CRD ENGINE Problems

kjjet · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:58 pm

I thought it may be time to list the problems the CRD engine has.

1. EGR system destroys the engine.
2. CCV blows oil.
3. Fuel System prone to leaks. (air in fuel issues)
4. Thermostat is Junk.
5. Intercooler leaks.
6. Engine mounts bad.
7. Rockers wear out.
8. Head gasket issues.
9. Head bolts suspect.
10. MAP issues.
11. Glow plugs.
12. Oil pressure sending unit.
13. Rod bearing issues. (AKA geordi)

All of which you can have problems with prior to 100k.

Your welcome to add to the list. This is just what came to mind.

This is a very troublesome engine! Maybe the worse engine built in the last 20 years, and then they put it in a Jeep? Quality? NOT X2!
Regards,
KJJET

thermorex · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:05 pm

Kjjet, what happened to your engine recently? I see you very determined to trash the crd, lol. Not trying to make fun of you by any means, but I believe some other issues occurred to your crd. Hopefully nothing is bad as of now and you were able to address everything successfully and with low-cost.

The only ones that are a big issue at this engine, as I have seen on this forum, are number 1 (which is pretty much an issue for all engines with so much egr) , 3, 4 and maybe 9. A glow plug that goes bad and cracks can break any diesel engine. Rod bearings through the block I see even at the 4.0 amc engine from Cherokee's and wranglers (I'm also pretty often on naxja), which is a very tough engine. Oil pressure sender (or any sender) goes bad to any car, I had to replace mine on the Cherokee and my engine barely has 130k. Ccv blowing oil, that happens to any car. I believe it's a little worse to crd because people do not know the max oil level is about half on the dipstick, and if you overfill, it will go out through the Cc (I know from my provent, oil at max on dipstick goes out in the provent, it stops when I get to 1/2 dipstick). Intercooler is not different than other models, I should probably state that other models have a more rigid front frame and the intercooler may not get loose so easy and have leaks. Rockers wear out from egr and maybe not an adequate diesel oil for the amount of egr, my engine mounts to were still Ok when I replaced them, not as good as the new ones, but would still go for a while. Definitely not the best design, but not horrible either. Head gasket issues are imo related to 9 - bolts not being properly torqued. Map issues also related to egr soot.

You could add also on the list the stock viscous clutch (which again with a good thermostat, I never had an overheat but I barely tow couple thousand pounds), window regulator (most cars have this issue since corporations are cheap and made them from plastic), air filter fluke that's prone to suck water (this is bad design imo), cheap 2.4 litter muffler resonator (narrower diameter compared to the rest of muffler), front calipers prone to drag due to those rubber sleeves (liberty all models issue). I'll edit the post if I remember more.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:35 pm

Well - while the posters at LOST as a group have had all of those
don't think anyone had more than one or two
and most haven't had any....
you tend to forget there are a few thousand folks who aren't on LOST and some on LOST who never have problems.

The most troublesome issue - it that there aren't any mnt techs in the US who understand them - so LOST tends to help sort out a lot of issues that on other cars get fixed without a second thought.

if you think this is bad - go over to some of the other car forums - Toyota's included

Glend · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:43 pm

I have had no problems at all but took the prudent precaution of putting in a Provent when new and running the GDE tune. The facts are that all modern diesel engines suffer from the same issues the VM engine faces and some of these modern engines cannot even be rebuilt.
If you have a head problem with a Mercedes diesel you have to throw out the entire head assembly and replace it as a unit - 'non-servicable' is increasingly affecting long term cost as a result of trying to drive down production cost using composite assemblies.

At least three of his listed issues have nothing to do with the engine itself but to Chrysler Jeep addon or support systems. Most of the rest of the list affect some US models only, thanks to Chrysler Jeep changing the service interval and oil specs to improve fleet fuel economy marginally.; and to the high level of soot required to be ingested by these engines in the US.

As was noted above the number of people having significant problems with theirs is small and often contributed to by neglect or treatment by a previous owner.

If the original poster is so unhappy with his perhaps he should just sell it and spare us his hatred.

diesel_guy86 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:47 pm

Ford 6.0L V8 built by navistar:

1: soot cakes up on the vanes and over speeds the turbo, can cause catastrophic failure.
2: EGR cooler is a weakly designed/ built design. Cracks and causes rapid coolant loss, high coolant temp, and can hydro-lock the engine, any of these can cause catastrophic failure.
3: head gaskets have issues.
4: injectors are prone to breaking off in the cylinder, guaranteed catastrophic failure.

Anyone of these problems could end up in an $8k-$10k bill from ford with warranty, with the lesser of them being a "cheap" $2k fix. In fact its rumored to be the biggest warrantee repair and buy back program ever. The aftermarket has stepped up and made reliable parts, but it takes money to get it reliable. And yet ford owners still stand behind them. Just like I will with my crd.

kjjet · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:50 pm

The reason for the post is to give a true history of the CRD engine. Sorry if its not a good history.

I just want new people to know the truth prior to getting in too deep.

My CRD engine is running fine. Just little issues here and there, Like always with it.

Regards
KJJET

flash7210 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:05 pm

1. EGR system destroys the engine. -- disabled mine before it could cause problems

2. CCV blows oil. -- and EHM drips oil on my driveway

3. Fuel System prone to leaks. (air in fuel issues) -- facet lift pump fixed mine before it could cause problem

4. Thermostat is Junk. -- yes it is. Moroso inline housing so much better

5. Intercooler leaks. -- hopefully my CAC hoses will bust open before that happens

6. Engine mounts bad. -- its possible on mine, its hard to check, but they will go bad on any engine

7. Rockers wear out. -- at 135000 miles mine still seem to work good

8. Head gasket issues. -- still good so far. Keeping my fingers crossed

9. Head bolts suspect. -- I suspect they will cause #8

10. MAP issues. -- before I disabled #1 I had to clean mine at every oil change but I have never replaced it

11. Glow plugs. -- at 135000 miles mine still seem to work good

12. Oil pressure sending unit. -- still works

13. Rod bearing issues. (AKA geordi) -- probably caused by turbo failure

14. Turbo failure -- hasn't happened to me yet. Keeping my fingers crossed

thermorex · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:29 pm

For those that think other diesels are better, just scroll down the threads and read threads titles:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay. ... 9af5f&f=12

http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay. ... 9af5f&f=68

Links to mk 4 and mk 5 (cp4) tdi. Lots of issues there too.

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:45 pm

Lol... Is it bad when engine problems are called out by your username because you were the unlucky SOB to endure two of the same failure with no clear causality? :SOMBRERO:

Lets see...

1: Yup, killed the EGR with the SEGR device in the first week I owned the CRD. Didn't seem to help with regard to the engine failures.
2: Yup, had that too. EHM solved it, but I didn't like the drooling either.
3: Yup, installed the Mr Gasket fuel pump back by the tank (need to do this on my TDI) and solved that problem permanently... Until the fuel pump spat off it's OWN front end, and dutifully sprayed about 5 gallons of diesel onto the ROAD before the thing quit running and I figured out what happened. :furious:

4: Yup... Inline thermostat fixed that, and I plan on the same for my TDI if it ever needs it.
5: Surprise! Never had an issue.
6: Yup, changed them both (only one was really bad) and whoever designed the mounting location for the driver's side... Needs to spend the next 20 years counting trees in Siberia. In their underwear.
7: Surprise! Apparently also never had an issue in 130k miles and 2 engines. Rockers were only damaged by monkey replacing engine.
8: Surprise! Head gasket was just fine on both engines. Too bad the engine under it wasn't so good.
9: Don't know, didn't know about this problem initially when tearing down my motor. Doubt they were bad though, but I HAVE found at least 2 or 3 on each engine that I have worked on that are NOT PROPERLY TIGHT from the factory. This is a troubling thing to discover.
10: The MAP got cleaned a couple times, but with the SEGR, the only thing on it was wet oil. No sludge.
11: Never had an issue with the ceramics on my own engines... WILL NOT change them on anyone else's after a massive problem from the #3 snapping off just as it was coming out of the head. No damage... But LOTS and LOTS of work.
12: Had this problem. Ah, whatever. Cheap Chinese trash part. Replaced it on lots of vehicles.
13: Yeah... :banghead:

14: Had 2 turbos fail, BUT the engine problems didn't seem to be caused by that after engine #2 killed itself without ever running low on oil OR oil pressure.

camo · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:49 pm

When I was in college it was said that if you had sex in your car you would assure a crappy life for it... Just saying :ROTFL:

in 3 years of ownership and 40k+ miles the only non-engine maintenance related things I've done are the GDE tune, and air oil separator.
I guess you might be better off trying a Chevrolet spark :mrgreen:

kjjet · **Posted:** Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:56 pm

Thanks for the reply geordi. You know! :POPCORN:

flman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 6:57 am

I thought this was a CRD enthusiast forum, not a CRD haters forum? :ALONE:

Auberon · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:51 am

If I'm not mistaken the KJ was only sold in the US for 2 years but to the rest of World from 2002 to 2007 with the 2.8 VM Motori included in 2005 and 2006 only for the US market.
I have not read of these failures in other forums from other parts of the world in such magnitude except when timing belts have not been changed as prescribed etc. There has always (seemingly) been a discernable cause identified.

Interesting as the rest of the World don't have the luxury of picking a car of this quality up (new) in the order of 30 000 of our currency one must add nearly 50% or more.....but the issues listed herein don't seem to be reported in such magnitude or with such venom elsewhere.
Seems to me there has to be some causality that isn't identified.
Peripherals can always fail and as an example my MAP and MAF have been cleaned regularly since new....I regard this (as an example) as standard and very routine maintenance on any diesel so outfitted that I am running on farm or on road.
Just saying.

kjjet · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 10:26 am

flman wrote:

I thought this was a CRD enthusiast forum, not a CRD haters forum? :ALONE:

I don't hate the CRD. Never said that. I just feel you should be telling it the way it is. Not sugar coating it. There is a reason they only had it in the US for 2 years. Unreliable.

Lets take the average person that buys a car. They can't even change the oil. They don't do mods and tunes. It breaks they pay and keep paying until they had enough and trade it. Talk to those people? They are the haters.

I just want people to know the truth prior to spending their hard earned money on a unreliable CRD.

truckbouy2 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:20 pm

"I just want people to know the truth prior to spending their hard earned money on a unreliable CRD."

The Princess's hasn't had any engine issues really to speak of other than the fuel head. The crappy transmission and transmission electronics has been the issue. But that is Chrysler's incompetence in feeling the need to make the automatic an electronic mess to save a pitance of fuel (imagine using fuel mileage and a Chrysler product in the same sentence :ROTFL:

). As far as unreliable, hasn't missed a beat in 9 yrs. Cold, hot, driven like a stolen car, or babied and anything in between. Seems to be as reliable as any other Chrysler product I've had the privelege and sometimes the stupidity to own.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:29 pm

I disagree with that statement. The CRD wasn't pulled from the USA after 2 years because of problems. If that was the case, they would have made changes to the design for the rest of the run.

FYI: I believe it was sold from 2002-2009, but I could be wrong about the end date.

Everything I have ever heard about selling it in the USA was that it was a 'marketing experiment' by then-owned Daimler-Chrysler. The general gist of it was that they wanted to see if the USA market might have been ready for a small diesel for the grocery-getting crowd when most diesels were sold only to the large pickup / jobber / heavy truck segment. Funny thing, I don't remember hearing or seeing a single advertisement for them. Other things I have heard is that every single one they planned to make (and possibly more) were sold, and they usually only lasted on a dealer's lot for a few days before getting snatched up.

Seems like the 'marketing test' might have proven there was demand, yet the pulling of it after only 2 model years suggests that they viewed it as a failure.

This was right as the market was teetering before the crash, so it is possible that they simply pulled the more expensively-built vehicles so they could focus on higher-profit-margin vehicles. Daimler also may have wanted the VM engine pulled from sale because they wanted their own Merc engine put out there, as witnessed by the WAY-overpriced Grand Cherokee option. Then there is the change from the 7/70 warranty in 2005 to the 3/36 in 2006, for the same vehicle... Did they know anything, or was this just a cost-cutting measure at a time when Daimler was hemorrhaging money? The 2005 models should have all been averaging around 8k-15k miles by the time the 2006 changes to the warranty would have been announced, certainly they shouldn't have been having any EGR or other problems that soon?

We all know the EGR only lasts around 16k-20k miles, and does NO GOOD to the engine. But Chrysler shouldn't have been discovering that until after the 2006 year had started selling. I don't think the reliability aspect (or lack of one) would have caused them to pull the model or the extended warranty. I think it was simply a business decision by corporate to save money.

thermorex · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:06 pm

I thought the reason was the new epa pollution junk that made the US distribution/sales stop. I believe vw had some diesel models unavailable after 2006 for some time.

flman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:23 pm

kjjet wrote:

flman wrote:

I thought this was a CRD enthusiast forum, not a CRD haters forum? :ALONE:

I don't hate the CRD. Never said that. I just feel you should be telling it the way it is. Not sugar coating it. There is a reason they only had it in the US for 2 years. Unreliable.

Lets take the average person that buys a car. They can't even change the oil. They don't do mods and tunes. It breaks they pay and keep paying until they had enough and trade it. Talk to those people? They are the haters.

I just want people to know the truth prior to spending their hard earned money on a unreliable CRD.

thermorex wrote:

I thought the reason was the new epa pollution junk that made the US distribution/sales stop. I believe vw had some diesel models unavailable after 2006 for some time.

Exactly, fitting a DPF and related crap was going to be a problem, so they did it in the 2007 GC which was not such a big seller at $50K. Soccer moms did not like a rattling GC diesel. So the CRD Libby was not discontinued because of unreliability. And the most unreliable parts are emissions like on any modern diesel. And they sure do hold the value for unreliable. I wonder what a reliable 3.7 gasser is worth for its age? :roll:

I think the people that come here can find plenty of threads about the ups and downs of the CRD. My only major problem was a head gasket, and the wife overheated many times, and a new gasket and it purrs like a kitten. Hell, it purred like a kitten with the bad gasket. So with 2, only one minor problem because a head gasket is not really major.

Most of the problems are caused by the mods, and not using the right parts and fluids.

camo · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:05 pm

Market pull out of the libby was due to EPA regulations and lack of compliance to emissions in all states, they saw it easier to comply with regulations with the lager 3.0VM and the libby experiment was discarded to be replaced by the grand Cherokee experiment in 2007 which had even a shorter life spam... till now.
Could of reliability issues weight on the balance? may be, but it would not have been the first time for Chrysler anyway. That being said the real reason splits between a corporate (profit) decision and EPA regulations, being the latter the one that weighted the most.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:54 pm

I forgot about the EPA rule changeover... That was why VW didn't offer anything in 2007, they "held over" the 2006 model year into 2007 by over-making the TDI in 2006 so they had a stockpile of chassis to tide them over a bit.

That certainly could have been the main reason the CRD was pulled from sales.

CRD ENGINE Problems

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