Rough idle on BRAND NEW Jeep Liberty, dealer wont do anything.

Aug 05, 2004 19 Replies

Since the very first moment I sat on the vehicle I noticed the idle was rough. But I was way too tired with the whole dealership buying process (4 hours) that I left without paying too much attention. After two days of driving it around I can definitely say that the idle is rough. It is not too bad, but still, it is a brand new jeep and what characterize new vehicles is that you won't even notice the engine running. When you wait on a red signal you can feel the engine vibrating. Dealer says it will go away, but it has not, and I don't think it will. As a matter of fact, it has worsened. Are these V6, 3.7 engines rough?



Thanks!


The 3.7's used in the Libertys do have a reputation for idling a "bit on the rough side". Problem is that a "bit rough" is very suggestive. Have you tried asking one of the service advisors to go out with you in a demo, then with yours, and compare the two?

Bill, that really is quite an over reaction at this stage.

The previous poster's suggestion about going for a ride in one of the dealer's demos to see if it has the same rough idle would be my suggestion also. Keep the service department documentation for each time you bring it to the dealer, and wait a few thousand miles and see what happens.

Tom

I dunno. I'm still struggling with spending that much money on *anything* without driving a demonstrator. Which would allow the OP to at least sanity check their particular engine against the demo Libby.

Rough means different things to different people... perhaps the OP has only driven rotary engines, 12 cylinder Italian engines, turbine engines, etc.

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III proclaimed:

If you're expecting not to notice the engine running, your expectations are too high. You will feel the engine running.

You didn't drive the car before going through the tiring 4 hour process? Sounds a little backwards to me.

I think he may have misunderstood. The dealer said to the OP..."Go away!"

At any rate, I doubt he would have a lemon law case because "feeling the engine running" isn't necessarily a serious mechanical defect. That said, the lemon law rep I dealt with with my wife's Honda told me of a case where a vehicle's luggage rack whistled at highway speeds and the owner filed suit under the lemon law and the dealership took it back.

Oh man. There I was. Money just burning a hole in my pocket; Decisions decisions decisions:

Ferrari or Jeep Liberty? Ferrari or Jeep Liberty? Ferrari or Jeep Liberty?

If I only knew the idle would be so rough... I woulda bought that Ferrari.

Dang!

Whereas the I6 - positively relies on verbal intimidation to stop you revving it past 3000 rpm :-)

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

..and probably a lot cheaper in the long run...

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III proclaimed:

How do you reset it ? You might want to do this, for example, if you bought the Jeep second hand or did a lift ...

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

Thanks for the comments. That is exactly what I was intending on doing. Taking another LIberty for a ride, or not even that, just running the engine. The dealer said that since the check engine light wasn't on, the engine was fine. Can you believe that BS? So what if it is a bad valve, or something else...They are full of crap. But anyways, I'm going to check other Liberty as soon as I can and see what happens. Thanks again... And NO, I also drive a 4 cyl 90 VW with a very quiet engine :-)

Someone mention something about preparing the documentation to file a Lemon law suit. How is that done, what action should one take from the very beginning? Hopefully the rough will go away though. Also, it is making 15 a gallon city, 19 highway. (normal?)

here is a link for Texas

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I believe you have to have the vehicle in the dealership 3 different times in a certain period of time(6 mos maybe) for the same repeated problem and if they dont fix it the 3rd time you can file. In TX there is a brochure by the owners manual that tells you how togo about filing the claim.

Unfortunatelly dealer would not recognize the problem. Service guy said "Yeahh, idle is kinda rough, but the check engine warning light is off, so engine is fine..."

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