# cheap *** backyard mechanics



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

My boy turned 16, we looked around for vehicles and eventually picked up a decent Jeep Liberty for a good price. 

One thing that was broken was a rear power window. I found a new motor on Ebay for $35 including shipping and had it delivered. We R&R'd it just now. When I opened up the door I saw in dismay someone had opened it up before, sawn off a piece of wood to hold the window in the raised position, ziptied it in place, then put the door back together.

W T F...? Seriously? They go to all the trouble of pulling the door apart to jury rig a piece of wood in place? When just replacing it costs less than a tank of gas? Lordy people are lazy... but it works like a champ now. Also fixed the speaker they installed with drywall screws -O,-

-DallanC


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Probably a jury rig to avoid putting money into it before selling. Once those go out that's the only way to keep the window up without replacing the motor. I did that with a Dodge Durango I had years ago because I didn't care if the back window went up or down. In fact with my kids I preferred that it didn't.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

I got nothing for the dry wall screwed in speaker though. That is just half-assed right there.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

a few years ago I saw pickup on a used car dealers website. it was a cheap truck but I wasn't making much at the time. i drove an hour to the dealer and when i opened the door from the outside i saw that the inside of the door was a panel of plywood with a a foot long2x2 attached to a spring as the handle, it was functional and pretty clever. thought it was funny the interior pictures on the site didn't show that. truck died on the test drive about 300 yrds out of the lot. i passed, but they weren't asking much.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

i bought a little Toyota pickup. it had these aftermarket surround sound speakers installed in the doors. a few weeks later when is slammed the door the speaker fell out . there were no wires or anything. he just cut a whole in the plastic and plugged it with a speaker.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

As they say "when you purchase a used vehicle you are buying another persons problem."

I have gone by that on every used vehicle that I have bought and there have been quite a few of them. I remember a friend bought a old Chevy when I was back in high school that had a 3 speed in it. It drove great for about a week and then the transmission started to make horrible noises and wouldn't shift. When we pulled it apart we found banana's and sawdust in the transmission to keep it quiet until they sold it. Talked to my dad about it and he said that a lot of people would do that just to get rid of the vehicle. It was a good thing that Chevy 3 speeds were cheap at the junk yard, around $15.00 at the time so we just bought a couple of used ones and went on our way with one in the trunk for a spare.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I have replaced one window regulator in my jeep liberty. It is a common problem, maybe they got tired of messing with it breaking so often. Just don't let the dealer install it..$400 There was a class action lawsuit and a recall that was good for 7 years from purchase date on some years models. 2002-2006..........

The Liberty has been a good vehicle, but there are a lot of stupid little issues with my back window latch and the 4 wheel selector switch breaking, so when I am in 2WD the light on the dash says 4WD and it goes out when I put it in 4WD when it should come on. And for a 3.7 Liter it gets $hitty gas mileage......


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Fowlmouth said:


> I have replaced one window regulator in my jeep liberty. It is a common problem, maybe they got tired of messing with it breaking so often. Just don't let the dealer install it..$400 There was a class action lawsuit and a recall that was good for 7 years from purchase date on some years models. 2002-2006..........
> 
> The Liberty has been a good vehicle, but there are a lot of stupid little issues with my back window latch and the 4 wheel selector switch breaking, so when I am in 2WD the light on the dash says 4WD and it goes out when I put it in 4WD when it should come on. And for a 3.7 Liter it gets $hitty gas mileage......


 My wife drives a Grand Cherokee, been a good car---but--- we had the window motor go out in Yellowstone and it took them 3 days to get one in --and-- it was expensive!! The Grand part of the name stands for what it will cost on average to have it in the shop!! Looking for a new car for her, the Jeep spoiled her, but need something with a tad better gas milage, and the engine light wont come on every 2000 miles!!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Fowlmouth said:


> The Liberty has been a good vehicle, but there are a lot of stupid little issues with my back window latch and the 4 wheel selector switch breaking, so when I am in 2WD the light on the dash says 4WD and it goes out when I put it in 4WD when it should come on. And for a 3.7 Liter it gets $hitty gas mileage......


Yea thats what I read about them before we purchased. Lots of problems with the window regulator, lots of passenger side valve cover oil leaks, lots of ball joint issues post 100k miles. The previous owner just did all of the ball joints so thats gtg, it has a oil leak on the drivers side. I think its either the oil filter or oil pressure sensor located just above the oil filter. Either way its going to be parked on the lawn until spring so we'll worry about it then.

As for mileage, meh I don't care, I wont be the one driving it :mrgreen:. I know its going to be better than MY first truck, 77 Chevy with "Full time" fwd... that pig got 7mpg. I bought a kit and converted it to part time later on.

-DallanC


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

DallanC said:


> As for mileage, meh I don't care, I wont be the one driving it :mrgreen:.
> 
> -DallanC


Haha, you sound just like my dad. He agreed to help my brother buy his first vehicle (which was then passed down to me) if it was a full-sized truck that he could use when he needed it... and this was at the time when gas was $4+ a gallon. We were grateful for the subsidy, but $100 fill-ups were hard to swallow.


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## BG1 (Feb 15, 2013)

Dunkem said:


> My wife drives a Grand Cherokee, been a good car---but--- we had the window motor go out in Yellowstone and it took them 3 days to get one in --and-- it was expensive!! The Grand part of the name stands for what it will cost on average to have it in the shop!! Looking for a new car for her, the Jeep spoiled her, but need something with a tad better gas milage, and the engine light wont come on every 2000 miles!!


You do know that JEEP stands for Just Empty Every Pocket don't you? I've learned after owning 2 of them....finally! Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep. All junk!


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I've owned 1 Jeep, Grand Cherokee Laredo 1998, just sold it this summer as it was too expensive to ship it up here to AK. We bought it in 2010 and it had 76k miles. Aside from a couple minor things here and there (battery, alternator, ball bearings), it was one of the best used vehicles I've ever owned. Thing was a bullet. Brush busting in an antelope hunt in WY, hit a hidden ditch at 25mph? Go flying 2' into the air with all 4 wheels at least that high off the ground? No problem, just turned it back on and drove home. Ice? B-tch please, ain't no thang. 

Sold it for $2500 with 129k miles on it, and still miss that thing. Except for the 12-15mpg. I much prefer the 26mpg Hyundai Tuscon we replaced it with gets.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

This is kind of funny. I owned 2 Jeep Cherokees and both of them had problems with the automatic windows. In fact, when I was working a stretch of 60 hour weeks, I temporarily fixed mine in the same fashion that DallanC described. One time, the wiring broke going into the motor after a period of the motor shifting when going up and down. A quick soldering effort got things going again. Another time, the window just slipped off the track that holds it up, again an easy fix. I had one motor fail as well. I used to think I was jinxed, but it sounds like I wasn't the only one. 


Overall, I liked my 2 Cherokees, and was bummed when they stopped making them. I cannot say the same about the Grand Cherokees and everyone I know that had one had problems. Nevertheless, my Cherokees can't hold a candle to the 4 Runner I have now for reliability.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Found the oil leak, its the power steering pump dripping. Its slow enough it might use 1 bottle a month, probably less. We can wait till summer before we have to worry about it. 

I love being in a vehicle though that has a shift lever for 4x4. I loathe the thought of all the new trucks with a girly push button... I dont ever want to be stranded on a mountain because I blew a fuse or something stupid and it wont go into 4x4. Already had an issue with my GMC, the sensor went out in it and it got confused if it was in 2x4/4x4 or 4low. Had it down on the boulder once stuck in 4Low and almost didnt get it to shift back out. 


-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Don't forget to crawl under it and lube up those piviot points on the shift lever. When they break they are expensive to fix. 

But I agree with you on knowing that it is in 4x4 and not having to guess. On my new Explorer all I have is a dial that I turn. It doesn't even say 4h, or 4L anymore. There are fancy decals that tell you what it is used for but then it doesn't have a transfer case either just a power transfer point.


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