[redwheelwells]

I've always bought the thick book for my vehicles, and I often have kept a vehicle for more than 10 years. (It's been 15 years since I bought my last vehicle.) I've successfully done a lot of maintenance and repairs for over 40 years. Most of my work on vehicles, though, has been limited to bulb/fluid/filter changes, spark plugs/wires, belts, hoses, brake parts and fluid flush, shocks, tire rotations, and misc hardware. (I have a scanner, but have never had an issue come up where it showed a code.) It's also nice to know, for example, the torque specs on the myriad delicate parts that sometimes need to be tightened due to whatever cause, etc. (I have a pretty pricey micro torque wrench.) The aforementioned things have usually been pretty well covered in the factory shop manuals I've owned.

For my 2012 Liberty (by way of the link found under the "Owners" tab on jeep.com) all I can find so far is an official service DVD for a 2009 Liberty, priced at well over $200!

The parts guy at a dealer said "it's all online anyway, and the heavy duty info is for authorized subscribers (professional mechanics) only".

Is there any legal way for me--a regular customer-- to get the official service/repair info for the 2012 Liberty? If so, how?

If I end up going for the DVD for the '09 Liberty, what changes have been made on the '12 vs the '09? (I'm not looking to rebuild a motor or a transmission.)

Thanks in advance!

My family has owned Chrysler products since the 1940s.

 

[ImperialCrown]

A lot of information is online. The 2012 KK service manuals haven't been released to the public yet is my understanding. The 2009 KK would be similar, but there are some electrical, etc. changes. The Dodge Nitro (KA) is also similar.
Pirate CD copies may show up first, but beware that they may be incomplete and not Chrysler. This is copyrighted information and Chrysler-proprietary and confidential at the moment. As products come off warranty, information should become available.
Alldata is an online subscription service used by non-Chrysler shops. The dealer uses DealerConnect which is available to authorized Chrysler employees only.
The public libraries have been cut back, a main public library might have a subscription to Alldata or similar online service information website.
I like to have the service manual for everything I own if available and if affordable. Keep your eyes open on Google for now and we will try to answer any questions you may have here.
Most everything is on disc or download now as the 2012 KK service information would be about 3 phonebooks thick if printed on paper.

 

[redwheelwells]

Wow! Thanks, Imperial Crown! If I could only have one favorite car line, it would be Imperials! [By the way, there is at last I checked a terrific example of your avatar's vintage Imperial in the basement vault of the Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A.---I believe was Katherine Hepburn's(?)].

Thanks to your tips I went to alldatadiy.com and subscribed---Their materials have most everything I could use and more. Some things are kinda scary like the apparent need to have a vacuum air bubble eliminator when you change coolant [for our pressurized(?) coolant systems with no always-open vent in Kalifohnia]. Looks like my separate air bladder pressure brake bleeder special tool might even fit the Liberty! A TSB there claims that a lot of Chrysler systems no longer require flushing for normal maintenance---we'll see!

One thing that stumps me is how to get ahold of some lifting pads/adaptors that will allow me to use my old-fashioned conventional floor jack to jack up the front half of the Liberty. The unit body frame/subframe that is shown in the owner's guide as the emergency tire jacking point has a protruding seam of "flanges" welded together that goesn't present a flat surface for my conventional floor jack to address. Looks to me like you need some kind of notched attachment, like the one on the provided emergency tire jack. THEN THERE'S THE 2ND/NEXT PROBLEM OF WHERE TO PUT A JACK STAND (with its own notched attachment?) TO HOLD THE VEHICLE UP ONCE IT'S JACKED UP. Anybody got solutions?

Thanks again.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Yeah, I had the very fine '66 Crown Coupe, but had to pass it on due to time and money constraints. It went to a good home. Too many neglected other projects here!
My wife has a 2011 Liberty. The spot-welded unibody flange is strong and will support the vehicle, but I try to use a flat frame structure surface ahead or behind it for lifting and supporting. It is a 2 ton vehicle.
Some special tools are recommended for certain services. You can improvise with what you may have on hand or find a tool rental or loan at an auto parts store. Air bubbles will always tend to rise to the top.
I still like the peace of mind of fresh fluids and periodic flushes as old fluids do age, get dirty and deteriorate. I use a premium conventional motor oil and OEM filters, but Mopar synthetic in everything else.
The Alldatadiy should provide most of what you need to know. Sometimes a picture (i.e.-exploded view) is worth a thousand words.

 

[redwheelwells]

Yes, I plan to replace the Liberty's long-life (5yr.?) coolant with a Peak brand or equivalent "lifetime" one maybe at about the 4-yr mark, and the 2-yr brake fluid flush is a pretty ingrained habit with me; as a result, I've never had a failure of a master cylinder or a wheel cylinder or their associated seals [except when a Cadillac mechanic didn't use a proper spanner tool to spin in/out wheel cylinder pistons while changing brake pads---he buggered the pistons by lazily grabbing them with pliers and the resulting damaged dust seals then allowed grit to attack the fluid seals! I had bought the Caddy when a friend turned it in on a lease---and as I maintained the car I ended up tracking the prior maintenance/repair abominations---this brake system example was only one of several potentially fatal acts (200+ ft lbs wheel nut torque, "repaired" suspension and steering parts left loose, etc, etc)---back to the local Caddy dealer's crack service crew]. I like synthetic motor oil, too, and if you're going to change the oil, the filter should be changed too.

I ended up buying only two new jack stands (for the front half of the Liberty) with a center support area carved out for the unibody pinch weld, and some rubber/plastic jack stand cover (protectors for the vehicle paint at the jack stand contact points). The rear of the Liberty presents some flat unibody "frame" areas for my conventional old-fashioned jack stands. Also I bought from eastwood.com a floor jack adaptor for the unibody pinch weld; the adaptor replaces the conventional saddle that lifts out of the jack.

Many thanks again, ImperialCrown! I plan on using allpar.com a lot in the future! Maybe I can even help someone!