mackruss wrote:
My opinion and shoot me down in flames, the tunes and chips that are currently available for the CRD's are probably adding to a shortened
longevity due to the extra stresses and strains that the engine is been tuned to deliver.
Not shooting or flaming, just giving my opinion to counterpoint yours: I think some of these issues are caused by NOT tuning (specifically GDE Eco tune) or installing the SEGR mod.
I think Chrysler screwed up the ECM programming. A DCX engineer I worked with on the Caliber/Compass/Patriot diesels (VW 2.0L PD engine) for export told me that the Liberty CRD failed emissions certification at the last minute so they had to tweak the ECM to get it to pass. Later on they found out the measurement equipment was mis-calibrated or something so it really didn't fail.
My opinion is that they just cranked up the EGR as far as it would go and called it a day, and that explains several things - 1) that EGR valves fail quickly (we averaged 20K miles per valve) due to being driven to max duty cycle all the time, 2) that intake FCVs fail (ave. 40K miles per valve) as the ECM wildly flaps the valve open and shut trying to get enough EGR flow, and 3) that the CRD is one dirty, sooting little pig with the EGR functioning. I've driven behind several other CRDs and they all soot, all the time, just like ours
did. A common rail, modern 16 valve turbodiesel has no reason to smoke like a 1977 240D. Once I installed the SEGR module, the smoke went away almost completely.
What does this have to do with engine failures?
Soot. I was both amazed and apalled at how black the CRD oil got so quickly. I run 10k oil changes on both the CRD and my '02 Jetta TDI with Delvac-1. My Jetta is stock with functioning EGR, although I did adjust the "adaptation" value through Vag-Com which allegedly reduces the EGR amount. Anyway, after 10K, the oil out of the Jetta is good and black, but nothing really hard-core. By comparison, the oil out of the CRD was beyond black.....it was like something that should be inside industrial duty Sharpie markers.
Granted, the CRD burns twice the fuel per mile as my TDI, but it holds almost twice the oil, too. Seriously, it was like permanent ink - it wouldn't come off my hands, it would stain the garage floor or anything else it touched, and like baby-poo, the more you wiped it, the more it spread.
All that soot from the EGR being pumped through the engine and into the oil is literally choking these engines to death. If the proper oil or intervals aren't used, the soot will deposit out where it shouldn't, or become abrasive, or both. Without the EGR now, the oil stays MUCH cleaner. It's a startling difference.
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