Initial Maintenence/Tune-Up on a Used Jeep

lrb6805

lrb6805

Die Living
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2017
Messages
129
Location
Grapevine, TX, United States
Hello,

I bought my first used '06 Wrangler LJ with 79k miles on it about a week ago. I am wanting to do an initial Maintenance/Tune-Up overhaul to get my own records going and keep track of everything. I'm not looking to do any mods for now as I want to see what I want/need as I go.

My goal is to increase/restore engine performance.

From looking at this forum's FAQs/How-To's and other forums I am looking at doing:

1. All Fluids
2. Filters (oil, air, fuel)
3. Spark Plugs
4. Grease joints and bearings

Potential:
Sea Foam
O2 Sensors
Clean Throttle Body/IACV
Coolant System
A/C tune up
PCV Valve
Ignition Rail

What are y'alls thoughts, advice, recommendations?

I know some people only "fix" things when they break, but I prefer preventative maintenance for longevity and to keep it running at its best.

Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: KMET and kball05
Definitely all fluids, including diff oil, transfer case oil, and trany oil. Flush brake fluid and power steering fluid, spark plugs, and clean throttle body. Also, while your greasing the chassis, do a dry steer test of all the tie rod ends and check the track bar at both the axle end and frame end for looseness. How are the tires? Are they cupping? Do they need rotated? I'd check the cooling system for dirty coolant and flush if needed. Coolant is 5 year/100,000 mile coolant. Inspect the brakes and check pad wear and brake hoses. Check ujoints on both front and rear drive shafts for play and grease if applicable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lrb6805 and kball05
Forget the overpriced/overhyped Sea Foam, it's a waste of $$$. Cleaning the TB with an aerosol can of Throttle Body Cleaner wouldn't be a bad idea if it's dirty inside. You can clean it by spraying the cleaner into the TB while the engine is running.

Your '06 is very fussy about its spark plugs, it won't run properly on all spark plugs shown in the guides to be correct.

These first two plugs are platinum tipped which will perform well for 100k miles.
Autolite APP985 (not AP985!)
Champion 7034 (not 3034!)

This third plug is iridium tipped and it will perform well for 200k miles.
Autolite XP985.

There are only 7 grease zerks on your TJ and they're all on the front-end's steering system and ball joints. None of the bearings are greasable.

Avoid K&N air filters, they don't filter the dirt out any better than a screen door does in a dust storm. A top-quality filter that both filters and breathes well is an AC-Delco, other good choices of air filters would be a Purolator or Fram (yes they test well too).

Run only a 5W-30 or 10W-30 in your engine, conventional is fine.

Your transmission is fussy about its lube too but you don't say which transmission you have. Assuming it's an automatic like most LJs come with, make sure it only gets ATF+4. If the front of the ATF bottle doesn't say ATF+4 in big letters, it's the wrong stuff. You should also use the same ATF+4 in your power steering system and transfer case. The transfer case isn't fussy about the type of ATF it gets but being as the automatic transmission and power steering system requires ATF+4, might as well use that in the transfer case too.

Good luck with your new Jeep and welcome to the forum! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Upstater, JamesAndTheSahara and lrb6805
Jerry I don't know how Seafoam performs with a Jeep but to say in a general sense it's overpriced over hyped is simply incorrect. I run a snowmobile repair business in the winter and have been doing so for 7 years. I service/repair/mod an average of 65 sleds a season. I have used Seafoam many times on troubled older engines that needed a lot of help. In most cases the customer and I have seen very significant improvements in how an engine runs and performs. You might want to back off a bit on your position. I have real world experience on this one!
 
  • Like
Reactions: KMET
BendLarry said:
Jerry I don't know how Seafoam performs with a Jeep but to say in a general sense it's overpriced over hyped is simply incorrect. I run a snowmobile repair business in the winter and have been doing so for 7 years. I service/repair/mod an average of 65 sleds a season. I have used Seafoam many times on troubled older engines that needed a lot of help. In most cases the customer and I have seen very significant improvements in how an engine runs and performs. You might want to back off a bit on your position. I have real world experience on this one!
Click to expand...
Nope, I'm sticking to what I said. I don't make such statements easily or out of the blue. Sea Foam can help get rid of deposits but at a higher cost than what more traditional cleaners cost. There's nothing Sea Foam can do that other products made for specific purposes can't do cheaper and better. It's like using one single cleaner to clean everything in your house, garage, and vehicle... no single product is going to work well at all jobs like Sea Foam claims it does.

This is my long-held personal opinion and as said, I didn't arrive at it out of the blue. So nope, I'm not going to get into an argument over my personal opinion of Sea Foam that has some fooled some into thinking it can do everything short of slicing the bread. :)
 
BendLarry said:
Same old Jerry.
Click to expand...
LOL, you want people to change their long held opinions easily based on your personal opinion? Really? What you claim is YOUR opinion, as what I said is MY opinion.

If you want to believe one product can do everything as well as other products made for specific purposes, that's your right. I won't succumb to the Sea Foam hype though. As said above, Sea Foam may help clean fuel passages but my contention is it doesn't do EVERYTHING as well as purpose-designed products can. One product isn't going to do it all as well as other products designed specifically for specific jobs. Do-it all it ain't.

Same old BendLarry. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ndaddy, trevino33, Brantley and 1 other person
Unlike you Jerry I don't have a history on this site of making statements of opinion and making it seem like there is no reason to ever question you. You obviously are entitled to your opinion as is everyone else on this site, but the longer i am reading your "opinions " on things the more it's clear to me that you don't know as much as you think you do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
BendLarry said:
Unlike you Jerry I don't have a history on this site of making statements of opinion and making it seem like there is no reason to ever question you. You obviously are entitled to your opinion as is everyone else on this site, but the longer i am reading your "opinions " on things the more it's clear to me that you don't know as much as you think you do.
Click to expand...
Great, you have the amazing option of placing me on ignore. I suggest you do so since you have such a problem with me stating my personal opinion. It won't hurt my feelings one little bit.

Not to mention you already admitted you didn't know how Sea Foam performs in a Jeep, you only use it during the winter for snow mobile repairs. At least I'm basing my opinion on how it worked for me in my Jeep... what this forum is for.

Sea Foam is a very old product that was developed in the 30's. There are much better and more advanced cleaners on the market now, the modern stuff like Techron blows Sea Foam away. That's my personal opinion and I'm sticking with it. :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: trevino33 and JamesAndTheSahara
That's it Jerry, stick to your guns. God forbid someone might know something you don't. There is a reason a product that has been around this long is still held in such high regard by so many people who actually work on engines.... it works! At least you are predictable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrittanyJ
Jerry Bransford said:
Forget the overpriced/overhyped Sea Foam, it's a waste of $$$. Cleaning the TB with an aerosol can of Throttle Body Cleaner wouldn't be a bad idea if it's dirty inside. You can clean it by spraying the cleaner into the TB while the engine is running.

Your '06 is very fussy about its spark plugs, it won't run properly on all spark plugs shown in the guides to be correct.

These first two plugs are platinum tipped which will perform well for 100k miles.
Autolite APP985 (not AP985!)
Champion 7034 (not 3034!)

This third plug is iridium tipped and it will perform well for 200k miles.
Autolite XP985.

There are only 7 grease zerks on your TJ and they're all on the front-end's steering system and ball joints. None of the bearings are greasable.

Avoid K&N air filters, they don't filter the dirt out any better than a screen door does in a dust storm. A top-quality filter that both filters and breathes well is an AC-Delco, other good choices of air filters would be a Purolator or Fram (yes they test well too).

Run only a 5W-30 or 10W-30 in your engine, conventional is fine.

Your transmission is fussy about its lube too but you don't say which transmission you have. Assuming it's an automatic like most LJs come with, make sure it only gets ATF+4. If the front of the ATF bottle doesn't say ATF+4 in big letters, it's the wrong stuff. You should also use the same ATF+4 in your power steering system and transfer case. The transfer case isn't fussy about the type of ATF it gets but being as the automatic transmission and power steering system requires ATF+4, might as well use that in the transfer case too.

Good luck with your new Jeep and welcome to the forum! :)
Click to expand...

This was incredibly helpful. Thanks for sharing Jerry
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
Tighten up your oil and transmission pan bolts. Got my 2005 last Oct. From a dealer and all the aforementioned bolts were "Not Tight" as well as the diff covers.

I also have an Old Guys Rule Tee.
 
Top Bottom
Back