Community Forums

LEMO · 10-21-2010, 08:27 PM

KCAC,

I just found out the hard way that you are correct about the switch and towing in Park. I have a 2002 Liberty, after towing over 90 miles one day, I drove through a town making a sharp left then a sharp right prior to getting on the highway, noticed the MH steering funny, when I could find a place to pull over, I found the Liverty key had moved to the locked position and the key was moving out of the lock. Front tires are shot, and in the future I'll tow in Netural, as there is no way for the key to move in that position. Sorry to hear you had the same problem, but at least I know I'm not crazy, and it did happen.

Lee

kannonvaggon · 11-01-2010, 03:36 PM

I dunno....

I would NEVER tow a Jeep with an auto transmission in neutral. It needs to be in park so ya don't get bearing damage. Put the transfer case in neutral and the transmission in PARK. I'm jus sayin ....

If your ignition key is required to be in the first position on YOUR model Jeep, and the key doesn't want to stay in the ignition.... then you need to replace the ignition unit or key cuz it should not "fall out" on it's own in any position except OFF....

Be wary of various models of Jeep when folks talk about having a steering lock or not cuz they all are not the same even in one model year.

I THINK the only reason on the CURRENT models of Jeep as regards the battery disconnect are: it tells ya to in most of the manuals, which is usually not updated properly.... AND it depends on how YOUR brake lamp system for towing is setup. If yer using the vehicles lamps with a parrallel harness and you have a brake system that operates the brake switch then you would get "feedback" on the lamp circuits if the lamp circuits are "hot" which can be defeated with diodes or going to separate bulbs and sockets, etc....

On MY OWN Wrangler I have no steering lock and no battery disconnect but I DO open the 60A breaker to disable the brake lamp circuit in the Jeep so it's brake switch can power the brake-on indicator to the coach without messing up my brake light harness wiring. I do remove the key and lock the doors. Works just peachy.
YMMV

Richardc4 · 11-11-2010, 12:50 PM

I have a 09 Liberty, I made the mistake of leaving the trans. in neutral. The Jeep has stability control, by leaving it in Park this tells the on board computer to ignor what is happening with the rig. In neutral when I slowed down and when around a corner it would apply the brakes, left some rubber on road. I leave the key in the acc. position as this leaves the power point hot. When key is off it will turn off power point and no power to braking system. When we stop for the night I will let the car idle for 15 or so minutes to make sure battery stays charged.

Voiceman · 01-05-2011, 10:48 PM

Is anyone towing a 2010 or 2011 Jeep Liberty? Are they different from the 2009 experience?

Thanks,

SideRoads · 01-06-2011, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSteve

kcac,

My 08 Liberty manual also says to disconnect the negative battery terminal. Ditto But, it says to turn the key to the unlocked (OFF) position. So, the key needn't be in the ignition switch (the steering does not lock on my Jeep).

I installed a disconnector at the negative battery terminal fully intending to disconnect while towing. Ditto A lot of folks in this forum were saying they weren't disconnecting the battery and seemed to be suffering no ill effects. On this forum and others.

I decided to give it a whirl (since it was really handy to be able to use the brake switch in the Jeep to control my supplemental brake notification light). I had no problems at all after a 5K mile trip. The odometer did not increment. There were even 3 consecutive driving days where the Jeep never came off the hitch. On the 4th day the battery was in fine shape, easily starting the engine. Ditto, over 30k miles on the 2008 Liberty, 1/3 of that probably towing, 5 travel days without disconnecting, no negative effects on the battery, that I am aware of. Moved a fuse to keep the cigarette lighter host when the ignition is turned off to power brake buddy.

Now, I'm not saying this is what you need to do. But, not disconnecting the battery has worked out well for me. Ditto Disclaimer

Steve

I did a lot of research on all forums, and attempted to get information about the process from the Jeep Dealer, wellllllllll, you can assume the resuts of that.

I relied on information from owners of the 2008 Jeep Liberty that rigged for towing and had thousands of miles towing experience. General concensus is that that section of the 08 manual was copied from previous procedures. No one that I have seen, can find any reason to disconnect battery, etc. just my nickel,,,,inflation.

Although I added a disconnect to the battery, I have never disconnected the battery. I follow the manual for towing, with the exception of the key/battery. I have not had any ill effects after 30k miles.