. This makes me wonder where it went. There were no apparent leaks from the front end, and no steam from the exhaust and the engine was as smooth as could be. If it has a head gasket problem it is well disguised. This could be as expensive as a head gasket or a new radiator, or as inexpensive as a hose fitting or a weeping water pump. Not sure what is going on and the seller didn’t know either because he got the Jeep at auction. There was coolant in the radiator (yay!), but it was the green stuff. Definitely not HOAT. I am thinking at the very least this would be a complete coolant flush, water pump, and thermostat job if we bought it.
2) Perhaps this is a quirk of the V8 and the 545RFE, but there seemed to be a slight resonant hum in the driveline somewhere when getting on the gas and accelerating to pass or merge. There did not seem to be any noticeable transmission slip, and the noise lasts only a second or two before disappearing. I could feel it a little as well as hear it. Any ideas what that could be? I have on my list to check the transmission fluid after I let it warm up the next time we go back to see the vehicle, which could be tomorrow. I’ll make sure it’s at the right level and doesn’t smell burnt.
Thank you if you’ve made it to this point and you’re still reading. The price is $3500. I’m interested in any feedback. Thanks in advance.
Lauren
Don’t worry, I am not selling or engine swapping my Liberty!
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I would like to ask some advice from people here on the forum who own anything with the 4.7L V8. I am looking at adding a second vehicle to the stable, and the 05-10 WK Grand Cherokee or the XK Commander fit the budget. Our family has grown by 2 teenagers and we now need to be able to go more than one place simultaneously. We also need a bigger Jeep for long trips. I would consider WJ’s too but from 02-04, ABS was not required, but I want ABS brakes on anything my teenagers drive. Some of them have it as an option.
We have been seriously looking at Commanders today and it is like a grown up version of our KK Liberty. We like them. We’re looking at the 4.7L V8 engine because the V6 would probably struggle with such a large vehicle, especially towing. The V8 models come with 4-Low also, which is nice. All commanders have full time 4WD-High. Since Commanders were only built from 05-10, finding a nice used one can be challenging. We looked at three today and two of them had issues that immediately took them out of the running. The third was very nice and we like it very much.
It is a Rocky Mountain Edition, a silver 07. It has about 150,000 miles and a 4.7L V8, but the previous owners took really good care of it. The interior is in good shape and the engine purrs. The AC is cold and the heat is hot. Everything works as it should. There are no funny smells, either inside or out. After our test drive I hooked up my OBDII scanner and there were no codes or pending codes. Engine temperature was 204-206, which is normal (and relevant to my question coming up). It does have a few cosmetic issues of course, but I can either ignore or fix those and they aren’t really a factor.
There are a couple of things I wanted to run by y’all, which could be significant enough issues to rule this particular Jeep out. I am looking for advice. What would you do?
1) The coolant reservoir was empty. This makes me wonder where it went. There were no apparent leaks from the front end, and no steam from the exhaust and the engine was as smooth as could be. If it has a head gasket problem it is well disguised. This could be as expensive as a head gasket or a new radiator, or as inexpensive as a hose fitting or a weeping water pump. Not sure what is going on and the seller didn’t know either because he got the Jeep at auction. There was coolant in the radiator (yay!), but it was the green stuff. Definitely not HOAT. I am thinking at the very least this would be a complete coolant flush, water pump, and thermostat job if we bought it.
2) Perhaps this is a quirk of the V8 and the 545RFE, but there seemed to be a slight resonant hum in the driveline somewhere when getting on the gas and accelerating to pass or merge. There did not seem to be any noticeable transmission slip, and the noise lasts only a second or two before disappearing. I could feel it a little as well as hear it. Any ideas what that could be? I have on my list to check the transmission fluid after I let it warm up the next time we go back to see the vehicle, which could be tomorrow. I’ll make sure it’s at the right level and doesn’t smell burnt.
Thank you if you’ve made it to this point and you’re still reading. The price is $3500. I’m interested in any feedback. Thanks in advance.
Lauren
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