VM North America is no longer owned by Penske. if you called the north American office you would have been directed to contact Chrysler. The Penske Group sold its stake in VM Motori.

Recently 50% of VM Motori was purchased by FIAT s.p.a., the other 50% is still owned by GM. I thnk the representative for VM North America was Diana Dupree, she was very helpful.

Try contacting VM in Italy...... I'd love to see how far you get in that direction.

_________________
2006 Liberty Limited CRD, Deep Beryl Green, Yeti tune, Arp studs, new cams, rockers, lifters, TB. "Green Monster"
2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Deep Beryl Green, GDE Hot Tune, ARP studs. "Rocket"
1982 Fiat 124 Spider Convertible. "Fiona"

I'm sorry guys, I am serious, my Jeep is running better than it has for the last couple of years. Not that I have any complaints, as I love my rig!! Maybe it was a combo of the glow plugs and the fuel filter head change out, but it's running great

I would definitely not change them out unless you have to. As nice as it is to know that they are the new metal glow plugs, this is an expensive endeavor.

_________________
'05 Stone White CRD
Brand new LT245/75/16 Cooper Discoverer S/Ts, Lift kit, K&N Filter, brand new glowplugs and a new fuel filter

Recently had the new glow plugs installed by a dealer, they are a Dodge dealer and work on Sprinter vans so were not fazed by the idea of changing glow plugs. The bad news is the cost was $500+, the good news is they seem to have done a good job, the Liberty runs better than ever, put about 500 miles on it now.
I kept the old GPs, two are brown and two are black, not sure which is better and how to check them when not installed. If someone wants to try to replace a defective old style GP they could try to install one of these, especially if the defective GP is in one of the more accessible positions. Free to a good home for the cost of shipping. Eventually new GPs will probably be necessary but maybe that date can be delayed.

It's true. The reason why it's running great is because the Engine Computers’ software was updated to the latest and greatest revision.

If the update had an EGR delete and an increase in torque, it would be perfect.

_________________
2006 Liberty Limited CRD, Deep Beryl Green, Yeti tune, Arp studs, new cams, rockers, lifters, TB. "Green Monster"
2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Deep Beryl Green, GDE Hot Tune, ARP studs. "Rocket"
1982 Fiat 124 Spider Convertible. "Fiona"

check on EBAY. Steve White Motors has a listing for them. Says it includes 4 plugs and relay and is new design.
$183.61 for the set

Whew! I made it through all those posts without my head exploding. I too, have gone through the VW PD GP changeover - twice and hate this unknowingness.

What I understand from this is the new GPs are steel, run on 5 volts, require a new controller and either a dealer reflash or GDE tune.

At this time, I'm unclear if the old ceramics are still available and if a guy bought glow plugs last summer would he likely get the steel or the ceramic?

Are the dealers up to speed by now on the reflash?

Actually I think that's all the information I am looking for since everything else was covered or linked to in this thread. Am I missing anything?

I got the first production set of etechno's, stock controller, had them in for about a week. It hasn't been real cold here yet but I also don't have to worry about them breaking, holding a valve open, stuffing the broken valeve into the piston, and splitting the cylinder liner in 3 places like it did with the ceramics!

_________________
'05 CRD Limited: 174k mi Euro Torque Converter, EHM, ORM, Racor fuel filter, Original Rocker Arms, Amsoil everywhere
'98 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 24 valve extended cab short bed
'01 Jinma 4wd diesel tractor

Looking for any info from people that may be experiencing similar problems:

I have had the 5V metal plugs in for about a year and a half, I have a GDE eco tune from Nov 2011 with the correct flash for the plugs. From the beginning the 5V plugs seemed to have weaker starts than I remember when I had working 7V plugs but especially now that I am a year out. The glow plug light never stays on for more than a 1/2 second if its 90 degrees outside or -10. That has been occurring since I installed the new flash. I burned through the battery I bought the jeep with in about 2 months after the conversion and just recently again ( a little more than a year). My jeep starts rough if not plugged in from about 30-50 degrees, and very rough almost nonexistent below that without being plugged in. This year has been especially bad (especially the last few weeks) I actually almost couldn't start it even after being plugged in for 2 hours. I ran a resistance test on the plugs and found each one to be within range ~.7 ohms. I still have my old 7V relay (with identical part number) and I am considering putting it back on or possibly ordering a new relay. Any other ideas?

I have no problems with my 5v plugs. Few seconds on the light.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

_________________
2006 Sport, GDE FT Eco Tune, Custom Trans Tune
2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn EcoDiesel, GDE Hot Tune

Yeah I'm having pretty much the same problem but have not ohmed out the glow plugs yet and I think my 1 year old Optima may be started to fail already. So I need to rule the battery part out still.

The glow plug controllers are different part numbers if I remember correctly I wouldnt interchange them.

_________________
'97 Wrangler Sahara with some mods.

'06 Liberty CRD Limited GDE Hot Tune, Lift Pump

Head Gasket and Timing Belt Pics

Does the update cause it to run better and increase MPG?

I ordered the 7 volt metal ones directly from Italy...

they were cheap
they arrived quickly
they didn't require a reflash
and they work great: Several starts bellow freezing already..... 6 second wait, and she cranks and fires as if she was already warm....



http://www.dieselglowplug.com/gx3123-di ... -2032.html

From their website:

This double filament 7V glow plug usually fits on VM diesel engines, see cross references list and application below for more info. This is a fast heating glow plug, controlled by a fast starting control unit. It works as a drop in replacement for the original ceramic glow plug, you can unscrew the old ceramic 7V and use this item without any other update. It doesn't require any flash or software update. You can also mix this item with the original ceramic glow plugs if you wish, but remember if you got one replaced, the left overs will not last any long. It's 100% tested on production line by automatic machines and lifespan tested according to oem protocols. It's made using steel sheated technology, it has been designed to replace original ceramic glow plugs.