
Thomas of Kingsley, MI on Jan. 5, 2007
My Jeep Liberty 2005 Diesel was recalled for a tourque converter problem. The tourque converter was evidently at risk of failure due to it's inability to handle the power of the CRD engine in this vehicle. After this repair my vehicle lost a tremendous amount of towing capacity, when I informed the dealership of my observation, I was shown the 38 page service bulletin associated with this recall.
The bulletin plainly states that some customers (customers who tow) will notice a substaintial loss of tourque and powerdue to this fix. According to the service manager I had a meeting with over this issue stated that the replacement converters did not appear to be improved to handle the demands of the engine, but rather the same failed part...the repair evidently is that the system's computer was reflashed with new instructions that changed the whole tranmission sequence and that the overall engine was de-tuned to reduce the horsepower of this engine.
Needles to say this is not the vehicle I purchased, performance is a complete bust. I have been advised to keep close records of MPG & performance per the service manager. I was getting 26 to 29 miles per gallon when I was not towing my 3000# trailer and 22 to 24 with the trailer...todays measure of MPG was less than 15 MPG while towing! This is the latest in a string of electrical failures, and air intake/turbo system problems. I will be contacting Jeep with a far more detailed report...I just wanted to report this very serious problem and its completely inappropriate fix that will soon be more broadly known.
When I needed to purchase a vehicle for my business, I am a blacksmith and farrier ( I shoe horses over a large service area) The primary needs of vehicle capabilities were towing capacity, 4WD, MPG and cost of vehicle.
I was sold hard on the fact that this vehicle could do it all & then some. For the first 30,000 the vehicle performed as advertised, other than the string of electrical problems and air intake trouble. But now with this fix of the tourque converter, Jeep has seriously reduced the towing capacity, MPG and efficency of this vehicle. It certianly no longer will work like I need it to.
I also will most likely seriously damage the drive train because with its greatly reduced capacities, my needs will constantly be operating well above its 90th performance percentiles. Instead of an extremely well powered towing vehicle, I now own a grossly under powered car. This is a terrible design change certianly beyond my control and something that I did not cause...What are my options??