Jeep Liberty CRD fuel heater issues

Wolfieroc · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:48 pm

I see the national safety administration has closed the investigation into the fuel heater issues that included fires, performance issues ie loss of prime as in my case. I replaced the unit with the OEM part that will undoubtedly fail again. The heating element was toasted, the electrical conductor on the wiring harness that connects to the heater was burnt as well. How many of other owners have had this issue??

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:09 pm

Mine did not catch on fire or fry the plug beyond use, but it did singe the plastic inside the plug. The dealer replaced the entire fuel filter head assembly. One CRD owner stopped by and I looked at his, the plug was singed, I told him to see the dealer and he had it replaced for free. One of our members, brtzworld1, stopped by and his was also singed.
To put in mildly, not having a lift pump with a Common Rail system defies the Laws Of Physics. My advice to both in addition to getting a replacement filter head was if you don't have a lift pump, pick one of the options and do it.

Steve

Wolfieroc · **Posted:** Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:33 am

I am considering compiling a list of CRD owners with these problems. The NHSTA has closed the "investigation" into this potentially tragic issue. I sent an email to them, Jeep and the dealership. I suspect Jeep has convinced the rubes at the NHTSA that this is a isolated or low percentage problem that does not require a recall. Mine was toasted causing an air leak that affected starting putting addtional wear on the starter etc then eventually required priming everyday.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:36 pm

We are constantly being bombarded with the national and local politics by the News Media. When it comes to the Politics of the turkeys at the NTSB who would like to have gain-full employment in the transportation industry should their gig come to an end, are kissing up to the auto companies.
Case in Point that still burns me: The Airbus A-320 that crashed over New York after 9-11-02 according to the NTSB crashed due to Pilot error. To put it bluntly, every pilot I have talked to about this agrees, BULL S#!$ :!:

In fact the Actuator that controls the rudder moved the rudder too fast and ripped off the tail of the A-320 causing the crash :!:

Could the engineer who chose the actuator selected a ratio that would not move the rudder too fast and rip off the A-320's tail, HELL YES :!:

If the NTSB was correct on the A-320 crash, why were all of the Airbus A-320 aircraft recalled and retrofitted with an actuator that does not rip the tail off :?:

I hope this puts the NTSB into perspective for all of us. Like most of the rest of Washington D.C. from our elected officials, unelected officials, and news media, they are controlled by money and Lobbyists. Why else would the NTSB kiss up to a FRENCH aircraft manufacturer and blame the dead pilot instead of the Airbus engineer that screwed up :?:

With our Liberty CRDs Chrysler Engineering screwed up on the fuel supply to the injection pump from where it leaves the inside of the fuel tank to the CP3 pump.
Since the NTSB could not care any less about the various commercial pilots organizations and major airlines, why in the world would they care about us 11,000 Liberty CRD owners :?:

Lets say one of us is a Lawyer who is part of a Large Law Firm and a law suit is filed against Chrysler, do you think we will get any more than the Chevy saddle tank pickup owners got a like COUPON for $XXX off the purchase of a new Chevy Pickup :?:

BTW: Most of the NTSB generated recalls are directed toward small vendors to the Automotive companies and not the Automotive Companies them selves :!:

Steve

zrtwooo · **Posted:** Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:24 pm

i now have this prob and luckily i found this problem before my wife and kids were endangered... what is the popular fix to this? any help is appreciated... can this get repaired reguardless of warrenty being over?
thx
mike

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:50 pm

If you're under warranty - show it to the dealer and they should replace it - that's the temporary fix.
If you're out of warranty - get a Racor fuel head - that's a permanent fix - but requires some work to mount the TC.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=25537&highlight=racor

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:42 am

A common thought is that the air that builds up in the fuel manager head causes the fuel heater to overheat. So if that's case a lift pump in the tank would solve that and other short comings in the fuel system :wink:

Most here have given up on Chrysler providing solutions for their short comings and have taken care of them ourselves. I know it shouldn't be that way but that's how it is :oops:

Us CRD owners are just a drop in the bucket for them

bbo · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:17 pm **Posts:** 382

fyi .. I just got a new fuel water seperator for my CRD ... the connection where the heater plug goes into has been "redesigned" even though there is no mention of it.

the connections are farther apart and require a different connector for where the fuel heater connection is.

I've got the part number for the seperator at home ( it didn;t show in the chrysler system yesterday even though they ordered it ... nothing about a new part number superceding it even though it was shipped) ... the dealer had to call Chrysler today as they had nothing for the connecter needed.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:11 pm

bbo

got any pictures????
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=381052#381052

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:42 pm

...you have time till the temperature starts going below 0 f. In fact, here is what I did to turn off the heater when it is not needed.

http://picasaweb.google.com/warp2diesel ... #slideshow

As much as I put far more credence in the farmer's Almanac (I would not want to be a Pine Bark Beetle this winter) than any of the Political motivated theories on weather, you should at least see Thanksgiving before you need to worry, the stealer has time to get in the right plug.

For me, I hope mine lasts long enough to use up the 10K miles I have on this filter that came with the warranty replacement head plus long enough to use the new filter I bought to swap out when I found my leak.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:48 pm

Actually warp2diesel

I'm not nearly as interested in the fuel heater itself - as in the idea that Chrysler - redesigned the fuel head - to the point that the old connectors won't fit anymore. That seems significant - I'd like to see the new one and see if the part number changed.

bbo · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:17 pm **Posts:** 382

not the best pic, but you should get the idea:

and for those of you interested in the part numbers for the new:

Separator 68043089AA
Connector 68043086AA

make sure they order the connector too

new installed on the left .. old set on the right for reference

BiscuitEater · **Joined:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:43 pm **Posts:** 2

I own a 2006 CRD. This problem is not limited to 2005 models. At least some of the 2006 units have the same problem. While my Liberty was under warranty, I had a Jeep dealer perform all of the servicing on it. They replaced the Torque Converter and performed several ECU and other computer spec updates during that time. Regrettably, they never told me about the fuel heater problem, nor did they check to see whether it was occurring on my vehicle.
Thanks to postings on various sites--especially this one--I learned of the fuel heater problem. I pulled the connector on my vehicle today...and discovered that the connector's internal insulator is discolored and partially melted.
At various times over the past few months, I have occasionally smelled a kerosene odor briefly while driving my Liberty. However, I was never able to determine the source. While I can't prove it, I now suspect that this may have been the source.
This evening, I went to the NHTSA website and posted my findings in a safety incident report. They may not reopen their investigation, but at least they have one more stick on the pile of wood.

JCDuke · **Joined:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:54 pm **Posts:** 6

I replaced mine after noticing that diesel was 'bubbling' through the connector :!:

. After taking the plug and head off the entire heating element and plug were fried. It still worked, but seemed like a dangerous situation. Luckily diesel doesnt flash nearly as easily as gas. The parts guy said that it is mandatory now that when you buy a fuel filter you have to buy a new head (and plug). I think that it should be a recall if they require it to be done.

Jeep Liberty CRD fuel heater issues

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