Greetings Lost crew. To be honest, 2 months ago I had no clue this diesel existed. I was immediately intrigued and I spent the next weeks doing research, a lot of research. Yes, I've read the horror stories on the Lib. CRD but overall I could tell there a lot of happy folks out there. Ok, short story long... After searching craigslist, dealer listings and ebay I found an 05 Liberty in CA. The price was right because it had a salvaged title. Though I had serious doubts and concerns and multiple conversations on the phone, I took a leap of faith, purchased the vehicle and flew from Montana to central CA. I met the guy at the airport, shook his hand and took the keys to the Jeep. YIKES!!

Needless to say I was very nervous taking this Jeep under these circumstances. On top of it all ,I was driving across the barren lands of Nevada, up and over serious mountain passes 1,200 miles to Montana.

Overall, the Jeep was awesome. It drove great, not the most comfortable for long hauls but everything seems sound and great for the most part...

I am really looking forward to having this truck. I need the towing torque because I pull trailers from time to time. I need the 4wd because of MT. I need the MPG because we do a lot of driving around here. I also have to say I love the sound and it's unique style. I especially like the sound of the turbo when it winds up. This thing is a little goat. It almost feels like the back end hunches up when I put on the gas! So far so good.

However, with a kid on the way I need reliability most of all...

Diesel mechanics are around but the waiting time and $$ is going to break me. Especially if there are things I could do my self...

I have concerns and your input would seriously help.

1). I have an oily coating in my engine compartment. A fine film of oil on the plastic guard... (too much oil?)

2). I would like to clean my EGR, the MAP sensor, and modify all that I can that one should do with their Lib. CRD. But for some reason I cannot find the EGR. I've seen all sorts of pics and I just cant place it when I look in the compartment of my rig. If someone could send pics of the whole engine, then show a progression of pics that lead up to the EGR sensor, I would soooo appreciate it. (I feel it is a little dirty because I get hesitation in the turbo and sometimes it sputters at around 50 mph)

3). I read in other posts that the dipstick oil guage is off. When it reads full it is actually too full. True?
What kind of oil should I use?

4). What else should I do? Follow the Noobe blog I reckon..

5). Is there a place to get a manual for this rig, for the engine in particular?

6). A little patience. I am new to the diesel concept. I am a quick learner, and I am fairly mechanically competent. However, to me diesels look like a mix between a time machine, a steam farm contraption, and a motor for a space ship.

Bottom line, I really like this Jeep. I grew up with a '58 Willies which I am sure is still running.

Best place to start is read and follow the NOOB guide as many of your questions are answered there. Other comments:
1. 5W-40 6.3 qts with Wix 51516 filter or 7 qts with larger Wix 51515 Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel or ESP or Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic - equivalent filters or synthetic diesel rated oil are ok. I know the dip stick is off but don't have first hand knowledge of where the mark should be yet.
2. Transmission fluid ATF+4 only - as with antifreeze FSMs are inconsistent. Service fill seems to be 8qts while full fill is more like 14qts or more.
3. Antifreeze HOAT only - Xerex G-05 or Mopar, not Prestone or other "universal" - drain as much old fluid as you can and add 6qts of new undiluted antifreeze and do the remaining fill with water to get to at least 50/50 - the manuals are inconsistent on the coolant system capacity and no one has yet found a simple full system flush method (I have an idea that's yet to be tried) although you can to multiple (6-7) fill, briefly run engine, drain, repeat cycles which will pretty much get all the old antifreeze out of the system.
4. NOOB site has links to the manuals although the 2005 FSM is missing some date in Section 7 and lacks the diagnostic manuals (I found copies and have sent them to Sir Sam to post when he gets time - PM me with an email address if you want them sooner); the 2006 has the diagnostic stuff but most figures lack the captions found in the 2005 manual. Hence I tend to use both.
5. You can use a standard engine degreaser to clean your engine but only use a low pressure water rinse. High pressure tends to put water in electical connections with bad results.
6. Others will have a better answer but the EGR seems to be somewhat behind the engine and toward the passenger side from the fuel filter head. As I understand it's a pain in the you know what to remove to clean. The preferred method seems to be an "italian" cleaning; engine temp to operating; hard acceleration up an on ramp or slight grade which produces a lot of smoke; repeat as needed to reduce smoke cloud. GDE ECU tune largely turns the EGR off so you can forget about it, I have.
7. Be sure you don't have the potentially leaky fuel filter head. See http://www.greendieselengineering.com/f ... st/76.page
8. Temp gauge should point straight up or no more than 1 tic left of straight up. An lower after a 5 mile drive normal (not fridged and not AZ summer) means your thermostat is failing open or more likely opening too soon.
9. timing belt replacement time is 100,000 miles and must be done in a timely manner. This is an iterference engine so if the belts let go engine interior parts meet and greet each other with potentially bad results.

Oh I'll say it again read the NOOB guide.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs