Jeep CRD

[WarrenJ]

The item of interest in the ill fated and short lived California thread was the Jeep CRD vehicles.  In 2005 and 2006, Jeep produced about 10000 diesel Libertys and some number of diesel Commanders.  There are some diesel Commanders floating around - I saw them for sale at least here in Wisconsin at the dealerships in '05 and '06.

[SacDuc]

Were these models available for regular gas as well? Were there other differences to the engines? What are the benefits of the diesel model? Better gas mileage I assume. What else?

sac



/knows nothing about Jeeps
//or diesel engines

[ducatiz]

I've never seen any diesel Commanders, not even on the website.  I know they made CRD Cherokees, but I want a Commander.  I want the 3rd row and the towing capacity as well.  Plus, the Commander can take a M2 turret on the roof with the aftermarket kit.

Were these models available for regular gas as well? Were there other differences to the engines? What are the benefits of the diesel model? Better gas mileage I assume. What else?

A diesel engine has more torque per cc
Better mileage per cc
A diesel engine will last 5-10x as long as a gas engine with normal use on both.
Diesel is a cleaner fuel as far as "greenhouse" problems go.
Diesel can be a "renewable" fuel as it can be made from any oil-producing plant.

I drive a diesel VW -- I get about 50 mpg on the highway.  The comparable gas model gets about 30 mpg hwy.

Similarly, my old '86 Ford Ranger with diesel gets about 30 mpg highway, and the similar gas model gets 22 mpg with a tailwind.

[Kopfjäger]

They have the Commander CRD in the UK.

[Speedbag]

Thought about buying a CRD Liberty back in '06, but didn't since they dropped the option about the time I was looking and I got scared off.

[WarrenJ]

My only experience is with the Liberty.  The engine is awesome, the rest of the vehicle has its issues.  There were a couple of recalls on transmission related problems and my transmission was totally replaced with about 200 miles left on the warrantee - whew.  I wish Dodge would have put this engine in the Dakota pickup - that would have made an excellent little truck. 

[herm]

is it true they are using one of the Mercedes diesels?

[Kopfjäger]

Yes

[ducatiz]

The old Comanche had a 2.1l renault mfi.  It was in the cherokee too.

I'd love to see a small truck with a diesel option but the cali fraud issue... Well...

[ducatiz]

The 3.0 v6 is a benz.   The 2.4L in the Liberty is from VM Motori

[Rameses]

is it true they are using one of the Mercedes diesels?

If they're anything like the Mercedes diesels of old, that's awesome.

I had one back in high school and the engine was all but bulletproof.

Only problem I ever had with it was a broken camshaft.

No idea what caused it to break, but here's how make the beast with two backsing tough that engine is...

The pistons hammered against the open valves that stopped moving when the camshaft broke.

The result was the cam breaking into several more pieces.

I bought a used camshaft and changed it out.  (Pretty simple with it being an overhead cam design.)

That was it.  No damage to any of the valves, pistons, anything.  Put the used cam in and proceeded to put another hundred thousand miles on it before I eventually stopped driving the car.


Oh.  And it was a 20 year old car with around 300,000 miles on it and it started with a touch of the key and got 36 miles per gallon.

[ducatiz]

You hear stuff like that on diesels.  Never on a gasser.

[Rameses]

You hear stuff like that on diesels.  Never on a gasser.

Yep.

I'd really like to own another diesel of some sort again.

[duccarlos]

I've been waiting for the Detroit boys to come out with a diesel half ton, but again, this Cali thing has poopooed that for years. Supposedly Toyota was going to develop a diesel Tundra after ditching the hybrid idea.

[slowpoke13]

The Wrangler is offered with a CRD all over except the US. I'd love one. Ohh well...