3.0 Willys buy or not-advice

[FDA44]

Newbie here and what will be my first Jeep. Narrowed down to Willys trim and was set on the 3.6 until I drove the 3.0 which I lived. I’m aware of all the extra maintenance nonsense involved with the 3.0. However, I will only be driving it locally 5 miles a day in the hills of western PA with the occasional highway run, and off road trips. That said is this right for me? I also would like to add 35s and maybe a lift. Would I need to rehear with both engines or only 3.6? Apologies if this horse has been beaten before and thank you in advance to any advice.

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[Rusty PW]

I'm in Fayette county. What part are you in?

I have an '22 JTRD with 37,000 miles on it.

Diesels don't like short trips. They need some highway miles on them. I drive 16 miles one way to work on I70. I use Hot Shots EDT with every fill up. I'm running 37's with no regear. The Eco has plenty of torque for them. You will lose 1 or 2 mpg with the 35's. If you get the Eco, make sure it had the fuel pump recall done. You will love the diesel. I'm loving mine.

 

[FDA44]

I'm in Fayette county. What part are you in?

I have an '22 JTRD with 37,000 miles on it.

Diesels don't like short trips. They need some highway miles on them. I drive 16 miles one way to work on I70. I use Hot Shots EDT with every fill up. I'm running 37's with no regear. The Eco has plenty of torque for them. You will lose 1 or 2 mpg with the 35's. If you get the Eco, make sure it had the fuel pump recall done. You will love the diesel. I'm loving mine.

Im not too far- Washington. Good to know about tires. I just don’t think I hit enough highway to give the eco what it needs. But man I loved driving that engine.

 

[Stuntman Mike]

I will only be driving it locally 5 miles a day in the hills of western PA with the occasional highway run, and off road trips. That said is this right for me?

I would say it is not right for you and my recommendation would be to take the 3,6.

I have heard and read about many issues with the 3.0 (mainly in connection with emmission control) and these issues mostly occured on vehicles frequently driven on short distances.
As @Rusty PW already mentioned, Diesels don't like short trips.

Myself never had any issues at 11K miles now and I like the torque and the fuel economy.
But I am starting the car more or less never for trips below 20 miles and rarely below 100 miles.

 

[Tuna]

@FDA44 your use case is the same as mine. I live 2.5 miles from work so 5 miles round trip. Occasional 60 mile trips on the weekends. I've had no issues with my Ecodiesel and sitting at 11k miles. Haven't done the pump recall and changing the oil and fuel filter every 5k.
I'm on a 2.5" lift and 35" tires with no regear, plenty of power.

 

[FDA44]

@FDA44 your use case is the same as mine. I live 2.5 miles from work so 5 miles round trip. Occasional 60 mile trips on the weekends. I've had no issues with my Ecodiesel and sitting at 11k miles. Haven't done the pump recall and changing the oil and fuel filter every 5k.
I'm on a 2.5" lift and 35" tires with no regear, plenty of power.

This is encouraging. I really would like to get this engine, just have use concerns but then I see people in your situation which is helpful. I also like that you haven’t had to regear. With the 3.6 I’ve heard both sides on regear but seems like most with 3.0 do not.

 

[biodiesel]

I just don’t think I hit enough highway to give the eco what it needs. But man I loved driving that engine.

Don't let your short trips deter you from buying one. My 2015 Ram EcoDiesel has been short tripped since buying it new. I take it out on the highway occasionally and do some towing with it, so it does get good and hot. Otherwise, it only gets driven a few miles to work each day and has for the last 8 years. It now has 120,000 miles and still running strong.

 

[RoamingGladiator]

Short trips on the 3.0 are not really a big deal as long as you take it on some highway runs semi-frequently to get it good and hot, the diesels love to work and get nice and toasty. A few tips below... some of them already mentioned!

- Run an additive with every single tank for lubrication (Hotshot EDT is pretty popular, and what I use)
- Do not follow the manufacturer's oil change frequency... every diesel mechanic I know says it's a recipe for disaster. I do every 7,500km which is about 5,000 miles and my oil analysis at 56,000km has been pristine. Oil changes are cheap, but engines are not.
- Do your oil changes yourself, and you will save a ton of cash. Mopar filters are insanely overpriced, use aftermarket ones that meet Mopar standards. There are tons of options, I use Docs off of Amazon.
- The "higher-end oil" is not super important if you're doing more frequent oil changes... I use Pennzoil 5w40 Euro which is pretty highly regarded but goes on sale constantly. I can do an oil change on my Jeep for about $125 CAD whereas the dealership wants nearly $300.
- Get a Scangauge or something similar to monitor your EGTs, Soot Load, and Regen Status as the Gladiator does not tell you when its doing a regen and you really don't want to turn it off during an active regen or when the turbo is super hot as you can coke up the turbo
- Either get the recall for the HPFP from the dealership or there's a CPX pump replacement you can put in that's better than the factory from what I've seen (Fixes the inherent flaw in the CP4 pump)
- I highly recommend getting a Stage 1 delete as early as possible in the life of an EcoDiesel to delete the EGR. It'll help a ton with the soot load and keep the engine much cleaner long term.

Just some tips I have from owning a Ram EcoDiesel and now a Gladiator EcoDiesel. Great engine, tons of torque, and honestly reliable if you take care of it. Every engine has their issues, take care of the EcoDiesel and it'll be a great one to keep long term.

 

[Rusty PW]

2 of the popular gauges are the Scan gauge and the Banks iDash gauge. I have the iDash pared with the Banks Pedal Monster.

 

[FDA44]

Don't let your short trips deter you from buying one. My 2015 Ram EcoDiesel has been short tripped since buying it new. I take it out on the highway occasionally and do some towing with it, so it does get good and hot. Otherwise, it only gets driven a few miles to work each day and has for the last 8 years. It now has 120,000 miles and still running strong.

Great to know. It’s odd that most folks that have one love it but everything you read you worry if it’s going to be problematic. I’m hoping I can get one.

 

[FDA44]

Short trips on the 3.0 are not really a big deal as long as you take it on some highway runs semi-frequently to get it good and hot, the diesels love to work and get nice and toasty. A few tips below... some of them already mentioned!

- Run an additive with every single tank for lubrication (Hotshot EDT is pretty popular, and what I use)
- Do not follow the manufacturer's oil change frequency... every diesel mechanic I know says it's a recipe for disaster. I do every 7,500km which is about 5,000 miles and my oil analysis at 56,000km has been pristine. Oil changes are cheap, but engines are not.
- Do your oil changes yourself, and you will save a ton of cash. Mopar filters are insanely overpriced, use aftermarket ones that meet Mopar standards. There are tons of options, I use Docs off of Amazon.
- The "higher-end oil" is not super important if you're doing more frequent oil changes... I use Pennzoil 5w40 Euro which is pretty highly regarded but goes on sale constantly. I can do an oil change on my Jeep for about $125 CAD whereas the dealership wants nearly $300.
- Get a Scangauge or something similar to monitor your EGTs, Soot Load, and Regen Status as the Gladiator does not tell you when its doing a regen and you really don't want to turn it off during an active regen or when the turbo is super hot as you can coke up the turbo
- Either get the recall for the HPFP from the dealership or there's a CPX pump replacement you can put in that's better than the factory from what I've seen (Fixes the inherent flaw in the CP4 pump)
- I highly recommend getting a Stage 1 delete as early as possible in the life of an EcoDiesel to delete the EGR. It'll help a ton with the soot load and keep the engine much cleaner long term.

Just some tips I have from owning a Ram EcoDiesel and now a Gladiator EcoDiesel. Great engine, tons of torque, and honestly reliable if you take care of it. Every engine has their issues, take care of the EcoDiesel and it'll be a great one to keep long term.

Wow. I really appreciate all the information. I knew about hotshot but everything else you pointed out is really eye opening for me. Thanks again!

 

[biodiesel]

Great to know. It’s odd that most folks that have one love it but everything you read you worry if it’s going to be problematic. I’m hoping I can get one.

The gen 2 engine (2014 - 2019) had assembly issues which resulted in a high engine failure rate. The gen 3 engines (2020 - 2023) are very solid. The gen 3 engine is still fairly new, so we don't see very many with over 150,000 miles. But so far, it's holding up well. There are now several gen 2 EcoDiesels with over 400,000 miles. The highest mileage gen 2 engine that I've seen has 517,403 miles. The second highest engine that I've seen just turned 497,000 miles yesterday.

 

[Sandevino]

Retired salty diesel technician perspective here…. Go get the diesel.

 

[FDA44]

The gen 2 engine (2014 - 2019) had assembly issues which resulted in a high engine failure rate. The gen 3 engines (2020 - 2023) are very solid. The gen 3 engine is still fairly new, so we don't see very many with over 150,000 miles. But so far, it's holding up well. There are now several gen 2 EcoDiesels with over 400,000 miles. The highest mileage gen 2 engine that I've seen has 517,403 miles. The second highest engine that I've seen just turned 497,000 miles yesterday.

Insane. I’ve heard when cared for diesels can last forever. Look no further than all the Mercedes diesels that get shipped overseas with 300k miles. Hence there are very few 3.0s on the used mkt, at least trim I want.

 

[Rusty PW]

My work truck is a 2012 Ford F250 Power Stroke. Just turned 250,00 on it. I think that I'm the 8th or 9th driver of it. Maintenance is when something breaks. Have very little knowledge of what maintenance was done on it. Manager wants to see how many miles we can put on it.

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