Birty Dastards Jeep Club
Tech Forum => Workshop => Topic started by: TC on March 01, 2014, 11:52:29 AM
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Hi all,
Just joined the forum after picking up a 2004 2.7 Grand Cherokee yesterday.
On the whole it seems pretty good if not as smooth as the 4.0 Cherokee I had a few years back but I expected that.
Anyway, reason I'm on here is I've noticed that when driving along the motorway, if you accelerate and then back off, the Jeep seems to twist and try to move to the right, you have to correct it if you don't want to move into the next lane.
I don't remember this 'feature' on my old Jeep and was thinking it could indicate something like worn engine mounts or maybe something worn in the steering ?
Any ideas ?
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Or something worn/broken on the LH rear.
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Check all your bushes. Commom for rear a frame and arms to wear.
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Thanks for the quick responses :icon_biggrin:
All the brake pads have just been replaced and I've just been out in it and can smell what I'm guessing is hot brakes, so I'm beginning to think one of the calipers may be sticking, would that cause it ?
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A siezed caliper would cause the pong you mention and a continual drag to that side of the car.
If you bought it from a garage, go and ask them to kindly fix it under the sale of goods act (not fit for purpose), or if you got it from a private sale and he had the brakes done by a garage ask the PO very nicely if he will reject it back to the garage for you. After all, he doesn't have to tell them he's sold it does he? Or if you had them changed that makes things even simpler.
All that said, those pads are probably toast now and the disk may have warped, but if you're really lucky all you'll find is that the handbrake cable is too tight. Meaning a little adjustment and a fresh set of pads will see it right. But don't play with it now or you'll find the hot bits damn quick!
Oh yeah, 'welcome to Birties', and happy Jeepin'.
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Took it out for another run earlier.
I think the brakes are actually OK, the smell is I suspect just from the crap on the discs, calipers etc where they were working on them.
The car goes in a straight line on a constant throttle, doesn't pull to one side under braking and rolls back slightly on the drive when I park so they don't seem to be binding.
I've got to drive to Kent tomorrow, which is about 100 miles or so, and should get a better idea of what's going on as I get used to it (It's a slight change after a Skoda :icon_biggrin: (Anyone want a cheap Fabia shed ? )) and it give a chance for the crap to burn itself off.
I bought it from a dealer and it's covered by a full warranty (as well as SOG), I just wanted to get an idea of what it might be first myself before taking it in.........
But if you should hear of the M25 being shut tomorrow because a Jeep's brakes caught fire, you'll know what it was :003:
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(Anyone want a cheap Fabia shed ? ))
Yes please, specs, pics, condition, mileage etc. - I will Pm you my email address.
It's for youngest muppet so has to be semi decent and good enough to do Truro <-> Newcastle and back after the summer.
Where are you based ?
Cheers
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I'm near Reading Berks.
It's a 1.9TD, 133,000 miles with just under a years MOT and some tax.
Dead reliable, just got a few ancilliary faults that don't stop it running (and I ignore) and one bodywork amendment from a cyclist.
I'll reply to your PM with some more details
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After the Kent trip, the brakes seems to have stopped smelling and still work OK.
I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the steering/anti roll bars, it's going back to the dealers on Saturday.
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It will be the bushes on the a-arm or control arms - fairly common I think.
As you apply power or come off the torque shift will twist and wibbly wobbly the rear axle (very technical I know :icon_eek:)
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Not too sure how your model is set up, but the A arm on the KJ has a balljoint coupling joining it to the diff...easy to change and not expensive. If it's similar, do them all at the same time (two bushes and the ball joint)..in fact, while you are under there, do the lower ones as well. You'll need access to a press to fit the bushings, but the whole job should take an afternoon and cost around 120 quid, including parts. I got everything from Jeepey Mart (Mike).
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Anyone want a cheap Fabia shed ?
Chaps, one Fabia winging it's way to Kernow in a fortnight. :icon_super:
One very happy muppet standing by :greggmo:
Thanks TC, see you soon.
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Excellent :003:
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:icon_super:
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Good doing business with you, see you soon Dutch :icon_biggrin:
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Awesome :icon_super: :icon_super:
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Popped it over to the dealer today, he took it for a spin round the block.
It's the steering box, they're replacing it next week.
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Been thinking further about this, would a knackered steering box actually cause the Jeep to go left/right under acceleration/deceleration ?
I can see it would make the actual steering bad i.e constatntly having to correct it etc but not sure it would cause this ?
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I have to agree with TC...seems a bit strange to me.
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It's booked for Monday, so we'll see what happens.
The passenger seat belt's also being looked at as it keeps locking up.....
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Well it ended up going to the dealers on Tuesday, we'll see what it's like when I get it back.
The delay meant I found a few other bits.
They ended up with a list of faults.
Steering
Locking seat belt
handbrake occasionaly misses the ratchet and comes straight up.
Brake pedal goes down if you keep your foot on it (they had replaced all the pads to cure it but it appears it might be the master cylinder at fault)
And there's a smell of hot oil or diesel from time to time mainly after motorway trips.
I had a go about the tyre pressures on two tyres being half what they should have been when I picked it up and also that if they had inspected the Jeep before handing it over, how come I found 1/2 kilo of squirrell nuts in the airbox......
Hopefully it'll come back all sorted out :icon_rolleyes:
They've given me an Audi Quattro Allroad to play with while they fix it.
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Fingers crossed for you.
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:iagree:...Good luck mate.
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Well, after having the Jeep for 2 weeks, they've decided it's not the steering box but the rear A Frame bushes that are knackered.
I'm not filled with confidence at this point. :jpshakehead:
I suspect that, other than warranty claims, I won't be using this workshop again in a hurry :011:
Trouble is the local Jeep main dealer in Maidenhead has shut and the next nearest specialist, who was miles away in Bicester now doesn't do Jeeps anyway.
Hopefully my van mechanic will be able to service it......
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Well, after having the Jeep for 2 weeks, they've decided it's not the steering box but the rear A Frame bushes that are knackered.
I'm not filled with confidence at this point. :jpshakehead:
I suspect that, other than warranty claims, I won't be using this workshop again in a hurry :011:
Trouble is the local Jeep main dealer in Maidenhead has shut and the next nearest specialist, who was miles away in Bicester now doesn't do Jeeps anyway.
Hopefully my van mechanic will be able to service it......
The rear A frame was what I thought to be the problem, way back in the beginning. It's really easy to fix and not all that expensive!
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Well, after having the Jeep for 2 weeks, they've decided it's not the steering box but the rear A Frame bushes that are knackered.
I'm not filled with confidence at this point. :jpshakehead:
I suspect that, other than warranty claims, I won't be using this workshop again in a hurry :011:
Trouble is the local Jeep main dealer in Maidenhead has shut and the next nearest specialist, who was miles away in Bicester now doesn't do Jeeps anyway.
Hopefully my van mechanic will be able to service it......
if you going to bicester you may as well keep going till you hit northampton... tcj services 01604 722700 they do all the work on my WJ, have had no problems with them so far and their able to source used parts, which makes it cheaper to keep your Jeep on the road
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I'll second TCJ :greggmo:
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Typical, I've been at Santa Pod all weekend, I could have dropped the Jeep off Thursday and picked it up later :icon_rolleyes: :icon_biggrin:
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If it turns out to be a correct diagnosis..and nothing is broken...all you will need is six bushes and a balljoint. I had a similar issue with my KJ and went down that road...problem solved in a short afternoons work. (once I received the parts from Jeepey and Gaz).
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I've got it back and it's definitely better but still has a bit of a shimmy.
Checkedg the MOT and although it didn't fail there's play in both the Drag Link end ball joints, so I'm guessing that won't help :icon_rolleyes:
Rather than wait 3 weeks for the dealer to fix it I'll have a look at what's involved first and either do it myself or get the van mechanic to do it and check all the bushes at the same time.
I might need to get any parts for him so any pointers on where's best to get them from are appreciated :icon_biggrin:
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I'm sure that other folk will have their suggestions, but I've always found that Mike, up at Jeepey is very helpful. I've been dealing with him for over five years (and pissed him off a gazillion times) and he has never let me down!
Just my two bobs worth!
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TC, if it is still under warranty, won't you tinkering with it make that void ?
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I'll have to check the small print but it's normally down to getting the servicing done by them and using genuine parts.
Any other work can be done.
What I'll probably do is sort out minor issues myself but return it to them if anything major crops up.
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I'll have to check the small print but it's normally down to getting the servicing done by them and using genuine parts.
Any other work can be done.
What I'll probably do is sort out minor issues myself but return it to them if anything major crops up.
Indeed, has to be main dealer serviced.
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TC
I've been addressing the same problem - I've already replaced the rear 'A' frame and the lower arms - I don't have access to a press so new units were the only option.
Ironically I also have both upper and lower arms for the front to replace sometime soon, as my shimmy is still evident - if ever so slight!
For info in the last 6 months approx 6K miles I've replace all the front track rod ends - new Steering Box (it was leaking) and both Upper and lower front yoke ball joints (PITA)
Good Luck with the dealer - my dealer only handled warranty work till they gave up the Jeep franchise.
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TC
I forgot to add - like you I have a 2004 WJ CRD - I fitted a 2" BB and I 'm currently running 265/70/16 BFG All Terrains - the BFG's have outstanding mileage ability - my last two sets done 60K & 65K - but they do tend to follow the camber, as I've found as it tends to show up as a shimy type effect.
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I've given up with the dealer, - 3 weeks to replace a couple of bushes and a couple of other items they assured me they had fixed (handbrake missing the ratchet occasionally and a sticking seat belt) hadn't been touched at all in the 3 weeks.
Avoid Jeeps Direct in Wokingham like the plague....
I've booked the Jeep in with a mechanic I trust. he'll give it a once over to check there's no major problems and then, assuming there isn't we'll get it sorted between us.
Once he's looked at it and hopefully confirmed it's OK then I'll stick a set of Goodyear HP AWs on it.
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Just to update this, the mechanic said the Jeep was sound but needed a fair bit of work.
As I like the Jeep so much I decided to go ahead with it.
Something like 8 bushings, two ball joints, a/c condenser, engine service and a change of oil in the gearbox, diff's etc, it's nearly there.
I say nearly because after all the work, I had the tracking done and there's now a load of play in the steering.
From what can work out I suspect all the work has resulted in the Pitman arm needing adjustment, it seems easy enough :017: , so I'll give it a go this morning.
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Glad your getting there, just sounds like it needed a bit of love
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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From what the mechanic said, it hasn't had much done service wise for a number of years, the gearbox oil etc was like sludge and you don't get 8 bushes failing suddenly, how it passed the MOT in January I don't know !
But the Chassis is solid and the engine is good so I'll get it back up to where it should be.
I do 60 miles a day in it so it needs to be dependable (which I think it will be), plus it's got to tow a trailer with two bikes on down to the South of France and back in September :icon_biggrin: so it needs to be sorted.
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From what can work out I suspect all the work has resulted in the Pitman arm needing adjustment, it seems easy enough :017: , so I'll give it a go this morning.
So much for that idea....
Found a 5/8 spanner for the locknut no problem, but I can't find an allen key (either metric or imperial) that fits :jpshakehead:
I can't work out or see if it's just an odd size or if it's that the allen head is knackered :011:
Hopefully it's the former !
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After checking things a bit more closely, it turns out it wasn't needing adjustment but the new tie rod to the pitman arm is knackered !
It's stripped the thread on the nut (it was only the split pin keeping it in place :icon_eek: )and the thread on the tie rod itself doesn't look great.
It's back with the mechanic now......
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Finally all done !
Tie rod replaced, tracking checked (again)
Steering wheel wasn't quite straight when I got it back, but 10 minutes with the spanners sorted that.
Hopefully shouldn't have to spend any more on it until at least the next MOT now :icon_biggrin: