Is there a particular year of the LJ that is best to build?
Is there a difference in electronics, buses, and any other things in the '04-06s?
Is there a difference in electronics, buses, and any other things in the '04-06s?
Is there a particular year of the LJ that is best to build?
- Thread starter Bulag Jeeper
- Start date
05-06 took a lot of hits from Daimler cost cutting efforts and had some issues with ecm, ignition, and fuel tank. It's all fixable but 04s don't have the issues. The tradeoff with 04 is that they all had automatics. If you want a manual trans you're stuck with 05-06, which was the 6 speed that can have its own set of issues with being noisy and popping out of reverse.
If you are planning on an extensive build I'd get a non-Rubicon, whatever the year, and put the money saved into your build.
Go '04. Less problems that '05 to '06, but as @freedom_in_4low said, they're all automatic.
'04
OPDA - still can affect '04 but not as many - fairly easy to fix from what I've seen, if done preventatively though. Crown makes a replacement OPDA.
PCM - I don't believe these issues affect '04's but someone correct me if wrong - also think it's a fairly easy fix https://wranglerfix.com makes replacement PCMs for 05-06.
Or just get an '04 and don't worry about either one.
others mentioned issues above RE: trans.
OPDA - still can affect '04 but not as many - fairly easy to fix from what I've seen, if done preventatively though. Crown makes a replacement OPDA.
PCM - I don't believe these issues affect '04's but someone correct me if wrong - also think it's a fairly easy fix https://wranglerfix.com makes replacement PCMs for 05-06.
Or just get an '04 and don't worry about either one.
others mentioned issues above RE: trans.
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This is what the dash of most 2006 model Tj / LJs looks like
I know man- that dislike is well deserved- if I’m off base tell me - but I have had more CEL issues with that year model than the rest I’ve messed with combined.
Driver's seat forward why is 05/06 LJ any different or more troublesome than same year TJ. Thought mechanicals and electricals in dash and engine bay were the same.
My post said both models- they are both a CEL waiting to happen - mainly because the emissions are designed to be replaced and most of us don’t want to bite the bullet and buy 4 sensors and pre cats and do it right is one reason. They have a finite lifespan.
If you're going with a V8 swap and your other outlined build plans it won't really matter. I'd find the cleanest one and start there. There were roughly 29k more 05/06 LJ's produced so it's easier to find those years.
You'd think they would be, but Chrysler is among the worst with little changes every couple years trying to find ways to save a few bucks per part.
05 got a new fuel tank (not sure if they also changed the evap emission system). A moving plastic part in the tank swells up and gets stuck, the only fix is to drop the tank and sand the part down a bit. It's free from a parts standpoint but it takes effort dropping the tank.
05 got a new pcm. Automatics previously had a standalone transmission module, starting in 05 they integrated it in the PCM. They changed some sensors, including the crank position sensor, which also got a new location, and the cam position sensor, which got a new housing and oil pump drive assembly. It's difficult to nail down the actual failure rate but there were a number of examples with fairly low mileage of the OPDA locking up, shredding the drive gear or shearing off and stopping the oil supply to a running engine. My hunch is this might be an issue where if they were gonna fail, they fail fairly early. It doesn't seem to come up that much anymore but it was all over the forums in 2010. They also had some issues causing automatics to throw a transmission code and a hard 1-2 shift when cold, and I think some other codes that aren't real and won't go away. The answer to that one is a new pcm, about $1200 last I looked, but at least there's a fix.
05 got a new manual transmission. Search nsg370 on this forum and you'll find out what many of us think about it. I'm in the process of swapping mine out for the 5 speed used in pre-2000 TJs.
I personally have had the fuel tank issue on an 05 and an 06, had the OPDA issue on an 05 (caught early) and had problems with the transmission on an 06. I think TJs peaked in 1999 and again in 2004, but damn I love an LJ and I like to shift, so here I am.
Thanks. I thought that there had been some changes. This is good to know. The more knowledge before buying is always helpful.
I am about to start a build on an 04 and the first thing we are doing is swapping in a NV3550 with all OEM parts.
This will be the Boss Lady's Jeep so it has to be an automatic. Looking at puting a 10R80 behind a 351W.