[MMike]

If it were me and I were hellbent on getting a jeep....and didn't mind that it was more than 10 years old, I'd get the regular XJ. How many times have I said how I wished I still had my 2001 XJ I had in Seattle. I loved that vehicle. Plenty of giddyup and likely has better fuel economy than the ZJ.

 

[Toshi]

I didn't buy it. Electrical problems--no brake lights (brakes physically worked fine), no speedo, no thanks.

 

[MMike]

chicken.

What's the worst that could have happened?

 

[kickstand]

WJ is the biggest piece of of crap jeep ever produced. I hear tell it was the first project they embarked upon with Daimler back in the day. I was counseled not to buy one by a friend of mine back in seattle who was a mechanic at a jeep dealer. But did I listen? nooooooo........

Just put another $500 into it in the last 2 weeks.

ZJ's I think are supposed to be a bit better. But definitely stay away from WJ's.

You have to be kidding....I spend a lot of time around jeeps, the WJ's are pretty damn good jeeps. and my girl drives one right now, 149k and no issues to date (other than some minor "maintenance" issues that it needs.

I do agree with your other post though, XJ's are the most reliable jeeps around period, stupid simple, and not much less comfortable than a wj.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Says the guy from Fenton, Michigan.

 

[MMike]

You have to be kidding....I spend a lot of time around jeeps, the WJ's are pretty damn good jeeps. and my girl drives one right now, 149k and no issues to date (other than some minor "maintenance" issues that it needs.

I do agree with your other post though, XJ's are the most reliable jeeps around period, stupid simple, and not much less comfortable than a wj.

Two words: "Blend. Door"

my 2003 Overland is a total piece of crap. Rear wiper doesn't work. Sunroof won't open, Passenger door liner is falling off.

I've dumped thousands into keeping the engine running. (4.7L HO V8). Transmission doesn't shift well.

POS.

 

[Pesqueeb]

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Two words: "Blend. Door"

my 2003 Overland is a total piece of crap. Rear wiper doesn't work. Sunroof won't open, Passenger door liner is falling off.

I've dumped thousands into keeping the engine running. (4.7L HO V8). Transmission doesn't shift well.

POS.

The problem is you strayed away from the tried-and-true 4.0/42RE/NV242 combo.

I've had 3 Jeeps with this combo ('92 XJ, '96 ZJ and now '04 WJ). XJ had 170k miles when I got rid of it and all it needed was a water pump, ZJ had 140k miles when I got rid of it and only needed routine maintenance, and my WJ has 122k miles and all it's needed is routine maintenance and 1 caliper replaced (torn slide pin boot + driving up a river = bad news). It's even lifted with bigger tires and been beat to shyte.

You brought the fail upon yourself.

 

[MMike]

But your blend doors have not failed yet? I thought there was a 100% failure rate of those things.....

 

[IH8Rice]

The problem is you strayed away from the tried-and-true 4.0/42RE/NV242 combo.

actually, the 4.7L is a pretty solid and reliable engine.

 

[MMike]

actually, the 4.7L is a pretty solid and reliable engine.

I beg to differ.

(however I'm not sure if the H.O. variant make it worse.)

 

[IH8Rice]

I beg to differ.

(however I'm not sure if the H.O. variant make it worse.)

youre right. one person with problems must mean its crap.
and High Output is actually the better version.

 

[MMike]

youre right. one person with problems must mean its crap.
and High Output is actually the better version.

While I appreciate your help with the video stuff, have you ever gone through the jeeps-unlimited.com WJ/ZJ forum? I'm hardly alone.

I realize one of my issues was a fluke (corroded wire.....HOWEVER that does indicate a poor quality wiring harness. And recently on J-U there was a thread about the poor wiring quality in the WJ. And once again, the heater blend door issue is pretty inexcusable especially when all Jeep does it replace it with the same, insufficient part.

And the earlier ones had issues with brake rotors....they'd only last a few months before warping. (I believe they sorted that out eventually).

I love the look of the vehicle, I love how it drives, But after the 8th or 9th time you have it towed in a season, it start to take its toll on the relationship.

 

[IH8Rice]

While I appreciate your help with the video stuff, have you ever gone through the jeeps-unlimited.com WJ/ZJ forum? I'm hardly alone.

I realize one of my issues was a fluke (corroded wire.....HOWEVER that does indicate a poor quality wiring harness. And recently on J-U there was a thread about the poor wiring quality in the WJ. And once again, the heater blend door issue is pretty inexcusable especially when all Jeep does it replace it with the same, insufficient part.

And the earlier ones had issues with brake rotors....they'd only last a few months before warping. (I believe they sorted that out eventually).

I love the look of the vehicle, I love how it drives, But after the 8th or 9th time you have it towed in a season, it start to take its toll on the relationship.

well then it seems that Jeep is the biggest issue. the 4.7L in the Dakota and Rams have been pretty reliable after the first-gens from 1999 went through their paces. by 2003, they were near bullet proof in Dodge vehicles

and brake rotors have nothing to do with the engine.

 

[MMike]

Well I've put no less than $5000 into this vehicle in the last 2 years.

Like....I can't maintain my other vehicle properly because I'm pouring money non-stop into the jeep.

And I have about 75000 miles on it.

 

[kickstand]

The problem is you strayed away from the tried-and-true 4.0/42RE/NV242 combo.

I've had 3 Jeeps with this combo ('92 XJ, '96 ZJ and now '04 WJ). XJ had 170k miles when I got rid of it and all it needed was a water pump, ZJ had 140k miles when I got rid of it and only needed routine maintenance, and my WJ has 122k miles and all it's needed is routine maintenance and 1 caliper replaced (torn slide pin boot + driving up a river = bad news). It's even lifted with bigger tires and been beat to shyte.

You brought the fail upon yourself.

Except your xj didn't have the 242 or the 42re, it should have had an aw4 and 231 (unless it had full time 4wd option than it could have had a 241)

MMike I will agree with you that wiring was hit or miss on the WJ, and the 4.7 HO was a less reliable option than the 4.0 for not much more power and worse mileage.

I've always argued that jeep tried to do too much with the WJ by fancying up what should have been a simple platform like the other reliable jeep platforms. Either way the girlfirend has had good luck so far with hers, hasn't needed a tow yet. (god she is gonna hate me monday when she needs a tow on her way to work )

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Except your xj didn't have the 242 or the 42re, it should have had an aw4 and 231 (unless it had full time 4wd option than it could have had a 241)

Doh. Good call on the AW4, however I could have sworn in was a 242, as I thought it had the "selec-trac" (2/4ft/4pt/4lo), but I must be mistaken. 231 was 2/4pt/4lo right? Never heard of the 241.

It's been 7 years since I've had it, and wasn't much into Jeeps at the time.

 

[MMike]

Oh yeah....can't turn my 4WD off either....nothing wrong with it. It's like that by design. Makes for great fuel economy

And I would argue that the HO (when all is running as it should) does make a big difference in the balls department. i tested a 4.0 WJ.....after having owned a few 4.0 XJs (either mine or my parents'), I found it somewhat lacking in the WJ. While I can't recall the torque numbers, I do seem to recall that the 4.0 claims 190hp, and the HO has 265 hp. Not that insignificant.......and maybe it was a placebo effect, just because I knew that a V8 was available...so I was "wanting" it to seem underpowered. I'm sort of dumb that way.

 

[Serial Midget]

Why in hell do you still have this effing car? You're like a gay guy complaining about assless chaps being drafty.

 

[kickstand]

Doh. Good call on the AW4, however I could have sworn in was a 242, as I thought it had the "selec-trac" (2/4ft/4pt/4lo), but I must be mistaken. 231 was 2/4pt/4lo right? Never heard of the 241.

It's been 7 years since I've had it, and wasn't much into Jeeps at the time.

231 is 2 hi, 4hi 4 lo, if you had 2 hi, 4ft, 4pt, 4 lo, you had a 242 (my bad, you were right.) .....I mistyped 241, 241 is in the rubicons and rams, my apologies. The ZJ's with the full time 4wd had the np249 with the ever failing viscous coupler.

247's should have gone into the WJ, but in all honesty i dont remember them all anymore

Oh yeah....can't turn my 4WD off either....nothing wrong with it. It's like that by design. Makes for great fuel economy

And I would argue that the HO (when all is running as it should) does make a big difference in the balls department. i tested a 4.0 WJ.....after having owned a few 4.0 XJs (either mine or my parents'), I found it somewhat lacking in the WJ. While I can't recall the torque numbers, I do seem to recall that the 4.0 claims 190hp, and the HO has 265 hp. Not that insignificant.......and maybe it was a placebo effect, just because I knew that a V8 was available...so I was "wanting" it to seem underpowered. I'm sort of dumb that way.

I hate full time 4wd with no 2wd option.

Your right, the v8 ho, does make a difference, just not a big enough one in my opinion to not go with the 4.0 and the option to drive around in 2wd.

 

[kickstand]

Mmike, make me a deal on your cherokee....I have a grand prix I'd like to get rid of.

 

[IH8Rice]

I do seem to recall that the 4.0 claims 190hp, and the HO has 265 hp. Not that insignificant.......and maybe it was a placebo effect,

yep, 265hp/330ft-lbs compared to the 190hp/230ft-lbs in the 4L I6..huge difference

 

[MMike]

Why in hell do you still have this effing car? You're like a gay guy complaining about assless chaps being drafty.

Because it's not worth anything used now. And I can't even come close to being able to afford changing it right now....

 

[MikeD]

There's a guy in this apartment building with a tricked-out, lifted Liberty. Totally blacked out. It has brush guards on every corner, a winch up front, antennae sprouting in every direction, a heavy tubular roof rack with lights built in, additional lights up front on the grill, and "don't tread on me" plus American flags applied to both sides.

I cannot even begin to fathom.

However, I did catch a glimpse of the driver the other day...shaved head, Oakleys, tight F4-U Corsair t-shirt tucked into super-short 5.11 brand cargo shorts, white socks and hiking shoes...with an obvious handgun fannypack to boot.

He looked sorrowfully--not even scornfully--at me as I got out of my Outback sport, knowing that my manhood was shamed before him.

Worst part is that he and I may work for the same people.


Ed: The one time I did try to drive offroad in my work-supplied Liberty (which I managed to trade back for an old single-cab Ranger thank God), I was flummoxed as to why I couldn't drive with proper automatic-transmission technique...constant RPM, speed controlled and modulated with varying degrees of constant brake. And then in the owner's manual I saw that applying brake and gas at the same time would cut off the engine, ostensibly to protect against a stuck throttle. Great for real off-roading.

 

[Rip]

Lemons happen.

 

[DirtyMike]

JEEPs happen.

There I fixed that for ya

 

[Pesqueeb]

Pulley/clutch on the AC compressor of my wrangler is attempting to tear itself apart. So I've got that going on this weekend.

 

[MMike]

Oh that's a shame.

Jeep is no longer mine........huzzah.......

Who wants a 2002 Jetta? Anyone? 1.8T? Eh? Eh?

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Try it....now?

 

[stevew]

Who wants a 2002 Jetta? Anyone? 1.8T? Eh? Eh?

fvck the ex over and give it to her....

 

[Pesqueeb]

fvck the ex over and give it to her....

IIRC she got the Jeep.

 

[eric strt6]

Pulley/clutch on the AC compressor of my wrangler is attempting to tear itself apart. So I've got that going on this weekend.

I got lucky and just had to replace the upper radiator hose on the Volvo last night. Gotta love a 15 minute repair by headlamp

 

[Pesqueeb]

I got lucky and just had to replace the upper radiator hose on the Volvo last night. Gotta love a 15 minute repair by headlamp

The compressor shouldn't be too bad. It sits right on top so access isn't an issue. Decided while I'm in there I might as well take care of all the other stuff I've been meaning to do forever. Plugs, wires, coil, etc, etc. Might as well change the oil too.

 

[HardtailHack]

I got lucky and just had to replace the upper radiator hose on the Volvo last night. Gotta love a 15 minute repair by headlamp

Do you have to reset the ECU after that? Bloody Volvos, mine would throw an airbag fault if you removed the air con control without disconnecting the battery, crazy Swedes! Clone DICE unit things are worth their weight gold if you own a Volvo.

 

[jonKranked]

The compressor shouldn't be too bad. It sits right on top so access isn't an issue. Decided while I'm in there I might as well take care of all the other stuff I've been meaning to do forever. Plugs, wires, coil, etc, etc. Might as well change the oil too.

just replace the whole car while you're at it

 

[Pesqueeb]

just replace the whole car while you're at it

No way dude. This is the first unscheduled maintenance I've had to do on the jeep in over ten years. It's by far the most reliable vehicle in the barn. My single speed bicycle isn't that reliable.

 

[jonKranked]

No way dude. This is the first unscheduled maintenance I've had to do on the jeep in over ten years. It's by far the most reliable vehicle in the barn. My single speed bicycle isn't that reliable.

i think i see your problem

 

[Pesqueeb]

i think i see your problem

 

[Pesqueeb]

I had no idea @MMike was so......Ethnic. How is the new jeep working out BTW?

 

[CBJ]

That is pretty amazing. If he only had done a little monkey research.