Comments: 1-15, 16-28
Spark plug "fouled" at 5200 miles.
Spark plug replaced the next day.
Mystery check engine light issue diagnosed as fuel injector problem evolved into engine valve problem and then into cylinder problem, and finally into cracked engine block at 8500 miles, with no overheating incidents.
I loved this Jeep at first, but it has spent more nights than I would care to count in the garage.
The look and handling of the vehicle have been outstanding.
Until things under the hood started failing, I felt very safe in my Liberty Sport.
I felt the same about my Liberty, until I met the 'service' department from Jeep.
I will trade it in as soon as BMW brings it's X3 on the market.
We have had nothing but problems with our 2002 Jeep Liberty. We have had stalling problems since about the 1500-mile mark. This problem has led us to get a lawyer and pursue the Lemon Law avenue, because Daimler refuses to help us with this problem. They no longer have arbitration, so retaining a lawyer is your only course of action. The Liberty will stall without warning. To date, I have had 5 other people e-mail me from across the country with the same problem. Our Jeep dealer has even put a new engine in the Liberty, but we still have the same problems. Our Liberty has been in the shop a total of 10 times and has been out of service for over 45 days. We tried to work with Daimler to get a new car, or even a used car valued at what our Liberty was now worth, to avoid getting a lawyer involved. However, they refused to help in any way. The Lemon Law states that your car is considered a lemon if it has been out of service for 30+ days or to the shop 4 or more times for the same problem. We are well past that limit, as you can see from above. Here are the other problems we have had with our Liberty. The speedometer has sporadically jumped between speeds. We drove a total of 15 miles on our toll road and the speedometer kept jumping from 40 to 50 to 60 to 35 to 70 etc. We were unaware of our actual speed the entire 15-mile trip. Our Liberty has had a rough idle and rough shifting problem since about the 1000-mile mark. Our heater would not heat up if you were at a stop. The heater would get hot when moving, but cool down at a stop. It was actually colder than the air conditioner. This problem led them to find out that the coolant and oil were mixing together. They replaced the heads and gaskets, according to the dealer, but were still unable to fix the problem. They eventually replaced the entire engine. Last week, our check engine light came on and the dealership said it registered a fault code of 1. Which means that a fuel injector did not fire properly. We have less than 1000 miles on the new engine. We figure a fuel injector problem should not be present. I have read countless stories across the net with people having the same problem I am having. I have numerous e-mails with people asking me if my stalling problem was ever fixed, because they have the same issue. The Jeep Liberty has substantial problems and I wish someone would investigate this vehicle.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or want to know more about our lemon. jejjowens@yahoo.com.
My 2002 Jeep Liberty is presently in the shop and has been for several weeks. The service department doesn't know what's wrong with it. Without warning I started my Jeep and it was idling rough and stalled and the check engine light came on and started flashing. The service department thought it was a bad spark plug and fuel injector, but replacing the parts has not fixed the problem.
I bought a 2002 Liberty Sport 4x4 used last month. I have had very little for problems. It has 34,000 miles and has had all the updates done. One problem I still have that I will have addressed before the warranty expires, is a vibration in the drive train from 50-60mph. Going down a hill and taking vehicle out of drive creates no difference in the vibration, but I cannot decipher where it is coming from. Normally you can feel one of the wheels being out of balance. This is not the case. I was a Navy Heavy Equipment Mechanic for over 18 years and this is not a tire problem. My guess is that either the differential requires adjustment in the rear, or the drive line is out of balance. Other than that vibration, I love my Liberty!
I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport with 19,200 miles on it. I've noticed the same vibration and have had the alignment and tire balance checked numerous times. That is not the problem! I have also recently noticed the jeep idling roughly. Its going into the shop today for that problem. I hope that is the worst of my problems because I love the Liberty too!
I have a Dec. 2001 Jeep Liberty Limited, with 55,000 miles on it. It is currently in the shop for what has turned out to be a broken valve spring. I have had this vehicle for 11 months. Not even a year into my ownership of the vehicle I am surprised to find my Liberty in the shop with this kind of engine trouble and what will most likely amount to several hundred dollars worth of repair. I am now faced with the decision of keeping a possible "problem-child" car or trading it in to rid myself of a headache. Any comments or suggestions from other Jeep Liberty owners who have had problems will be appreciated. Thank you.
Please advise. I have a Jeep Liberty Sport 4x4 3.7L. For the second time the coolant tank has cracked.
I am a postman that drives a 2004 jeep liberty. It has the key stuck in the ignition switch. Sometimes it comes out when its cold, but after driving about an hour it won't come out. Its been to the dealer 7 times, but no satisfaction. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem??? Walt.
2002 Jeep Liberty,
I got my liberty new and love it, It has fourth thousand miles on it and it is in the shop. It started vibrating and thought it was a bad tire or something simple. Found out it was a bad u-joint in back, I don't think that it should of been worn out so soon with the miles on it. And it has been recall on lower ball joints last year and they went bad also, So beware they have life time warranty on them. Don't let them try to charge you for new ones. Has anyone had the same problems with there 2002 Liberty?
I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty. The engine just seized at 51,000 miles. The dealer is telling me it is our fault poor maintenance and won't cover it under the warranty. We do our own oil so have no receipts to provide. They say sludge in oil. I have found that a lot of Chrysler engines have sludge. They want $7,000.00 for a new engine! The Jeep isn't worth that and now I'm stuck. Any suggestions?
To the man who needs a new engine: you've learned the hard way that you need to prove the car was properly maintained in order to claim on the warranty - what else can you expect?
I'm no lover of dealers and their methods, but in this case they are right.
You need to change engine oil AND filter every 6 months or 5,000 miles to keep an engine at its best.
You don't need a new motor you need the old one rebuilding.
Find a competent mechanic who can rebuild the engine at his own home.
Look in the local papers.
Should cost $2,000-$3,000.
Assuming you did in fact change your oil as often as you should, the sludge could quite possibly be due to a bad head gasket. Do (or have done) a cooling system pressure check to verify if this is the case. If not, the other alternative is a cylinder leak down test, but you have to position the pistons of each cylinder under test to TDC on the compression stroke to perform the test, so if your engine is completely seized, you will not be able to do this.
If coolant gets into the oil (due to a bad head gasket), sludge will form. Manufacturers use the poor maintenance excuse when they see sludge, to weasel their way out of taking responsibility for the problem. Of course, sludge can still in fact be caused by lack of oil changes, and if that is the case, it indeed is not the car's fault. There are ways to check for that too.
My new car buying days are over, because I do not let anybody besides myself touch and/or work on my car, especially dealerships. I definitely get the sense that if car owners do not have the dealership perform all of their maintenance, and something like your situation occurs (assuming it is a bad head gasket), they will fabricate an excuse for not owning up to it. On top of that, the prices of new cars are ridiculously outrageous, and above all else, I simply can no longer justify throwing my money away on and enabling that unmitigated insanity.
I have a 2002 jeep liberty 60.000 miles all receipts for oil changes every 5000 miles,car is in perfect condition, driving to work engine light came on and started flashing, two dealers can't find anything wrong now a chrysler dealer says no compression in cylinder number five needs new enginge, six thousand dollars owe 16000 dollars, they won't take for trade or work with me how does engine just blow on a well maniteanced car???
My 2002 Jeep Liberty is in the shop right now. 52,000 miles. They say it is a bad cylinder with no compression.
We have it serviced by the Chrysler dealer every 3,000 miles.
I will let you know the out come. I do have the extended warranty.