2007 Jeep Patr-idiot AWD Build/Repair

Scooter wrote: Great job thus far.

Thanks!

Since some of the parts arrived today and it wasn't unbearable when the sun was out, got the work pushed along as far as I could with what I had. Replaced the spark plugs- kind of curious if the ones in it were at the right gap since they weren't the recommended plugs, but it doesn't matter now.

Got the new stab bar end links in so installed them, and with that done put the front fascia back on (the rear bumper held up well when I was leaned over it yesterday, so I think the front will survive) and put all the wheels back on. Just need the exhaust gasket to finish installing the maniverter and the new coolant hub thingy to put in and it should be good to go.

Took a few pictures of it now that, other than if I get a warm day fixing the jagged edges of the dip, I'm done with the Plasti-dip on it. I'm pretty happy with how the whole thing ended up looking- the only thing I'm not certain of is the grille... it might have looked better left the original color, but if I really don't like it I can just peel that portion off. The car is still on jack stands in the pictures, so the wheels are nowhere near at normal height...

It looks pretty good. Surprised the header gasket is so hard to find, isn't the engine shared with a bunch of the other 4-banger FWD Caliber-Jeeps?

Of course I already know the answer is that nobody maintains them.

ssswitch wrote: It looks pretty good. Surprised the header gasket is so hard to find, isn't the engine shared with a bunch of the other 4-banger FWD Caliber-Jeeps? Of course I already know the answer is that nobody maintains them.

The engine is shared between them (it's the 2.4 World Engine, which shares a lot of parts with the 2.0), but the AWD uses a different manifold/converter setup because it looks like the driveshaft interferes with where the forward converter is on the FWD ones. The FWD manifold uses a smaller gasket to go to the forward converter while the AWD manifold/converter combo needs a bigger one to the pipe to the aft converter.

The thermostat housing came in, and I'd hoped to get it installed- but SWMBO wanted me to do some things for her non-profit, and with the weather so cold and not being able to finish without the exhaust gasket I didn't complain too much. We did get the extra subframe on its way back home to the company, so that's at least one thing done.

It is alive!

Ended up taking this afternoon off as well since there were several time-sensitive things SWMBO needed done before we leave for vacation tomorrow. And lo and behold, my generosity with my vacation time (which is dwindling rapidly) was paid off when the exhaust gasket I have been waiting for showed up on my doorstep this afternoon as well.

It took longer than I'd have liked because of the rather convoluted thermostat housing, but I finally got both the coolant system back together and the exhaust manifold/converter installed. The latter was also a pain since I had to take it off several times to enlarge the holes in the manifold gasket so I could actually get the bolts in to hold the manifold on. I was worried that it was still leaking exhaust until I dug out the torque wrench and actually torqued the bolts to spec, which was apparently what my problem was.

With that done and after letting the car idle up to temperature and making sure I didn't see anything leaking, I took it out on a few errands. One thing that I knew was going to be an issue: the alignment. Right now the alignment could best be described as Chaotic Evil- it was NOT fun to drive with as far out of whack as it is, so hopefully getting it aligned will help massively. There's also something not right with the front left wheel- and my bet is that it's the bearing. When I have it aligned (likely on Sunday, since they're open...) I'll ask them what they think when they test drive it.

Otherwise, it seems to be doing alright. It's hard to tell too much with the alignment so bad though since I was having to be very, very cautious with it.

And now, it will sit for the next 4 days while we're gone for Thanksgiving....

Nicely done. Way to bring this thing back from the dead.

ssswitch wrote: Nicely done. Way to bring this thing back from the dead.

Thanks!

So, with being gone visiting family from early Wednesday morning until later Saturday night, not a whole lot has gotten done on this- but I was at least able to get it out and aligned yesterday. It's MUCH more manageable now, but unfortunately I am still quite convinced that the driver's front wheel bearing is likely starting to go out. Talking with the manager at the shop that aligned it he said that they've never pulled the drive shaft nut off of one of the Patriot's family of vehicles without having the threads essentially break off of the drive shaft and necessitate replacing it as well, so to be prepared for that if I replace the wheel bearing. Joy.

Otherwise, it's still throwing a code for the intake runner actuator and still doesn't feel like it's running at full power. I need to check whether the connector is seated properly, but if it is I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and order a replacement actuator (another $80).

In an interesting twist of events, there's a modest possibility that I'll be looking to sell the Patriot sooner than later- I'm trying to sell my longtime, unfinished Challenge-project El Camino (thread is here), and have someone interested in trading me a GMC 2500 4x4 for it. If it's in good shape and I decide to go through with the trade, I might keep the truck and see if I can sell the Patriot for a bit of a profit and use the 2500 as my winter vehicle.

I've driven the Jeep for the last few days, and other than still making lots more clunks over bumps than I'd like (even from the front, where there's new shocks AND sway bar ends...) it's done decently. It's still throwing the code for the intake manifold runner actuator, so I've got a new one coming in from Amazon. Hopefully that and going over the exhaust bolts again to make sure they're still at torque should mean the end of worrying about its engine for a while.

A trip to a nearby (well, 80 miles away...) junkyard that surprisingly had a Patriot, a few Compasses and a few Calibers yielded a nice list of parts:

-Driver's side hub assembly (to replace the bearing and swap in for the one one on the car)

-Manifold Runner Actuator (had a new one sitting at home from Amazon, but the engine was already partially pulled apart so it was a target of opportunity)

-Passenger rear speaker (mine was distorting badly on the low end, and it was easy to grab)

-Antenna (car is missing the antenna)

-Passenger rear window motor (this was almost harder than the hub to get out...)

-Rear cargo cover (ironically one of the most expensive items and also the one the was entirely unnecessary, though I like having it)

The 'new' speaker solved the problem with the distortion- it was $9 and I could have bought another set of the 3-way speakers I replace the front ones with for $20, but it saved me a bit of money and work since I didn't have to transfer the connectors from the factory speakers.

While driving the car home from church to grab SWMBO to get some lunch while stopped at a red light I suddenly could smell coolant VERY strong, and looked down to see the temperature on the car climbing. I was about 2 minutes from home so got home quickly and turned it off, and when I looked under the hood found that the hose from the thermostat housing to the radiator had popped off. Still not entirely sure how, but ironically it made swapping in the new manifold actuator easier so I did so before replacing the squeeze-type hose clamp with a screw-type one, hooking the hose back up, and filling the engine back up with coolant.

Since it's fairly easy to do, I threw the junkyard actuator on first- and so far from the drive in this morning it appears to be working as the car hasn't thrown any of the codes associated with it (or any at all- a first for this car under my ownership...). If it behaves itself for the next few days I'll return the new one to Amazon- and have saved myself about $70 for my troubles.

It is still rattling a LOT more than it should. I need to get back under it and make sure everything it tightened up properly before I start looking at whether the rubber on the motor/trans/rear diff mounts is still good.

I'd been kicking myself all last week for not also grabbing and dragging back with me the exhaust off the Compass that we'd found while pulling the hub since I knew something was wrong with the muffler on the Patriot, so I braved the cold Saturday morning and headed up to the junkyard again to grab both the exhaust and a passenger hub to match the driver's one we'd pulled last week as I figured realistically I should replace both.

I got the chance yesterday to actually get to work at replacing the muffler, and when I got the old one off it was pretty clear what the problem was...

So, with the new muffler on the car it is a LOOOOT quieter and pleasant to drive. While I was under the back of the car with the muffler out and more space to work, I tightened up the lower shock mounts and the lower control arm to knuckle mounts which definitely helped with the clunking from the back of the car.

Now I just need to get the front end quieted down, which will probably have to wait a bit. In addition to the bearing for the passenger front hub I also ordered a set up new front LCAs, in part because I hope it will improve the ride having new bushings instead of the 10-year-old ones and also in part because I think it's likely that the ball joints would get messed up when I pull the steering knuckles off and I don't want to get stuck with waiting for parts and unable to drive the Jeep for any longer than necessary.

I also grabbed a slide hammer and a FWD bearing tool kit from Advance's loaner tool program (will be glad when that $450 charge is off my card when I'm done with the tools...), and have got the hubs out of the knuckles. Unfortunately I had to cut the bearing sleeve off of one of the hubs and cut a bit deeper than I should have and nicked the bearing mating surface... I'm thinking I should be able to clean it up so it's not a problem, but we'll see. I only had time to pull one bearing out of the knuckles- the other one I'll have to do later.

I probably won't get the chance to work on it much for at least another week- since it's driving well enough as is I need to be working on getting things ready for the El Camino's departure in a week and making sure everything that should go with it is together and it's loaded up as efficiently as possible and nothing gets left behind. Once it's out of the garage I'll likely pull the Patriot in and take care of the front end work in the relative (given it's not heated or remotely insulated) comfort of the garage before I pull the DeLorean in and get to work on it.

Lastly, I've hoping to hear back from somebody locally who has a set of winter tires that will fit the stock rims that I'm hoping I'll be able to work out getting for a bit cheaper and throwing on the original rims so I've got a set of winter tires for either the Jeep or SWMBO's Mariner (since both use the same lug pattern and hub size- though hers will bitch because it has TMPS...)

I'm really surprised how rusted out that muffler is for the age.

ssswitch wrote: I'm really surprised how rusted out that muffler is for the age.

That's unfortunately a recurring theme with this car.

Over the last few days I've gotten the old bearings out of the junkyard hubs I pulled. The new bearings are currently chilling out in the garage (because it's about 15 degrees colder there than in my freezer...) with the hubs and the knuckles are sitting in the house at about 65 degrees. Planning on hitting the knuckles with the heat gun before trying to press in the bearings. I'd been planning on waiting to do the swap until the Elky is out of the garage and I could do it in the relative comfort of the garage, but it's supposed to be unseasonably warm Saturday so I may try and knock it out then so I've got it out of the way.

Unfortunately despite my tightening things up on the rear suspension I'm STILL getting a really bad clunking coming from back there. I wish there were a good way of tracking that down.

In reply to Ashyukun:

Any chance you could stick a GoPro under the car and drive it a bit, see if you can see anythIng moving in a way it shouldn't?

eastsidemav wrote: In reply to Ashyukun: Any chance you could stick a GoPro under the car and drive it a bit, see if you can see anythIng moving in a way it shouldn't?

Interesting idea... the GoPro hasn't seen much use since I started driving the Jeep vs riding the scooter. I'd have to make sure I could secure it so it both didn't get lost/destroyed and was able to actually capture what was happening.

It's likely going to be too cold today to do much, but I do want to check out that nothing else is loose tomorrow if the weather is warmer (and in between rainstorms). Tonight I'm hoping to try and get the new bearings into the hubs... though I'm still wrestling with whether it wouldn't be smarter on the whole to not use the spare ones I pulled (and have already pulled the bearings from) but to instead try and replace the bearings in the hubs on the car so I don't have to have it re-aligned and can save myself the $80 or so that would cost (they might discount it since I had it aligned so recently, I don't know). After wrestling with the hubs off the car, there are definitely a number of things that would be a lot easier with it locked in place on the car and I don't have to worry about holding the hub itself while I try and do whatever. The downside would be that it would put the Jeep out of commission while doing it, and if anything went wrong I wouldn't have it until I resolved it whereas if all I'm doing is swapping the knuckles (and the new LCAs) in it should take a lot less time and have a lot less chance of there being a problem.

My truck has a clunk that (I think) I've traced to one front sway bar mount. Interestingly you can only tell it's bad if both end links are off and you rotate it up. Then the one side is loose. Otherwise in every other combination of hooked up/unhooked it feels fine. Tracing front end clunks is hard and if this doesn't work I'm in the same boat as you, chasing ghosts.

So, the Patriot has done reasonably well over the last month but has had its issues and quirks.

Last week I kept smelling coolant, so when I found out I was going to have to drive 70 miles each way to pick up one of SWMBO's dancers at the airport I pulled it into the garage to take a quick look. Somehow ALL THREE of the bolts that hold the complex thermostat housing to the block were rather loose. I tightened them all up and topped off the coolant, but have no idea how they worked themselves loose. I'll have to check on them again when I next work on it.

I tried looking around for loose bolts to tighten under the front end as well to see if I could find the source of the clunks, but didn't find anything that should have been causing it.

I however do have one theory, and it's one that could explain both the front AND the rear clunking: the axles/CV joints. It could explain why I can't ever replicate the noises when the car isn't moving since the axles aren't turning. I'll have to look into how to figure this out since I'll have the axles loose from the hubs when I swap in the new bearings. It seems a likely candidate for what's wrong, but I don't want to spend $200 on a full set of new CV assemblies and have that NOT be what's wrong...

You know this reads more and more like a salt water flooded car. But you say your research indicates that these are common issues. Wow. So many problems.

Isn't the CVT basically the Nissan CVT that is usually lauded for its' performance. I know the software controlling it was customized for Jeep applications regardless of source. But it isn't something Chrysler/Jeep designed it was purchased from Aisin or PSA-Nissan or someone.

Advan046 wrote: You know this reads more and more like a salt water flooded car. But you say your research indicates that these are common issues. Wow. So many problems. Isn't the CVT basically the Nissan CVT that is usually lauded for its' performance. I know the software controlling it was customized for Jeep applications regardless of source. But it isn't something Chrysler/Jeep designed it was purchased from Aisin or PSA-Nissan or someone.

Honestly, I'd not rule out it having been flooded with as bad as the rust was on the underside and bottoms of the doors. But if so it must not have been totally flooded because the interior is pretty much perfect.

Volatility in the weather and my own schedule has kept me from having the few days to be able to do the front end so far- and it's likely going to be at least into next week as I'm supposed to go get the SSEi on Saturday. Fixing its issues will be the priority as once I can drive it normally I'll be able to put the Jeep in the garage and work on it at will without worrying about not having a car to commute in.

Yesterday's junkyard trip netted a new (relatively speaking) front subframe- so once the Riviera is out (hopefully this afternoon) of the garage the Patriot will be going back in to replace the front end (again, in the case of the subframe). Hopefully this will resolve the rather dangerous issues with the front end. With that done and another car that I can drive (the Riviera) and the weather such that I don't really need a car with the scooter usable again, I can finally make a more concerted push to sell the Patriot. It's the first vehicle I would really count myself as regretting having bought, so I'm really looking forward to being done with the accursed thing.

It looks like Chrysler made the majority of the car out of recycled soup cans with all that rust. I thought J-Tin was bad but that in this day and age... damn

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

So, despite having picked up the new subframe haven't really done much of anything in the last few weeks. That will probably change in the next few days... I'm very seriously contemplating putting the Patriot in the local auto auction tomorrow evening and seeing if I can get a decent price for it. I've had it up on CL for a while with a number of people contacting me about it but nobody actually coming to look at it, and since I should be able to drive the Riviera normally and it's warm enough that most of the time I'll be commuting with the bicycle or scooter, I don't need to keep it to use to get around town.

If I don't do that? I'll most likely be trying to swap the front subframe out on Saturday and taking care of the other small things (broken antenna, rear window motor) and re-listing the car without any of the problems I've eliminated in hopes of it selling more quickly and for a higher price.

Advantages of the auto auction: Simple and quick, no haggling and waiting for buyers and trying to answer and explain things. Basically drop the car off and hope it sells for what I set the minimum to. Don't have to worry about buyer coming back and complaining about something they didn't notice.

Disadvantage of the auto auction: Purely at the mercy of what people bid, almost certain to not get as much as if I sold it privately. Also, if I set the reserve too high and it doesn't sell I'm out $50 regardless.

Advantage of fixing it & selling it privately: Almost certain to get a higher price for it.

Disadvantages: Far more time-consuming on all counts.

I'm planning on spending the afternoon/evening working on things on the Riv, and once I'm done with those I'll see about cleaning up the Patriot and prepping it to take out. I'm halfway planning on using what else will be at the auction as part of whether I take it there or not- if there's a good-looking convertible that I think could be had for what the Patriot should sell for, I may go for it in hopes that the Pat sells and I can use the money from it to get the convertible.

Since the Jeep's previous CL listing had expired, I relisted it for a good bit less than KBB in hopes of selling it before fixing it. I had planned on getting started on it this weekend but decided it was smarter to get the Riv into drivable condition first so I wasn't putting myself into the situation of not having any drivable cars while replacing the subframe on the Patriot.

Had a few bites on the Pat, but nothing that I would call serious yet. Since I'm unlikely to start on the frame replacement before this weekend, it will still be possible that I'll put it in the auto auction if it hasn't sold by then. I really want the thing gone, and don't look forward to swapping the subframe again.