Anybody ever had to fix these before? How hard is it to do? Evidently after weeks of trying to figure out this damn warranty, the cooling lines aren't even covered.
They want $500 to put them on.. So we are gonna tow it home and try to put them on ourselves...
God this sucks...
-Brandon
It whouldn't be too hard to fix with the right tools.
You have a PM for pricing.
Anthony
He has I believe a 99 TJ 2.5L Automatic
wow is there a echo in here,here,here here, :lol:
depending on where it is broke/leaking it shouldn't be to hard at all.
Its a 98 2.5 Auto.
And yea.. I called the dealership today and they want $95 for the line, and something like $23 for one "updated" connector, and $12 for another.. for each side!
-Brandon
I'm hoping to find someone that can pull the lines off an old tranny, or an old jeep that they dont use anymore or somethign.. Maybe I'll go up to burton auto tomorrow. I can't pay $250 for the lines, plus $200 for labor..
I'm back to what the dealership quoted me at of $500....
I called Autozone to see if they carry the lines, and the guy said they didn't have them, but he couldn't tell me whether they are a dealer only item and thats why, or if they just didn't carry them. Lot of use that call was.
-Brandon
i got next week off if you need help fixin it bro
:) Thanks.
-Brandon
So I got her home. Got underneath her (good god are ramps the best invention in the world!), and found that the whole reason my tranny lines were leaking was because the previous owner had broken the line before, and had spliced in a piece of rubber tubing with clamps instead of buying a new $100 line. Now, this was a great fix, however the rubber tubing was getting too old, had dry rodded and cracked in the middle (theres like two sections of tubing, an inner section and an outer, the inner had cracked), and the clamp was on it way too tight and was cutting through the tubing.
So I went up to Ace Hardware, got a new 6" tube for 75 cents, spliced it in and it worked great. No more leaks. Saved me approx. $499.25. :D
Only thing was I put about a quart too much tranny fluid in, so now I'm in the process of suctioning the fluid out through the tubing with a brake line bleeder (instead of dropping the pan and emptying the fluid).
Just gotta do that then I'm gonna go driving around for a bit to make sure that everything is stable, no more leaks, etc.. And I should be back in business.
Then I gotta start putting all the new things on.. my 2" spacer lift (missed out on 4" coils, unfortunately), setup my onboard air system, measure up the safari top and have my mom sew it so it fits properly, get the hide-a-trunk in, get the sound bar on, get the door surrounds mounted up, etc etc etc...
The work never ends... :p
But I'm enjoying it.. its nice to be back wrenching on something again.. Its been a month or so since the last time I really got into working on something on a vehicle.
-Brandon
So is the trans fixed also?
Well.. Just drove it for around 20 or 30 minutes. The side of the tube that was leaking before is bone dry. However, the side of the tube that wasn't leaking before now has a slight leak. I just gotta take it off tomorrow, get rid of the crappy clamp that I re-used out of lazyness, and put one of the new clamps on and try to get the tube further on the metal pipe.
Tranny is still screwing up. I was almost positive that was going to happen. I told the guys at Genesee Valley Dodge that I would probably be back to have that looked at once I got the tube fixed, I think thats why they didn't charge me ANYTHING for all the diagnosis they did (and the two weeks that they had it).
So I drained over a quart of fluid out of it (we filled up a full quart bottle and there was still a lot we could have put in), but it doesn't look like the fluid level on the dipstick dropped any. We checked it multiple times (in case there was just fluid in the dipstick tube from filling it up), but it never really changed. I'm not sure what the problem could be.. There CANNOT be too much fluid in there now. After many puddles underneath my tranny, I added 3 quarts to it, and now thats 1-2 quarts lower after I suctioned it out.. So really I only added 1 or 1 and a half quarts.
I'm thinking I'm gonna take it into somewhere to get the fluid flushed and filled, that way I know any shit that could have gotten in there like mud or anything from offroading is outta there, and then I'll have the exact right amount of fluid in too.
-Brandon
If the tranny still isn't fixed don't waste you money on a flush.
Yea.... I was hoping that *might* fix the problem.
Ryan, when I was at his house, was saying the governor for the tranny almost definitely has dirt on it and thats why my tranny is screwing up?
-Brandon
I'm glad that Genesee Valley Dodge didn't charge you for that. They take care of Jeepers. Thats probably because their two top managers are both avid off road Jeepers.
Yea.. I see their Jeeps up there everytime I go.
Also, the two service managers, Darren and (ugh.. i forgot the other guys name) know my dad pretty well cause he's in there all the time getting his truck fixed (GVD has the only diesel mechanic in the area). And they are really cool guys.
-Brandon
So I got the line all fixed up today. Got the new clamp on very tight, made sure nothing was leaking... drove around a bit, no problems, no leaks.. went and got my oil changed... drove out of the oil change and went next door to pop into work and say high, and the guy from the oil change runs across the parking lot over to me and was like "DUDE YOU BLEW SOMETHING! SOMETHING BLEW UP!!!" and then I see smoke billowing out from underneath my Jeep, and he tells me there was a massive puddle after I left the oil change and a trail following me.. We go underneath my Jeep and the clamp had slipped off (I pushed the hose on as far as I could get it, and tightened the clamp down as tight as I could get it)...
So now its sitting in my work parking lot.. and I'm not sure what to do. I was gonna bring a jack and jackstands up and try to tighten it up and refill the ATF fluid and try to limp it home.. but I'm thinking it'll just blow again in the middle of the street. Unfortunately I can't tow it home as my dad's down in West Bloomfield right now.. Argh.
So... I'm wondering if I can get some unbent tubing, and bend it myself (it really doesn't need to be bent in more then one or two locations).. The only issue is trying to mate the connectors on the tranny and on the radiator to the new tubing..
Any suggestions?
-Brandon
Called into Victor George and talked the "Carl" aka the service parts manager, and told him I was a member of GL4x4...
So the cost of the lines went from $250 to like $130 with the cost + 10% deal that they have for GL4x4 members.
So I'm gonna end up buying them.. if/when I have money.
-Brandon
Brandon is that total for both lines fittings and clamp?
I called and got pricing the otehr day and I have just been to busy to quote you.
You have a PM.
Anthony
Yea.. But I ended up just going to the junk yard and getting a used line for $20 with the fittings and everything.
That price ($130) was at cost + 10% which is the GL4x4 discount at Victor George.. Thats pretty tough to beat IMO.
The issue is that a new style of clamp and connector came out.. an "updated" style if you will.. So you gotta buy the new style crap if you go to the dealership, which I don't even want to deal with.
-Brandon
Yeah, I agree that price is hard to beat. I sent you a PM about what we pay.
Now raise the cost like 50% and that is what the dealer makes. Some dealers raise the cost 75% depending on the part.
Anywho, glad to hear you got it fixed. Keep us in mind if you need any thing else.
Anthony
Yea, I definitely will keep you guys in mind. You guys seem like good people.
-Brandon
Jeep is fixed and working great.
Went and got thicker tubing (3/8" instead of 5/16"), and had about 6-8 inches over each side of the metal tubing, and used 6 extremely tough grade clamps (3 on each side)... The thing CAN'T leak.. I just drove it down to West Bloomfield and back on the freeway and it did fine..
The tranny does feel very brittle though. I'm pretty sure theres still something wrong internally.
-Brandon
So my tranny has been acting up a little bit. Its been very slow to shift between second and third gear (I can hear it click into neutral and rev up for a second before it shifts into third). Its also been starting off in second a few times lately as well. However, it hasn't flat out slipped or gotten any worse since I've been driving it.
Today I checked my fluid, its holding at a perfect level, however, in the two or three days I've had my Jeep back, the fluid has gone from a bright red (brand new fluid) to a brown/olive color. Obviously something is burning up still in the tranny. :(
I think we are going back up to Genesee Valley Dodge today, and hopefully I'll have her back before the weekend so I can go wheeling. :)
-Brandon
Well.. so much for that.
Got my Jeep back today, and was told that the fluid level was 3/4 of a quart low, and that was my whole problem. I know that can't possibly be right, because I drove down to West Bloomfield and back and checked my fluid several times along the way and it always showed it was full. Got charged $45 and got my Jeep back.
Immediately the problems start again. Starting off in second gear every once in a while at lights, but this time its actually kicking down into first after a few seconds, so it seems like its fixed.
Drove down to waterford, was fine, drove it back up, everything seemed great. Went to work. Went to about 5 deliveries and I noticed that something is smoking in the front end, and my Jeep seems to be lacking power.
So I pull over, and I can smell brakes burning, and I look down and it looks like my brakes are smoking.. Great.. so I go to my delivery, and figure on stopping by my house on the way back to work to get my moms van or something (took the rental back, damnit!).
Well I get to the delivery, and am on my way back.. and all the sudden I notice its smoking A LOT. Like massive clouds of smoke behind my Jeep, people are staying a few hundred feet behind me because its smoking so bad.
I get out and go underneath my Jeep this time and I see fluid pouring out from where the tranny meets with the motor (bellhousing???).. That gasket there was leaking tranny fluid.
So I'm thinking the mechanic at Genesee Valley Dodge overfilled my tranny fluid and thats why the gasket blew..
But I think theres something wrong with my brakes too... My dad thinks I might have a stuck caliper. Could Genesee Valley Dodge have pulled off my tires to look at anything when they inspected my tranny? My brakes were just fine before, even had them inspected at Muffler Man and they said they were fine.
Grr.. I'm so sick of this.
-Brandon
You will get it solved Brandon. I know it sucks but it will work out fine.
as for the smoking breaks, check your hub assemble and u-joint... I had a blown out U-Joint and it made my breaks smoke bad.
My brakes stick alot, you just have to take them off and put some grease on where they slid.
Yea.. I have nothing better to do this weekend then take those apart. I dont work or have anything to do.
So I'm gonna take the hubs apart, regrease where needed, brake clean the hell out of the brakes and hope for the best.
-Brandon