Jeep Mechanic is a diagnostic helper for your TJ. It answers from the factory service manual (FSM), cites the page, and can add what other TJ owners found on the forums.
1. Set up My Jeep (once)
Tap ⚙ → My Jeep. Pick your vehicle year, engine, transmission, transfer case and front and rear axles, and add notes: lift, tire size, mods, parts you've replaced and when. The mechanic reads this before every answer, so you don't have to repeat it.
2. Start a chat
Tap + New chat (on a phone, open the list with ☰ first). The setup card shows the drivetrain this chat will use, taken from My Jeep. For this chat you can:
- Drivetrain: tap Change for this chat to pick a different engine, transmission, transfer case or axle, or Not sure. Anything you leave on My Jeep uses your My Jeep setting.
- Search: choose where answers come from. Every new chat starts on Service manual.
- Service manual: factory specs and procedures only, with page numbers like (FSM 14-4).
- Forums: what other TJ owners tried and what fixed it. Good for ideas, not for specs.
- Manual + forums: the manual answer first, then a From the forums section with links.
These choices stick for that chat. To change them, start a new chat.
3. Ask good questions
- Describe the symptom: when it happens (cold, warm, under load, over bumps), what it sounds or feels like, and what changed recently.
- Give readings and codes if you have them: fuel pressure, voltage, trouble codes, vacuum.
- Say what you've already checked or replaced.
- Follow-ups work. Reply in the same chat ("Fuel pressure was 38 psi at idle") and it keeps the context.
- Photos: tap the camera button next to the message box to take or pick up to 4 photos (a leak, a worn part, a connector, a dash light). Add a short note about what you're showing. If a photo isn't clear enough, it will ask for a better angle. Photos are private to you.
Each answer ends with a Next: step. Do that, then report back.
4. Reading the answers
- Searched the FSM and Checked forums under an answer show what it looked up.
- The service manual wins. If a forum tip disagrees with the FSM, the answer will say so and follow the FSM.
- Forum links only come from TJ forums and TJ sections. Anything else is removed automatically.
- Mention a part you replaced or a reading you took and it gets saved to your notes (you'll see "Saved to your Jeep notes").
5. Your chats
- Your chats are private to you. Open old ones from the list.
- Delete a chat with the × next to it, or long-press it on a phone.
- Tap the vehicle button at the top to start a chat for a different year.
Rules and limits
- Jeep questions only. Off-topic or inappropriate messages get "Jeep diagnosis related chat only." Repeated ones pause your chat for 24 hours.
- Up to 60 messages a day.
- Forgot your password? Ask the person who set up your account to reset it.
Safety
Use jack stands, relieve fuel pressure before opening fuel lines, let the exhaust cool, and disconnect the battery when the manual says to. Double-check any spec against the cited FSM page before you torque or adjust something.
For admins
- Admin in the ⚙ menu: create users (the password shows once, text it to them), reset passwords, edit their Jeep info, and see flagged messages.
- Lift pause clears a user's chat pause early.
- Vehicles: forum sources are set per vehicle; only add forums or sections dedicated to that model.