Why would you trade a KJ CRD for a ML320, ones a 4WD and the other is a mall cruiser for aspiring posers. You have a rather rare vehicle in your part of the world.

Most of what has gone wrong with the VM engine has more to do with Chrysler's emissions engineering rather than the soundness of the engine itself. At least the VM can be rebuild, and rebuilt again - can't do that to the Merc (and better have deep pockets for the parts).

Stop whining about the trade in value, all trade in values have dropped big time recently. Trade in doesn't matter if your going to keep it ten years.

Geordi, I've been following along with your progress as a silent observer, but I feel that I really need to address a few things.

Firstly, I did not sell you an engine nor profit off of the sale. The engine was sold to you by another person who happened to leave it in my shop after he decided that it was not the engine he wanted to use for the project. The engine was not misrepresented either by the seller nor myself in any way. Pictures as well as supplemental data was provided to you and you made the decision to purchase the engine. You got exactly what was represented to you by the seller. It was explained to you (by myself as well as the seller) that you will need the VM service tools in order to torque the cam sprockets down. I included the cam locks (VM1052-1053) free of charge to you already installed so the cams were timed correctly. All your shop needed to do was lock the cams down and (using the VM tools) install the belt setup with tensioner. Yet, oddly enough when you received the engine there was this huge surprise that the cam sprockets were loose! Of course they were loose! We directly addressed this weeks before the engine even left my shop! I even went on to explain that I no longer had the vm tools but there were guys on this forum who rented them out. Furthermore, I did not replace/pull/alter the cylinder head in any way. I simply hot tanked the intake manifold to remove the sludge associated with the EGR system. I then put a new gasket/cam seals on and torqued to appropriate spec using the factory service manual. Theoretically, I could have stripped ALL of them and it would not require replacing the cylinder head! It sounds to me that this shop you're using is pulling a little bait and switch or they're taking you for a ride. Anyone who was honestly surprised as to why the cams arrived free spinning has no business working with this engine. Removing the intake to clean it out is a dealer service procedure and is extremely common with these engines due to the functionality of the EGR system. It is this procedure that has given rise to items like the SEGR and the ORM. Lastly, after urging you not to go with Old Glory freight (or whoever) when shipping something that you wanted to arrive intact, you went ahead and used them anyways. I put the engine in a 4x4x4 wooden shipping crate (you originally wanted me to just stick it on a pallet) resting on a tire and secured it on all 4 sides with 2x4's using 3" wood screws. The seller actually accused me of OVER packing the engine. Yet the crate arrived with the bottom ripped out and the engine on it's side and you blame my packing job? This is why I took pictures of the engine before it left my shop as I am familiar with these shipping brokers tactics and I wanted to minimize the appearance of impropriety on behalf of myself or the seller. Despite all of this, you still feel that we short-changed you or misrepresented the engine in some way. It seems to me that going forward, you need to listen to what people are telling you before you start slandering others on forums. I got a kick out of the flywheel installed backwards thing though! The engine has no flywheel, it has a flex plate as the transmission is an automatic. Furthermore, the crankshaft is keyed so putting it on backwards would take some doing. I routinely perform warranty work requiring complete pull out and reinstallation for DC in 3 days. These guys have had your setup for almost a month now and you're still not on the road! That's unbelievable! I would love to see a detailed analysis of this stripped bolt that requires a new cylinder head! Please post pics...

Most of what has gone wrong with the VM engine has more to do with Chrysler's emissions engineering rather than the soundness of the engine itself.

You nailed it, that's exactly what the problem is. Also, a weak TC and transmission didn't help either.

Actually the trans is a overkill for that little engine,the 545RFE can handle over 1000ft-lbs of torque with a few tweaks.

Why would you trade a KJ CRD for a ML320, ones a 4WD and the other is a mall cruiser for aspiring posers. You have a rather rare vehicle in your part of the world.

Most of what has gone wrong with the VM engine has more to do with Chrysler's emissions engineering rather than the soundness of the engine itself. At least the VM can be rebuild, and rebuilt again - can't do that to the Merc (and better have deep pockets for the parts).

Stop whining about the trade in value, all trade in values have dropped big time recently. Trade in doesn't matter if your going to keep it ten years.

I would put the biggest CRD problem as a lack of properly trained Maintenance techs
1 hour videos don't cut it.

The few people on LOST who knew what they were doing - gmctd, Old Navy, RetMil46, Ranger1 and others figured out good fixes - what would have happened if we had properly trained techs to support the CRD?

Also evaluating the reliability of anything by looking at internet posts/threads - is a complete failure to understand data or people.

even if every single LOST member had the same problem - we are statistically insignificant - the forum as a whole has 8000 member ID's vs 800,000+ Liberty's <1% - if you drop that down to CRD's Do we even have 1% of the CRD's represented?- at most I'd guess 100 active members probably a lot less vs 11,000 sold. We could all have problems and we could all be in the trivial minority.

You also have to add that historically the Liberty sold well because women bought it - and internet forums are overwhelmingly male, and people look for forum advice when they're having problems - not when things are going well. So your data sample is totally skewed.

Actually the trans is a overkill for that little engine,the 545RFE can handle over 1000ft-lbs of torque with a few tweaks.

Since mine was in Germany most of it's life and serviced under properly instructed mechanics, this could be the reason I have never had a issue with mine. The KJ CRD has served me well on road, off road, autobahn speeds and on the race track being flogged. There are alot of CRD KJ and KK around the world that are running with no issues, way more than 11000 or so sold in the US. There will always be haters and nothing in life is perfect when it comes to mechanics.

Since you hijacked my thread for your own personal gain, he is my question to you.

If you know so darn much about this engine and drive train, why the hell are you paying someone else to install it? I do all my engine installs and tranny swaps for the past 20 years. A lot more that were not my cars. With a engine setup like that, it should be pretty darn easy. If your shop has taken more than a week to install it, I think you need a new shop.

You nailed it, that's exactly what the problem is. Also, a weak TC and transmission didn't help either.

Not bad for a highly un-wanted vehicle with known issues.

Really? Mine has been on the German machines many times for normal servicing and it has never been an issue. I think mine even has the european EGR on it as well. How is the emmisions completely different?

I towed a 3,000 lb trailer across country a dozen times through mountain passes with up to a ten mile climb and back down. The engine and transmission is still solid at 70,000 miles and is ready for more hard work. I seen many other vehicles broke down and even completely burned up on the same route without towing something. I just gave the CRD a shake down (just returned to Delaware from Washington State) and all it needs is an oil change and a set of tires. The emission problems is you use high sulfur or other unrecommended goop in your fuel. The transmission problem is early models T/C built up to 11/05 and been solved. Yes the CRD is not the best made but what do you expect for a starting price $23K. We got what we paid for.

Cold feet are contagious. The majority of CRD's are trouble free.