Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa SuperDork
12/28/20 2:38 p.m.

Friend got this quote from the local stealership.  Looking over it they have pretty much most of it in "red" meaning "Knock it out immediately"  However when I look at it most of it appears to be "do it as you can, when you can."

Unless it is a thing for Jeeps to eat pumps by that mileage, I am really skeptical about the fuel pump

 

Directly from her:

 

Well the check engine light has been on and off for a year, they think that was bc the engine wasn't cooling down properly. When starting up, there's a strange noise, but only occasionally (they think that's a pulley) and sometimes a hard start, like it doesn't kick in. The only other real issue is the gas door being broken, but I can open with a screwdriver, it's just really annoying.   Otherwise I know I need new tires and  sometimes I feel a "pull" when turning.  not a pull like from the wheel but like the tire isn't catching

 

Worst comes to worst, I was thinking about helping her husband out with the thermostat and maybe the water pump.  Are these fairly easy to knock out?

3.6L V6

minivan_racer
minivan_racer UberDork
12/28/20 2:44 p.m.

Either everything is more expensive in Florida or they are charging double.

Seems like the tensioner/water pump/thermostat is top priority since a broken belt = tow truck.

What engine?

I'd ignore the fuel pump or put it way down the list personally.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa SuperDork
12/28/20 2:52 p.m.

Well, I don't know Jeeps or Mopar, so I'm unsure of what is on here as regular maintenance and what is on here as a money grabbing scheme.  Mainly I'd like to know if what they quoted makes sense for what she is claiming or if they are trying to throw parts at it (the hard starting, mostly.)

Running through it in my head, the fuel pump quote concerns me most as it seems to be shady.  The thermostat and water pump aren't that concerning to me right now as it isn't overheating and from pictures the thermostat seems to be a fairly straightforward job.  Absolutely no clue why they are quoting an upper intake gasket.  I would like to know how they determined that the pulley noise was the tensioner and the water pump (again though, is that just a Jeep failure point?)

Supposedly 2WD, and a Florida car so the front wheel bearing should be simple, I'd have to jack it up to check the noise they quoted.

rslifkin
rslifkin UberDork
12/28/20 2:52 p.m.

For the fuel pump, the pump itself is likely fine, but if the regulator on the pump assembly is bad, it can bleed down pressure after shutdown, making it hard to start.  This was not all that uncommon on the older Jeeps, and I think replacing that regulator involves a whole new pump assembly (you can get just the pump, but not the regulator and such without a new pump). 

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa SuperDork
12/28/20 2:55 p.m.
minivan_racer said:

What engine?

3.6L

Edited the original post to include that

Steve_Jones
Steve_Jones HalfDork
12/28/20 2:58 p.m.

Does any shop really think someone is going to throw $7200 at a 7 year old 100K mile Grand Cherokee?

Stampie (FS)
Stampie (FS) MegaDork
12/28/20 3:16 p.m.

In reply to Steve_Jones :

My first thought was that's a try and sell a new Jeep quote.

sergio
sergio HalfDork
12/28/20 5:20 p.m.

The thermostat code is because it's stuck open and taking too long to reach operating temp. Keeps the injection program in"choke-warm up" mode adding more fuel than necessary. The excess fuel will dilute the oil which is not good. Fuel economy also will be poor by say 3-4mpg(?).

The long crank sometimes is probably what rslifkin said. Fuel pumps now days come as a complete assembly, can't really buy individual parts of it. What happens is after it sits for hours or days the fuel in the line drains gas back to the tank because the check valve in the pump/regulator won't hold. My solution is before cranking the engine, cycle the key to on for a couple seconds, turn it off, then crank it. What this does is run the pump to prime the line to the injectors, then when you crank it there's fuel in them and it starts right up. 

The water pump noise? Take the belt off and check for play or roughness while turning the pulley. While the belt is off check all the other pullies for noise, roughness, or play. Belt tensioner? Who knows.

Front wheel bearing is probably a bolt in sealed unit, on a 2WD should be easy. While in there do the front brakes since the caliper, rotor needs to come off to do the bearing.

Tires? Go to Discount Tire or similar.

Motor mount is easy to check but might be a bitch to do. Open the hood put it in drive and brake torque it while watching the motor, if it jumps up 3 or 4 inches the mount is doo-doo.

Tune up is a spark plug change most likely. I believe the upper intake has to come off to get to the plugs. Replacement is probably at 100k. 

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
12/28/20 6:34 p.m.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

You won't hear a wheel bearing noise by jacking it up and spinning a tire. It won't make noise unless it's about to fall off with that check. 

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
12/28/20 6:38 p.m.

In reply to sergio :

Nailed it. 
it's nice to hear someone actually reason on why an estimate includes what it does instead of piling on the 'stealership' and talking about how mechanics charge $140 an hour and such. 
Some of those are easy driveway items, some, like the tires can be had elsewhere for less. 
but they sound legit to me. 
Edit: I'm not referring to anyone in this thread. Just many threads over the years. 

kevinatfms
kevinatfms Reader
12/29/20 6:41 a.m.

Those 2013-2014 Grand Cherokees have an open recall for the fuel pump assembly for stalling/hard start. Been open for like 4 years now. My brother in law has a 2013 GC with the 3.6L and has had more recalls than fuel tank fill ups. They have replaced his fuel pump assembly 4-5 times and they admit its just a stop gap until an actual fix is found.

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude)
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) MegaDork
12/29/20 7:05 a.m.

In reply to DrBoost :

$466 to replace a thermostat that looks to be an hour job max with $33 in Mopar brand parts is still robbery.

At $140 an hour, 1.5 hours to be generous because the tech can probably do it in 30 minutes, and $66 in parts which is double what I find it for online, is only $276. 

As a business owner, I understand the need to turn a profit, but I don't bend my customers across a barrel and take them from behind because I actually want them to come back.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa SuperDork
12/29/20 11:00 a.m.

In reply to kevinatfms :

Awesome. That's something I was hoping to get from the hive.

Olemiss540
Olemiss540 Reader
12/29/20 11:31 a.m.
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

In reply to DrBoost :

As a business owner [sic] I don't bend my customers across a barrel and take them from behind 

Which is probably why your profits are continuing to fall while my foot traffic has never been higher!

Helps to make it an optional package that can be added instead of mandatory tho. For a while there was some seriously tense moments until I changed that policy.

WillG80
WillG80 New Reader
12/29/20 11:40 a.m.

$430 to replace a belt tensioner pulley?!?! That's robbery. The Dayco part is less than $80 on RA and it's a 5 minute job. If that. 

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