Great travel experience: CRD on 2800 mile Xmas trip!

Silverdiesel · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:49 am

First let me say I don't nor I never will regret owning and operating this very unique but fantastic little diesel four wheel drive vehicle. This forum brings up a lot of concerns and pontiential problems but its the good experiences using this truck makes up more than enough justification to believe in and out right be proud of this Liberty CRD!

I had a trouble free, smooth, fuel saving, high performance, heck of a good ride!

Did Phoenix to San Antonio and back December 21 to 29th.

The Good Points:
29 MPG averaging 70 MPH per EVIC over there, pulled a 2500 lb trailer on return and got 24 MPG at 64 MPH.
Fantastic acceleration, quick and smooth for passing and such.
Top cruise for a short while and after passing up to 95 MPH.
Went 569 miles between fillups at 1 point.
Lots of times I put my foot in it and "drove it like I stole it"
ULSD with Power Service, white bottle and 1/2 ounce TC-W3 per gallon for lube cause EVIC was down to 17 degrees in West Texas.
Jeep limited has a great stereo.
Fantastic turbo whine to listen to (music to my ears).
Never a problem starting or air in lines or EGR foulups (ORM).
In traffic the CRD was the leader not the follower.
Had different people (SAT relatives) to brag about light diesels because my family and coworkers are sick and tired of hearing me.

Some Bad Points:
Working with a stock 545RFE transmission that is slipping 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd throwing occasionally P0732 transmission DTC code (incorrect gear ratio). Transmission made it through OK but going in for warranty on 1/07.
Small "Sweating" leak on one of my aux trans cooler lines, tighened up loose clamps, 15 minute job.
Splashing up overflow diesel while filling getting me and fender all wet.
San Antonio relatives also got tired of diesel talk also.
Knowing Retmil46 and Darby Walters were nearby and never got a chance to meet up with them during that time.

But hey someone got to report good news from time to time.
And again this forum is extremely informative and helpful and a confidence builder.
AndI hope reporting a good experience can help others like thier CRDs more.

Roland

Uffe · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:55 am

I hear you man. The CRD is a very good vehicle. I love it!

Only minor things are in the way of a perfect experience. This is more related to used cars than to the KJ I believe.

When you write about the transmission sweat, I get all curious to go and find out if I too have that

My sweat is an oily one, leaves a drop on my oil filter. But this is definatly not ATF+4 - it's engine oil. I think it's an o-ring or a clamp somewhere.

litton · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:56 am

Yep, I've had similar good experiance on two trips from Tucson to N/W Montana...3,000 mi round trip each. My only complaint is that the cruise control tops out at 86 mph which equate to 84 actual. Normally I run at 84 but occsionally I need to kick it up a tad.

techTim · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:44 pm

another satisfied owner here, my vacation trip was only around 600 miles, but had the same results towing both ways.

now if the wife will let me have the thing for a solo trip......big snow here in the PacNW, i need a ski trip

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:53 pm

I almost want to put a sticker on my side window when on the highway at 65mph...

Getting 30 mpg...How about you?

BlackLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:02 pm

DarbyWalters wrote:

I almost want to put a sticker on my side window when on the highway at 65mph...

Getting 30 mpg...How about you?

How about???

Getting 30 mpg and can pull tree trunks....How about you?

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

My Christmas vacation was a 1000 mile road trip and back country skiing excursion that included 100+ miles on snowy roads (from packed snow and ice on the interstate near LaGrande, OR, to fresh 10" of powder on gravel roads, to a white out on a rural two lane where you couldn't see the road at all... had to steer using the marker poles and reflectors on the side of the road.)

Little tractor did great. Two people, dog, ski/camping gear for a week, Thule roof box on the roof, skis on the roof, winter blend diesel, and snow tires and we averaged roughly 24-26 mpg per the EVIC. Jeep preformed superbly in all kinds of nasty road conditions. I had a blast driving it down a 2 mile access road to a ski trail, with 10" of super fine fresh powder on the road. We were the first vehicle on it... Jeep just chugged along like a snowcat, no wheel spin, no drifting, and even intentional stops from speed (20-25 mph) resulted in only a couple split second pulses of the anti-lock brakes before we were stopped nice and neat in a straight line. I chalk a lot of this up to the new Michellin X-Ice snow tires, but still, what a great ride!

Timmaah! · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:38 pm

Finally, some real snow! The first leg of our Christmas trip was 408 miles in 10 hours and 45 minutes using 16.3 gallons of fuel (25 mpg) – normally a 6 ½ hour trip. We got caught on the interstate sitting still for over 2 hours (engine running) and took the first opportunity to take unplowed county roads with 10 inches of light powder drifted to 4 feet deep in places. On one really good stretch the snow was so deep and blowing we could not identify the road – just tried to stay between the fence posts. At one point snow was coming over the left headlight and the steady power of the diesel just kept us moving right along. Still can’t believe it. For the whole 10+ hours not a single sputter, jerk or judder occurred even though the radiator was half plugged with snow. The little Jeep really came through for us.

Bovie · **Posted:** Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:04 pm

Good to hear. The CRD's road trip milage rocks, I recently drove my CRD 520 miles non stop on the freeway over mountain passes. Evic showed a max of 31.1mpg after about 450 miles and 30.0mpg when I pumped it fuel of diesel hand calculated at 29mpg. The two other "Much Smaller" cars from my family caravan couldn't even come close. The passes just killed the gassers mileage.

JIMMY JEEP · **Posted:** Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:46 pm

Do you guys have bigger fuel tanks over there, if i fill to the brim i get 300-330 miles if on motorway and round town i get 200 miles on a full tank :shock:

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:31 pm

20.5 gallons or about 77.5 liters I think. I also think you have the earlier version of the 2.8L...might get a bit different mileage.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

JIMMY JEEP wrote:

Do you guys have bigger fuel tanks over there, if i fill to the brim i get 300-330 miles if on motorway and round town i get 200 miles on a full tank :shock:

As far as direct MPG measurements, US gallons and Imperial are different. 28 mpg US would be about 23 mpg UK.

Try:

http://www.markporthouse.net/rangie/fue ... ersion.htm

But that should not affect what you are getting per tank. 200 miles per tank, assuming you are filling up with about 16 gallons, equals 12.5 mpg US. Something is certainly odd.

PIRATA · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:33 am

1st time poster, long time viewer... I also had a great 2000 mile vacation trip from Miami to Tennessee and North Carolina with 0 problems. I actually found ULSD for $1.98 in the mountains in NC. I Love this car. Enjoyed passing all the gassers up hill through the Smokey Mountains.

Uffe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:25 am

JIMMY JEEP wrote:

Do you guys have bigger fuel tanks over there, if i fill to the brim i get 300-330 miles if on motorway and round town i get 200 miles on a full tank :shock:

Did you really empty it, or did you fill it up when the yellow light came on?

If you filled it up when the light came on, you only get a 55 liter fill up. This weekend the girlfriend and I went on a trip to her parents and did some shopping on the way. There's 90km from her parents and back home. The yellow low fuel light came on 10 km before we got to her parents place, and we drove all the way home and the next day went to the cheapest gas station and filled up. We got 65 liters into the tank. The tank can hold 78 liters.

Don't be afraid of the yellow light, it only says "fill me up within 2 days"

PS: In 2005 the CRD got the VGT added which bumped fuel economy a notch (1km/l or about 2MPGs for all you imperial unit guys).

JIMMY JEEP · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:27 am

I fill up after light has come on and usually put £65-£60 worth in .And if i'm travelling on slow roads i get 12-14mpg on the evic,and need to fill up anywhere beetween 200-225 miles.On highway run with some low speed stuff i get around 300 miles per tank. What should i be getting!! and what may be causing this?. Tyres are correctly inflated ,i cleaned the maf sensor. On my build sheet i think it said i had a 19.1 gallon tank.

Uffe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:29 am

JIMMY JEEP wrote:

I fill up after light has come on and usually put £65-£60 worth in .And if i'm travelling on slow roads i get 12-14mpg on the evic,and need to fill up anywhere beetween 200-225 miles.On highway run with some low speed stuff i get around 300 miles per tank. What should i be getting!! and what may be causing this?. Tyres are correctly inflated ,i cleaned the maf sensor. On my build sheet i think it said i had a 19.1 gallon tank.

# U.S. liquid gallon is legally defined as 231 cubic inches, and is equal to 3.785411784 litres (exactly) . This is the most common definition of a gallon in the USA.

# Imperial (UK) gallon is legally defined as 4.54609 litres (~277.42 cu in), which is about 1.2 U.S. liquid gallons.

Where do you live? Hehe.

19.1 US gallons is 72,2 liters.

19.1 UK gallons is 85.95 liters.

You should have a 20.5 US gallon tank (77.5 liters). I got that too according to my spec charts and user manual.

What oil are you using? Do you pack a heavy load in the Jeep? Do you tow? Do you change speed often? How many hills do you drive in?

Uffe · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:51 pm

Oh my god I just really checked the paper on my KJ it says I have a 70 liter tank! LOL! That would've been a PITA to find out the WRONG way!

Manual also says the fuel warning comes on when you have 10.2 liters left in your tank (~2.7 US gallons)

Jimmy I think you're correct to say that we might have the smaller tanks. Mine is 18.5 US gallons not 20.5.

Sorry to have spread misinformation!!

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

12.5 mpg sounds way, way off to me. In my worst, stop and go, urban city driving downtown here, I'm still getting 17-18 mpg. In a mix of city/highway (my normal commute), I have been averaging around 21 mpg with winter blend diesel and a ski rack on top.

Is your air filter clean and in good shape? How many miles does your fuel filter have on it?

BlackLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:44 pm

I was towing a 3000 lbs enclosed trailer through the mountains against a strong head wind and still got 14 mpg doing it. It wasn't hard to figure out why.

Great travel experience: CRD on 2800 mile Xmas trip!

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