2005 Liberty CRD 2.8 Limited ...Disaster...

GoodCRD · **Posted:** Sat Nov 13, 2010 1:01 pm

A common cause for the crank bearings to wipe out is a fuel delution issue. I hope this was checked before draining out the engine oil. I check my oil at least once a week for this condition. If you ever have a leaking injector or engine oil deluted with fuel, don't run the engine until it has been repaired. Even after the fuel delution issue is corrected have the bottom end bearings inspected at least with a scope. Drain the oil and replace the filter at least twice when the repairs are completed. Normally if the delution is caught quickly no real harm is done, but if it is allowed to continue major repairs may be needed. As for #1 and #4 bearings wiping out, this is also common on diesel engines. You have much greater forces trying to cause your crankshaft to wobble then in a gas engine.

1TDI4Me · **Posted:** Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:11 pm

How do you check for fuel dilution as a routine measure?

europachris · **Posted:** Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:54 pm

coyrl wrote:

One thing i did find is that the oil pressure relief valve spring is .200" shorter than factory spec. The length will be compared with the new spring when it arrives. I've purchased the two gauge post for my Jeep and will add and oil pressure and transmission temperature gauge. I want to have direct mechanical oil pressure measurement. I found a good spot on the block to tap for the fitting.

Ruh-roh, that's not good. Provided the factory spec is correct, either you got a wrong part or the spring has "sacked" and lost it's tension. Depending on how the relief valve is set up, that could be a significant enough issue to cause low oil pressure, which really becomes a problem when the engine is cold or high rpms, as both conditions will cause a lot of oil to bypass the lube circuit back to the sump through the relief valve. Poor oil flow = spun bearings.

Hopefully this isn't a widespread design issue that's going to affect all of the CRD engines (like a $100 thermostat that can't last 80,000 miles - hopefully they didn't use the same spring vendor :furious:

).

Tinman · **Joined:** Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:45 am **Posts:** 308

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are 3 CRD on this thread with bottom end failures???

That's not good. Only 10K of these made and only a few of those posting here. There are twice as many members of the TDR as CRDs on the road and I don't remember anything like this over there unless there was severe abuse involved. Thanks for all the info, but it isn't very reassuring about the little tractor.

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:09 pm

I read that one of the reasons for catastrophes to our CRD's is that they were driven on extended miles past the scheduled oil change while using conventional motor oils (non synthetic).

Sludge and varnish build up is not good for our close tolerance engine or any engine for that matter.

Varnish being the worst culprit.

Tinman · **Joined:** Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:45 am **Posts:** 308

1TDI4Me wrote:

How do you check for fuel dilution as a routine measure?

Check you oil frequently. An engine that is "making oil" is probably being diluted by fuel. However, there are stories of common rail diesels destroyed by a cracked injector or one that was stuck open and completely replaced the crank case with diesel in less that one tank of fuel. Engine ran fine the whole time.

coyrl · **Joined:** Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:11 pm **Posts:** 15

Update: The oil pump spring arrived and it is the same length as the one from the motor. I can say now that the oil pump is not the root cause. The motor inspection revealed severe wear and pitting on the main bearings. The upper part of the motor is fine. The camshaft and the lifters show normal wear.

It is clear that the motor is eating itself alive in two ways. One, the amount of sort and dirt in the engine was shocking. It was extremely dirty and clogged with dirt and soot. This is due in large part to the design of the EGR, the CCV and the oil separator. I'm convinced that the oil separator is dumping soot and dirt into the motor. I've purchased a provent 200 to help with the CCV. I hope to reduce the EGR damage in some way. I'm also considering the fs2500 oil filter. The oil must be cleansed to help the motor last.

Finally, no doubt that the oil was contaminated and diluted. An oil test kit is in the way and I'll closely watch the oil for fuel contamination. I'm not sure if the injectors are good. I'm carefully documenting the rebuild and parts sources. My site is almost ready to launch. I'll post when it is out on the web. I need to determine how to inspect the injectors prior to starting the motor once the rebuild is complete.

The motor has much potential, but some critical design issues exist to solve in my opinion.

2005 Liberty CRD 2.8 Limited ...Disaster...

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