Our feature today is a “tune up” and maintenance service on a 2008 Jeep Patriot, brought to us by a client from Champlain Heights, Vancouver.
This Jeep Patriot was close to 100,000 kilometers and due for a number of fluid changes along with a “tune up.” I put the term tune up in quotation marks because tune ups really don’t exist on modern cars; in fact they haven’t been required for many years. The term tune up just lingers on.
Originally the tune up came into being on the Ford Model A. This engine had 4 ignition coils, 1 per cylinder and when they were all adjusted to “buzz” in the same tune the engine ran well.
Over time this ignition system disappeared. In my early days as an auto mechanic a tune up consisted of replacing ignition points & condenser, spark plugs and fuel filter, plus a few additional parts if required. From there we made adjustments to ignition timing, idle speed & mixture. This resulted in a smooth running engine…. until the parts wore out and we did it over again.
Modern vehicles like our featured Jeep Patriot require no such service thanks in part to advanced electronic engine controls. We did however replace the spark plugs as they were due for replacement. A Motorvac fuel injection cleaning was also performed. These 2 services are the modern equivalent of a tune up on this vehicle, though no adjustments are required.
The Jeep Patriot has proven to be a fairly reliable vehicle. In terms of a Jeep it is really more of a large car than a truck. The vehicle is available either as a front wheel drive or all wheel drive.
For more on the Jeep Patriot please view this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Patriot
