hey everybody.. n00bie jeeper here... ;)

[LoKi]

hows it goin?

i just bought a black/tan 2001 TJ and i absolutely love it. its my first jeep, and tons of fun.

i have a few questions though..

first off.. what is the deal with the part time/full time indicators? i've never seen either of them come on.. so if they dont come on when i'm in 4x4 then am i missing something? or am i just confused... :?

also.. my dash has the abs indicator but i've never seen it come on either.. so i'm assuming its an idiot light for if something is wrong with my abs right? or do i not have abs? if i do have it, this will be my first vehicle with it.. and the brakes do feel different from my last ride *2000 celica* .. but i thought it was just me getting used to the jeep.. *shrugs*

oh and last thing.. (yes i'm demanding.. haha) my transmission is a little noisy.. when i start the jeep, and leave it in neutral to warm up, as soon as i release the clutch pedal, i hear a vibration noise.. when the pedal is to the floor.. no noise.. and when its in gear more noise.. now.. it could be that because this is my first jeep, well.. first 4x4 vehicle i've ever owned.. it could be that i'm not used to the extra noise a vehicle with lots of torque makes.

i've only ever owned sports cars or sport coupes up until this point.. and the jeep was calling my name... i tried to ignore it.. and held off for a year.. but i cracked.. and sold my celica and bought a jeep..

never been happier ... other than my first few dumb questions that is.

thanks in advance..

-LoKi

 

[judge09]

I can answer a couple of those. The part time indicator in the dash should come on when you put the TJ into 4WD. You dont have full time so that will never come on. The ABS light with only come on when you are using the ABS system. You know when you have to break hard, to prevent sliding. As far as the transmission goes. I went from a sports car to a TJ myself and it feels worlds of different. But I dont want to tell you nothing with it. I just dont know about that.

 

[LoKi]

WANTED: Speaker/Storage boxes for CJ5

thanks for the info!

so i don't have a full time 4x4? how does it work then? i've had it in 4x4, and could feel the pull and the difference while driving on gravel and loose dirt.. but no indicators came on.

the manual says something about 'command trac' 4x4.. and as a n00b.. i have no clue what they are talking about...

thanks again!

 

[LoKi]

now that doesn't make me happy about the throw bearings.... i got this jeep from the dealer not even 2 weeks ago. and its been doing it since the first day i brought it home.

if he sold me a jeep with a bad clutch, he messed with the wrong guy. he'll find this jeep IN his office, mud and all, unless he's more than willing to accommodate me.

the only thing he said that was wrong with the jeep when i bought it was this clicking noise in the steering wheel as i turn, and apparently the part was on order *still waiting*. if there was more than that wrong with it, there will be hell to pay. i'm not an easy customer to satisfy.

damn.. that is bad news.. i'm going to call them right now and tell them to get their s*** in gear. damn jeep dealer has given me a few headaches already and i haven't even gone in for service yet...

 

[Tug-n-pull]

Welcome. all you need now is a trail some mudd and a couple of jeeper brothers and sisters to rid e with and you can be off to the wild country! Always glad to get new folk around here. If this is you foirst jeep then you can believe Jeepz.com will be the first thing you want in your tool box. Not wanting to get off on the wrong foot or anything cause like I said glad to have you aboard. Just watch the language we have kids and ladys and even gentleman that would rather you did not use the offokilter slang of foul words. Thanks for coming around good luck in your new Jeep adventures. tug

 

[LoKi]

aah sorry about that.. all boards are different. i'll keep it out of my posts.

 

[K-Phat]

Hey welcome to the wonderful world of Jeeps. Sorry to hear that the stealership is giving u a little bit of trouble, but it sounds like you are the type to get'em to straiten it out for u right away. Now when you but your rig into four wheel drive a yellow light should come on next to your speedo. As for the ABS light, does it light up when you first turn the Jeep on. I don't have ABS on my TJ, but I do have the light on the insturment cluster but it never comes on since I don't have it :wink: Well let us know what is up with the dealer issue. Later.

 

[L33TJ33P]

ABS: This light should light up for a few seconds when you first start your Jeep. If it doesn't, then you don't have ABS. Not uncommon in a Wrangler.

The Neutral Rattle:
I have a 2003 TJ and when you are out of gear and let the clutch go you get the good old TJ rattle. It is prolly more than just the TJ but that is what I like to call it. Mine was doing it on the Lot.

4X4: If you put your TJ in 4X4 then the light (4X4) should come on in the top right corner of your dash in Orange. If not you may have something that you need to let Jeep fix.



Welcome to the Board.

 

[LoKi]

that sounds about right.. but the light doesn't come on.. that much i can be sure of..

yesterday my wife asked me how you could tell if you were in 4x4 or not.. and i said usually the light comes on.. but it didn't.. so i showed her the difference on a dirt road.. you could feel a difference *i think* but no indicators came on...

i'll get them to check that too.

until i get fully familiar with all the little things... i'm going to get them to check EVERYTHING.. i'm driving this jeep across canada on boxing day... and it better make it...

i still have full warranty... its an 01 with 89,000kms on it. the warranty will last until i get to calgary at least (i'm in halifax now). its a 6000km or so trip. but i'll need 4x4 especially in the snow..

so no i must not have abs (which is good for me, i've never quite trusted it.. its just my driving experience without it that keeps me from trying it i suppose).

thanks everybody.

i'm glad to have found a great jeep community online, thanks to my friends SB and Chinny... *chinard*. i'm not sure if they use the same names on this board as they do on our other board... but i know they are around..

 

[west747]

that rattleing you hear when your transmission is in netrual could be the throw out bearings...mine does the same thing. hasnt really bothered me but i know i need to replace my clutch anyway

 

[LoKi]

so since i'm making such a long highway trip, and wont be able to do many offroad excursions before i leave... what sorta stuff can i do to make the long highway crawl more enjoyable?

is there anything that might help against the buffeting of the wind.. ? when i get to the prairies.. i'm going to be nervous.. i've heard of jeeps being blown over in some gusts...

and to help eliminate body roll on the street... anyway sway bars or strut bars available that are semi affordable? i'm moving because i lost my job, and don't have much to spend right now unless its a necessity..

thanks!

 

[L33TJ33P]

The Sway bars that are on there should be plenty. If you get into a gust of wind that will blow you over, I don't see much you can do about it. Ride it out :-D.

Long Highway crawl. hmmmm Radio, Sing to yourself, 9search the road for places that you can go off-road (even though you may never take the trails you spot, it is fun to search for them.

 

[LoKi]

...search the road for places that you can go off-road (even though you may never take the trails you spot, it is fun to search for them.

i do that now...

i can't wait to get back out there..

its a shame i have to sell my home.. i've got 3.5 acres of land that i could crawl through... just outside of the city... but when you gotta go.. you gotta go..

 

[LoKi]

gah.. one more question about the 4x4...

the lever looks like this..

2H
|
|
4H___
      /
    N
   /
4L

right?

so when i pull it back straight, to go into 4H, nothing happens. no part time indicator, nuthin. still in regular 2H, which i tested by doing a tight circle on pavement.

when i pull over to the right, and then down a touch, the part time indicator comes on. if i then continue to pull down diaganoally to the left, it goes into neutral, and hten into what is supposed to be 4L but all i get is the part time indicator again.. the 4Lo light doesn't come on.

does this mean i have a problem with my 4x4? it seems to me that i do.. and that the rattle/noise that i talked about earlier comes from the 4x4 and not the transmission as i first thought...

*sigh*

i'll find out tomorrow i guess. i have an appointment at 7 am.

any info i can go in there with would be appreciated though...

 

[L33TJ33P]

Ok, you are reading WAY to far into it. 4x4 will come on for 4hi and for 4lo I don't have a "4lo" indicator. you WILL know when you hit the gas that you are in 4lo as the RPMs shoot to 4k and you are only moving 13 Feet per min LOL.

Never pay attention to the Lines they draw on the Shifter. You are going to have to feel it go into 4hi and yes I also have to pull it back then a little forward to get it into 4hi. Nothing strange. You have the little Brake lever type shifter right??

 

[LoKi]

have you looked at Cooper?

yep its the lever type.

i'm only concerned because of all the noise it makes just sitting there.. and i took it for a spin out in the back yard today in 4Lo *it was definately 4Lo.. i almost did a catwalk when i hit the gas too hard.. hahaha* but the 4Hi didnt' seem to be doing anything.

its ok though. i've go ta couple minor things *washer fluid squirty dealy on the driver side is clogged, and that sotrta thing* that have to be taken care of along with all the other stuff i want them to check tomorrow.

it will be a long wait, but i refuse to leave my baby in somebody elses hands unless she knows i'm there waitin for her...

 

[LoKi]

ok so i took it in for a 4 hour appointment... *sigh*

but everything is right as rain now. they didn't fix my windsheild, but they will. oh yes. they will.

hehe...

but the clicking while turning is gone, a bad bearing in the steering column, and the grinding while in neutral is gone, and it was doing that because of the linkage from the 4x4 leaver was messed up, so i really didn't have any 4H at all.

they fixed it up apparently, and i tested it out. seems to be ok... but it will need more driving time to be sure.. *i just got home... and i'm tired after waiting all day. i'll go out later to test it.*

thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[southtj]

I hope they didn't charge ya too much for that work. Glad they got it fixed though. Have fun with her.

 

[LoKi]

it still has warranty for 30,000 kms'... thankfully..