Does anyone wheel their 2.0L etorque JLUR?

B

BlueRubicon

Caught the Bug
For those that do, I am sharing some advice. I have been wheeling my 18 JLUR since Feb of 19. For the most part, the the exhaust has been mostly unscathed. I saw a dent in the muffler, cannot say when exactly; but shaking the tailpipe I could tell muffler was secured. Well, at sometime recently, the driver side muffler hanger broke. Yesterday, after putting new RCV's in, I went up to where we wheel to just make sure all is well before I go to Moab in two weeks. I did not do anything extreme. In about 45min I started smelling coolant. I looked under engine area and didn't see anything. Temperature guage was normal.
I get home, pressure wash it off, swap out the 37's for the stock 33's because I plan to trailer the 37's. I digress...I notice under driver side door fluid. Looks like red fluid. The coolant lines for the 48v battery run along the frame underneath the cables chase, very close to the exhaust. I look at these often, to make sure exhaust is not getting any closer or touching them.
Well...metal tubes run from the engine compartment towards the back. Right by the crossmember, there is a 6" section of rubber hose, that couples the lines to the metal ones, that then continue on to the 48v battery compartment. Red coolant is dripping from hose clamps. But... only because this is the low point. About 8" closer to engine compartment, there are offsets in the metal tubes. The exhaust pipe is right up against it. The stem on the pipe, which goes into the bushing is pulled out most of the way. Looks a little bent. With a prybar, I move the exhaust off the coolant lines, and I can see where it burnt through. Now Im fucked. Dealer will tell me it isnt covered because obviously I off road it, and bent the exhaust. My dealer sucks anyway so Im not even going to bother with them.
I will figure something out...however moral of the story is...Definitely get the Rustys muffler skid!!! Also I strongly recommend welding a piece of steel on the frame to saddle the coolant lines as to prevent exhaust from ever touching them!!! FCA definitley didn't do the R&D. These lines are probably on nobody's shelves yet and I would venture to say weeks out. Dealer will not modify shit, only replace. Save yourselves the grief and protect the exhaust as best you can and at the least, the coolant lines.
To those who say..."this is why I didn't buy the 2.0L"...well you were fucking right!!!
 
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Bit harsh on the dealer without even talking to them. I get you’ve got history there but you’re not going to get the parts you need anywhere else.


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BlueRubicon said:
For those that do, I am sharing some advice. I have been wheeling my 18 JLUR since Feb of 19. For the most part, the the exhaust has been mostly unscathed. I saw a dent in the muffler, cannot say when exactly; but shaking the tailpipe I could tell muffler was secured. Well, at sometime recently, the driver side muffler hanger broke. Yesterday, after putting new RCV's in, I went up to where we wheel to just make sure all is well before I go to Moab in two weeks. I did not do anything extreme. In about 45min I started smelling coolant. I looked under engine area and didn't see anything. Temperature guage was normal.
I get home, pressure wash it off, swap out the 37's for the stock 33's because I plan to trailer the 37's. I digress...I notice under driver side door fluid. Looks like red fluid. The coolant lines for the 48v battery run along the frame underneath the cables chase, very close to the exhaust. I look at these often, to make sure exhaust is not getting any closer or touching them.
Well...metal tubes run from the engine compartment towards the back. Right by the crossmember, there is a 6" section of rubber hose, that couples the lines to the metal ones, that then continue on to the 48v battery compartment. Red coolant is dripping from hose clamps. But... only because this is the low point. About 8" closer to engine compartment, there are offsets in the metal tubes. The exhaust pipe is right up against it. The stem on the pipe, which goes into the bushing is pulled out most of the way. Looks a little bent. With a prybar, I move the exhaust off the coolant lines, and I can see where it burnt through. Now Im fucked. Dealer will tell me it isnt covered because obviously I off road it, and bent the exhaust. My dealer sucks anyway so Im not even going to bother with them.
I will figure something out...however moral of the story is...Definitely get the Rustys muffler skid!!! Also I strongly recommend welding a piece of steel on the frame to saddle the coolant lines as to prevent exhaust from ever touching them!!! FCA definitley didn't do the R&D. These lines are probably on nobody's shelves yet and I would venture to say weeks out. Dealer will not modify shit, only replace. Save yourselves the grief and protect the exhaust as best you can and at the least, the coolant lines.
To those who say..."this is why I didn't buy the 2.0L"...well you were fucking right!!!
Click to expand...

Can you please post a picture of the area. We plan on wheeling ours and would like to know what area you had issues with. I just put sliders on it and didn't really notice anything under there with potential clearance issues.
 
WJCO said:
Can you please post a picture of the area. We plan on wheeling ours and would like to know what area you had issues with. I just put sliders on it and didn't really notice anything under there with potential clearance issues.
Click to expand...

9 6 20 1.jpg

9 6 20 2.jpg

9 6 20 3.jpg

Bottom picture, you can see with heat wrap pulled back, flat spot from exhaust. There is a pin hole.

I removed the muffler, got the pipe secured back to where it belongs and removed the 5" 15mm heater hose that couples the metal tubing. I plan to cut the tubing before the offset closer to engine compartment and replace with heater hose that I can route a little higher, and wrap with heat tape.

Edit: I am not putting muffler back on. I ordered muffler delete pipe from Quadratec.
 
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Follow up. Sorry...I forgot about this thread...
I cut the aluminum coolant line before the offset on the engine side. I have aluminum solder bars, and after wire brushing with stainless steel wire brush, I was able to braze aluminum over the pin hole. I then sealed off both ends and using air compressor was able to pressure test. The braze held fine. Coolant system is around 5psi., so not a high pressure system.
I than pieced offset back in place and used heater hose to connect where I cut the tube.
I also did in fact get the muffler delete and it's great. I drove to Moab, wheeled all week and drove back to Pa. this past October and it is now Dec 29. No problems at all with coolant lines.
My opinion still stands on the 2.0l e-torque, and I imagine the V6 e-torque is the same. I would NOT of bought it had I knew what I know now.
This is early on and issues yet to come are not known, but I feel inevitable. 48v battery won't last forever. How much will that cost...and what would labor be. Will be a bitch to change. Also...aluminum tubes WILL corrode eventually. Definitely do NOT put anything other than the specified coolant in the system. No fucking tap water for sure. The hardness of water will speed up the corrosion.
 
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