Sorry sometimes I get lost. I was doing computer forensics. Lighting strikes on computer systems. I was meaning to say Mike, I am bad. Sure you get to join, thinking of a rally in in Cozumel Mexico. I have a friend who let his boat down there. Must be nice. I need some 80 degree stable weather. LOL just wind here snapped a 6 footer off at the ground whaaaa full of flowers and buds. Time to go south for a while. Jim

Which engine-transmission-transfer case do you have? There is difference in fuel mileage between the smallest to largest engine. You are reporting 10 MPG. Perhaps you have the honking big V8 in yours. In the past, I owned a '92 Jeep Cherokee and now have a '98 Cherokee, both with the 6 cy in-line, 4 liter engines. In good weather, highway mileage is 20+ mpg, but in this brutal winter, it has dropped to 15-18 mpg. I have found three factors that affect the mileage of my Jeep: 1. Low tire pressure - about 2 mpg. Inflate to 30-32 psi will get this back. 2. Low coolant temperature - about 2 mpg. If the thermostat is not working properly or is rated to open at too low of a temperature, the engine never gets warm enough. For the worst of cold, you may consider a radiator cover, but don't forget to open it as soon as the temperature rises to 20 F or so. 3. Failed temperature sensor, the one that sends engine temperature to the engine controller. There is a little hit for 2-wheel drive versus 4-wheel drive, but not as much as might be imagined because the front drive shafts, differential, and universal joints are engaged all the time anyway. However, this statement holds only for the "full time" mode. If your transfer case has only "part time" drive when in 4-wheel drive, it should be disnegaged for regular driving on surfaced roads. The part time mode is only good for mud, sand, and snow where the wheels are free to slip. Part time mode forces both front and rear drive shafts to turn at the same speed - no center differential action. The drive train may bind and be damaged if operated in the part-time mode on paved roads, and will bind when turing. Small differences in tire circunference between the front and rear tire sets will cause binding in the drive train when in part-time mode on surfaces where the tires can get a grip. The part-time-only transfer case has very limited on-road use - its for off-road and getting out of mud holes.

I want to know what is the matter with the mechanics, especially at the dealerships - Chrysler Dodge Jeep to be exact? This scenario is lengthy to say the least! I had the radiator flushed and pressure tested at the local Chrysler dealership who has been servicing my Jeep since my purchase in 2004, last tested and flushed two years ago @ 64,000 miles because I was experiencing pouring coolant into the reservoir every time I turned around. Funny thing was there was no evidence as to where it was going because it didn't show up on the ground. I kept asking, "Where's it going, back into the engine?" Chrysler looked all over under the car and couldn't locate any drips! Funny thing is a few months later when I became extremely aggitated with the local Chrysler mechanic, and the problem worsened and when I took it back to the local Chrysler dealership, they stated nothing was found once again, I took it to a supposedly 5-star Chrysler dealership in another town, and I was informed there was a hole in the radiator. The local Chrysler service manager said, as I thought he would, "You could have gotten a hole just from driving from here to there if a stone popped up." Jeeps have a grille that protects the radiator. I was advised by friends to go to a local mechanic so I had a new aluminum radiator installed (2 yr warranty on parts only). I was still adding coolant and kept complaining to Chrysler and the local mechanic. All of a sudden, all the lights came on the dash, I popped the hood and checked the coolant - it was empty. Checked the radiator after it cooled down and there was no coolant - it was all on the ground. Called the local mechanic who said to take the car to his shop right away. So, a friend filled the radiator and reservoir as full as possible since it came out as fast as put in, so I could quickly drive 5 miles down the road. The plug popped out of this new radiator. And, by the way, the local mechanic swore the radiator was a Chrysler product, yet the Chrysler mechanic couldn't find any emblems that would indicate that fact. The coolant leak continued, now putting coolant in every few days. The local mechanic said it was going to the floorboard under the mat on passenger side because I need a new heater core. Do you see where this is going? After that installation, the coolant still needed to be added every 5-8 days. I was advised that is normal until things get back to normal flow. Now my dash was not reinstalled properly and I have flapper air ducts added to my console in front of the manufacture air ducts that the local mechanic stated was part of my system and it was always there, a busted speaker, a resistor that has since been replaced because I was advised by the local mechanic that is why the A/C and Htr were sporadically operating. Meanwhile the coolant is still being added by me every 5-8 days, and once in a while sooner as soon as all the lights come on and I find the reservoir is empty. The out of town Chrysler mechanic looked at the underneath when I showed them pictures of the puddles in my driveway, and advised me the undercarriage is showing no signs of dripping. The next morning, the drips caused even a larger puddle overnight that I took pictures again. the local Chrysler dealer mechanic installed a new heater hose that was supposedly defective (but I asked for all hoses and belts to be replaced at 100k miles and was told they were all fine and the local mechanic replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses). I still was adding coolant every 10 days or less. Finally, after nearly a year of putting up with the incompetency of the mechanics, I demanded a new radiator from the local mechanic who did not guarantee his labor. Mind you, the dripping was now larger than just puddles in the aluminum tray under the car in my carport. I picked up my car this morning, except it needed jumping because the service rep at the Chrysler dealership advised me the WalMart 1 year old battery with a 3-yr life expectancy (3rd replacement in 5 yrs) is bad. Walmart tested the battery with the hand held tester then took the battery out and retested, and it was fine. So, I replaced the connectors to see if that would make a difference. I drove it home, parked it in my carport, went in the house for a few minutes after turning off the engine, and what did I see after 4 hrs of having my SUV in my possession, but new coolant on the white towel I placed on the carport to catch the residue the local Chrysler mechanic told me I would most likely experience. The radiator removed yesterday was returned to the local mechanic, who turned it into the parts supply house for a replacement. The local mechanic was extremely insulting when I advised him today that I was returning the 2nd radiator for a complete refund because both radiators blew at the seams (the clamps holding the radiator's aluminum wires in tact-1st radiator on the right and the 2nd one on the left). The local Chrysler mechanic pressure tested the last radiator and checked under the carriage and saw no leaks before he released it to me. When he pressure tested it upon my return, we could hear water running and see it squirting all over the top of the radiator. I thought my radiator experience starting more than 2 yrs ago was highly unusual, but what do I know? The local mechanic, at my insistance, called the parts supplier - refund will be delivered in a few days and the radiator will be collected. In the meantime, I sit with no radiator and a dilemma. I saw white drops all over the previous radiator and this last one that was removed today. When inquiring of the local Chrysler mechanic and service rep, when I picked up the last removed radiator to deliver to the local mechanic, I was advised that it was nothing, just splatterings. Chrysler parts dept ordered a new radiator from 1-800-radiator because the price was $200 compared with nearly $400 if I ordered a Chrysler radiator. I paid Chrysler $285 for labor including coolant to install the previous radiator that the local mechanic wanted $300+. The removal was free today, but I paid for a rental car now for 2 days. When Napa quoted me $150 today for their radiator with a lifetime guarantee, I immediately called 1-800-radiator to see how much I would have had to pay, instead of Chrysler, for that radiator. The salesperson knows mechanics and warned me, after I told him briefly my dilemma of installing another radiator, and he advised me about electrolysis and the cost will be on me if that is the culprit for my radiator problems. After researching on the Internet, I am now thinking there is something to that analyzation. I've been complaining about an electrical problem for a very long time - more than 2 yrs., but no one found anything wrong; and as I said, the battery has not lasted its warranty periods, and yesterday the license plate connector was burnt. Supposedly, after uninstalling an after market alarm system the previous owner had installed, it was to prevent any electrical problems from occurring. I replaced the heater core about 6 months ago, which three years ago the local Chrysler dealership replaced as well. Do you see the picture? Who in the hell can I trust with my vehicle if the two dealerships don't know what they are doing when one of them is a 5-star????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????? Any ideas? I even tried to get Chrysler Corp involved. The next thing I knew the Service Manager was replaced with another, but I didn't get anywhere else with them, no recoup. The next thing is BAR and BBB for all four of them including Chrysler Corporate!!!!!!!! And, maybe Fox investigative team would like to hear about this!!!!! What do you think? I had a similar problem with my rear differential, and although I complained to Chrysler Corp because I had just paid for the differential service 6 months prior and they should have seen the metal flakes. Now, I read that the crankcase and metal flakes can have something to do with the electrical system and grounding that can also cause electrolysis in the radiator. WOW!!!!!!

So your dad quit the auto repair industry, and went to school for aerospace engineering? That is what I wanted to do coming out of high school, aerospace engineering. I was on the doorstep to the Naval Academy in a bid to do just that, but fell short of my dream. I ended up becoming a mechanic because it was something I could do and figured I'd work a little while and then work my way through school. Only I never managed to make enough money to put anything aside in order to get to go back to school, got married, kid came along, and here I am in 2006 still working as a tech albeit self-employed. As far as me being "down this road before" when it comes to me attacking predujuices against my feild, you can be assured that I have been. I can't begin to tell you how many times a "customer" looked down their nose at me because I was fixing cars for a living, and their attitude showed right away that they felt for me to be doing this I either had to be dumb, or a crook, or you go ahead and fill in the degrading label as you choose. Many times it made me want to quit fixing cars, and physically throw them and their POS out the door. I'll bet your dad had similar feelings. The one problem though that I see reguarding your dads automotive repair credentials is about how you said he was only in this for two years. Many people try and start their own shop with little or no real experience, or training. That is one of the problems in this industry that has held pricing in this feild well below where it SHOULD be, especially if you compare what I(we) have to do to almost any other SKILLED LABOR field. When you wrote this "Now I figure with the rates higher in the NE...we should EXPECT to pay a higher charge for this service!! It's criminal." You pushed the button that got me on your case. My accountant told me just last month, with the investment that I have to provide the services that I do, and the costs that I am faced with to continue to upgrade tools and equipment to stay up to date, any other equivelent field would be charging over $120/hr with at least a 50% gross profit margin on the parts. That would work out to an average of right about $200/hr Gross Profit. Now that number is a little higher than industry average, first of all because I am one of a very few techs that specializes in engine performance, emission controls, and all vehicle electronics and has experience on just about everything on the street. Plus I have the mechanical experience that allows me to take on virtually anything, bumper to bumper. But one more factor, I also work by myself, which means the entire cost of the operation weighs squarely on the work what I produce. What this all means is that for me to work at full potential I would easily have to outprice all of my "competition" by more than 2 to 1, and anyone then that would compare prices normally would take the stance where you did earlier and use the word "criminal". That's pretty unfair, being called criminal because they don't understand the costs we are incurring to try and provide the best service that we can. Now in trying to keep that reputation from happening, the only thing that I can do is first, underprice, and second I have to choose what I am going to buy and which cars and systems I will no longer work on. Even though physically I have the means, without electronic support (O.E. scan tools) I have to turn ever more cars away. Right now if you by a 2007 Chrysler product, (Plus some 2004's and on up in numbers through 2007) I don't have the equipment that I truly need to function at the same level that the dealer does. Worse than that is I don't see where the $10,000 that I will need to purchase this equipment will come from, especially when I have the same problem to deal with multiplied by each manufacturer. Ten years ago, I had a single scan tool and I could do everything that showed up at my door. The cost for that tool was $3000 and change. That same expense today is over $250,000 for just that kind of equipment. That is an expense that we didn't have ten years ago, and one that virtually every shop out there is not making. Do you want to know just how big a quarter million dollars is compared to my shop? That amount is more than my shops total gross sales for a year. That amount is more than every tool and piece of equipment that I have collected over the last thrity years. Plus even if I hit the lottery and bought this stuff, it's not like buying a house and is equity. It's all depreciating assets. Ten/twelve years later the best expectation I can have is that they may still have occasional use (one or two times a year), and that I will be able to afford whatever their replacements end up being. After that, they are dust collectors, a quarter million dollars worth of garbage can fillers. That's the reality of the field I am in. One where we get no vacations, I'm always spending every available dime on something for the shop. We have nothing saved for retirement, same reason. Well, let me clarify, I have about $3000 in an IRA from a previous employment and we will have social security, plus I could continue to work at some level until...... So yea I take offense when I see a post like yours. But instead of getting angry, and just blowing it off, I take and grab the chance to help people get a better glimpse of exactly what it takes for their corner garage to be there. Now granted we are not all created equal, we have few if any standards (something I would like to change). If your dad retired from aerospace tomorrow, and wanted to open a shop we don't have anything inside this industry to make him prove that he is actually trained and qualified to do so. (That's something else I would like to change but I know it's beyond my abilities) Now, you wanted help with your Jeep. When you figure out what I am actually saying, you will find exactly what help I have provided. Granted it's not what you thought you were looking for, and it may take some time to understand it fully. But it's there. Me? I have to head to the shop today, I have a couple cars that I can knock out, and make more space on the schedule tomorrow for something else. If I was actually priced correctly, I would not have to work seven days a week. But If I was priced correctly for what it costs me for what I actually provide, I'd only ever get the nightmare cars that "no one else can fix". That would put me out of business in a month.