What should I know about the 3.0

[Holeshot]

Hi all, new ecodiesel owner (this is my 5th jeep).

I am an experienced mechanic, and I was wondering what should a new diesel owner know to keep it running good, clean, and efficient.

Oil change and fuel filter change frequency, should I follow fca recommendations?

Tune or not, stage 1 or 2, offroad tune?

Transmission tune worth it?

Good habits I should concider?

I live in Quebec, so obviously I already installed a block heater, I also did a test with a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator the other day, on which I left the center slot fully open ( you know, before buying a cover). It was -15°C, towing my 7x14 enclosed trailer, and not even 5 min on the road the engine temp was at 108°C, So I pulled over and took the cardboard out. Not going to buy a cover I guess.

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[Jteakus]

Fuel filters, water drained often. I change mine sooner than recommended just to monitor them.
Make sure to cycle the start stop to get all air out after change.
I do oil changes between 7-8K miles, oil analysis will help you make that decision.
I suggest a good fuel additive to add lubricity to fuel.
GDE tune is good but being in Canada you may be able to lose the DEF and EGR. Warranty may suffer, your engine won't.
Enjoy the torque.

 

[CreepyJeepy]

1. Frequent short trips where oil doesn’t get hot enough to burn off fuel/moisture are bad if done a lot.
2. Oil and Fuel filter are required every oil change post the cp4 recall.
3. Avoid Fuel over B5 (it will shorten oil/fuel filter life)
4. Remember to fill the DEF tank before towing/long trips.
5. Do not use Amazon cheapo filters. Find OEM. (Low oil pressure, filters getting sucked through air box have been reported)
6. Use a high quality Euro Diesel oil that meets the required specs. ‘Pensoil Euro Platinum 5-40) shows decent sheer resistance.
7. Going beyond 7k shows oil breakdown, (Ecodiesel Gen3 is hard on oil)
8. GDE tune is awesome, but some have reported higher fuel content in their oil analysis. I have avoided it for that reason alone, but likely will in the future due to the EGR tuning.
9. The ecodiesel has a real ZF transmission. It’s Solid compared to the 3.6 (Which is also pretty good ( but it’s not a real ZF))
10. Love it, they are awesome

 

[Timoleon]

The only thing I can say is the motor is made by VM as I understand it. I had an 87 Alpha Romeo 33 Station Wagon back when I lived in Italy. The motor was absolute crap! It was a 3 cylinder turbo diesel. I had to replace the heads on that motor about once a year. That motor sucked. I got rid of it as soon as I could. Never again! I hope they got better but I bet not.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

The only thing I can say is the motor is made by VM as I understand it. I had an 87 Alpha Romeo 33 Station Wagon back when I lived in Italy. The motor was absolute crap! It was a 3 cylinder turbo diesel. I had to replace the heads on that motor about once a year. That motor sucked. I got rid of it as soon as I could. Never again! I hope they got better but I bet not.

Cool story… ?‍

VM is not made by Alpha Romeo…. Jeep used VM in the Liberty in 05/06…. Have one in the driveway now with well over 100k and has been fine.

The important notes have been made.. fuel additive is important, for the life of the pump. However this is the case for all high pressure fuel systems that use ultra low sulfur diesel.

A lot of trash is talked on the diesel- overall it’s a decent motor. Cooling system in hot environments is not the best. But aside from this, it’s fine. Being in Canada- MRTuning, or GDE… definitely worth looking into ??? trans & motor tunes.

 

[Timoleon]

Cool story… ?‍

VM is not made by Alpha Romeo…. Jeep used VM in the Liberty in 05/06…. Have one in the driveway now with well over 100k and has been fine.

The important notes have been made.. fuel additive is important, for the life of the pump. However this is the case for all high pressure fuel systems that use ultra low sulfur diesel.

A lot of trash is talked on the diesel- overall it’s a decent motor. Cooling system in hot environments is not the best. But aside from this, it’s fine. Being in Canada- MRTuning, or GDE… definitely worth looking into ??? trans & motor tunes.

As I stated the motor was made by VM for that Alpha Romeo. Minor correction. I am glad you have good luck with the motor in the Liberty.

V/R
Tim

 

[SoK66]

All you need to know: 1) It's a diesel, 2) Stay away from it!

 

[Koolcarguy]

The only thing I can say is the motor is made by VM as I understand it. I had an 87 Alpha Romeo 33 Station Wagon back when I lived in Italy. The motor was absolute crap! It was a 3 cylinder turbo diesel. I had to replace the heads on that motor about once a year. That motor sucked. I got rid of it as soon as I could. Never again! I hope they got better but I bet not.

Your bet would be wrong. The new motors are awesome I have a 17 Ram with 240k never done anything to the motor and I've owned it since 13 miles. I own 5 ecodiesels all been great.

 

[Koolcarguy]

Hi all, new ecodiesel owner (this is my 5th jeep).

I am an experienced mechanic, and I was wondering what should a new diesel owner know to keep it running good, clean, and efficient.

Oil change and fuel filter change frequency, should I follow fca recommendations?

Tune or not, stage 1 or 2, offroad tune?

Transmission tune worth it?

Good habits I should concider?

I live in Quebec, so obviously I already installed a block heater, I also did a test with a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator the other day, on which I left the center slot fully open ( you know, before buying a cover). It was -15°C, towing my 7x14 enclosed trailer, and not even 5 min on the road the engine temp was at 108°C, So I pulled over and took the cardboard out. Not going to buy a cover I guess.

Congratulations on the new diesel. First I change my oils at 7500 miles fuel and air fikter every other oil change. Make sure you warm it up and let it cool down a minute when you shut it off. I have an older evodiesel in a Ram 1500 200k++ mikes zero issue bought it new have 2 Jt's diesel 1 Jl diesel 1 Jk diesel in my opion you can't get a better engine in a Jeep I'm a dealer and have owned them all including 2 392 Jl's only draw back is heating up when pulling trailers up hill or in the wind son just ordered the extra radiator cooler to see if that helps he has 2 Jeep diesels. There great enjoy. There is a company in Canada that does make full deletes for ecodiesels I've been told there awesome.......

 

[Ryan...]

I did a LOT of reading on the JT diesels, and got close to grabbing one multiple times before ultimately getting my 3.6. It would've been a good fit as I drive 90+ miles a day for work, with long stretches of highway.

I'd read about additives, frequent oil changes, and DEF issues.

If you live somewhere without emissions (like me), I would 100% delete everything related to the DEF system. That alone would eliminate the vast majority of the common diesel woes. That's the same for any modern diesel engine, across all brands. I've helped multiple people do DEF deletes on their Chevys, Mercedes, and a Ford.

If I were to get a diesel these are the things I'd do and rules I'd follow:

1. DEF delete
2. Frequent oil changes w/high quality oil and OEM filters.
3. Fuel additives every fill up.


After that, I'd treat it like any other truck.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

The only thing I can say is the motor is made by VM as I understand it. I had an 87 Alpha Romeo 33 Station Wagon back when I lived in Italy. The motor was absolute crap! It was a 3 cylinder turbo diesel. I had to replace the heads on that motor about once a year. That motor sucked. I got rid of it as soon as I could. Never again! I hope they got better but I bet not.

Motori goes back to 1947. They’ve made tons of different engines including many for other companies, including Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, GM, BMW, etc. There’s also no company that hasn’t made a bad engine. BMW famously follows the every other curse. Audi, doesn’t make any engine that doesn’t have problems. Ford has made a number of pigs. GM too. Several iterations of Porsche’s 911 engines were time bombs. Even Toyota has made some stinkers.

 

[Jakeyou]

The only thing I can say is the motor is made by VM as I understand it. I had an 87 Alpha Romeo 33 Station Wagon back when I lived in Italy. The motor was absolute crap! It was a 3 cylinder turbo diesel. I had to replace the heads on that motor about once a year. That motor sucked. I got rid of it as soon as I could. Never again! I hope they got better but I bet not.

You do know your motor is made in Mexico.

 

[fourfa]

By this logic if Chrysler or Jeep had a single crummy gasoline engine in 1987, no one should consider owning a 2023 gas Jeep.

OP: good info on the cover experiment. These engines don’t seem to struggle to stay warm, as you found. FYI, the original fuel filter schedule was every other oil change. After the high pressure fuel pump recall and replacement, it seems the new guidance is a new fuel filter with every oil change. Luckily the OE filters aren’t hard to find right now, like they were during the pandemic. Still, it’s probably wise to stockpile a few quality air, oil, fuel filters. You never know.

 

[Timoleon]

I am not so concerned about where it is made. I am concerned about the design and quality of the manufacture. That VM motor I had in the Alpha, was pure engineering junk. Cast iron jugs and aluminum heads at the compression levels of that diesel were where they messed up. I was buying heads at a rate of 3 a year (individual heads for each cylinder) for 2 years.

 

[Tom C]

What I don't understand is why, when someone is asking a basic question about their new purchase, a person feels the need to come into a thread and CR@P on their purchase. I see this some of the time on this forum, even more so on the Wrangler forum, and it is discusting. It wasn't your purchase choice, keep the CR@P slinging to yourself. No one asked your opinion of what they bought, they were asking about maintenance, etc.

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