Things to know before buying 2007 or 2008 wrangler sport

louie

louie

Well-known member
those years tend to burn oil like a sieve, there is a chance they wont but odds are not in your favor.my 08 did. I think the Prius may have more power lol, if it is in the cards I believe they changed motors in 12 or 13 which are way better.
 
Kunker

Kunker

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The newer 3.6 Pentastar engine is worlds better than the older 3.8 - if it's remotely in the budget, I'd look for one of them first.

2DR or 4DR?
 
brylade

brylade

Well-known member
I'd avoid anything newer than 06 with the 4L. That inline engine is a rockstar for torque and with just minimal maintenance they last a really long time. I've had 2 over 400K.
 
Kunker

Kunker

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imthegreat2004 said:
well i think i'll have to think twice for 2007 till 2011's due to engine issues. correct me if i am wrong.
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From my standpoint, not per say. It's just that the 3.6 is that much better of an engine. The other option would be to go back to a TJ as suggested since the 4.0 is pretty much bulletproof.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to pick up a JK with the 3.8 for the right price, but I'd also be ready and willing to stuff in a V8 if/when it did blow up. It may be worthwhile to ask around on a more Jeep-centric forum like jeepkings as their members would have more first hand experience.
 
2

2Greys

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Kunker said:
From my standpoint, not per say. It's just that the 3.6 is that much better of an engine. The other option would be to go back to a TJ as suggested since the 4.0 is pretty much bulletproof.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to pick up a JK with the 3.8 for the right price, but I'd also be ready and willing to stuff in a V8 if/when it did blow up. It may be worthwhile to ask around on a more Jeep-centric forum like jeepkings as their members would have more first hand experience.
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What he said. The pentastart was considered a better engine as it had a better powerband behavior for offroading than the 3.8 and the 3.8 is considered a "minivan engine". Of course we won't talk about the 4.0 and its lineage ahem

I do recall there being some birthing pains with the first couple years but the early TJs had that as well. Heck even the 2003 TJ had a bad head on it's venerable 4.0 and while you are at it google TJ and OPDA.
 
chunkytrunks

chunkytrunks

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the jk 3.8 is garbage.

Had a few cutstomers needing new motors and we only sold a few........
 
Kunker

Kunker

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chunkytrunks said:
the jk 3.8 is garbage.

Had a few cutstomers needing new motors and we only sold a few........
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That was my bosses experience as well, but I wasn't going to mention it as I don't know how maintenance oriented he is. That said, he replaced it with a JY engine (well, some shop did) and it's been going on 3 or 4 years without issue.
 
J

junkpile

Well-known member
The 3.8l isn't an inherently bad engine, it just isn't a truck engine. It has survived bajillions of mini-van miles. Chrysler threw a girdle on it and some creative mapping and expected it would be happy not realizing that the new big JK would attract trailer towing, and 35" tall tires.
If you plan on 35"s than find yourself a bone stock, unmolested, un-abused 2dr unit, and re-gear it so it'll be "happy" churning those 35"s.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
 
chunkytrunks

chunkytrunks

That's MR.EX Pres to you!
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All the ones as replaced were bone stock and not towing. Still burned oil like crazy.
Apparently it's a bad batch of engines where they put the piston rings upside down and lined up all the gaps.

junkpile said:
The 3.8l isn't an inherently bad engine, it just isn't a truck engine. It has survived bajillions of mini-van miles. Chrysler threw a girdle on it and some creative mapping and expected it would be happy not realizing that the new big JK would attract trailer towing, and 35" tall tires.
If you plan on 35"s than find yourself a bone stock, unmolested, un-abused 2dr unit, and re-gear it so it'll be "happy" churning those 35"s.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
Click to expand...
 
Kunker

Kunker

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chunkytrunks said:
All the ones as replaced were bone stock and not towing. Still burned oil like crazy.
Apparently it's a bad batch of engines where they put the piston rings upside down and lined up all the gaps.
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Could be. My boss blew his after a few years, but has had no complaints about the JY replacement engine. FWIW, financially, he could have paid cash for pretty much any car on the market, but dumped the money into fixing the JK, so he certainly likes it.
 
2

2Greys

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Its common in all jeeps if you don't take care of it. It is more known now because you have a greater number of new Jeep owners who didn't take care of them
imthegreat2004 said:
Also with DW, i have heard is more common in 2007 till 2011. let me know if i am right.
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brylade

brylade

Well-known member
Agreed, Death Wobble is more a lack of proper maintenance than a product of a specific year of jeep.
 
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