A check engine light was coming on and off, and I took it to the dealer. Took them a week to get the parts and replace them. They replaced the EGR valve (2nd time in the last 6 months), a glow plug, and fuel injector. Thank goodness it was all under warranty, I am not gonna be able to afford this car once I have to pay for repairs out of pocket. Their diagnosis was I didnt drive fast enough to burn out the carbon, I need to get it out on the highway and floor it more.

On the way home, not 10 miles later, the CEL is back on.

This CEL shortly after the EGR change happened to me to. The control valve needed to be changed too. The likely situation was the control valve was the culprit. Good luck getting it sorted out.

Also, beware that the dealer may find an opportunity to get the ECM flashed -- don't do it as it results in substantial loss in throttle responsiveness and power range in exchange for smoother shifting.

So, where do we go from here. Do we all dumb down the ECM to ensure the TC makes it through the warrantee period? Using that logic, we should all have the ECM set to the "Granny-mode" not to exceed 65 mph so that minimum wear and tear on the vehicles. This would and may actually result in safety issues where the CRD is unable to get out of harm's way. I beleive we should encourage DCX to repair their problem in the short term and save themselves considerable costs in the long term. This way the CRD lemon can be made into lemonade where DCX shows customer loyalty is warranted, and they stand behind their diesel entrants into the US market. Otherwise, they will be painted with the same brush as GM and the Oldsmobile Diesel.

A check engine light was coming on and off, and I took it to the dealer. Took them a week to get the parts and replace them. They replaced the EGR valve (2nd time in the last 6 months), a glow plug, and fuel injector. Thank goodness it was all under warranty, I am not gonna be able to afford this car once I have to pay for repairs out of pocket. Their diagnosis was I didnt drive fast enough to burn out the carbon, I need to get it out on the highway and floor it more.

On the way home, not 10 miles later, the CEL is back on.

I feel compelled to mention something about the way this engine is tuned. The realistic amounts of torque we should expect out of a Turbo-diesel engine of this displacement are probably a little lower than DC marketed it at. If you look at similar diesel engines from other reputable manufacturers, you can see this: http://www.landyonline.co.za/workshop/international28lhs.html. That's the upgrade to the venerable landrover 300tdi (no computer controls, but hey...). In the case of International Engine, they actually tuned the thing to last (as people have come to expect from landrovers with diesels).

So, basically, we may have been duped just a little by DC and they probably "hot-rodded" the engines a little to make them more favorably compare to the V6s, but realistically, the re-programmed control module will probably increase the service life of the vehicle.

I paid for a jeep, not a hot-rod. The torque that it has after the reprogram is plenty to do nearly any daily driving, reasonably difficult off-roading, and light-medium towing. If that's not good enough for people, then sure, they might have some recourse getting something bigger/faster, etc. For me, though, I like the CRD and I'll be doing whatever I have to make sure it lasts a good long time.

Dan

I disagree. VW gets 140 hp and 240 tq out of the 2.0 liter TDi unit in the 2005-2006 Passat TDi in the US market. If that power and torque can come from 2.0 liters, one might argue that our CRD engines are understressed at 160 hp/295 tq from 2.8 liters. The Rover engines are old-tech non common rail units -- hence their low power ratings.

You are correct. DC didn't raise the hp/torque on the R428 for the US market, they actually lowered it! Taking the engine builder specs on this engine, they have it rated at 174.5 hp and 302 ft-lbs of torque. A similar displacment (2.8L) marine version from VM Motori is rated ~ 200 hp. Further reading on their site shows that they have 70% parts commonality of most engines of similar displacement, lower end components, piston liners, wherever possible to reduce manufacturing costs.

Altering key selling points, heavily advertised power specifications after the sale, to keep improperly spec'd drivetrain components from premature failure is an abysmal business practice. Looking at Chrysler today, its all too evident how this and other poor business practices worked against them. Its unfortunate that after these stunts were pulled on their customers, ultimately, DC employees now must pay a heavy price for their managements failure.