Jeep check engine light blinks on and off a few times then stays on constant. Call dealer and they recommend to drop it off. 10 minutes later I get a call telling me it could be the plugs, plug wires or carbon buildup. Seriously? On a vehicle with 50K miles? So they want $580 to change plug wires, plugs, and administer an intake cleaning procedure. Any Jeep service techs out there got a minute to tell me if this is normal? I asked if the intake cleaning procedure was just some spray down the intake while it's running. Was assured it was hooked up to a machine, blah blah and was more extensive than just some spraycan cleaner. And supposedly, you can't order one plug wire. You have to order a set. But even the set is $64 MSRP from Mopar. ($46 at WholesaleMopar.com) Plugs are expensive at $16 each But, I'm still having a hard time choking down almost $600. How much gouging is too much? Even if I decide to purchase the parts and do it myself, they got me for $110 just for hooking up the code reader.

 

Life lesson #1............NEVER take your rig to a dealership unless it's for warranty work or you have some REAL good friends there......

 

Forgot to mention. Last week it was in the same dealer because the exhaust manifold bolts were broken off in the heads. From the first month of owning the Jeep, it's been going back for exhaust leaks and rattles. I guess the rattles finally took their toll on the manifold bolts. But, while the dealer has it in there for a week, they decide to do the tranny temp upgrade. Wasn't real happy about that either.
Makes me wonder, if the exhaust has leaked for most of the vehicle's life, would it make sense to suspect the ECM was getting erroneous data from the O2 sensors and trying to compensate? Would the exhaust leaking make the computer want to add fuel to richen the mixture up or would it run lean? Would this lead to a high carbon buildup situation?

 

Oh, I hear you on that. And believe me, other than the $20 oil changes, I do my own maintenance. But with a lifetime drivetrain warranty, and a premium extended warranty, I mistakenly assumed it would be a "mechanical" issue and brought it in. Never in my life had I heard of plug wires needing to be replaced at 50K miles. And the platinum plugs are supposed to last longer than that too. After the exhaust work on it last week, I was thinking an O2 sensor or similar could of been the issue. I know all that was unplugged so figured it could of been the issue.

 

I wonder if the end of one of the wire pulled off when they repaired the exhaust?????

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. I know they had to pull the wires to replace the exhaust manifold gaskets. There's no way they couldnt have. Now all the sudden I get issues with misfiring? I had plugs changed.... by them. Still have cel for #1. Going to get new plugwires tomorrow and go from there.

 

pull the plug and see if it's fouled, look at Performance Distibutor Screamin Demon coil and LiveWires - better spark, plugs gapped wider, cheaper in the long run than dealer stock wires and coil.

 

OK... I'm interested. Any more info one them? Are you using them? Did you get stated performance improvements? Do they still fit in the OEM plugwire holders? Any radio noise after install? Let me know, I need new wires now!

 

So I'm planning on getting some wires today and I start checking over the whole arrangement and what it's goin to take to change them. Out of curiosity, I crank the Jeep up and watch under the hood for any arcing. Usually, if a plug wire is suspect, it will visually make an arc to some sort of ground. Even the one's you can't see, you can sometimes audibly hear. Sure enough, I can hear it as soon as the vehicle warms up. After climbing up in the engine bay and looking around, it's glaringly obvious what the culprit is. #1 Plug cap on the spark plug has about a 1/3" arc popping about every other fire of the cylinder to the exhaust manifold bolt. I pulled the plugwire off and inspected it. Doesn't look any worse the wear. The Jeep has 50K miles, been offroad once, never had any water crossings, it's essentially Mom's taxi. Unless the dealer did something to the plug wire while working on it last week, I'd have to say the OEM plug wires are garbage.

 

I'm freakin pissed! If you followed this thread you know where I was last week. So I ordered the screaming demon coil and wires set and they came in yesterday. In the meantime, I had replaced the arcing #1 plugwire with an oem type to get me by until the coil and wires came in. Each day I have had a different code. Misfire on 1, multi misfire, post cat O2 sensor, pre cat O2 sensor, blah blah. So today, I put on the new coil and complete set of wires take it down highway to check results and it throws another code. A p0300 (multiple cylinder misfire) and its obvious its barely running on a couple cylinders. Im like, WTF!? I've changed the plugs, plug wires and coilpack. What else does it need to run right? And WTF did the dealer do to it when they were fixing the exhaust manifold bolts last week? Anyway, I pull back in my driveway and flames are starting to peek out from behind the engine. After extinguishing it, it appears the cats got so hot they set the wiring harness for the O2 sensor on fire. I tell ya.... I almost let that bitch burn. I called the dealer back and told em to tow it in. I also said if it costs "me" a lot more money to fix that I would be selling it back to them. It's been in numerous (more than 3... which is all it takes) for exhaust leaks since it was new. I hate to say it, especially since I have owned many Jeeps and have had a Jeep since I learned to drive almost. But this thing is a piece of Xxxx.