Selling 2005 Liberty CRD for Parts or Serious Hobbyist

pmkatz · **Joined:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Posts:** 11

Hello,

I am the Original Owner of a 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD with approximately 150,000 miles (Odometer didnt work for about 3K - 5K miles due to a speed sensor issue). The vehicle has an internal coolant leak (most likely from a bad head gasket or head damage) in addition it no longer maintains oil pressure and I am fairly certain it has suffered serious engine damage because of this. The vehicle does drive (though not advised!). It has almost no acceleration and blows black smoke. Heater core is bad as well.

Other than that, the vehicle is in decent condition.

So, If anyone on the board is looking for a good source of parts or is a serious hobbyist interested in doing some engine work I thought I would just let everyone know that I have listed it on ebay and you can check it out here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0716072042

Oh - I almost forgot bidding starts at 1.00 and will go to the highest bidder!

-Pete

pmkatz · **Joined:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Posts:** 11

Unfortunately - Ebay cancelled the listing because their security filter flagged my account as having been hacked (which it wasnt). I will get it reposted but if anyone is interested in the meantime just let me know. Once I re-create the listing I will post it here.

-Pete

racertracer · **Posted:** Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:29 pm

PMKATS,

I am interested to know what might have caused the engine failure.

Did you have a coolant leak that went unnoticed and have you performed your scheduled coolant flush and change?

Or was there anything else that might have caused it?

pmkatz · **Joined:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Posts:** 11

Well I am not a mechanic but I do believe that the ultimate cause does have to do with the internal coolant leak. The vehicle had this problem for 2-3 years but I did not realize it was an internal leak - I assumed it was leaking externally and just toped it off occasionally. I found out the leak was internal once I was losing significant amounts of coolant and took it in to be serviced (incidentally, I had taken it in numerous times for the leaking coolant but the dealer never did resolve the issue or explain to me that it was probably leaking into the engine). Anyway, once it became obvious that either the head gasket was bad or the head itself was damaged, the cost to have it fixed was more than I was willing to put into it. In hindsight, I should have had it fixed and sold it then!

-Pete

pmkatz · **Joined:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Posts:** 11

Vehicle is back up on ebay at the following link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0716072042

onthehunt · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:29 pm

Wonder why is there a $400 difference on a heater core between the 3.7 and the CRD??

How did the SVO system work?

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:24 pm

Hmm, wondering if the SVO system was a factor in engine death...

otherwise: :POPCORN:

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:30 pm

dgeist wrote:

Hmm, wondering if the SVO system was a factor in engine death...

otherwise: :POPCORN:

That was my thought too. Another thought - Is the original owner CERTAIN that the engine is no good? The experiences of myself and several other members here who have had actual engine failures suggest that these engines do NOT suffer low engine oil pressure politely, or for very long. Any lubrication issues rapidly (like less than 50 miles) becomes a lack-of-piston issue, and the engine stops. Hearing "metal grinding" seems a bit out of character for the engine unless it is something external.

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:35 pm

geordi wrote:

Any lubrication issues rapidly (like less than 50 miles) becomes a lack-of-piston issue, and the engine stops. Hearing "metal grinding" seems a bit out of character for the engine unless it is something external.

There's always the: "get it home, drain all the fluids, replace with proper volumes, check for obviously leaks, and give 'er a crank" method. It may be that the grinding it unrelated to the ACTUAL engine and the lack of power is blown hoses, dirty MAP, etc..

Depending on where the coolant is leaking into, the damage may not be catastrophic.

Dan

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:38 pm

My thought is that if the heater core needs replacing, then maybe poor quality coolant may have been the cause. Either it was never changed or non specified coolant was used.
Corrosion happens in cooling systems that are poorly maintained. An undetected coolant leak ultimately would be worst.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:53 pm

I wish I had more cash to play with, I could pick that up and drop in my spare engine.

onthehunt · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:57 pm

E-bay post says it has had nothing but diesel the last three years... SVO must not have worked so good.

Or could be the heater core is the cause of the coolant leak. At $500 I would just keep adding coolant for as long as I could as well. SVO system then slowly plugs up all the oil passages in the engine...

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 4:16 pm

onthehunt wrote:

E-bay post says it has had nothing but diesel the last three years... SVO must not have worked so good.

Or could be the heater core is the cause of the coolant leak. At $500 I would just keep adding coolant for as long as I could as well. SVO system then slowly plugs up all the oil passages in the engine...

I think that the SVO goes into the fuel rail and not in the oil.

Aren't there a few CRDs being driven on SVO? I know of one in texas that has been on SVO for more than 20,000 miles.

pmkatz · **Joined:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Posts:** 11

Hello All,

In answer to some of your questions.....

I used veggie oil in the Jeep for about 2 years (brother owns a restaurant). I am guesisng I drove about 50K using veggie oil about 60% of the time. There was absolutely no performance difference and I never had any obvious issues. The reason I stopped using the SVO is that I got sick of picking up and filtering nasty oil and in the winter it was a ridiculous effort (think soupy crisco). After that, for a while, I was buying completey clean out-of-date cooking oil that could no longer be sold but when petroleum oil prices starting rising, the demand for biodiesel also went up and I found the price of the cooking oil rise to be actually more than diesel - that was the end of that!

If you want to get into an SVO fuel system, make sure you have a decent source of cheap or free veggetable oil and that you are willing to put the time into filtering it (if it is waste oil).

As for how the system works, it has 2 fuel tanks: A 5 gallon tank for Diesel and a 15 Gallon tank for Oil (I use both for diesel since I am not using SVO anymore). The vehicle is started on Diesel. Once the engine reaches operating temperature, you flip a switch on the dash which switches the fuel source to the oil tank (which is heated by a heat exchanger to a point that the oil is as thin as diesel). Before stopping the car for the day (about 5 miles before home), the fuels source is switched back to Diesel in order to clear the oil out of the fuel system (if you leave SVO in the fuel system it will thicken and the car will be impossible to start without some heat).

I do have the original 20 Gallon fuel tank and original sending unit for whomever buys it.

Lastly, I was informed today by the dealer that they would recommend a new Engine Assembly and Turbo if I wanted to fix the Jeep.

-Pete

Glend · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 6:13 pm

Don't forget that you can replace the liners so it can be rebuilt from just about any state. As it still runs somewhat it sounds like it could be saved but would require a strip down (or at least the head removed) to determine the damage. IMHO any coolant lost should be tracked down asap, expecially if not obviously external. I watched a guy with an old XJ continually topping up his coolant during a desert trip here in Oz, and sure enough a week later and almost home he blew his head gasket in a big way. What does the oil look like? An oil analysis might be useful.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:18 pm

I wouldn't trust a dealer to correctly diagnose that the sun will rise tomorrow. They are NOT trained or familiar with these engines, and will throw expensive parts at the vehicle until either the problem or the money supply is exhausted.

Most of our members here would be able to give a MUCH more accurate diagnosis than any dealer.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:40 pm

FYI - one of the issues I had was a blown gasket on the oil cooler - leaked oil into the water - could have leaked the other way too.

(yes 2.8 CRD's have oil/water intercooler - under the turbo - standard - invisible)

Greasey Bob · **Joined:** Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:34 am **Posts:** 228

That sounds like a Golden Fuels System they have blown up more than one CRD. I understand that he Actually blew up his wife CRD due to Neglect and poor design. "switch back to diesel for 5 miles" is a poor design.

It would be great to rebuild the engine. Put a little extra work into the head, clean up the ports, clean up the exhaust to turbo, due a "reworked" turbo, maybe a little intake work, change the egr completely....it could be a long and expensive rebuilt.

geordi · **Posted:** Fri Dec 31, 2010 1:38 am

I'm not a fan of SVO systems for exactly that reason - They have a nasty habit of not providing quality design and quality fuel to these VERY high tolerance engines.

LoveCraft Biofuels in California is doing their part to rid the world of diesels too. They sell and install an SVO conversion into the old Mercedes 300 series diesels. I've heard of more than a few that have lost their injector pumps or engines due to his incompetence, even at one point being accused of creating a "higher-flow" filter by drilling holes into it.

I'm a BIG fan of conversion of the oil to BIODIESEL, as it will then run properly in any diesel engine. For any engine or fuel modifier to cause the death of the Mercedes Diesel... They should be barred from ever going near a diesel again. Do you know how hard it is to kill one of those 300D engines? They will just about run on the vapor from an oily rag, and the pump is so tough that Canada is rumored to pour the oil sand directly into the pump instead of refining it. (Ok, that might be an exaggeration) :mrgreen:

nursecosmo · **Posted:** Fri Dec 31, 2010 6:14 am

Golden Fuel has a really bad rep among those in the know about SVO (hey, that rhymes). Should have done your research and got a Frybrid system. http://www.frybrid.com/kittest.htm GF has screwed up the coolant flow one more than a few vehicles and the complex Liberty CRD cooling is really sensitive to coolant rerouting.

Selling 2005 Liberty CRD for Parts or Serious Hobbyist

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