Milage modifications 05 liberty CRD

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:57 pm

Hello all! New to this forum/website. I have owned several Jeeps over the years.

I recently traded in my 98 cherokee for an 05 Liberty CRD.

I have never owned a diesel before, so I have plenty of learning to do.

I have read [on this forum and others] there are several modifications that should be done to this Jeep model. I have no idea what has or has-not been done.

Though I have plenty of reading material to go through from posts on this very forum, many of them are from years ago. Since we are in the here-and-now, can some one recommend "MUST DO" changes - or procedures?? I'm not really interested on doing some major mods., only the ones that render the best fuel mileage.

Thanks for your help, Best, Dave Wood, Denver

papaindigo · **Posted:** Fri Nov 28, 2014 5:37 pm

Very first absolute must do is determine absolutely positively when/if your timing belt has been changed. Absent absolute proof if when/if, my mechanic checked and it's fine DOES NOT count, your 9 year old timing belt needs changing like now. Plenty of folks in the Front Range vicinity can do/help do the job. Next read Sir Sam's NOOB guide.

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Fri Nov 28, 2014 7:41 pm

papaindigo wrote:

Very first absolute must do is determine absolutely positively when/if your timing belt has been changed. Absent absolute proof if when/if, my mechanic checked and it's fine DOES NOT count, your 9 year old timing belt needs changing like now. Plenty of folks in the Front Range vicinity can do/help do the job. Next read Sir Sam's NOOB guide.

..ok, thanks. Ill have it checked. According to carfax and the dealer I got it from, it seems to have been serviced regularly. In a gas engine, one would only change the timing belt if it needed to be changed, and not before. Given that the timing belt is an obvious thing to do, if it needs one, are you saying a particular belt aids in mileage?? Why would I need to change a belt that is working properly, or doesn't seem bad or worn?? :dizzy:

On reading several pages of posts [most posted years ago], I was looking for things I should be modifying to improve mileage substantially. ..and where I should be looking to see if those have already been done. ..have had the car in my garage only 3 days.

My prior jeeps have been gas - this is my 1st diesel 'anything'.

best, regards.. dw

flash7210 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 28, 2014 10:20 pm

An old timing belt can break without warning.
The result of that will be severe engine damage.
You will no longer be worried about fuel mileage when that happens.

zak21 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:57 pm **Posts:** 17

Ditto on the timing belt, these engines are called an interference design where if the timing belt breaks the pistons will come into contact with any valve that is left open or partially open. This is not an issue with this engine only but on many gas engines with timing belts. The belt is scheduled to be replaced at 100K and it is highly recommended here due to the fact that these engines are much more expensive than there gas counterparts.

As for mileage, reading the old posts will help as this info is still valid even if it is several years old. Reading Sam's noob guide is a great start.

Also when I get a new vehicle I like to give everything a once over before doing any modifications to ensure it is running properly to start with. Things you should do/check first are oil/filter change, fuel filter change, front/rear diff fluid changes, check air filter, check thermostat and change ATF filters.

After those here are some highlights for you on mileage.

Thermostat - these are know to go bad before 100K and will affect mileage. If your temp gauge never gets past 1/4 then its bad, it should stay steady at a tick under half.
viscous heater disable
EGR disable/removal
Tune
high flow muffler and 2.5" tube from cat back to replace restrictive section
high flow intake/drop in filter
etc

RockyMountainYote · **Joined:** Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:32 pm **Posts:** 77

I live in Evergreen, Co and have a small shop in Arvada. If you want to stop by or call me, I can P/M my contact info and I'll fill your brain with more CRD knowledge than you'd ever care to know. Being a Colorado Resident myself, there's things that must be addressed that cannot be ignored (such as your cooling fan clutch). Welcome to Lost and the wonderful world of diesel

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Sat Nov 29, 2014 6:52 pm

thanks guys... !

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:22 pm

ok.. I am finding it very difficult to find prior service records for this 'new to me' Liberty..

My only attraction to this car was the diesel engine [mileage]. im not a power freak, but this is a perk of this engine.
I failed to follow through on a complete research of this version liberty, and should have noticed the timing-belt issue before I bought it.

Since I dont know if the liming belt has had its 100K service, I have to assume it has not been done. In a search for a shop in Denver that can do this work, I am getting 1500$~1900$ for this service. The jeep dealer is out of the question. Dealers usually get double for service and parts.

Considering this service-cost is roughly a 1/4 of what I paid for the thing - and while I'm not looking for a back alley-job, is there anyone in the Denver area that is reasonable? :dizzy:

thanks, dw

gmctd · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:51 pm

Be worth checking with ur local DCJ dealer, just for comparison, eh...........................

ArmyChief · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 7:52 pm

RockyMountainYote wrote:

I live in Evergreen, Co and have a small shop in Arvada. If you want to stop by or call me, I can P/M my contact info and I'll fill your brain with more CRD knowledge than you'd ever care to know. Being a Colorado Resident myself, there's things that must be addressed that cannot be ignored (such as your cooling fan clutch). Welcome to Lost and the wonderful world of diesel

can I call and get my brain filled too ? :banghead:

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 8:23 pm

ArmyChief - ..i did try to contact you [through the forum], to no reply.. maybe I did it wrong? if so, how do I get in contact??

regards, dw

ArmyChief wrote:

RockyMountainYote wrote:

I live in Evergreen, Co and have a small shop in Arvada. If you want to stop by or call me, I can P/M my contact info and I'll fill your brain with more CRD knowledge than you'd ever care to know. Being a Colorado Resident myself, there's things that must be addressed that cannot be ignored (such as your cooling fan clutch). Welcome to Lost and the wonderful world of diesel

can I call and get my brain filled too ? :banghead:

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:28 pm

'gmctd' - Thanks for mentioning it.. The 1st place I thought to avoid - THE DEALER...

AUTONATION Jeep, Littleton - http://www.autonationchryslerjeepbroadway.com/index.htm
Was the 1st dealer I called.. The guy I spoke to seemed to know exactly what needed to be done - Quick reply usually means they provide this service regularly.. He even gave me a quote - 881.21
..about 1/2 what the interdependent shops quoted, and is something I could live with. :BANANA:

regards, dw

SFHLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 3:49 pm

dr5chrome wrote:

'gmctd' - Thanks for mentioning it.. The 1st place I thought to avoid - THE DEALER...

AUTONATION Jeep, Littleton - http://www.autonationchryslerjeepbroadway.com/index.htm
Was the 1st dealer I called.. The guy I spoke to seemed to know exactly what needed to be done - Quick reply usually means they provide this service regularly.. He even gave me a quote - 881.21
..about 1/2 what the interdependent shops quoted, and is something I could live with. :BANANA:

regards, dw

I would be very suspicious of this quote as obviously they have no idea what they're talking about. It is not only the belt, but water pump, rollers, tensioner, etc. that need to be changed if you do a full TB job (which you should). Parts alone are around $400 if you buy them yourself. Check with Sir Sam (near Denver) to have the job done, or any other LOST member who might be able to help you out with this.

Again, a dealer that quotes you <$900 for this job is not quoting you for what really needs to be done. You will either end up with them not doing the job correctly, or charging you much more when they figure it out.

SFHLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 3:50 pm

dr5chrome wrote:

'gmctd' - Thanks for mentioning it.. The 1st place I thought to avoid - THE DEALER...

AUTONATION Jeep, Littleton - http://www.autonationchryslerjeepbroadway.com/index.htm
Was the 1st dealer I called.. The guy I spoke to seemed to know exactly what needed to be done - Quick reply usually means they provide this service regularly.. He even gave me a quote - 881.21
..about 1/2 what the interdependent shops quoted, and is something I could live with. :BANANA:

regards, dw

Did you contact RockyMountainYote as he invited you to? (It was not ArmyChief, by the way, you read it wrong.)

silence · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 4:43 pm

Contact RockyMountainYote by PM here on the forum. He did my timing belt and did a great job. I highly recommend him, he really knows his stuff.

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:58 pm

Thanks SFHLibertyCRD - I did try again to contact rockymountianyote - I will plead ignorance on this subject. I am still in the process of studying up on the CRD - I soon found out that the dealer quoted me only for the belt change. I called them back to verify other info I soon learned. That shop manager still seemed knowledgeable and wasn't prepared to quote for blindly changing everything, but stated that if they felt my CRD needed everything changed, the cost would be double.. I will wait for RMyote to get back to me before I pull the trigger..

best regards, dw

SFHLibertyCRD wrote:

dr5chrome wrote:

'gmctd' - Thanks for mentioning it.. The 1st place I thought to avoid - THE DEALER...

regards, dw

I would be very suspicious of this quote as obviously they have no idea what they're talking about. It is not only the belt, but water pump, rollers, tensioner, etc. that need to be changed if you do a full TB job (which you should). Parts alone are around $400 if you buy them yourself. Check with Sir Sam (near Denver) to have the job done, or any other LOST member who might be able to help you out with this.

Again, a dealer that quotes you <$900 for this job is not quoting you for what really needs to be done. You will either end up with them not doing the job correctly, or charging you much more when they figure it out.

SFHLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:05 pm

Here's the timing belt kit you need: http://idparts.com/catalog/product_info ... ts_id=2721

Now you just need someone to install it for you. Hopefully RMYote or Sir Sam (contact him as well, one of the respected founders of this forum). How many miles on your rig? Also might want to check rocker health (one telltale test is MAF at idle number). After that you can figure out MPG mods. First step should be a GDE tune if you don't have one.

ibedonc · **Joined:** Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:40 pm **Posts:** 236

I would not trust any Dealer to do it . Geordi did my two ,But he is on the East Coast ( He is on this forum )

dr5chrome · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:53 pm

Thanks again!.. I did try to contact them both again.

My CRD - a 2005 w/97K mi. I can say, in all my years of owning cars, this one is the cleanest 9yr old car I have ever seen [no exaggeration]. Along with the kit - would you recommend the serpentine tensioner as well? I don't know if it has a GDE.. Where do I look for one if it has..? I guess a rocker health test can be done during the belt change.
I used to change the timing belt in a sooped-up Pinto I used to own [showing my age] in my youth, but this CRD is quite different.

regards, dw

SFHLibertyCRD wrote:

Here's the timing belt kit you need: http://idparts.com/catalog/product_info ... ts_id=2721

Now you just need someone to install it for you. Hopefully RMYote or Sir Sam (contact him as well, one of the respected founders of this forum). How many miles on your rig? Also might want to check rocker health (one telltale test is MAF at idle number). After that you can figure out MPG mods. First step should be a GDE tune if you don't have one.

ArmyChief · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 10:10 pm

Well, I don't have any messages showing in my inbox.

The serpentine belt tensioner should be ok (with this CRD, if it were bad...you'd know it)
The rocker test is done with a scantool looking at MAF at hot idle (looking for 17.5-18.2 GPS), anything below 15 GPS MAY indicate rocker wear.

Timing by on this beast is WAY different than a Pinto...although rear end collisions may end up with same result...

Milage modifications 05 liberty CRD

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