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high maintenance?

2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  jeepgcoman 
#1 ·
Got my Jeep GC Hemi new to me in June 2013, 60k miles on it.

Right off the start it needed front lower ball joints and brakes.
Not happy with the brake combo, got Yellowstuff pads and Centric rotors. Between dust (huge amount) and needing to be replaced 9 months and less than 20k miles later it's not a combo I'd go with again.
In the meantime I've had to replace the starter (and battery) and I'm also looking at now having to replace a tie rod end and have leaking coolant which is hopefully just a thermostat/seal replacement (tech said I had a coolant leak around thermostat). Is there no low coolant sensor on these cars?
First mod was a BT catch can which is filling up every couple of weeks this winter which is a bit of a pain during the severe cold weather we've been having.

I love how the car drives but all this is starting to get to me and doesn't even consider the fuel economy which I knew was bad going into the purchase. Are these issues normal or not?

I've had Camaros and Mustangs and I beat the snot out of my Camaro (with an automatic and LT1 engine) on the twisty tracks and only did the brakes once a year (ok twice in a couple of busy years), never any fluids leaks, never any ball joint or tie rod issues and the car had close to 140k miles on it when I got rid of it.

Sorry, just needed to vent a bit, these repairs are cutting into any kind of budget for some light mods :(
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum, and congratulations. You probably bought one that just had the snot driven out of it and zero scheduled/unscheduled maintenance done on it, unless it just quit on them. Many others have had similar experiences. This is becoming more and more common as the manufacturers extend service intervals. I will say, on mine, once I went through everything, right after purchase, I haven't had any problems in 4 1/2 years, save a bad EGR Valve and a lazy Oxygen Sensor. (Maybe I should knock on wood?) I tend to be overly proactive and do all scheduled maintenance, some more often than required, plus I now know how things are supposed to work and sound, making it easier to tell if there is a possible issue. I also have a DashHawk installed so I can monitor most drivetrain functions in real time.

Edit: the mayo. in the catch can is normal in the winter time, or anytime there is a lot of moisture in the air.....especially if it's cool. It's not uncommon to fill the can in less than 800 miles in the winter time. Better to have it in the can than cycling it through the combustion tract and risk contaminating the O2 Sensors and Catalytic Converters.

The seal in the thermostat housing is a fairly common issue, especially if somone had it off and tried to reuse the same seal. I never had a problem until I went to a cooler thermostat and tried that. I haven't found a place to buy the seal without buying the thermostat (stealer), and I've tried using gaskets which tend to seep after a bit. Best thing I've found is to bite the bullet and get it from the stealer....ugh!! No coolant sensor on these. Once you've insured the integrity of the system, you shouldn't have any problems, and just check the reservoir level when you're emptying your catch can or checking the oil.

Fuel economy (on the Hemi) should be ~12-14 in town and ~16-19 on the highway. With my mods. I usually get 13-15 in town and a best of 24.4 on the highway (over 346 miles)....normal is 22-23 mpg.
 
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