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Bought another WJ with issues!

1K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  xcaliber81 
#1 ·
Yesterday, I picked up a 2000 Laredo, Quadra-Drive II, 4.7L, 164k miles (43k on a rebuilt motor). VERY clean inside and out. But it has issues. So I got it cheap. It also has a recent water pump and power steering pump. And the tires are good, if poorly-sized (225/75-15).

The major issue are Codes P0300, P0301, P0304, which are cylinder misfires, specifically 1 and 4.

I've already played the coil swap game and it hasn't helped. I've noticed a clacking noise coming from the valve covers. Not loud, but you can hear it very clearly if you do the screwdriver-on-the-cover and put your ear to it. It's louder on the driver's side than the passenger side. But I suppose this could be because it's missing.

I've noticed both valve covers are leaking at the rear, so they're coming off anyway. I've already ordered about $300 in parts from Rock Auto and Amazon... front/rear lubelocker seals, trans fluid, trans filter/seal kit, radiator hoses, a couple coils, a couple fuel injectors, thermostat, and a few other things I don't remember. Oh I also ordered an updated TCM so the 45RFE will become a 545RFE.

Another issue it has is the driver's side power seat doesn't move. It's stuck in the almost all the way back position, so I can't get to the rear bolts to remove the seat. I have a spare power seat track, but without being able to get the seat out, I'm kinda stuck. Anybody have any suggestions on what do about this?

Rob
 

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#2 ·
Are you sure about that tire size 225/75r15? a 15 inch IDK I thought 16s were called for.
hopefully a typo and you have 225/75r16 a correct size.

Do you have a wiring diagram for seats- checking fuses/breakers would be a start.
You did get the correct thermostat?

Suggestion: before swapping the TCM I would check for codes - want no issues with a new TCM as trouble shooting gets confusing with a swap.
 
#3 ·
Sorry, meant 16. 225/75-16. Should be 245/70-16 according to the door sticker. They're like new, so I won't be changing them.

I won't put in the TCM till it's completely running and all codes are gone. Don't want to complicate things.

There aren't separate fuses for the various parts of the seat. The fore-aft motor works on one side but not the other, so I know it's getting power. Sorry should have been more clear. Just need to get it to move enough to remove it.

I've pulled the driver's side valve cover and everything looks good so far... guess I'll bump the motor over a few times to check to see how loose the little rocker things are.
 
#5 ·
Thanks, I went looking... all the "tricks" involve hot-wiring the seat to a battery from a drill. But in my case, the motor doesn't work and the seat won't slide. I tried for videos like that, but nothing. Other Googling hasn't helped.
 
#6 ·
did you check the driver seat connector is plugged in? under seat
Sorry I love easy simple CHEAP things first its My positive attitude.

Spent enough time repairing police auction vehicles nothing surprises me.
 
#10 ·
I took a quick look at that video. I understand the point. Then I went to look at the spare, working frame that I do have. Jeep wisely (note: sarcasm) pointed that square hole for manual adjustment the OTHER direction, towards the tunnel where it's impossible to reach. That's for the fore/aft height motors... the rear one of which is what I need to access the rear bolts. That or sliding the seat forward. The up/down motors both work, but they don't actuate their own screw mechanisms. I have to assume there's probably a plastic part inside them that has broken.

For sliding forward, there is a single motor that operates both sides, and it runs a screw type mechanism. The right side works; the left side tries to work but does not. It will move maybe 1/8" after some fiddling. I've drowned the whole track in WD40 and it helped a tiny amount. I'm hoping maybe after sitting a while, it will help more, but I'm not optimistic.

I can reach three of the four nuts that told the seat itself to the power track. If I could reach all four, I could remove the seat and be able to come at the track from above. Grrr.

What's more, is I THINK I could reach the outer rear bracket enough to get a sawzall blade in there, but I can't get to the inner one. This is because the rear of the seat is in its lowest position. If it were higher, I'd be in much better shape and even the sawzall idea wouldn't be necessary.

Examining my working frame some more, it's clear that this thing was never intended to be disassembled. If I run out of ideas, I may end up having to cut it into pieces as best I can. That would suck since my existing, working frame is a "memory" model will full power function (including the seatback) which this Laredo doesn't have; so I'll still have to repair or replace this frame once I can get it out.

Clearly whoever designed this thing never gave any thought to how to remove the seat if the track failed. Probably due to Diamler's slave-driving and raping of Chrysler during their ownership.
 
#11 ·
SCORE!!!!! I got the seat out without destroying anything!

I was able to get to the left rear bolt. It took like 20 minutes to remove, 1/4 turn at a time. Once done, I hit the switch and the seat moved forward enough to get to the other bolt. It's something in that left track that is jammed.

So now the seat is out and there's a ton of gross crap under it (of course). I'll clean that out in a bit, then decide how to proceed with the seat track.

Meanwhile, my Rock Auto orders are due on Friday so I can replace the valve cover gaskets and then continue figuring out the misfires. Might be fuel injectors.
 
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#12 ·
Cool.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to see if Dodge Durango manual front seat tracks bolt up to a WJ floor pan. If successful, the tracks will be a basis for a swap to nearly brand new, entirely manual leather seats that fold flat.

I don't think Daimler is to blame, I think the WJ chassis was either a Chrysler design or even AMC's last gasp. Wikipedia said something like that and the timeline makes sense, WJ was unveiled when things were changing so obviously it was designed before that.

I'm not sure of the Durango's origins, it would be great if they borrowed a lot from the WJ because that would give another source of oem style upgrades and parts. Looking at the two in a wrecking yard, the seat tracks seem to bolt to the floor pan in a similar way but I really need to get a Durango track and hold it up to a WJ floor pan to see if it fits or can be adapted.
 
#15 ·
By the way, although first generation Durango seat rails look like they mount the same way as WJ seat rails, they are actually wider and longer. I'm going to do more research to see if a Durango seat rail could be narrowed and shortened. If I can't find anything, some other day I'm going to tear everything apart to see if I can make something work.
 
#17 ·
Turns out it's just one motor powering the seat track. There's a screw mechanism in each track, and the one in the left-side rail (closest to the door) was stripped or something and wouldn't move.
 
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