Generational JKUR

[TRevs]

When I was a kid in ‘80’s, my family went camping and traipsing through the Rockies in a 1980 F-150. In 2019, I wanted to get a vehicle that could do the same and more with my own family and kids. I got a 2006 LJ, built it for moderate trails, and it’s been great.

I work in Texas but visit Colorado a lot so the LJ stays in Colorado; a few years ago I decided I wanted a ’Texas Jeep’ so I bought a ’95 YJ. Also lots of fun as mainly a city cruiser.

My kids are growing up now and one of them is now going to college in Colorado and wanted to get out of his Honda Civic and get something rugged that can haul his mountain bike. Criteria were 4-door with manual transmission and hardtop.

We searched for weeks and drove a lot of mediocre vehicles, but he found an ad for a good-looking jeep at a good price. We jumped on it and now there’s a JK in the family. (Nevermind the JL in the background.)

 

[TRevs]

It’s a stock 2014 Rubicon with 121k on the odometer. One-owner, with the most regular oil change record I’ve ever seen on a CarFax.

Factory leather seat, with some torn stitching, factory nav/bluetooth, Gobi roof rack. Virtually no rust, body in good condition.

I’m glad it’s not lifted and still has stock tires. We might go that route someday but it’s great for now.

 

[TRevs]

The first problem is that the power locks don’t work. The M38 fuse was missing and when we put one in, only the driver’s door lock works. Both front door lock switches will activate the driver’s door only.

At least the fuse didn’t blow. Hard to believe that three actuators have failed…? Have to start researching that.

 

[tJKrider]

When I was a kid in ‘80’s, my family went camping and traipsing through the Rockies in a 1980 F-150. In 2019, I wanted to get a vehicle that could do the same and more with my own family and kids. I got a 2006 LJ, built it for moderate trails, and it’s been great.

I work in Texas but visit Colorado a lot so the LJ stays in Colorado; a few years ago I decided I wanted a ’Texas Jeep’ so I bought a ’95 YJ. Also lots of fun as mainly a city cruiser.

My kids are growing up now and one of them is now going to college in Colorado and wanted to get out of his Honda Civic and get something rugged that can haul his mountain bike. Criteria were 4-door with manual transmission and hardtop.

We searched for weeks and drove a lot of mediocre vehicles, but he found an ad for a good-looking jeep at a good price. We jumped on it and now there’s a JK in the family. (Nevermind the JL in the background.)

View attachment 129864

Looks good, congrats! I bet you son is excited.

 

[Anybodyhome]

Get yourself an OBD dongle. I've been using this one for a few years now:

Them get the JScan app set up and go from there.

The issue with the power locks intrigued me. Can the power lock default setting be changed with a JScan? It turns out, yes. So, other than identifying any codes or other vehicle settings, seeing live engine data across a wide variety of areas, you can also set up things like daytime running light configurations, etc.

 

[TRevs]

The first problem is that the power locks don’t work. The M38 fuse was missing and when we put one in, only the driver’s door lock works. Both front door lock switches will activate the driver’s door only.

So there seems to be a parasitic drain on the battery. My son tells me the battery has died 2-3 times after sitting for a few days. If he drives it daily it starts. He had it load tested at O’Reilly’s and the battery tested good.

He’s tested the terminal connections and they’re tight.

It didn’t have this problem before we plugged in the M38 fuse for the power locks. I suspect the prior owner had the drain from that circuit and just pulled the fuse.

Since my older jeeps don’t have power locks and I can’t seem to find a factory service manual I’m not sure how to troubleshoot. Any advice welcome!

 

[pc1p]

So there seems to be a parasitic drain on the battery. My son tells me the battery has died 2-3 times after sitting for a few days. If he drives it daily it starts. He had it load tested at O’Reilly’s and the battery tested good.

He’s tested the terminal connections and they’re tight.

It didn’t have this problem before we plugged in the M38 fuse for the power locks. I suspect the prior owner had the drain from that circuit and just pulled the fuse.

Since my older jeeps don’t have power locks and I can’t seem to find a factory service manual I’m not sure how to troubleshoot. Any advice welcome!

Does your interior light stay on? Do you have a multi-meter? You can usually configure it to test for current draw (usually up to a few amps).

You can check your baseline current draw with all doors closed. Then, open each door and observe the amperage draw. The door that you open that DOES NOT cause an amperage change is likely the one that has a failed switch or some other issue.

 

[TRevs]

Does your interior light stay on? Do you have a multi-meter? You can usually configure it to test for current draw (usually up to a few amps).

You can check your baseline current draw with all doors closed. Then, open each door and observe the amperage draw. The door that you open that DOES NOT cause an amperage change is likely the one that has a failed switch or some other issue.

Thanks! I found a post on another forum about using the multimeter for amps; makes sense and we’ll try it!

 

[TRevs]

Since the jeep is new to us, and apart from oil changes I don’t have any record of prior fluid maintenance, I wanted to change all the fluids. Thus turned out to be a bigger deal than I thought.

Thankfully none of the drain plugs were corroded shut , but the MTF drain was almost impossible to access due to the exhaust crossing directly under the drain. The problem was compounded because the exhaust pipe was dented backwards and upwards from some obstacle.

I decided to do the easier fluids first , so got the TC, and both diffs drained and filled. The fluid was dark and probably overdue. I bought all Mopar fluids this time, but they are expensive.

Flushed the brake fluid as well, which was dark but thankfully free of rust and debris.

 

[TRevs]

There are videos about cutting the head off a 17mm hex socket to slide between the exhaust pipe and the transmission l; unfortunately I had only about 1/2” of clearance. I tried prying down on the exhaust but got very little movement. I thought I would detach the exhaust from the header, but the bolts were rusted and wouldn’t turn with moderate force and seemed like they could snap. I tried removing all the rearward exhaust hangers, but two of them were almost impossible to remove.

I finally loosened the bolts from the transmission mount to the crossmember, and jacked up the transmission about 3/4”. Along with a pry bar on the exhaust, I was able to get just enough clearance to slide the hex in and out.

 

[pc1p]

If it's any consolation, changing the ATF on a JK is equally as annoying... there are a handful of pan bolts completely blocked by the exhaust crossover pipe and you're nearly 100% guaranteed to make a mess while down there. Thankfully most of the aftermarket pans have a drain plug...

 

[TRevs]

Since the MTF change took so long, I didn’t have time to track down the parasitic drain on the door lock circuit But a more pressing issue was the nonfunctional parking brake. Handle all the way up wouldn’t hold on any incline. I did the usual thing of researching the internet and decided to adjust both at the wheels and The handle.

Multiple cycles of caliper on/off, rotors on/off, wheels on/off, and the entire console had to come out. Lots of rust and brake dust as well, but no significantly worn or damaged parts.

 

[TRevs]

It seems part of the reason these get loose is that there is a clock spring in the handle assembly that is supposed to take up slack in the cable before the splitter, and it gets weak. Either the spring loses its power, or gets gummed up. When I removed the console it was pretty dirty under there, and there was dirt and dog hair covering the springs. I sprayed them vigorously with brake cleaner and sprayed on a lubricant and they seemed to work better, but there’s still more slack than I think should be there. At least now the brake holds the jeep on an incline with about 9 or 10 clicks.

 

[TRevs]

 

[pc1p]

Ebrake handle/clutch is a known pain in the ass... the Mopar replacement is relatively quick and painless to install. Don't remove the pin until ready

 

[TRevs]

Ebrake handle/clutch is a known pain in the ass... the Mopar replacement is relatively quick and painless to install. Don't remove the pin until ready

Do the springs just lose tension over time? I saw the handle assembly is still for sale and not as expensive as i would have guessed. If it would take up a lot of cable slack and last 7-10 years I might go that route

 

[pc1p]

Do the springs just lose tension over time? I saw the handle assembly is still for sale and not as expensive as i would have guessed. If it would take up a lot of cable slack and last 7-10 years I might go that route

I don't believe it's the spring itself failing, but rather the "clutch" assembly inside that wears out and loosens, causing the cable to only start to get tight after too much rotation of the clutch has occurred.

The short-term fix is to get more pre-load in the clock spring, causing the clutch to start closer together. A lot of people use supplemental springs to pre-tension the clockspring, like this:

and like this:

... or use levers/arms to do the same like this:

I ordered the Mopar replacement for my daughter's Islander and it worked perfectly...