Did I tell you about my WK2?

tman66

tman66

TJ Enthusiast
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Joined
Jun 9, 2017
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465
Location
Cypress, TX, United States
Here it is broke down in a cornfield on the 1st day of our much needed 4 day vacation.

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The water pump went out. It had less than 19k on the clock.

My wife is looking at me like an idiot because I didn't have tools to fix it.

I had to wait 3 hours in 100+ heat.
 
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It's a 2013 Trail Hawk.
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Which is kinda rare since they only made it one year...until this year....and the crappy Cherokee Trail Hawk..and the crappy Renegade Trail Hawk.

We would go to the dealer and all the salesmen would come out to gawk at it.

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Daughter doing the model thing.
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Wife is very happy with it and that what counts!!
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Bought some new shoes for it last month, Some KO's:
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I have to say the Good Year Kevlar tires held up well at 46k miles. Best tire from the factory I've ever had.
 
From what I gather, the new Jeeps seem to be garbage. Maybe I'm wrong as that's just what I've read on the Internet, but it seems like the only really "reliable" Jeep is a Jeep Wrangler (or something with the 4.0 engine). And I'm not even sure if that applies to the JKs.
 
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Chris said:
From what I gather, the new Jeeps seem to be garbage. Maybe I'm wrong as that's just what I've read on the Internet, but it seems like the only really "reliable" Jeep is a Jeep Wrangler (or something with the 4.0 engine). And I'm not even sure if that applies to the JKs.
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Lot's of little problems with the JK/U's that relate to the level of complexity. I can see where the combination of design and plastic is going to bite me in the butt before long on ours.

Did you know that you can do about $500 damage, that makes them undrivable, to the 2012+ JK's just changing the oil? (dealer cost to fix it)
 
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StG58 said:
Lot's of little problems with the JK/U's that relate to the level of complexity. I can see where the combination of design and plastic is going to bite me in the butt before long on ours.

Did you know that you can do about $500 damage, that makes them undrivable, to the 2012+ JK's just changing the oil? (dealer cost to fix it)
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What kind of damage?

And how much plastic is there on your JK/U?
 
lovemachine said:
What kind of damage?

And how much plastic is there on your JK/U?
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The oil anti drain back valve breaks and drops parts into the oiling system when you unscrew the plastic cap to remove the oil filter cartridge. It happens pretty often. Dorman has a fix for it that costs about $20 or so. You need to fish the broken parts out of the oil filter can and snap this part in to replace the valve and fix the issue. The oil filters are on revision #3 since the 3.6 has been introduced. I bought the Dorman part and keep it in the tool box just in case. The dealership replaces the whole assembly, including the oil cooler. Last I heard, the parts were on back order from Fiat-Chrysler.

Lots of plastic. The engine even has a lot of engineered composites to reduce weight. The grill is plastic. Most of the interior is plastic, that really doesn't fit together all that well, and develops the typical plastic bends and bulges along the way. The onboard computers are a nightmare when they start to throw codes, and most everything is computer controlled. They don't take kindly to running down rough roads on a continual basis. That Canbus thing is a pain in the ass.

On the bright side, the wife LOVES her JKU and would get rid of me before she gets rid of it. I don't know if that is a comment about me or it though.

Edited to add: Eventually, the JK/U's are going to be the only reasonably available Wranglers. They have a lot going for them, but we, as a community, need to start figuring out how to simplify and maintain those beasts in the long term. If I had the money, I'd snag a cheaper Sport and start stripping it out until it refused to run. Figure out exactly what the minimum was that you needed to have a functional JK. My belief is that is where you need to start with a JK.
 
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Chris said:
From what I gather, the new Jeeps seem to be garbage. Maybe I'm wrong as that's just what I've read on the Internet, but it seems like the only really "reliable" Jeep is a Jeep Wrangler (or something with the 4.0 engine). And I'm not even sure if that applies to the JKs.
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I'm pretty sure the Grand Cherokee's have always been pieces of junk. The more complex American get, the worse they will be in the long run.

I was so hoping to find a nice xj for my daughters 1st car, but only the shit heaps were in my price range.
 
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tman66 said:
I'm pretty sure the Grand Cherokee's have always been pieces of junk. The more complex American get, the worse they will be in the long run.

I was so hoping to find a nice xj for my daughters 1st car, but only the shit heaps were in my price range.
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Yep, it's getting harder to find clean XJs for the price. Most of them have had the snot beat out of them.
 
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tman66 said:
For around $3500 I could have got what I wanted.

I think it might be my next purchase. Low mile, 2 door. But, it's kind of a unicorn nowdays. :lol:
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I used to have exactly what you describe. It is indeed a unicorn!
 
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tman66 said:
I'm pretty sure the Grand Cherokee's have always been pieces of junk. The more complex American get, the worse they will be in the long run.

I was so hoping to find a nice xj for my daughters 1st car, but only the shit heaps were in my price range.
Click to expand...

My wife had a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee for 9 years and we sold it with 100,000 miles on the odometer. It was the 2 wheel drive version so it had a few less parts but it held up pretty well. The only issues we had in 9 years were the hydraulic cylinders that hold the lift gate and hood up wore out, recharged the AC system and replaced a thermostat and one battery. That was it. She bought it cause her dad had a 1986 Cherokee that he put 225,000 miles on. So we've had good luck with our jeeps (as I knock On wood).
 
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