VM North America

rs4mtnitro · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:09 pm

I took my liberty back to the plant today to meet with some higher ups about my trans shudder. For some reason they had me meet with the head of VM North America. When he introduced him self I kind of looked at him like why am I meeting with you. Then he asked what problems I was having and he looked at me like why am I meeting with you. We talked for a while about what was happening and then went for a test drive. I found out that if you turn off overdrive it will shudder even more but at lower speeds. I felt very comforted when he told me his liberty did it worse. I asked about the press release VM allegedly put out about the torque converter not being big enough and he didn't deny it. It didn't seem like VM is exactly happy about what is going on with the transmission fixes. The are sending a guy down on Friday to hook a scanner up to the engine to make sure that all the systems on the engine are working properly. I was lead to believe that VM is working on DC to come up with a fix not another band-aid. Hopefully me being a guinea pig will help the rest of you out.

WWV · **Joined:** Mon May 15, 2006 1:01 pm **Posts:** 121

Uh....wow!

MrMopar64 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 7:34 pm

Do you remember who exactly it was that you met with? Ken, Robert, Raf? But yeah, VM is about as happy as you all about the issue...I mean, it makes their product look bad - why wouldn't they be mad?

litton · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:29 pm

Is DC going to still use any VM engines?

MrMopar64 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:44 pm

Nitro (KA), Liberty (KK), Wrangler (JK), and new '08 Minivan (RT) all have the new VM Panther powerplant available for export applications.

oldnavy · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:46 pm

I am hearing rumors of Cummins V-6 & V8 engines coming to the 1/2 T PU, Dakota and some SUV's, not sure we will know till they show up at the dealerships.

Toe · **Joined:** Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:50 pm **Posts:** 44

I've heard the same, sometime in 2008 or 2009 for the Dak and Ram 1500. A 4.2L Cummins V8.

Jeger · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:18 pm

Awesome rs4mtnitro! That is some excellent information you have shared with us. I hadnt even thought about the effect all this tranny crap has on VM's reputation. Let us know if anything comes of this.

I have noticed the pronounced shudder with the OD off. Mine does it horribly when trying to hold a steady 35 MPH with the OD off.

baronvonbaugh · **Posted:** Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:05 pm

If you talk to them again ask them why some are not being recalled even though they have the shudder problem.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:51 am

I don't think any of us thought the problem was with VM...even the EGR issue seems to be more about quality fuel than mechanical problems. I guess that our TC thread about a "proper TC for a diesel" was correct. The tranny isn;t even the problem...IT IS THE TC that is setup for a gasser.

jinstall · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:01 am

Hmmm now I know why I never seem to have these issues, I never drive that slow.

Jeger · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:27 am

DarbyWalters wrote:

I don't think any of us thought the problem was with VM...even the EGR issue seems to be more about quality fuel than mechanical problems. I guess that our TC thread about a "proper TC for a diesel" was correct. The tranny isn;t even the problem...IT IS THE TC that is setup for a gasser.

But what is the general public going to think? " man last time they used those vm's they had all sorts of trouble"?

(NOTE TO GENERAL PUBLIC: Its not the engine OR the tranny thats bad, just a poor choice of torque converters.)

KJMedic · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:40 pm

Well 9,000 miles and guess what another CEL. This time I called an attorney. They once again said that it is the Glass Pack Muffler. Attorney sugested that I replace the Glass Pack with the OEM muffler. They are going to send DCX a letter. I am still wondering why they say it is the muffler when it is the same muffler on the 4 cyl gasser, 6 cyl gasser and the CRD. I have letters from VM and from dynomax saying that it is not the muffler. But I am going to change the muffler back and see. I know that it will fail again. 35k miles and 5 EGR problems. 3 with the OEM muffler and 2 without. So where is the link? I love my CRD I hat dealing with DCX on this issue.

On a side note. Wife said no to a Grand Cherokee CRD. But said yes to a JK.

alljeep · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:46 pm

KJMedic wrote:

On a side note. Wife said no to a Grand Cherokee CRD. But said yes to a JK.

My wife said the same thing but I said NO to another DC product ever again until the servicing side of things is better - which could be another generation or more.

KJMedic · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:48 pm

alljeep wrote:

KJMedic wrote:

On a side note. Wife said no to a Grand Cherokee CRD. But said yes to a JK.

My wife said the same thing but I said NO to another DC product ever again until the servicing side of things is better - which could be another generation or more.

FJ looks a little better every day. I bet Toyota would have a better time with the VM motor than DCX.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:37 pm

KJMedic wrote:

FJ looks a little better every day. I bet Toyota would have a better time with the VM motor than DCX.

Or at least treat the customer like they have a brain when things don't go right

KJMedic · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:42 pm

Joe Romas wrote:

KJMedic wrote:

FJ looks a little better every day. I bet Toyota would have a better time with the VM motor than DCX.

Or at least treat the customer like they have a brain when things don't go right

Thats what I ment.

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

Quote:

FJ looks a little better every day. I bet Toyota would have a better time with the VM motor than DCX.

Man, if that happens, on an FJ, or PathFinder, I'm a former DC diesel customer. Especially if they use the new VM Panther engine, or better yet, their V6 diesel. With a decent tranny, it would be a great vehicle. I like my Liberty Jeeps, but a Toyota diesel SUV would have much less of a chance of spending 22 days in the dealership for repairs than my CRD, which already has so far, not counting the F31, F37 and balljoint recall.

I walked by an H3 yesterday in the parking lot - I never realized how sharp those things look up close - looks more like a Jeep than Jeep. If they had a VM V6 diesel, I would be taking a serious, CRD title deed in my pocket look. If Toyota, Nissan or GM launch a decent V6 diesel engine SUV, DC is back to selling MB diesel cars as far as I'm concerned.

TurboC5 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:47 pm

The H3 will have a V8 option next year

Kevin

KenJennings · **Posted:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:43 pm

TurboC5 wrote:

The H3 will have a V8 option next year

Next year? I couldn't find anything about it for 2007. Did find some internet references that suggested it MIGHT be possible after 2008, though.

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