Lease almost over..worth keeping my Eco-diesel or return?

[biodiesel]

I've been on this forum for years, I also own a JTRD. Your post is the first I've ever heard someone mention JTDs having a "common" turbo failure.

Generally speaking, the Garrett Turbo on the EcoDiesel is a solid performer. There are many Gen 2 EcoDiesels still running the factory turbo with over 300,000+ miles on them.

The EcoDiesel got a larger Garrett turbo for the Gen 3 engine. Among those, there's been some bad (faulty) actuators that have caused the infamous P00AF code. Stellantis is aware of this issue and those are being replaced under the 5 year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. But since Mopar doesn't sell the actuator by itself, the entire turbo gets replaced as part of the warranty protocol.

Otherwise, the turbos on the Gen 3 EcoDiesel are going strong. We now have folks running the Ram Gen 3 EcoDiesel with over 300,000 miles on the factory turbo with no problems.

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[Oilburner]

For me the benefits did not outweigh the points for potential failure, so I sold mine last week. I will be getting older, more repairable tech at the cost of mpg, however cost-per-mile will likely only be pennies more once you factor in def, fuel cost difference, fuel treatment, fuel filters, and time spent messing with all of it-

 

[biodiesel]

For me the benefits did not outweigh the points for potential failure, so I sold mine last week.

The GDE Afterlife tune is perfect for those who are worried about emissions. With the Afterlife tune, you can disable some or all of the emissions without removing anything. For example, I'll be switching to the Afterlife tune in December on our 2015 Ram EcoDiesel. The plan is to disable the EGR but keep the DEF and DPF function. This will allow me to switch between the factory tune and GDE tune as needed.

For the most part, EGR is the most destructive part of the emissions system. Disabling the EGR will be a great help. With tuning alone, DEF usage will be cut dramatically. The GDE tune uses very little DEF.

 

[SargeDiesel]

Generally speaking, the Garrett Turbo on the EcoDiesel is a solid performer. There are many Gen 2 EcoDiesels still running the factory turbo with over 300,000+ miles on them.

The EcoDiesel got a larger Garrett turbo for the Gen 3 engine. Among those, there's been some bad (faulty) actuators that have caused the infamous P00AF code. Stellantis is aware of this issue and those are being replaced under the 5 year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. But since Mopar doesn't sell the actuator by itself, the entire turbo gets replaced as part of the warranty protocol.

Otherwise, the turbos on the Gen 3 EcoDiesel are going strong. We now have folks running the Ram Gen 3 EcoDiesel with over 300,000 miles on the factory turbo with no problems.

This is exactly what I thought. Thanks for the backup.

 

[Oilburner]

The GDE Afterlife tune is perfect for those who are worried about emissions.

You can go ahead & pay a bunch of money: dealer won’t touch it anymore, still pay a premium for fuel + still have to treat it, keep buying & changing fuel filters & plastic housings and o-rings and all that goes with it. I’m done with that nonsense.

 

[Jteakus]

The torque alone is worth the possible problems.

 

[biodiesel]

The torque alone is worth the possible problems.

Torque, fuel economy, driving range, and just the enjoyable driving experience are all good reasons to keep the EcoDiesel.

I know a father (Larry) and son (Tyler) who have 4 Ram EcoDiesels for their business. Larry loves the EcoDiesel platform. In his opinion, they are cheap and easy to maintain, plus they love the fuel economy. Larry retired the 2015 from the business when it hit 600,000 miles, but his son now owns and drives the vehicle for personal use. It had 610,000 miles a few months ago. Tyler is currently driving the 2018 and Larry is currently driving the 2023. Larry said he's already looking around for another low mileage 2022/2023 Ram EcoDiesel.

2015 Ram EcoDiesel - 410,000 miles (truck was totaled)
2015 Ram EcoDiesel - 610,000 miles (still in operation)
2018 Ram EcoDiesel - 458,274 miles (still in operation)
2023 Ram EcoDiesel - 92,000 (still in operation)

 

[Tim. Y.]

That's correct. Those who run the highway 90% of the time will have fewer emissions issues simply because their trucks are burning cleaner. Short trips will result with a dirtier combustion, more frequent regens, and more EGR. These are all hard on the emissions components, plus the intake ports will eventually need to be cleaned.

Our 2015 is still running the factory DPF, SCR, and intake manifold. The only emissions components that have failed is the EGR cooler and DEF pump. It's somewhat common for the EGR cooler to fail on the Gen 2 EcoDiesel because it gets clogged with soot. My DEF pump failed at 113,732 miles. At that time, I had the DEF injector clog several times, which puts a lot of stress on the DEF pump. I now run an additivated DEF, so I don't have those issues anymore. Fortunately, I was still under the AEM warranty at that time, so both the EGR cooler and DEF pump were replaced under warranty.

Additivated DEF? As a first time diesel owner I'm trying to make sure this lovely engine runs for 200K+ miles and I'm always trying to learn better long term maintenance for the truck. Now I'm curious.

 

[Rusty PW]

I love my little Italian farm tractor. No issues in 80,000 miles. I daily drive it. Work is 17 miles one way, mostly on a 4 lane highway. Speed up to 70 mph. When it gets to 100,000 miles, it's delete time time. The price of the filters and oil doesn't really bother me. As I do my own maintaince.

Been cross country with it 6 times now. Last trip in June was 3,200 miles round trip in a week and a half.

What cracks me up. Is when I'm getting fuel and someone comes over and says in a panic voice that I'm put the wrong fuel in.

 

[biodiesel]

Additivated DEF? As a first time diesel owner I'm trying to make sure this lovely engine runs for 200K+ miles and I'm always trying to learn better long term maintenance for the truck. Now I'm curious.

There are different brands of additivated DEF, but the brand that I use is BlueDEF Platinum. Those who benefit most do a lot of short commutes and cold weather operation. There was study done on this several years ago, and I copied some of the conclusions at the end of the white paper.

"This study has shown that the use of dedicated additives in DEF was an effective solution to significantly reduce urea related deposit formation below 200*C which could help OEMs to optimize SCR systems for cold and/or urban operating conditions."

 

[Tim. Y.]

There are different brands of additivated DEF, but the brand that I use is BlueDEF Platinum. Those who benefit most do a lot of short commutes and cold weather operation. There was study done on this several years ago, and I copied some of the conclusions at the end of the white paper.

"This study has shown that the use of dedicated additives in DEF was an effective solution to significantly reduce urea related deposit formation below 200*C which could help OEMs to optimize SCR systems for cold and/or urban operating conditions."

Ah, gotcha. I'd gone with the BlueDef Platinum from the beginning, so I've been on the right track all along.

 

[Vtur]

I love my little Italian farm tractor. No issues in 80,000 miles. I daily drive it. Work is 17 miles one way, mostly on a 4 lane highway. Speed up to 70 mph. When it gets to 100,000 miles, it's delete time time. The price of the filters and oil doesn't really bother me. As I do my own maintaince.

Been cross country with it 6 times now. Last trip in June was 3,200 miles round trip in a week and a half.

What cracks me up. Is when I'm getting fuel and someone comes over and says in a panic voice that I'm put the wrong fuel in.

I always get that concerning look from the truckers at the big nozzle stations.

 

[Rusty PW]

I always get that concerning look from the truckers at the big nozzle stations.

Same here. It's like "WTF is he doing?" look.

 

[Vtur]

Same here. It's like "WTF is he doing?" look.

Yeah. When asking the cashiers for a 15 gallons fill up.

 

[MaximusTX]

Additivated DEF? As a first time diesel owner I'm trying to make sure this lovely engine runs for 200K+ miles and I'm always trying to learn better long term maintenance for the truck. Now I'm curious.

I have been using Rislone and it has done a great job. I went from going from 20% to 80% soot levels in under 20 miles to never going over 50% and it has been almost a year now. Mine is also a secondary vehicle so I don't drive it that often.

Rislone 4744 DPF Clean Diesel DPF, Exhaust & Emission Cleaner

Rislone 4780 Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) Treatment

Rislone 4784 Crystal Clean Diesel DEF & SCR Emission System Cleaner

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