My 2001 SSEi

[bigchieftaco90]

Hey guys,

I just picked up my new to me SSEi Saturday from a dealer a couple hours away.
I switched jobs recently and traveling 40 minutes each way. I currently am driving a Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 hemi that gets around 14mpgs.
I bought this to take miles off the Jeep and to save on gas.

It has 154,000 miles and pretty loaded. Only thing I've noticed it doesn't have is heated seats
It drives great, very clean, and doesn't have any mechanical issues that I know of.

The cons:

• FIXED*Sunroof appears to be out of alignment. The front doesn't shut all the way and I think it leaks. Looks like I have to pull the headliner to realign?

• *Missing 1 center cap

• FIXED*1 fog light is out

• *Window molding is cracking and coming off

• FIXED*Says check tire pressure at startup

• *Says check gas cap at startup

• *Yesterday I had a couple codes pop up. P0135 O2 Sensor. P0440 for the gas cap.

• *The fan doesn't blow any air out of any of the vents. I have a thread started on this issue.

• *Fuel gauge supposedly doesn't work. After filling to full its been working so far. Edit: Works if above half tank.

• FIXED?*Radio volume goes down when slowing and up when accelerating. Edit: I guess this is a feature.

• FIXED*Engine or transmission mount(s) broken. Lots of clunking/movement when shifting into gear or hard on acceleration or let off quickly.

• *Only driver window and lock work

• *Service Stability System message

• *Water is coming in from somewhere. Floor is wet after rain.

Other than that huge list of problems I really like the car. I knew of some of these issues before I bought the car but I only paid $2,000 so I feel I have some room for repairs.

Here are some pics

[Oldman]

There are 4 torx head screws for minor adjustments to the sunroof to adjust up/down if that's the problem. Other than that, I would check and clean out the track to see if there is an obstruction. Those center caps can be bought from "Harofreak" on this site. He has a small mountain of spare parts! You can crawl under the front of the car and get to the bulbs for the fog lights. They don't last long! I have the exact same year and model as yours. Those wheels were only used on the '01 model and originally there was a different center cap that looked like a big hex head bolt. Center caps like yours are much easier to find though. On the sunroof, you can remove the sliding shad by opening the sunroof all the way and there are 4 small sliding clips that you can slide toward the center and remove the shade to have easier access to the track. It is common to get junk in the track, which makes a click, click, click sound where the motor binds trying to move the glass in a cluttered track. Spray on grease makes it move much more smoothly. Check out the "'01-'05 common problems" post to get answers to your questions too. One more thing you can reset the check tires error code by clicking on "mode" until you get to that code and then hold the reset button for a few seconds. Best way is to inflate all tires correctly and then reset. This will reset the car to the correct inflation of the tires. It may also be in indication of a bad wheel speed sensor. Look forward to assisting you with any problems you have. WELCOME!!

[bigchieftaco90]

Yesterday I had some free time so I dug into a couple projects.
I wanted to get the window trim ready for paint so I stripped down the cracked and broken plastic covering.
Only the drivers window and rear passenger side window had to be torn down. The other two will be fine to paint over.





After I pulled the plastic covering off, I got the block sander out and went to down on the chrome. After a couple minutes I got this. Should be fine for paint.



I didn't have time yesterday to paint so I'm hoping to get that done one of these nights.

[bigchieftaco90]

There are 4 torx head screws for minor adjustments to the sunroof to adjust up/down if that's the problem. Other than that, I would check and clean out the track to see if there is an obstruction. Those center caps can be bought from "Harofreak" on this site. He has a small mountain of spare parts! You can crawl under the front of the car and get to the bulbs for the fog lights. They don't last long! I have the exact same year and model as yours. Those wheels were only used on the '01 model and originally there was a different center cap that looked like a big hex head bolt. Center caps like yours are much easier to find though. On the sunroof, you can remove the sliding shad by opening the sunroof all the way and there are 4 small sliding clips that you can slide toward the center and remove the shade to have easier access to the track. It is common to get junk in the track, which makes a click, click, click sound where the motor binds trying to move the glass in a cluttered track. Spray on grease makes it move much more smoothly. Check out the "'01-'05 common problems" post to get answers to your questions too. One more thing you can reset the check tires error code by clicking on "mode" until you get to that code and then hold the reset button for a few seconds. Best way is to inflate all tires correctly and then reset. This will reset the car to the correct inflation of the tires. It may also be in indication of a bad wheel speed sensor. Look forward to assisting you with any problems you have. WELCOME!!

Thanks for all the tips! I will definitely check out the track on the sunroof. If it's clear I will try the torx screws to see if I can get it to lay flat.
I bought some LED bulbs for my Jeep's fog lights and I LOVE them so I think I'll go that route. Hopefully they last a lot longer

I'm glad the caps I have are abundant. I'll check and see how much they cost. Thanks!
I did find that common problems thread and it helped me out a lot already. I keep checking back whenever I have a new issue.

I pumped up the tires yesterday hoping it would shut down that message but I still see it. I'll try to reset the message on lunch break. Thanks for that tip.

Sunroof problem.

[bigchieftaco90]

On a side note, I ordered a few things for my bonnie the other day.
180* thermostat. I noticed almost everyone switches out to these.
New stereo. The stock player screen is broken. Half of it works and half of it is blank.
New cabin filter. Old one was super dirty.
New key fob case. Old one is missing the lock rubber button.

Here is the engine. Forgot to post this earlier.

[nos4blood70]

Looks like a decent car with a small number of easily fixed issues.

She is quite clean under the hood!

[bigchieftaco90]

Looks like a decent car with a small number of easily fixed issues.

She is quite clean under the hood!

Yeah, I'm hoping it will last.

I thought it was pretty clean too

Any major issues I should watch out for with these? Never owned a Bonneville or super charged 3800.

[nos4blood70]

This thread will help you out:
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 25362.html

[bigchieftaco90]

Well, I'm pretty sure I fixed the sunroof issue. I haven't had a chance to test it for leaks or anything but all it took was loosening the two front torx and pulling it down while tightening.
Pretty sad the previous owners couldn't figure something so simple out and had to ruin the sunroof shade. I might just pull the sagging/rotten material off and clean it up. Probably would still look 10x better.

[MurderMitten]

I went to a fabric store and purchased material that was almost an exact match for my sunroof shade. Quite easy to fix with 3M general 45 spray adhesive. Another option over paint is to vinyl wrap them. make use of the search function here. Those pieces do pop out easily. Start at the rear of trim pieces. You'll need to loosen the bolts on the mirror to get the fronts out but it sure does beat taping everything off.

[1oldman]

Very nice looking car with a lot of possibilities. Looks like it's just DIY items needing attention. - BC

[98SSE]

Looks good! Most of the repairs can be done failry cheap, just takes a little bit of time. As far as long term maintenance goes, I'd plan on replacing the intake gaskets and waterpump if you can afford it since you'll already be there.

[bigchieftaco90]

Thanks for all the complements :D
Found another issue today. Only driver's window and lock works. Looks like I'll be pulling the driver seat out and splicing in some wire this weekend.
*dang* sunroof leaking is already haunting me!

[MurderMitten]

Thanks for all the complements :D
Found another issue today. Only driver's window and lock works. Looks like I'll be pulling the driver seat out and splicing in some wire this weekend.
*dang* sunroof leaking is already haunting me!

If I read correctly I saw you lowered the front of the sunroof instead of raising the back. I'd suggest having another person hold it up with all screws loosened and tightening them down while its fully pushed up. Don't be scared to get them tight as they do loosen with road vibration. If you're having problems of water pooling on the floor check your sunroof drains. They can be checked by removing the handles for the passengers and dropping the headliner a little bit. There are nipples with rubber hoses attached that run in the rear from the track into the trunk area. Peel back the trunk carpet and you'll see where they drain to. Those often get clogged and water will drain out of the tracks down the headliner and pillars and onto the floor. The fronts drain right behind the front wheels. Worth cleaning out to prevent future problems!

[bigchieftaco90]

Thanks for all the complements :D
Found another issue today. Only driver's window and lock works. Looks like I'll be pulling the driver seat out and splicing in some wire this weekend.
*dang* sunroof leaking is already haunting me!

If I read correctly I saw you lowered the front of the sunroof instead of raising the back. I'd suggest having another person hold it up with all screws loosened and tightening them down while its fully pushed up. Don't be scared to get them tight as they do loosen with road vibration. If you're having problems of water pooling on the floor check your sunroof drains. They can be checked by removing the handles for the passengers and dropping the headliner a little bit. There are nipples with rubber hoses attached that run in the rear from the track into the trunk area. Peel back the trunk carpet and you'll see where they drain to. Those often get clogged and water will drain out of the tracks down the headliner and pillars and onto the floor. The fronts drain right behind the front wheels. Worth cleaning out to prevent future problems!

I need to have the sunroof pushed up? It was too high I thought. I could hear the wind howling before I lowered it. Are you sure? I did notice the right side front screw was loose. Maybe that was the issue?

Also, I have come across a couple new issues.
1. The radio volume seems to increase as I accelerate and decrease as I slow. The actual volume on the radio doesn't visually change, just the sound coming from the speakers.
2. I have one or more motor/tranny mounts broken. There is a decent amount of movement when shifting between gears or hard accelerating.

[nos4blood70]

Click the SCV button on the radio, there are a couple of options for the volume to automatically compensate for wind and road noise.

It's likely the front transmission mount. Get it replaced sooner rather than later with either a puck or boat roller mount. Letting it bang around isn't good for the other mounts, and can ruin them as well. However, they are not easily replaced like the front mount, which takes 15 minutes… Lol

[bigchieftaco90]

Click the SCV button on the radio, there are a couple of options for the volume to automatically compensate for wind and road noise.

It's likely the front transmission mount. Get it replaced sooner rather than later with either a puck or boat roller mount. Letting it bang around isn't good for the other mounts, and can ruin them as well. However, they are not easily replaced like the front mount, which takes 15 minutes… Lol

Oh, that's pretty fancy to compensate for the wind and road noise. I'll leave it because it doesn't really bother me.

I found harofreaks post about the boat roller mount. I think I'll go with that if he still has some for sale. I sent him an email so I'll find out soon.

Thanks for the help!

[Oldman]

Talk to Harofreak about your stereo too. It's probably not a bad stereo, but there are LED bulbs that backligtht the screen and when they burn out they have to be soldered back in. Harofreak has a good link with pics for doing this, or if you send it to him he'll replace all the bulbs for you. These stock stereos are pretty good stuff with BOSE speakers. It might be a cheap fix and you can keep it stock if that's what you prefer.

[Oldman]

SCV is speed compensated volume (I'm pretty sure that's what it stands for) Do you have an owner's manual? It describes a lot of features that you otherwise might not know that you have! Like the SCV and how to reset the tire pressure warning and a lot of other things, like how to make the 12V power adapter be constant or only key on. These things are pretty loaded with little goodies!

[bigchieftaco90]

I actually don't have an owners manual. I'll have to see if someone has one online for download.
What does the dial next to the HUD brightness dial do?
I looked up his thread on how to replace the LEDs. Seems like something I could do but I already have a new radio coming with Bluetooth and what not.
It's kind of a shame though to let that 12 disc CD changer go to waste in the trunk.