I'm getting ready to drop the hammer on a used CRD and wanted to ask the experts if there is anything I should be on the lookout for. I searched, but came up inundated with results and really any clear answers.

Today I'm going to take a look at a CRD Limited and hopefully take it for a test drive. I'm not 100% sure I want it fully optioned out, but I'm sure the wife will.

Also I'm a little concerned (not enough to sway me from getting one) about getting one here in California for service issues. From searching it looks likes I should find a Dodge dealer that does a fair amount of Diesel service. Does anyone happen to know of one in the San Jose / San Francisco area?

Pull the fuel heater plug and check for leaks or scorching.

I would look for a model with low mileage, all service records and one that has had the recalls / TSBs performed on it. The important ones would be the Lower Ball Joint recalls, the ECU reflash, and the transmission reflash. (I know a lot of people say the Transmission reflash lowered their power, etc.. but it is for the long-term reliability of your torque converter)

If you buy a 2005 model and you are the 2nd owner (possibly the 3rd? i don't know) you can transfer the 7 year 70,000 mile powertrain warranty to your name. If you buy a 2006 you cannot do this.. you will only have a 3 year 36k mile warranty. (You will hear about all sorts of people claiming they have a 5 year 100k diesel warranty but to my knowledge nobody has ever been able to claim that warranty. It's more of a miss-print in certain manuals but not all)

I would check the intercooler hoses for cracks or splits. That would be the tube coming from the turbo (passenger side) to the intercooler.. and from the intercooler to the intake plenum on the driver side. If there is a tear you will have to get it fixed- possibly under warranty though.

Listen for a loud turbo when you drive. If it sounds metalic or screachy move on.

Test out the 4WD system. Pull the handle into "full-time" if you are going less than 55 MPH and see if it works w/o loud noises pops or banging. (Don't put it in part-time or low and drive on the street)

Pop the hood and look at the wiring bundle coming off of the master Bosch ECU. This is a metal box mounted to the fender on the driver side. Look at the wiring bundle for spliced wires or wires that have been cut. This would be an indication that somebody might have added a piggyback controller or messed with stuff to get a performance edge. Often times this leads to increased wear and tear on the engine.

And finally, check the car over for damage, paint overspray, tape marks in the door jams, etc. to see if it's been wrecked. Don't believe a carfax report.

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'05 Liberty CRD
'05 Jaguar S-Type R

Thanks, it looks like I'm going to pass on the CRD. Too many things stacked against it; limited production run (2 years), lack of warranty support, not really able to work on it myself without voiding flimsy warranty.

I liked the one I looked at, I might get gas KJ. But I was really looking to get something that got better milage our current daily driver.

Most of those things are recalls done for free @ the dealer.
Don't let them put you off a CRD.
The 2.8L CRD has been forsale since early 2003 in other parts of the world, just the USA got it late.

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2003 2.8 CRD Cactus Green Renegade
ARB front bar, rear hitch receiver, IPF spotties, HID headlight, 2.25" coil lift, Rancho shocks, daystar rear bumpstop extender, 245/75/16 Maxxis Bighorns.

LOL. Of the 7 things I listed to "check in a used CRD"... 5 of which apply for the Gasser liberty.
The ball joint recalls, the warranty state, the 4WD system, checking ECU wiring, and checking the car for damage.
So if doing normal checking-over on a used vehicle is too much for you to bear you might want to buy a hyundai or kia which come with a 10 year warranty and the personaity of a pet rock. I hope you are able to find what you are looking for.

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'05 Liberty CRD
'05 Jaguar S-Type R

Checking the vehicle over is far from the problem here, I truly appreciated the pointers on what to look for on the CRD. The problems I've found here on the boards have turned me off to getting the CRD version of the Liberty. Reading through the boards here I have seen that the fuel system is hit or miss and that if you do anything to try and fix it outside of the dealer, you're hosed. I can't say that I feel safe putting my family in a vehicle that may die on the freeway. There were other things as well, but the fuel issue really stood out. It also doesn't give me the warm fuzzies knowing that if I do try to fix problems outside of DCX they will basically void the warranty.

I know every vehicle will have issues, it's just the issues here seem to be fairly large. It seems like I would be setting myself up for problems in the long haul if I go with a CRD in California. Even if I just take it to a DCX dealer for service, chances are I'm not going to find a tech that's worked on one. Then if it need parts I can pretty much add two days or more to the down time since dealers around here are not going to stock parts for the CRD.

I have two Jeeps right now, and XJ and a JK. I love them both and have had my fair share of problems, but at least I can work on them without voiding the warranty. Now granted my XJ is long out of warranty, but at least I can easily get parts for it outside of dealer channels, same for hte JK.

As to the ten year warranty, you're forgetting that all non-diesel DCX products have a lifetime power train warranty.

Yes but have you driven a diesel KJ yet? Take one for a spin before you close the door on us

Wish I could afford a JK!

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2003 2.8 CRD Cactus Green Renegade
ARB front bar, rear hitch receiver, IPF spotties, HID headlight, 2.25" coil lift, Rancho shocks, daystar rear bumpstop extender, 245/75/16 Maxxis Bighorns.

Mine has been fault free really.

One of the problems if you compare this board and the "general" is that you will see the "general" is populated more by 4 wheelers interested in how much flex they have. The CRD board is populated more by diesel gearheads that want to make the CRD perfect in their eyes. I love it because here we are jointly finding ways to make the CRD better but there are about 150 CRD owners here out of 11K shipped in NA and only a dozen or so have had unacceptable levels of problems. Most just rattle along happily.

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

I bought my CRD 2.5 years ago for my wife. She wanted a Lib, I talked her into the diesel. I thought it would be as great as my cummins ram.....(o trips to the dealer) I was wrong...this car has been tough to deal with....my wife never complains about anything....but this car did get to her. So let it go and save yourself the aggravation. But if you drive it.....you'll be hooked, and the pain of it all is still somehow worth it.

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05 CRD LIMITED
04 CTD HO Ram

A CRD is not for everyone. It sounds like you made the right choice for yourself. The vast majority of CRD owners are very happy with their unique vehicles. Along with uniquness come unique issues. Some folks are not geared up to address these issues and for them ownership is a frustrating experience.

I myself would not trade this little sucker for the world!

Good luck.

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2005 CRD Limited, Black 205k Miles (Timing Belt Changed at 100k and 200k), GDE Eco-Tune, Carter in-tank lift pump
2005 CRD Sport, Black - Ingested Valve at 170k miles R.I.P.

Price is what to look for. Find some dumb a@@ that takes it to the dealer for repairs. They will let it go cheaply. Then put a lift pump in and enjoy. All the so called transmission problems I had have been solved with this mod.

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'06 White Limited CRD born on 08/05 37k miles F37'd
mods:: vented, exhausted, ORM, cat 2, Lifted
Other Rides:: CJ7 Limited, and many bikes

I did take it for a test drive. I really liked the way way it motored on down the freeway as well as the fit and finish, it was a Limited trim model.

The test drive put me on the fence since it is a nice vehicle with more power than I thought it would have.

Of the two that are under consideration, both have had all the TSB's taken care of. They are both under 10K in mileage and are the same trim level. Both were in great shape and showed no signs of abuse or previous accidents.

Is there any tell-tale sign to know that you're going to have the fuel problem or is just something that happens one day? From what I've read it looks like I need to jump on it getting on the freeway and then it will sputter, if it has the problem currently.




If I do the lift pump, am I going to be completely screwed on the warranty? From what I've read around here it looks like this is the cure all to the dying/hesitation issue, but it also looks like DCX will void the warranty once they see it done.


So another, probably dumb, question. How is it getting parts from the dealer? I'd like to hear from anyone in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York or Vermont for this one since the CRD wasn't allowed in there new. I also like to hear about service in those states as well.


I'm not opposed to working on the thing, it would just be nice to get someone else to cover the work and parts for a change. I have my XJ to wrench on.

For the time being it would stay stock. Although every vehicle I've owned gets modified in some way, those Frankenlifts look nice and a set of Moab wheels would complete it. Would I then be banished to the "general" area for trying to get some flex out of it, or is the line at the point of a solid front axle swap
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The warranty may or may not be affected.

Hows that for an answer.

We have one member who went in with a Racor fuel head and while they grumbled - they eventually fixed the fuel pump under warranty - we had another that went in with a yellow fuel filter instead of stock - and is now in a Lawsuit to try and recover the $6000 costs.(he say it runs great now)

I'd find a dealer who services diesels, Sprinters, Cummins preferably - but services diesels. the Jeep only techs were not trained properly.

Then if you have problems - read through the threads here (search can be a pain but there's a lot of information) and work with the dealer - They may even be willing to install good parts.

If that doesn't work - the warranty isn't worth leaving the Jeep in the shop or hating it for intermittent problems - fix it yourself.

However gong back to the initial answers - I'm at 43,000 miles - the only fuel issue I had was a bad tank of diesel - before and after it ran great, no leak problems. (I do intent to fix it before it does have problems).

I've had 2 real warranty claims - an EGR valve - when we took a poll about 1/3 of the folks had, and an oil cooler - and I'm the only one on the forum who's mentioned that.

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2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

I've had pretty much the same experience 42k miles, One EGR and FCV failure replaced at the same time. Lower Ball joints under recall. Torque Converter replaced under Customer Satisfaction (recall) notice.

No lift pump, but I'm running the CAT filter mod for close to 10k Miles. I have my fuel heater unplugged, although it doesn't look bad. I have noticed small amounts of air in the fuel head, and purge it about every 4th fillup or when I start to notice it takes an extra crank of the starter to kick over.

I was overly cautious when I did the CAT conversion, took it off the Jeep, did the mod, cleaned all parts, blew air through all the orifices, (the fuel head, not mine ) before putting it back on. I think many of the issues people have had are due to not being absolutely sure that they got all contamination, old thread locker and metal shavings cleaned out before putting the fuel filter back into service. The fuel pump does not take kindly to ingesting that stuff.

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2005 CRD "Ol' Blue"
Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.
My build page- RL Komodo Rear and TJM Front Bumper, armored, lifted, JBA Steel D30, 4.10s and ARB air lockers.

The EGR failure seems to have affected '05 more than '06. I don't live in one of the areas you mentioned and the only CRD specific part I have needed was a turbo hose and it was not in stock. It came in quite soon though. I have only seen about 6 CRD's in my market so I am not sure that the parts and service issue is limited to the states mentioned as domestically the CRD was a limiited run, few dealers see them often.

If I had the money and wasn't older than dirt I would buy one to store, that's how happy I am with it. I have driven lots of rigs through the years and couldn't say that about any other. I drive in fear of some idiot "t" boning me and destroying it.

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

Hmph!! I thought that *I* was the only one who felt this way. (Actually, to be 100% accurate, I don't drive in ~fear~ per-se... I would just be SEVERELY disappointed in having to replace this rig.)

Though fantasies of the Mercedes GL or the VW Tow-rag diesels occasionally rear their ugly heads. Long live my JEEP!

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Current Stable: (YES, I have a problem. NO, I don't want "help".)
FOUR Wheelers: 05 Jeep CRD Liberty, 09 VW Sportwagen TDI, 2000, Honda Odyssey, 1994 Mazda Miata, 2000 Mazda Miata
TWO Wheelers: 06 Triumph 675, 04 BMW R1150RT

I believe you guys get bad quality diesel over there in the US of A.
In Europe and Australia we get Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel at the pump.
If you check out the AusJeepOffroad.com KJ section there's not much complaints about the EGR or fuel problems.

I guess as the US of A takes on more diesel powered cars your quality of diesel will get better.

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2003 2.8 CRD Cactus Green Renegade
ARB front bar, rear hitch receiver, IPF spotties, HID headlight, 2.25" coil lift, Rancho shocks, daystar rear bumpstop extender, 245/75/16 Maxxis Bighorns.

I'm not up on the diesel here, but I think we're supposed to be switching to low sulphur diesel next year. If any of the US diesel gurus know better please correct me.

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2005 Blue KJ Renegade
Too big to fit into most LA parking garages.

We already have it. But we do have the problem of "rot gut" diesel (crappy quality fuel with contaminants in it from being stored in crappy conditions). More common at small stations that do not do a lot of volume in diesel fuel.

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2006 Liberty CRD Limited
Mopar engine, transmission, transfer case skids
245/70/16 Michelin Latitude X-Ice (winter)
235/75/16 Firestone Destination ATs (summer)
Thule roof rack, cargo box
V6 airbox mod
Flowmaster 50 2.5 inch muffler
Edge EZ module (set for fuel economy)
SEGR
TDIWagonGuy CCV filter
B99 (summer), B20 (winter)