Diesel Gladiator lives on per Stellantis 👍

[KW80]

First post so bear with me here…

I‘ve owned two Gladiators in the past 6 months - bought a Texas Trail (Sport S) gas in February and sold it in September. I picked up an Overland EcoDiesel in September and swapped tires, bumpers, etc to make it NOT look and act like an Overland with the skinny street tires and plastic bumpers.

For completeness sake, I had a Ram 1500 EcoDiesel prior to the original Gladiator and came to love the engine / transmission combination as it was ALWAYS in the right rear and mileage was great averaging 23.5 mpg combined. I sold the Ram as the used market was red hot and I made money on it. I picked up the Gladiator as I always wanted one.

The gas engine is a great engine but it has its gremlins. The P0300 code and I became a bit too friendly with each other. The inability to make sufficient vacuum requiring an electric vacuum pump was also a head scratcher. I occasionally tow a dual axle trailer (think U-haul utility) when I pick up wood from the saw mill weighing 2500 - 3000 pounds total. Occasionally I go off-road to hunt, fish or camp. I’m no rock crawler and don’t have the desire to send it as I’m old and cheap. Overall, the engine was underwhelming at best towing my trailer. Going up moderate hills on a freeway overpass warranted a downshift to 6th or 5th depending at 55-65mph. It was never happy with the gear it was in but kept trying others hoping to find some happiness. Gas mileage was just as abhorrent as the shifting averaging 12mph towing and 15mpg otherwise. Granted it’s no tow rig and a rolling brick so my expectations weren’t abnormally high, but damn.

At 6500 miles, I went in for an oil change. It happened to be a Friday and the last day of the month. While I’m waiting, my salesman walks by, we say hi, and he says there’s something I have to see. He shows me a Sarge Green Overland EcoDiesel they’ve had for a few weeks, tosses me the keys and says to take it for a spin. Instantly, I’m a kid in a candy store hearing the diesel come to life, feeling the torque and seeing the fuel mileage lie-o-meter in the 40+ mpg range at 55 on the highway. Long story short, I sold them mine, bought theirs at $9k off with 0% for 72 months.

Doing the same things I did in the gas variant, I’m averaging 23mpg towing the same trailer and taking the same routes to the store, gym, stadium, etc. The 3.0 / 8HP75 combination is perfect. No hunting, dropping 3 gears to maintain torque and it motors up the same hills at 55mph in 8th not giving a damn.

Long live the EcoDiesel….

Careful talking positive about the EcoD, drives the Diesel Trolls crazy, I’m sure they will be dropping in shortly to shit all over this thread agin. It’s not their fault though, wretched is just in their nature.

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[Rusty PW]

Careful talking positive about the EcoD, drives the Diesel Trolls crazy, I’m sure they will be dropping in shortly to shit all over this thread agin. It’s not their fault though, wretched is just in their nature.

They need to stick with sniffing gasoline fumes and sticking worn cam shafts up holes where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[Jefe1018]

Careful talking positive about the EcoD, drives the Diesel Trolls crazy, I’m sure they will be dropping in shortly to shit all over this thread agin. It’s not their fault though, wretched is just in their nature.

But the derating CP4 of death….

 

[Divided_Wood]

Careful talking positive about the EcoD, drives the Diesel Trolls crazy, I’m sure they will be dropping in shortly to shit all over this thread agin. It’s not their fault though, wretched is just in their nature.

EcoDiesel threads and gasser owners who have never driven one talking about how unreliable they are… a match made in heaven.

 

[Randonexplosion]

EcoDiesel threads and gasser owners who have never driven one talking about how unreliable they are… a match made in heaven.

Bro, the ecodiesel is so unreliable and the maintenance costs are so high. Ill stick with my tried and true 3.6. Wait, why is my check engine light on? I gotta google this P0300 code...

 

[Rusty PW]

Each motor has it's own set of issues. Let's see. diesel, derates and the CP4 fuel pump. The gasser, hmmm the list is too long.

 

[Jefe1018]

Each motor has it's own set of issues. Let's see. diesel, derates and the CP4 fuel pump. The gasser, hmmm the list is too long.

Lol to be fair the derating and CP4 are the issues we know of… so far.

 

[Sandevino]

Lol to be fair the derating and CP4 are the issues we know of… so far.

Diesel trolls aren’t exclusive to the EcoD but they are a fairly loud and uninformed bunch. I’ve got the CP4.2 pump which seems to be an improvement over the CP4 to a degree. Ultra low sulfur diesel and lubricity issues are the Achilles heel of any Diesel engine.

I was a heavy diesel mechanic for over 15 years and have seen more unique and inventive failures than I care to remember. The EcoD is a good engine that suffers from a lack of end user maintenance and understanding.

 

[Rusty PW]

Lol to be fair the derating and CP4 are the issues we know of… so far.

Let's keep it that way.

 

[Jefe1018]

Diesel trolls aren’t exclusive to the EcoD but they are a fairly loud and uninformed bunch. I’ve got the CP4.2 pump which seems to be an improvement over the CP4 to a degree. Ultra low sulfur diesel and lubricity issues are the Achilles heel of any Diesel engine.

I was a heavy diesel mechanic for over 15 years and have seen more unique and inventive failures than I care to remember. The EcoD is a good engine that suffers from a lack of end user maintenance and understanding.

I started running hotshots edt, funny how you can even feel the engine change its tone with the additive. That should be sufficient to keep mine from blowing, I hope.

RE: trolling and reliability to be fair, mine did heat up towing in the summer - just slowing down stopped me from getting derated. That is inherently a lack of planning or testing by engineers or them just throwing their hands up at not wanting to do any more r&d into the JT application.

 

[Sandevino]

I started running hotshots edt, funny how you can even feel the engine change its tone with the additive. That should be sufficient to keep mine from blowing, I hope.

RE: trolling and reliability to be fair, mine did heat up towing in the summer - just slowing down stopped me from getting derated. That is inherently a lack of planning or testing by engineers or them just throwing their hands up at not wanting to do any more r&d into the JT application.

It’s a cooling capacity issue. The engineers were tasked with keeping the look of the wrangler front end and cramming an undersized radiator and intercooler behind the grill.

The radiator and intercooler in my Ram 1500 EcoDiesel are twice the size.

 

[Jefe1018]

It’s a cooling capacity issue. The engineers were tasked with keeping the look of the wrangler front end and cramming an undersized radiator and intercooler behind the grill.

The radiator and intercooler in my Ram 1500 EcoDiesel are twice the size.

Agreed. It may have also been rushed. As much as I love my diesel and it is great for every day driving it leaves a lot be desired in terms of the towing aspect, at least in the summer. They should have either dropped the price and nerfed the tow rating way way down as just the “economical” motor like the wrangler with the 2.0 I4T motor choice or came to the market with a complete product. Just my 2 cents.

I complained to the fed, reluctantly, but got a call from Jeep a few weeks later. They may need to fix the problem eventually, even if it’s just a “recall” to rectify max tow numbers for the diesel.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

Diesel trolls aren’t exclusive to the EcoD but they are a fairly loud and uninformed bunch. I’ve got the CP4.2 pump which seems to be an improvement over the CP4 to a degree. Ultra low sulfur diesel and lubricity issues are the Achilles heel of any Diesel engine.

I was a heavy diesel mechanic for over 15 years and have seen more unique and inventive failures than I care to remember. The EcoD is a good engine that suffers from a lack of end user maintenance and understanding.

The cp4.2 is literally just as crappy as the 4.1…. Arguably and pun intended 2x worse.
the failure point is the rotating “cam”?? Piece in the center… the fact that they added a second plunger in the 4.2 is for fuel output support for motors with more fuel need. So, in essence- a 4.2 is as unreliable as a 4.1.

I have 3 vehicles with a 4.1- and I’m not going to sweat… just add a fuel additive, drain the water separator and ensure a quality 2 micron filter is in place.

I say this….. but can’t wait for a recall and the cp3 conversions to come out!

 

[Sandevino]

The cp4.2 is literally just as crappy as the 4.1…. Arguably and pun intended 2x worse.
the failure point is the rotating “cam”?? Piece in the center… the fact that they added a second plunger in the 4.2 is for fuel output support for motors with more fuel need. So, in essence- a 4.2 is as unreliable as a 4.1.

I have 3 vehicles with a 4.1- and I’m not going to sweat… just add a fuel additive, drain the water separator and ensure a quality 2 micron filter is in place.

I say this….. but can’t wait for a recall and the cp3 conversions to come out!

The CP4.2 is a bandaid fix in many respects. The tight tolerances in the CP4.x do not like the lack of lubricity in the ULSD fuel which ultimately lead to the cam eating itself. Using Hotshot EDT or the additive of your choice will help tremendously.

It’s a race now…recall or warranty expiration. Whichever happens first will see a CP3 installed on my engine.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

The CP4.2 is a bandaid fix in many respects. The tight tolerances in the CP4.x do not like the lack of lubricity in the ULSD fuel which ultimately lead to the cam eating itself. Using Hotshot EDT or the additive of your choice will help tremendously.

It’s a race now…recall or warranty expiration. Whichever happens first will see a CP3 installed on my engine.

Is there an aftermarket cp3 retrofit kit out on the market for this motor yet?
if so can you post a link… curious to see how involved it is.
I know for the tdi’s the cp3 retro is a specific cp3 and a billet mounting assembly. I’m sure it will be similar for the 3.0.
Thanks

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