Grand Cherokee V8 2005

[jerrytlr]

Hi

I am condsidering a Grand Cherokee V8 on LPG, 2005 but pre-facelift.

Any particular things to look out for? Specifically, does the engine or gearbox have any known weaknesses? The car I am looking for has 80K miles on the clock already, so I'm keen to discover if there is anything that is likely to go 'pop' soon....

TIA for any help you can give me

Cheers

Jerry

[chryslerben]

Hemis a solid engine and the transmissions are a safe bet but I hate lpg on these things so I'm gonna say no

[andy rob]

chryslerben said:

Hemis a solid engine and the transmissions are a safe bet but I hate lpg on these things so I'm gonna say no

V8 + lpg = use everyday no problem
V8 with no lpg = only use @ weekends unless your either mad or only do a few miles per day

I use a ram on lpg everyday no problem, just takes forever to fill her up

[andy rob]

rear axle is the weak link in the old cherokee's, try putting full lock on & reversing it.

And they have afew electrical gremlins: amp for radio not working & sometimes draining the battery, dodgy central locking, blower unit not working

[Dr-Bob]

Front track rod ends ball joints and drag link ends... very common....

[Lunablack]

125k converted to LPG at 50k.... Used off road, towing trailers, caravans etc etc....owned for 7 years, and apart from tyres brakes etc, its had 1 gearbox sensor...

Edited by Lunablack on Tuesday 26th February 22:01

[Roo]

chryslerben said:

Hemis a solid engine and the transmissions are a safe bet but I hate lpg on these things so I'm gonna say no

Pre facelift isn't a Hemi is it?

[chryslerben]

Roo said:

Pre facelift isn't a Hemi is it?

technically none of them really are, but You would be hard pressed to find a 2005 4.7 nearly all UK model v8's where 5.7


And to the lpg guys its just a personal preference what you chaps do with your cars is entirely yours

[Roo]

I assumed by pre-facelift he meant the old model which were 4.7.

[jerrytlr]

Thanks guys - yes I am talking about the older 4.7 litre V8, not the hemi which I think was introduced in 05.

I have LPG on my Subaru Spec B so I am used to it (50K+ miles since installation and not a single issue), I know it can be a faff but it is the only way to run a petrol V8 these days.... esp here in France!!

Cheers

Jerry

[chryslerben]

Crikey didn't think they sold any wg's in 2005 must be one of the last before the Wh came in

[Viper]

Make sure you get hot air, out of the heater, they're prone to failure but can be repaired

[SteveGRF]

Hi, I used to own one of these a few years back (V8 petrol:
I loved it & it stayed reliable right up until I decided to sell, the only advisories would be that they can warp the front discs (I got through about a 3 set under Jeep warranty); and the central locking locks started to fail - so give these items a good check over in addition to the usual stuff.

[bozmandb9]

I just bought a 2004 V8 Overland off ebay, picking it up today!

[bozmandb9]

Didn't take it in fact since it was really pretty ropey, I'd say the seller should have listed it as a potential 8 cylinders, since they were far from all working!

[dome]

I've got an 05 plate wj(g?), mines a 4.7V8 on lpg too. Later ones are a much nicer spec than the earlier ones, my Limited XS is a very nice place to be.
To drive it reminds me of an updated(but not too updated) Range Rover Classic. Mine has 160k and still drives well. Home maintenance isn't too bad on the basics and parts aren't too bad to get a hold of. On LPG I get around 160 miles to £30, best recently was 190 miles to £32, that was lpg at 67.9ppl tho. Costs me the same fuel wise as my old 9-5 Aero which averaged 28-30 on petrol.

Oh and it sounds lovely

[bozmandb9]

@ Dome

Sounds encouraging, though how come you only get £32 of LPG in? Small tank, or you just top up very frequently? Do you use much petrol? I'm now going for a 2003 Overland, so spec should still be pretty great!

@ Jerry, have you decided yet if you're going to take it Jerry?

[dome]

I don't trust the led lpg fuel gauge and tend to fill up early. I have an 80l tank in the wheel well and don't think I've put much more than 55 litres in. It's my first lpg car so I'm maybe being over cautious though, it hasn't ran out of lpg yet.

Petrol wise I've maybe put in 60quid in 4 months or so, it changes over pretty quickly so doesn't use much. 20 quid at a time maybe 3 times although I've not been keeping track.

If anyone wants to service their transfer box I've sourced the correct type of fluid for a fraction of the dealer price, I'll even have some spare when i get round to changing mine...

Edited by dome on Thursday 7th March 11:43

Edited by dome on Thursday 7th March 11:45

[jerrytlr]

Hi all many thanks for the very helpful comments

No, I haven't made my mind up yet... the dealer is not being very helpful with info which isn't a good sign. Haven't quite given up yet though. My biggest reservation is that despite being 10 years younger (and 5 years younger a design), it may not drive as well as my P38... don't really want to go backwards.

Dome, by my calculations you are getting 17-19mpg on gas, which isn't too bad at all. My 3.0 Legacy only gets 20....



Cheers

Jerry

[jerrytlr]

Turns out the car I am considering is a us import rather than european - as I understand it the european cars were built in Austria - any reason why US (Mexico?) build should be better or worse than Austrian? Any significant differences in spec?

TIA for any input you can give me....

Generally speaking the car looks good...


Cheers

Jerry