I have a 2004 Jeep Liberty and it sounds like many others have had these same issue I’ve had, so I figured why don’t I list what I’ve figured out so you don’t have to! (I haven’t listed normal maintenance items like brake pads or fluids). Comment on others things you’ve learned and how to fix them!
88,000 miles, 8/2009 – Replaced battery. Five years from OEM battery – sounds reasonable, although Consumer Reports notes this as a trouble spot
91,500 miles, 12/2009 – Water pump, belt, tensioner. Water pump froze, which destroyed the belt. Consumer Reports listed this as a common problem.
95,000 miles, 2009 – CD player. My model has a 5-CD changer. It mostly does not return the CDs when I ask. It is crap. Consumer Reports lists this as a trouble spot.
99,800 miles, 6/2010 – Left outer tie rod. Needed to complete an alignment.
107,500 miles, 12/2010 – Rack & pinion, power steering pressure line. This was a nightmare. My power steering fluid reservoir kept emptying out, but nothing was leaking on the ground (baffling!!). Upon my mechanic friend’s inspection, he found that the boots on the ends of the rack & pinion were blown up like a balloon. We had the hardest time getting the rack out and putting the new one back in. The key is to just keep taking things apart — there’s no easy way to sneak it out. It took us eight hours.
115,000 miles, 6/2011 – Exhaust gasket. My tire/service shop couldn’t figure out how to repair the exhaust leak that slowly grew louder and louder over a six month period. They said they couldn’t find a gasket to fix it. My mechanic friend was successful in finding a gasket from the dealer. I subsequently was at a Jeep dealer and was chatting and he asked it I replaced the exhaust gasket yet. This must be very common. The gasket was a piece of soft metal that fits near the catalytic converter where the leak was. If you find a part number, please comment.
120,200 miles, 10/2011 – Blower motor resistor. The fan motor has been getting weaker and weaker over the last few years to the point of which setting 1 hardly has any airflow. I even replaced my A/C coolant twice thinking that was the problem. I searched online and found this was yet another common problem and a part number was listed (Consumer Reports lists this as a common problem as well as the A/C compressor). I went to the dealer and they said I needed Part Number 5139719AA for my 2004 Liberty (not 5066552AA which I found in a search). If you determine that this is the right part, here it is on Amazon. See my post on how to replace the resistor.
120,200 miles, 10/2011 – Emergency brake swivels. I asked my tire/service shop to check the emergency brake since it stopped working all together (it hasn’t worked well since we bought it). They said they had the same issue some up on another Liberty lately and they needed to recondition the emergency brake swivels. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it cost me $190. I see that AutoZone has a $32 parking brake kit — maybe someone can enlighten us on whether something could be easily replaced.
126,300 – Check engine light (oxygen sensor). It started to come on during the exhaust leak (see above). I replaced the oxygen sensor behind where the leak was and it fixed the light.
128,000 – Hood lift supports. Yeah, my hood won’t stay up anymore. I’m going to try these.
133,000 — AND THE JEEP IS OFF TO A NEW HOME! A 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee has taken its place..
Consumer Reports also lists issues with the windows. I haven’t had any problem..so far.
QUIRKS:
For those of you thinking of buying this year, here are some annoyances:
- The car automatically locks the doors at a low speed. When you turn off the car, it doesn’t unlock them. I worked with the dealer to fix the programming and they said it just wasn’t an option.
- This is one key hole on the whole car. If that freezes up or breaks and the battery is dead, you’re toast.
- There is no back window open button in the car. The only way to do it is with the remote. This is just STUPID. It you open the back door without opening the window with the remote, the window will not shut. (In the manual it says to pull the handle half way and the window will open, but mine doesn’t do that.)
- There are multiple types of four-wheel drive systems. Make sure to know which one you are buying.
- ABS and traction control were not standard in 2004.
- The glovebox is the smallest I’ve ever seen.
