Bought a jeep wrangler! Pictures and a bit of new ?s 12-28-10

[Mr_RPM]

Today I put a deposit down on a 2001 Jeep wrangler, 4.0L, automatic, both tops, 65,000 miles, after market bumpers, offset wheels and new tires and I believe wider fender flares for 10 grand. It is in great shape and I should be taking it home sometime next week after the dealer does a service/tune up.

I have never owned a wrangler before but I am somewhat of a car guy.

what are some things every wrangler owner needs to know?

Im just going to be using it as a daily driver and might take a cruise or 2 to silver lake sand dunes but no extreme off roading. I plan on leaving it mostly stock.

Any common problems to look or plan for? Common tips or tricks to do on my wrangler?
thanks, ill post pics when I get it!


Also, any other wrangler owners here who just wanna say Hi? :lol:


UPDATE:
Is it normal for 4.0 wranglers to take a bit of cranking before starting? takes a good 2-5 seconds before it starts, unlike most cars that fire up after the first rotation. Buddy said he has seen a few jeeps do this so i wonder if its normal or do i need to do some tinkering?
once spring comes I want to seal up the bottom to stop rust. Whats a good product for this? I saw a product called chassis saver and it looked pretty nice. just a thick sticky paint you lather on with a brush and it sticks to rust and seals everything up.


also in the pics, thats my mom.

[Thorpe]

Expect crappy mileage! I have a Cherokee XJ (same driveline components)

[xrider]

Congrats on the Wrangler! I have a 2006 Wrangler X and love it. They only bad thing is the gas mileage, but still way worth it IMO

[buck]

The later model Wranglers are decent on fuel compared to the 4.0 liter Wranglers. Just bought my wife a 2010 Rubicon last September and it gets 18-19 mpg highway. The 4.0 Wranglers have much more power though. Guess it's a trade off. Hers is gutless to me. Fun to drive, but gutless.

Buck

[Xpress]

Just know that YJ's are all about being noisy and loud. And not being afraid to get covered in mud :naughty:

I love my 89 YJ, they're total blasts.

[harryredtrike]

congrats on your purchase.the jeep club is very friendly. now you'll have to wave at everyone that drives by in one,lol.if its a manual and has hydrolic clutch,keep your eye on that.they are known for bad slave cylinders.mine was bad from about day one.if its an auto your cool. ....................comment after pics added.......nice looking rig.should give you years of fun.i miss mine.your mom is hot.

[Xpress]

At least his slave is on the outside. Mine was on the inside of the tranny, and when it blew, it took me over a year to get time to work on it, not to mention I didn't install the hydraulic lines properly, so I had to take the tranny out AGAIN (which only took 4 hours to drop, repair, and re-insert the second time)... :rolleyes:

[bugler30]

there are endless possibilities of things that can and do go wrong on Jeeps. Especially if you start offroading it at all... but that's what they are for. If you're leaving it mostly stock you schould be ok. if you lift it be careful of your driveline angles, don't go over 3.5" withhout investing in an SYE or t-case drop. Also don't go over 33's on the tires with the D35 rearend. The 4.0 is notorious for loose rocker arms, and noisy bearings later in life but otherwise are pretty bullet proof. Oh and they like to burn up head gaskets if you over heat them too much.

as much as I love my Jeep it still stands for
Just
Empty
Every
Pocket

[Mr_RPM]

mine is a automatic, I also bought a 2 year warranty for it. in 2 years time i plan on knowing everything ill need to know if it starts acting up. till then my warranty should keep me covered on anything big enough Me and my dad cant handle. at 65k miles it should be fine for a while id like to think. Never know though.

[Mr_RPM]

Is it normal for 4.0 wranglers to take a bit of cranking before starting? takes a good 2-5 seconds before it starts, unlike most cars that fire up after the first rotation. Buddy said he has seen a few jeeps do this so i wonder if its normal or do i need to do some tinkering?
once spring comes I want to seal up the bottom to stop rust. Whats a good product for this? I saw a product called chassis saver and it looked pretty nice. just a thick sticky paint you lather on with a brush and it sticks to rust and seals everything up.

pics up top!

[Xpress]

Throttle body might need cleaning, my jeep takes a couple seconds to start, with the 4 banger.

You should consider getting it regeared with the bigger tires, it will get up and go a bit better. I know mine is a dog going uphills, and it takes a while to get up to 65 on the freeway, so that is why I am going to get it regeared.

Also, if you're going to get it lifted at all, then go with a Rough Country lift kit- they have COMPLETE lift kits that have everything you need to lift it, all the way up to 6" if you really wanted to. For the average offroader, 2.5" would be more than enough.

[Vealmonkey]

Make sure you have all the components to change a tire if you have a flat. Make sure you jack can lilft the jeep if you have larger tires. Make sure you have the lug nut lock if you have locking lug nuts. There is nothing worse than finding out you don't have all the tire changing bits once you have a flat tire! LOL The hardtop is a good thing to have for a daily driver. Softtop jeep are really noisy and provide non honest people too easy of an access. Congrats on your jeep. Have fun. Drive safe.

[Thorpe]

Chassis Saver paint is much like POR-15... I wouldnt want to do the underside of my ride... Slow staring on a jeep is usually fuel delivery system... They run a reurnless system, and the fuel pressure regulator (in the tank) has a one way check valve in it to keep the fuel pressure at the rail upon start up... (bet you can guess what craps out...)

[oldskool83]

if you never owned one beware, they are realiable but nosiy bumpy pita rides. gas milage sucks, my ram 1500 gets same milage as out 98 wranger got and that was a 4 cylinder. i personaly dont like the wrangers, they really only good for finding a trail. in winter we froze while not being able to talk to each other sitting side by side. wind noise is reazy in them them and we got ours for 2 grand. id never spend 10 grand on one.

we had fender flares and 30's on ours with 2" lift and dif shocks....never again!

[Mr_RPM]

if you never owned one beware, they are realiable but nosiy bumpy pita rides. gas milage sucks, my ram 1500 gets same milage as out 98 wranger got and that was a 4 cylinder. i personaly dont like the wrangers, they really only good for finding a trail. in winter we froze while not being able to talk to each other sitting side by side. wind noise is reazy in them them and we got ours for 2 grand. id never spend 10 grand on one.

we had fender flares and 30's on ours with 2" lift and dif shocks....never again!

well that was a 2 thousand dollar jeep, probably had a fare share of problems, plus it was a 2.5L and you probably had a soft top. the 4 bangers are said to not get any better MPGs then the 4.0 because they are so turdy and inefficient and you gotta get on it to move.
anyway, wranglers aren't about getting to point A to point B comfortably. Its about having a Mini adventure each time you drive it. enjoying the jeep community and having some fun. I think some people out there would argue that trikes suck and are less stable, out dated...ect...you know what Im getting at. But here we can appreciate our trikes and love them. Some people just aren't meant to own a trike and some not a wrangler. besides, I know some guys who would never spend 2500 on a 86 250r and I know others who would love to, all about the condition and the person buying.

Thrope, you said you wouldn't want to do an under coating, why not? Im sure your winters are just as bad as Michigans :lol:

Veal, thanks for the advice. I will be going over that all before I start driving it as my daily. =)

Xpress, good point. but its not the 4 banger. =P so far it feels pretty normal when it comes to gearing. Ill do some research and find out what gearing I have. Some of the TJs even had an option to go with 31" tires. maybe i got lucky and Im already geared. =P lol (not my luck)
but im probably not going to lift it, if i did not more then 2.5 inch. and thats only after something breaks and needs replacing anyway (time to upgrade). as far as off roading, most my buddies drive f-150s and 4x4 s-10s. and in my 2 day ownership we have already proven the jeep wins (in the snow atleast). so I am not pressured to do anymore upgrades for now. lol

I also feel its a fuel problem, i did some searching on a wrangler forum and alot of guys have the same problem due to a weak fuel pump or have had the bad valve as Thrope said. either way if i cant figure it out, my warranty covers it if it becomes a problem.

More pics =)

[Xpress]

Xpress, good point. but its not the 4 banger. =P so far it feels pretty normal when it comes to gearing. Ill do some research and find out what gearing I have. Some of the TJs even had an option to go with 31" tires. maybe i got lucky and Im already geared. =P lol (not my luck)

Yeah, I figured you had a 4.0 in it, but it still won't hurt to get it regeared if it hasn't been geared for those tires. Less wear and tear on your engine and tranny and you get there a bit faster :)


but im probably not going to lift it, if i did not more then 2.5 inch. and thats only after something breaks and needs replacing anyway (time to upgrade). as far as off roading, most my buddies drive f-150s and 4x4 s-10s. and in my 2 day ownership we have already proven the jeep wins (in the snow atleast). so I am not pressured to do anymore upgrades for now. lol

Hey you never know. This Jeep thing becomes quite addicting after a while ;) :D

Before you know it, it's begging you to put on offroad lights, a lift, a winch, better stereo system, rock guards, anodized parts........... :eek:


I also feel its a fuel problem, i did some searching on a wrangler forum and alot of guys have the same problem due to a weak fuel pump or have had the bad valve as Thrope said. either way if i cant figure it out, my warranty covers it if it becomes a problem.

Yeah I'll hop in the same boat as you and say it's a fuel issue, quite possibly the fuel pump. Probably time to be changed in mine after 21 years lol.

[86trizinger]

The few seconds to start is usually the fuel pressure on them. They tend to loose the fuel pressure when they are shut down. If you turn the key to the on position for a second or 2 and let the system prime itself they usually start right up. It doesn't mean that anything is going to fail though.

The TJ's ride a ton better then the previous models.. Rough Country Lifts wear out and sag pretty quickly.. so if you ever plan to lift it just research that first. Granted the kits are cheap but you get what you pay for.

[Jerm1179]

definately coat underneath!.....i used POR-15 on my tj when i had it and now i have a 94 yj and the underside and inside of the tub is sprayed with an epoxy bedliner.....they are rust buckets...best try to prevent it....as far as being froze out in the winter...tehy have damn good heaters in them....so im not sure why anyone wouldn't bebale to keep warm unless they drove around with out the top properly installed...which is hard to do on a tj...very nice soft tops...keep an eye on the exhaust manifold...they are known to crack...
i would remove the hinges and replace with stainless hinges and bolts immediately...not only do they look better IMO....its just another spot tehy are known to rust at.....(windsheild hinges, doors, and tailgate...) id also put a nice coat of silicone under those new hinges and around the bolts to keep the water out...especially the windsheild brackets...the water runs down the inside....thats why aalot of jeeps rott above the Jeep stickers infront of the doors on teh tub... and yes my lowoutput 2.5 puts out half the HP and worse gas mileage than a 4.0...but i keep up just fine:Phttp://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx53/Jerm1179/11-01-07_1735.jpg[/IMG]http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx53/Jerm1179/Lifted.jpg

[Xpress]

Eh, the 2.5L isn't a bad engine, I'm seeing ~20mpg tops on the freeway, but that's where my jeep is driven most of the time (at the moment).

As for the rough country kits, I keep hearing lots of good things about them, but my only concern is my jeeps suspension is so worn out that a 2.5" may give me 5"+ of lift!! :eek: (which will cause all kinds of problems)

I might just spend a little extra coin and go with an OME kit. Sorry to hijack your thread :lol:

[Mr_RPM]

oh no, by all means let this be a jeep thread. I tried starting a trike thread on a wrangler forum and failed. lmao
About the starting issue, putting the key in the "on" position for a few seconds does not seem to help, atleast not a night and day difference. thing is the starting is so inconsistent that its hard to test, because sometimes it just starts right up even without letting the fuel system prime.

anyone know how to tell the difference between a D35 axle and a D44 axle? they come standard with the 35 but had an optional 44. would be cool to have the better axle, just for future planing.

[200xman]

Dana 35 cover looks like a big oval, the Dana 44 kinda is shaped like a stop sign. I'd look into Rubicon Express for a lift. I have built 3 87-95 YJ's and a 73 CJ-5 with different suspensions and I'm really impressed with the Rubicon Express. The current Jeep has a 4" lift, 1" poly bodymount lift, 33's and the suspension flexes enough to where the rear tires rub the back of the wheel openings. Here's a picture from the beginning of July when I had 30 yards of fill dumped in my front yard.

[Mr_RPM]

so we just did some snow boggin in my buddy's back yard and holy crap, this thing is a tank. Ill show you a picture of my competition and I do even better(for most part).

thing is the f-150 im running with, it has a 9 inch lift (6 suspention, 3 body) and has 38 inch tires. with such wide tires it cant find traction in the snow and just spins, the tires are pretty warn though. after seeing what it does in the snow compared to mine kind of shows big lifts and tires dont help as much as you would think(in snow), esp for the $$$. It might be better in mud but thats just to nasty for me anyway.

Im super impressed with the jeep and love it when it comes to going threw snow. I dont think ill need a lift because anything bigger then what i just went threw is to big to do with a daily driver. and as far as mud, not doing it since its a daily driver. so a lift would only be for looks for what im doing and im not really looking for attention. now if i was to go rock crawling or muddin then thats a different story.

the s-10 did great too for what it is.

[Jerm1179]

im running a one inch poly body kit and a 4inch ProComp suspension kit with swaybar disconnects....im still running 31's till they wear out then going up to 33's
i jeep alot with my cousin...he has a 99 tj with a 3inch blackdiamond lift and swears by them...i woulndt go any higher on a tj personally...then you get into slipyoke eliminater kits etc....not for an everyday driver

[NINJA]

Your friend with the F150 looks a little torched. :lol:

[Thorpe]

I just wouldnt want to POR-15/Chassis Saver the underside casue its a messy project! Thats all... As for you gearing, you wont have any issues. I have been running 31's on my stock 3.55 gearing without issue for a long time, and on my last XJ, it wore 325/60/15's and never had any axle issues. Try cycling your fuel pump 3 times, then start it. My Jeep always takes a couple of primes to get fuel back to the rail. If its been off for awhile, I can cycle it once or twice, and release pressure at the schrader valve on the fuel rail, and get a puff of air. (epic fail) 3rd times the charm. The new f.p.r./check valve is kinda spendy, about 110 bucks. I managed to score a new one on epay for 8 bucks shipped (borg warner part) If your jeep is running normal once it starts, its not the fuel pump. If the fuel pump was bad, would it run, and have good power? Age old arguement. Two of my customers are Jeep mechanics, and both say the same thing... Fuel Pressure Regulator... (its a Jeep thing)

[Mr_RPM]

Your friend with the F150 looks a little torched. :lol:
haha thats what I said, but we dont do that kinda stuff. In his defense he did not know i was taking the picture till after the flash got him. lol

I didnt mean to put up all those pics, i was doing facebook at the same time and forgot to filter a few. oh well. lol


and Thorpe, Once it starts it runs great. =) I could possibly get it fixed for free because my warranty does cover fuel systems. but if its something I don't need to worry about then I can live with it. for now at least.

The POR 15 or chassis saver may be messy (if I do go for it, Im not going to go crazy with it) but not as messy as dealing with a rotted body. It has bout 66k miles on it. so the engine is probably going to last a long time, but Michigans super salty nasty winters are going to kill the body before I can Kill the engine. lol I just want to see it push 150-200k miles before it rusts apart. I know the engine will do it, but the body will struggle since it will be a daily driver very soon.

[Thorpe]

I work in a restoration shop, so I am all too familiar with how messy the por-15 is... MN winters are the same way... My XJ is 14 years old, and just starting to show signs of rust. 162k on the clock, still runs like a top. My Jeep has had the f.p.r. issue since 75k, and now I am finally getting around to replacing it....

[Mr_RPM]

I may just be paranoid because my first car (93 buick century, 96k miles) was pretty clean but then it had a small rust spot that turned into a crack and eventually the rear axle came out of place and the drivers side tire went into the rear fender. I did not even know about the rust spot till after. lol
Poor thing ran awesome too.

[Xpress]

holy crap, this thing is a tank.

That's what my friends keep telling me when we all go offroading in my heep :D

And now that I have had a good look at it from a distance, I think you will be fine with stock ride height. Also do the tires rub on the inside when you hit the steering stop?

[Mr_RPM]

no, no rubbing at all. The rims seem to have a wider offset then stock and thats why I think it does not rub. Because 31" is as big as you can go stock but with a little rub, so you can either lift it, or get the tire pushed out farther. Im guessing thats why it has those rims.

[yj350]

Congrats on the Wrangler! I have a 2006 Wrangler X and love it. They only bad thing is the gas mileage, but still way worth it IMO

I thought my 89 was bad with the 4.2 and then I had the grand idea to drop in a chevy crate motor. I get around 6 mpg's with my current set up now. I only have a 5 minute ride to work now so what ever I dont mind.

[Mosh]

I have worked on these for awhile..They don't really have too many problems.
I had to pull the dash in one to fix a heater blend door.
The rest is just maintenance stuff.

Now the one big issue I have seen is the frames. They are thin and weak. We have seen multiple issues with them rusting and breaking..Especially at the spring shackle areas of the frame. I have seen 4-5 in the last 2 years especially here in the rust belt. A few were late 90's models and the other was a 2000. So I would definately keep the salt off the frame..Oil spraying simply is the best method. Anything else can trap mouister between the steel and whatever coating you put over it..The moisture will find a way in. Undercoating is a big no no IMO.

As far as the starting.. Depending on the system, Chrysler uses a funky method to get the fuel pump and PCM going. Most vehicles when keyed up, will turn everything on like the PCM and fuel pump relay.
Chrysler actually watches for crank shaft speed to get the fuel pump turned on. 2-5 seconds of crank time would be normal. But 10-15 seconds and erratic cranktimes would be a problem.
My wife wants one..Personally, I would get her one if the price was right. However, I don't care for them that much just because of the log wagon ride they have..They just feel squirrely to me, but that is not a knock on them.
But they are pretty reliable.So that is why I would consider one for her..Just that damn weak thin frame bothers me..Especially here in the salt belt.
Now wheter or not the later 2k models addreses the frame issues is a question I would like to have answered.

Last item of notation with failures.. Some of the early 2k 4.0 cylinder heads had weak castings and were prone to cracking. I have actually seen them crack right between the valve springs directly below the oil fill cap..
Do not let it overheat....

[Mr_RPM]

Mosh, squirrely it is! going down a somewhat less then quality paved road means your fighting every slant and bump. Plus if its windy that day it really shows. But nothing so bad you cannot get used to it. before you know it its an automatic response and you dont even think about it to much.

so far everyone disagrees on what to do for rust. lol Ill find what works for me. But with the cold I might just have to do an oil coat like Mosh said. paint has gotta wait till its warmer.

[Xpress]

Jeep and squirrelly-ness on the wheel seem to go hand in hand :lol:

I found out that my 1.25" spacers actually helped make the whole ride a lot more stable up front. I know a few others who put spacers on also found that the steering was less sensitive. Seems that some say that spacers will break the axles, or wear the bearings down, but I haven't heard of anyone having that problem from personal experience...

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7770/imag0508.jpg

[Thorpe]

As far as the starting.. Depending on the system, Chrysler uses a funky method to get the fuel pump and PCM going. Most vehicles when keyed up, will turn everything on like the PCM and fuel pump relay.
Chrysler actually watches for crank shaft speed to get the fuel pump turned on. 2-5 seconds of crank time would be normal. But 10-15 seconds and erratic cranktimes would be a problem.

Mosh-- When did Chrysler start doing this?

[Mosh]

Ever since they went to fuel injection back in the 80's.

When you hit the key, the PCM grounds the ASD relay and cycles for about 2 seconds, then shuts off. The ASD relay supplies 12 volts to almost every output the PCM controls. Injectors, coil, Fuel Pump relay, 02 heaters etc..Then powers down with no crank speed input.
Once, you crank the engine and the the PCM sees crank and cam speed signal, then it grounds the ASD relay again to turn those sytems back on.
The ASD is the primary 12 volt supply for the fuel pump relay. They did this to keep costs down on PCM and electronics development.
Quite honestly it is a really an vintage outdated system for what is needed these days.
Because if the cam and crank sensors short, they shut down the PCM all together which won't control any outputs ,and the PCM has a loss of data on the scan tool.
We have had customers put in fuel pumps, coils and PCM,'s over a simple failed Crank or crank sensor shutting everything down, misleading people to think the PCM or fuel pump was bad.
Then to make it more redicuolus, they splice about 4-5 circuits under the relay center off the ASD relay, which corrode and nothing will get 12 volts to operate..

Vs..Ford or Chevy and other makers, even if you have no crank speed or a shorted sensor, at least you can communicate with the PCM to see that, plus the injectors and fuel pump and 12 volt outputs will always energize, unless the PCM itself is failed or a whole seperate fuse is blown. So in most cases, you would have spark and injector pulse, but no fuel pump, or vice versa. There systems are more independant vs. Chrysler's all relying on crank speed to make it all turn on the ASD relay first then the fuel pump relay has to wait for one more mechanical action relay (ASD) to turn on too. Due to the advanced circuitry in the other makers PCM's typically a shorted sensor won't kill everything. But in all fairness, they will shut down the fuel pump relay once engine speed drops below a certain value. In case of a crash.
Chrysler finally udpdated the lathargic PCM here recently, but also updated the price tag to upwards of $1300 for a newer PCM. Basically some 15 years after other makers already went to the newer technology.
IE..They, Chrysler put all the eggs in one basket so to speak and ran that way for almost 30 years. They have always done things rather quirky. I just went to a class a few months ago, and even the new technology is over complicated..Do a search on what they did with the new EVAP systems, that were causing customers not to be able to fill their tanks..
Even their factory trained techs had trouble grasping the new concept.

[Mr_RPM]

just to add about the starting problem. after testing and playing around, if I turn they key onto the "on" position (right before activating the starter) slowly 5 seconds or longer each cycle for 3 times going back and forth to the "off" position (haven't tried 2 times may i add) it fires right up just as fast as any other car. I have only done this when the engine is cold and has been sitting a total of 2 times, both successful.
But its much more effort and time then to just let the engine crank for a few seconds.

[Thorpe]

just to add about the starting problem. after testing and playing around, if I turn they key onto the "on" position (right before activating the starter) slowly 5 seconds or longer each cycle for 3 times going back and forth to the "off" position (haven't tried 2 times may i add) it fires right up just as fast as any other car. I have only done this when the engine is cold and has been sitting a total of 2 times, both successful.
But its much more effort and time then to just let the engine crank for a few seconds.

Just like my XJ... Guessing your check valve in the f.p.r. is getting weak...

Mosh-- You pretty much blew my mind with that! I was just looking for an answer ie... 1987 or something similar! Good info though!

[Xpress]

Good info Mosh!

[AutoXer]

I miss my Jeep :(

[Mr_RPM]

wasent the fuel pressure regulator check valve
turned out injector 4 was leaking and the main computer had internal damage and lost signal when turning off the key and lost start/crank count...idk me and computers dont get along so dont ask.
Im betting it was mainly the injector but Chrysler was adamant that I take the computer.

2 weeks at the dealer its finally fixed.