TJ issue fatigue

I

indio

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 15, 2019
Messages
159
Location
Chicagoland
Latest issue - new years day the TJ wouldn't start due to a bad battery. The battery was in poor shape due to an earlier parasitic drain issue, which caused too many dead battery recharges (finally resolved with a new ignition switch).

So I get the new battery home, and proceed to swap it in. How hard can this be? Well the aftermarket battery terminals some previous owner installed, are too large diameter for the new battery terminals! What the ... %$#@!

Every flipping thing with this TJ has been a struggle since I got it last spring. Due to typical TJ things, combined with some PO actions.

Now here I am swapping the terminals from my CJ7 to the TJ. That doesn't sit well with me. I never had so many problems with my CJs, much less my other vehicles. This TJ has so far been the most unreliable vehicle I have ever owned. It's getting quite frustrating. :(

I can't wait to get my old Land Rover back on the road in a few months. The sometimes flakey electrics in the Land Rovers are nicknamed "the prince of darkness". But the Rover is looking like prince charming compared to the TJ.
 
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I know the feeling. Not with the Jeep so far, but just generally sometimes. I fix everything for everyone, from house to car to computer to whatever.

With the wife, 2 girls, 2 dogs, 5 cars and a house. It seems the list of stuff to fix is endless.

I found a mouse nest in the Mini Cooper cabin air filter. Caught the mouse outside and decontaminated the car. Ordered a new filter, went to put it in and found a new nest. Caught 2 more mice outside, put mothballs in the car and moved it to the street.

I'm going to try to install the filter again this weekend. If I find more mice, I may need to get a cat.

I was cleaning it up to sell it. Go Figure.
 
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Thanks, I just needed to vent. With creative use of a file, and a shim sleeve, I got the new battery installed. The TJ starts strong now. A win. :)

And critters ugh. Last summer I went on a trip, told my kids one thing: don't leave the garage door open at night, else raccoons might get into the garage. You can guess what happened. One raccoon ended up dying in the roof overhang. Took a while to find it - what a mess.
 
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It's always amazing to me how some people can own a vehicle and have no issues at all, and then others can own the same vehicle and have nothing but issues. I always equate it to who owned the vehicle before and other shit associated with previous owners.
 
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Chris said:
It's always amazing to me how some people can own a vehicle and have no issues at all, and then others can own the same vehicle and have nothing but issues. I always equate it to who owned the vehicle before and other shit associated with previous owners.
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I bought my 1985 CJ7 used in 1989. Completely stock and from a nice couple, who were selling due to birth of a child. The wife was crying as they were signing over the title. In fact, I felt bad and offered to cancel the deal, in case she was having a change of heart.

Anyway yes, that CJ7 had no SPOTs (stupid previous owner tricks), was not abused, and gave me many years of faithful service (until rust finally started doing it's thing). I think going forward, I will look to purchase a vehicle as stock and unmodified as possible.
 
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indio said:
I bought my 1985 CJ7 used in 1989. Completely stock and from a nice couple, who were selling due to birth of a child. The wife was crying as they were signing over the title. In fact, I felt bad and offered to cancel the deal, in case she was having a change of heart.

Anyway yes, that CJ7 had no SPOTs (stupid previous owner tricks), was not abused, and gave me many years of faithful service (until rust finally started doing it's thing). I think going forward, I will look to purchase a vehicle as stock and unmodified as possible.
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Good plan! Unless I find a Jeep that has been tastefully modified by someone who I can find a good online history of (for instance, a really long and in-depth build thread on this forum), I will always, always, always go for a stock one with low miles with maintenance records and minimal owners.

You'll end up paying more for it, but my experience is that it's worth it in the end, as vehicles like this will usually give you a lot less trouble in the long run.
 
Just a tip....put a bar of Irish Spring in the car (I cut a bar into 4 pieces to spread around) to keep the varmints away. I do it to all the trucks, tractors, and equipment that have electrical systems I don't want chewed up over the winter. I've tried mothballs for years with little luck. When I heard about the soap trick I doubted it, but it really works well. Even stops them coming in the cellar in the winter.
 
indio said:
I can't wait to get my old Land Rover back on the road in a few months. The sometimes flakey electrics in the Land Rovers are nicknamed "the prince of darkness". But the Rover is looking like prince charming compared to the TJ.
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Them 'r fightin' words round these parts! ;)

I have the same problem...with my house. Current owner BS (I rent), things just blowing up randomly, and never being able to keep up with repairs.
 
indio said:
Thanks, I just needed to vent. With creative use of a file, and a shim sleeve, I got the new battery installed. The TJ starts strong now. A win. :)

And critters ugh. Last summer I went on a trip, told my kids one thing: don't leave the garage door open at night, else raccoons might get into the garage. You can guess what happened. One raccoon ended up dying in the roof overhang. Took a while to find it - what a mess.
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That's funny. Had a groundhog get locked into the garage two summers ago unbeknownst to us. Our little Jack Russel got into it with Mr. Marmot when I opened the kitchen door to garage to throw something into the recycle bin. The groundhog was bigger than Jack but he still tore into it. I managed to get Jack separated and the groundhog out of the garage.

DSCN1169.JPG
 
ejay said:
I have the same problem...with my house. Current owner BS (I rent), things just blowing up randomly, and never being able to keep up with repairs.
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That was the first place I rented. It got bad to the point that there was mold coming through the wall and my landlord said "a little bleach and elbow grease should fix that".
 
Chris said:
Good plan! Unless I find a Jeep that has been tastefully modified by someone who I can find a good online history of (for instance, a really long and in-depth build thread on this forum), I will always, always, always go for a stock one with low miles with maintenance records and minimal owners.

You'll end up paying more for it, but my experience is that it's worth it in the end, as vehicles like this will usually give you a lot less trouble in the long run.
Click to expand...

Dude, this so hard - after a year of ownership, I'm kinda convinced that a lower # of PO's and little to no crappy mods are more important than lower mileage.
 
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I sympathize with the fatigue. After I bought my TJ and drove it for a few months, I had to replace the entire rear brake system due to a leaky wheel cylinder, seized hardline fittings, and a seized parking brake cable adjuster. Then my radiator blew up on the highway. Then my rear end blew up on the way home.

I've done my fair share of work on this thing in a year's worth of ownership, but honestly I wouldn't trade it. The only work I haven't taken on myself was installing new front & rear gears after replacing the rear axle. Compared to my Mini Cooper, this truck about the easiest thing on the planet to fix.

The youngest of these vehicles is 14 years old now. They're not as simple as the older CJs, but they're a hell of a lot simpler than pretty much anything made from 97-2006, and will probably outlast everything except the Civics and Land Cruisers of the time.
 
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Not_Invented_Here_ said:
Dude, this so hard - after a year of ownership, I'm kinda convinced that a lower # of PO's and little to no crappy modes are more important than lower mileage.
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I would say you are 100% right. Low mileage doesn't mean much if you ask me. It's how it was taken care of, who owned it (and how many people), and what kind of crap they did to it.
 
Goatman said:
Just a tip....put a bar of Irish Spring in the car (I cut a bar into 4 pieces to spread around) to keep the varmints away. I do it to all the trucks, tractors, and equipment that have electrical systems I don't want chewed up over the winter. I've tried mothballs for years with little luck. When I heard about the soap trick I doubted it, but it really works well. Even stops them coming in the cellar in the winter.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I wonder if that will work with snakes? I’m going to try it this spring.

I get garter, rat and brown snakes around the yard and don’t really mind them, but my wife freaks out. LOL
 
That's the only good part of living up in the rust belt. No lizards, no pythons, no 8 pound spiders. Just super high taxes, needing a permit to mow the lawn, incompetent government that embezzles all your income and blows it on hookers and coke.

But no rattlesnakes.
 
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