2007 Wrangler questions-first post.

[SummerWind]

My Son-in-law and I share a 2007 red rock 4 door sport. We **LOVE** it! He shared some bad news with me today, and it seems the mechanic thinks the engine is going soon. Not surprising, it has 290,000 miles on it. He is talking about getting rid of it. I say NO! What do you experienced Jeepers think? Everything else about it is in great shape. My first thought is to put a new engine in it. Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks! Laurie

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[DanW]

My Son-in-law and I share a 2007 red rock 4 door sport. We **LOVE** it! He shared some bad news with me today, and it seems the mechanic thinks the engine is going soon. Not surprising, it has 290,000 miles on it. He is talking about getting rid of it. I say NO! What do you experienced Jeepers think? Everything else about it is in great shape. My first thought is to put a new engine in it. Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks! Laurie

Find a company that swaps Hemis or Chevy V8's into JK's. Most of them have good low mileage 3.8's laying around. Do a little homework and you should be able to find one pretty reasonably. You could also look at Jasper. They and others do remanufactured 3.8's with improvements that cure the oil consumption some of them (like mine) have.

Either way, it will be a helluva lot less money than a new Jeep.

Btw, I love hearing about those old mini van engines getting close to 300k. Mine is just a baby at 133k!

 

[DanW]

My Son-in-law and I share a 2007 red rock 4 door sport. We **LOVE** it! He shared some bad news with me today, and it seems the mechanic thinks the engine is going soon. Not surprising, it has 290,000 miles on it. He is talking about getting rid of it. I say NO! What do you experienced Jeepers think? Everything else about it is in great shape. My first thought is to put a new engine in it. Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks! Laurie

One other thing...Some 2008 models, and possibly late 2007 models came with a lifetime powertrain warranty as an incentive. If you are the original owner, it might be worth checking. Then again, you would have had to get an inspection done every 5 years. It still might be worth looking into, even if you didn't do the inspections. The dealer might be forgiving, since they'd get the work. Mine was a very early 2008 and has the warranty.

 

[Stickerhead]

LS swap!

 

[SummerWind]

One other thing...Some 2008 models, and possibly late 2007 models came with a lifetime powertrain warranty as an incentive. If you are the original owner, it might be worth checking. Then again, you would have had to get an inspection done every 5 years. It still might be worth looking into, even if you didn't do the inspections. The dealer might be forgiving, since they'd get the work. Mine was a very early 2008 and has the warranty.

We are the 3rd owners I believe.

 

[SummerWind]

Find a company that swaps Hemis or Chevy V8's into JK's. Most of them have good low mileage 3.8's laying around. Do a little homework and you should be able to find one pretty reasonably. You could also look at Jasper. They and others do remanufactured 3.8's with improvements that cure the oil consumption some of them (like mine) have.

Either way, it will be a helluva lot less money than a new Jeep.

Btw, I love hearing about those old mini van engines getting close to 300k. Mine is just a baby at 133k!

I sent this link to Raf so he could take a look at what you said. We'd all be heartbroken to give our beloved Jeep up! Thank you for your reply!

 

[mtnbikeracer76]

We are the 3rd owners I believe.

Warranty stays with the vehicle no matter how many owners there have been. Might be something to check out.

 

[DanW]

Warranty stays with the vehicle no matter how many owners there have been. Might be something to check out.

The language in my lifetime powertrain warranty (which was an incentive, not purchased) explicitly says it is not transferable. It also requires an inspection within a 30 day window of the delivery date anniversary every 5 years. A purchased lifetime warranty, however, might be different.

 

[SecondTJ]

Warranty stays with the vehicle no matter how many owners there have been. Might be something to check out.

A normal warranty yes, but the Lifetime was original owner only; non-transferable.

A purchased lifetime warranty, however, might be different.

The Lifetime MaxCare polices are non-transferable in 48 states (SC & FL allow it to transfer). These did not require the 5-year inspection

 

[cosine]

One other thing...Some 2008 models, and possibly late 2007 models came with a lifetime powertrain warranty as an incentive. If you are the original owner, it might be worth checking. Then again, you would have had to get an inspection done every 5 years. It still might be worth looking into, even if you didn't do the inspections. The dealer might be forgiving, since they'd get the work. Mine was a very early 2008 and has the warranty.

i had that on my 07 grand cherokee. you have to be the original owner and have it inspected every 5 years. if you miss one your warranty expired. i got screwed and lost the life time warranty. also the dealer are real @$$hole during the inspection nick picking every little thing wrong. also if you don't follow the maintenance schedule and have them done at the dealer. the service guys will note it in the computer and red flag you. so if something happens they will denie you the warranty. imho, it sounds great but it's a $hitty deal.

 

[cosine]

We are the 3rd owners I believe.

warranty expires after 1st owner sold it. it's not transferable.

 

[cosine]

you have a couple of options as mentioned. i know the 4.0l i6 were easy to swap. not sure on the 3.8. i would think that it wouldn't be too bad of a swap, just more electronics and other crap to deal with. just a far warning, at 230k miles everything will break once you start fiddling with it.

 

[DanW]

i had that on my 07 grand cherokee. you have to be the original owner and have it inspected every 5 years. if you miss one your warranty expired. i got screwed and lost the life time warranty. also the dealer are real @$$hole during the inspection nick picking every little thing wrong. also if you don't follow the maintenance schedule and have them done at the dealer. the service guys will note it in the computer and red flag you. so if something happens they will denie you the warranty. imho, it sounds great but it's a $hitty deal.

Sounds like a crappy dealer. I've always done my own maintenance and they have done the inspections. They passed it with flying colors. A couple years ago, at 116k mles, they put a new transmission in it because mine was rattling and popping out of third gear once or twice a month. I was shocked they went that far with it. They gave me a nice lifted 2017 JK to run around in while had it for 3 days, too.

I'm sorry to hear your dealership screwed you like that. I recently asked them about my Jk's oil usage. They told me that if it ever gets consistently to 1 quart per 1k, just bring it in and they'll replace the engine with a remanufactured one under the warranty. They have been that way for all the years I've owned that JK. Even more...I didn't buy the JK from them. They/ve only serviced it. That's how they earned my business with the JL.

I hate hearing all the stories of unscrupulous dealerships. They really don't understand good long-term business practice.

 

[DanW]

The 3.8 is a straighforward and relatively easy swap. There's plenty of room under that hood. The one that would scare me is the JL's 3.6. It is PACKED in there!

 

[cosine]

Sounds like a crappy dealer. I've always done my own maintenance and they have done the inspections. They passed it with flying colors. A couple years ago, at 116k mles, they put a new transmission in it because mine was rattling and popping out of third gear once or twice a month. I was shocked they went that far with it. They gave me a nice lifted 2017 JK to run around in while had it for 3 days, too.

I'm sorry to hear your dealership screwed you like that. I recently asked them about my Jk's oil usage. They told me that if it ever gets consistently to 1 quart per 1k, just bring it in and they'll replace the engine with a remanufactured one under the warranty. They have been that way for all the years I've owned that JK. Even more...I didn't buy the JK from them. They/ve only serviced it. That's how they earned my business with the JL.

I hate hearing all the stories of unscrupulous dealerships. They really don't understand good long-term business practice.

that particular dealer had some bad reviews, etc both in sales and garage. i'll just leave it like that. the real kicker was that after the first 5 year check, they said that "jeep" sends out reminder notices when the next 5 yr check is coming up. by the time i realize the time (2 months after the date) the warranty dropped. i called jeep headquarter and opened a case. they were no help. so, it was a lost, but didn't loose any sleep or dwell over it. the funny thing about that dealer was they change ownership. however the same old crap. with that i stayed clear of them. and got the jl at another dealer.

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