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Weekend is over...what did you get done?

OMG, Commanders are terrible terrible. Save yourself the headache and don't buy one. I can list 6 people off the top of my head who are previous or current owners who will steer you FAR away. Any Chrysler engine that ends in .7 is J-U-N-K.
 
OMG, Commanders are terrible terrible. Save yourself the headache and don't buy one. I can list 6 people off the top of my head who are previous or current owners who will steer you FAR away. Any Chrysler engine that ends in .7 is J-U-N-K.

This is good information. I know Dirk has had problems with his also.
 
OMG, Commanders are terrible terrible. Save yourself the headache and don't buy one. I can list 6 people off the top of my head who are previous or current owners who will steer you FAR away. Any Chrysler engine that ends in .7 is J-U-N-K.

Curious what the main problems are with these.
 
Curious what the main problems are with these.

1. You get better mileage walking.

2. They drop valves.

3. They break timing chains.

Those are the things I'm aware of, you can ask Dirk, Dan, Kris, my brother in law, my Neighbor and 2 guys I work with.

I'm sure they're hit or miss like every other vehicle known to man but I do know that replacement engines are HIGH.

Same goes for Libertys, Grands and all the other .7 engine Jeeps.
 
1. You get better mileage walking.

2. They drop valves.

3. They break timing chains.

Those are the things I'm aware of, you can ask Dirk, Dan, Kris, my brother in law, my Neighbor and 2 guys I work with.

I'm sure they're hit or miss like every other vehicle known to man but I do know that replacement engines are HIGH.

Same goes for Libertys, Grands and all the other .7 engine Jeeps.

There is actually a class action law suit about one of the motors. Something about sand from casting clogging the cooling system. I was also told by a friend local mechanic that the v-6 in the wrangler likes to eat cam's or cam bearings. From what I've read the drop valve with the 5.7 hemi has been solved or there is a fix on the newer ones. That is what I have found researching. But all hearsay.
 
This vehicle is going to be for my wife. I have relayed all of this to her and we are now looking for an alternative. I sure appreciate the feedback because this has potentially saved us a great deal of heartache and hassle.
 
After recently polling the community on what SUV to buy I learned that there's not a vehicle on this planet that some large crowd is going to say is junk.

Just buy what you like, inform yourselves of the risk and hope for the best.

We just bought a built up 6.2L Escalade for the wife. lol It goes fast but it's thirsty.
 
You checked that with a mechanical gauge or the dash?

1. They're notorious for bad gauges.

2. 5psi at idle is very close to OEM spec and fine. I'd run it until it didn't anymore if it's no knocking.

I put in a new sensor, I put in the dash from Annie - which I know has a good gauge, and I took it to my mechanic that put on a mechanical gauge. All the reading I've done says 35-40 at idle is what should be expected. My mechanic seemed a little worried about 5. It gets up to about 25-30 under load.

your Commander gets 12 mpg? That's a hemi right? We are thinking of snagging a 3.7 V6. Do the V6 Commanders have the engine problems or was it the Hemis?

These last few fill ups I've been closer to 13.3 mpg, but that has more highway driving in it. The 3.7 and 4.7 don't seem to have the problem. The issue was casting in the 5.7, and it wasn't specific to the Commander. I heard that a lot of the Chargers had the same issues. Apparently a lot of police departments had blown Hemi engines in their patrol fleet. The casting is what took out my engine at 140,000 miles. Apparently ChryCo fixed that casting issue around 08 or 09. If I had it to do over, I'd have held out for a 2010 or 2011 model. And, as Andy mentioned, replacing a Hemi is not a cheap proposition. I've paid less for 4 of my 9 Jeeps than what I paid to get a junkyard engine put in.

I heard the most praise about a Lexus GX. They're pricey but they're nice and dependable.

I've heard a lot good about the GX also. If you don't want something that big as an "around town" car, I've also heard a lot of good about the RX350 small SUV. You can pick up a used one of them with 40-60K on it for about $24-26K...and they last forever.

I like my Commander, but if I needed an errand runner I'd have kept looking. As a primary car, it was my best option at the time to do everything I needed in a vehicle (including towing).
 
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We're looking for one within the $5-6K range. So really, this low of a budget I'm expecting some type of maintenance issue. If I can snag something where I don't need to replace a motor or a transmission, I'll be happy.
 
I put in a new sensor, I put in the dash from Annie - which I know has a good gauge, and I took it to my mechanic that put on a mechanical gauge. All the reading I've done says 35-40 at idle is what should be expected. My mechanic seemed a little worried about 5. It gets up to about 25-30 under load.

OEM spec is 10psi of oil pressure per 1k RPM. So, at an idle of 700 rpm your oil pressure is fine at 7psi. And those gauges aren't accurate enough to tell the difference between 5 and 7.

That being said, if it's not knocking I certainly wouldn't go through the effort to replace the engine until it is. Just drive it until it doesn't anymore and then stick the other engine in it.
 
Fsm shows 13 at idle as minimum. That being said my last Jeep ran smooth as silk and had just under 10.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Went to the airport to pick up a rental car for a business trip to Pigeon Forge today. Drove off with this.

A 2019 Jaguar XE with 8000 miles on it.

48117540528_a49f58f969_z.jpg
 
Dirk brought his 2000 XJ over on Saturday and we replaced the valve cover gasket, oil pump, rear main seal, and oil pan gasket.

He did have an increase in pressure when he left but I believe the gauge was sporadic on his drive back.

Also curious to see if the pan and rear main are no longer leaking.
 
Haven’t seen any indication of leaking, but haven’t climbed back under to take a close look. I did throw a little more oil in on the way home.

It’s quiet enough that I don’t believe the engine is starved for oil. Guess I’ll run her until she blows.
 
Lost the last bit of hair I had....replaced the ECU/PCM -brain in my XJ, thinking that might solve my Speedo/idle issue.
Took it around the block - looked great, stopped at a STOP sign, and the Speedo Pegged at 111MPH. Drove back to the house, revved the engine...and stayed at 3500rpm until i shut her down.
Now someone says did you check the "Automatic Transmission Speed Sensor".....

It was easier having my daughter tell me she met a "boy", than it has been to find my XJ issue.
 
It was easier having my daughter tell me she met a "boy", than it has been to find my XJ issue.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

That is the funniest line ever!
 
Haven’t seen any indication of leaking, but haven’t climbed back under to take a close look. I did throw a little more oil in on the way home.

It’s quiet enough that I don’t believe the engine is starved for oil. Guess I’ll run her until she blows.

You will know it when the top end loses oil. I was on the way to the Flog many years ago and lost oil pressure to the top end. It rattles like crazy.

Did you find anything interesting in the pan when you replaced the gasket? Any silver stuff, like work worn bearing material?

My MIL's 1998 has really low oil pressure on the gauge when at hot idle. We put a mechanical gauge on it and it reads no less than 10 psi where the dash would lead you to believe it was at 3-5 psi.
 
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