Good experiences with CRD?

Lancer · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:15 pm

I've had mine 5 years; thermostat and torque convertor replaced under warranty, rear LCA replaced under recall. Regularly serviced. I replaced the hoses with Samcos - didn't need to, but I read the problems some people had with the OEMs - so preventative. I replaced the battery last year when it began to fail. Other than that, it's been fine, save for those things that wear out - brakes, suspension etc, that need to replaced at times on any vehicle. I use it for touring and leisure mostly - I live in London so there is no way I'd drive into the city! Any other mods are purely for hobby purposes - I had years on bikes and so am incapable of leaving a vehicle in standard form.

My only real gripe is about changing the headlight bulbs; that is a nightmare because of the very tight space. Whoever designed that layout must have thought that they'd never fail!

My wife loves the Jeep as do I and we plan on keeping it for many years yet.

805gregg · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:05 pm

113,000 great miles, I love my CRD, I've only had a A/C switch, and 1 window regulator go bad, a daily driver, that always starts and runs. I replaced the belt and pump at 107,000, belt was still in good shape as was the water pump. When i worked construction, I pulled some huge trucks out of the mud they were stuck in. Spent 2 great weeks in Baja. Now i have a vibration, I'm waiting for something to go real bad, so it's easy to tell what is wrong. I'll go for the next 100,000. Oh and I replaced the drivers seat cover $185.

Dennis MacGyver · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:01 am

Well we bought an '06 in July 2012 with 62+K miles on it. It was owned by an older couple who pulled it behind their motor-home. It was well taken care of and VERY clean but......that doesn't make up for the Chrysler-Jeep-Daimler engineering problems encountered.

the Crank Case Vent (CCV) ejects too much oil into the air intake / turbo charger, 2 ozs. per 1000 miles,
the EGR needs replaced every 60K miles OR have the ECM remapped to delete it's function (an EPA no-no),
the MAP get dirty way too fast with oil & suit,
the oil dip stick reads wrong (fill to MAX and it's way over-filled),
the CAC hoses break down from oil vapor from the CCV and needs to be replaced with VERY expensive silicon hoses,
thermostat fails at about 50K miles, replacement costs about $150,
the CAT requires low ZDDP oil (which in-turn causes engine wear),
there are Glow plug removal issues, breakage can require the head to be removed to retrieve pieces,
the fan & fan clutch has issues requiring replacement of both,
the torque converter has problems that required the engine ECU to be remapped (F37) to reduce engine torque and HP,
the torque converter will need replaced because of inherent weakness
the oil pan drain hole is easily stripped by tightening the plug,
the trany pan has no drain plug,
the EVIC unit show milage that is WAY too high of actual,
the front ball joints are non-grease-able,
the upper "A" arm ball joint requires the whole arm to be replaced
the speedometer reads 4 MPH high at 65, (actual 61mph)
all 4 window crank mechanisms will fail leaving you with a window stuck in the down position

ALL of the "FIXES" required to make this vehicle reliable you're looking at $3000 to $4000 in fixes.
I would NOT let my wife go on a trip in this Jeep without doing the above "Fixes" because any one could bring her trip to a halt.
Dealership knowledge is sorely lacking because the power train was only used 2 years in the USA.
I would never tow with the standard torque converter in place.
OH yea, the AC compressor is always ON when the air flow indicator is turned to the floor/foot mode, robbing mileage.

BUT it does get about 10 MPG more than a comparable sized gas 4x4 SUV, IF......
IF you keep the RPM's under 2000 and cruise in 5th at 1800 RPM's (65 mph ??).
Oh yea, the odometers are notoriously off 3 to 10 % high and low as reported by various owners GPS verification's, (mine reads 3.5% low).

mikey1273 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:03 am

I have had mine since Aug. 2009 I purchased it with about 38,000 miles on it. So far i would say its been a good vehicle. It is my only vehicle other than a mountain bike. I have had to replace normal stuff like brakes, tires, lights, wipers and such. my factory red top died months after purchase. I replaced that with a Auto craft gold group 34 and replaced it again 2 weeks ago still under pro rated warranty. my thermostat had to replaced in January 2011. I had the Rear LCA recall done. I have changed the fuel filter 2 x my self and had the GDE eco tune just over two years now. I also installed a pro vent oil separator at 40,000 mi. I do all the oil and all filter changes myself and what ever I can on my own.

I have had issues with the sunroof leaking and electrical issues with the power seats t at were pesky for sometime but are now fixed.

I still love my liberty and cant think about replacing it any time soon. it has been good to me since i put some work into mods for performance and longevity.

Now I am looking at upgrading to OME suspension since the stock front struts & springs are feeling worn now at 78,000 mi. Also the speakers have seen and heard better days.

so far I feel its been good to me. i like that it can go off road, is good in foul weather and can tow my camper and still get 25+ mpg doing 65 -70. I plan to have money reserved for the timing belt when the time comes and hopefully keep on rolling long after that.

dirtmover · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:50 am

Dennis MacGyver wrote:

I would NOT let my wife go on a trip in this Jeep without doing the above "Fixes" because any one could bring her trip to

Actually this is quite a big concern. It's bad enough fixing problems at home but imagine something going wrong when you're "one the road". You really would be up doo doo creek without a paddle.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:20 am

At 110K miles mine has been good to me and I like to think I've been good to it.
Just regular maintenance. Toughest job I've done on it was the front lower ball joints.
The timing belt was easy compared to that.
The only time its left me stranded was when the red dot showed up on the dash and my
key wouldn't start the engine. Had to have it towed to the dealership to have a new
key programmed.
(Oh yeah, and then there was the time the Optima battery took a dump and left me and
my 3 year old daughter stranded in the middle of a severe thunder storm, not
really a fault of the Jeep though)

I've let my wife drive it around town. The only issue she had was on a wet day she made
a u turn and skidded off into the drainage ditch and got stuck. She didn't know how to use
the 4wd. My faith in humanity was restored when two everyday superheros stopped and
got her out.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:29 am

B99 brings up another often forgotten pet peave of mine
The lousy seat covering :dead:

Not only does it spot from pure water it also wears like paper :furious:

As for VW TDI's. I've owned two, a 1996 Passat and a 1999.5 Jetta. Both bought new and driven over 100k and you couldn't ask for better cars. But I realize they have had "issues" since they moved away from the ALH engine :banghead:

acuboy · **Joined:** Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:49 am **Posts:** 69

I've had a great experience. I've owned mine from 70k miles to 100k miles now. I would expect that to be a "trouble" period. Like GreasyBob I run mine on wvo with a heated second tank. Besides just having the timing belt done, oil changes, and the general noob guide stuff I've had nothing go wrong. Since I'm paying virtually nothing for fuel I'd be happy to put more into maintenance, but luckily I've had no need. It's been the most fun rig I've owned.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:50 pm

All of what Dennis said - with the addition

it's a one of a kind vehicle - no one else makes anything like it.

(well - okay I'm not counting the VW/BMW/Mercedes SUV's with diesels -but none of them ran Steelbender with us)

TJ2 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:19 pm

I've good experiences over the 30k miles I've owned mine. The original owners were gouged for service before due, or for stuff not really needed. A small town Jeep dealer really raped them. I do believe all that maintenance might be a reason I've not had problems. It came with new fuel head and all recalls done. No air in fuel issues ever, for me.

I did the newb mods soon after I bought it at 66k miles. Proactively installed a lift pump later.

FWIW, I've got an '00 VW ALH TDI with 94k miles (bought it a year ago with 80k). I figure I can drive it 15k miles a year just I long as I live. I simply do not understand anyone who could complain about that engine/manual trans.

kjjet · **Posted:** Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:24 am

Joe Romas wrote:

B99 brings up another often forgotten pet peave of mine
The lousy seat covering :dead:

Not only does it spot from pure water it also wears like paper :furious:

As for VW TDI's. I've owned two, a 1996 Passat and a 1999.5 Jetta. Both bought new and driven over 100k and you couldn't ask for better cars. But I realize they have had "issues" since they moved away from the ALH engine :banghead:

I also agree the SEAT's in the Sport are the worst ever. I found a set of leather ones from a Limited. They are hard, but at least they stay clean.

My new 2012 Jetta TDI is great. Looking at a tune to stop EGR & DPF while the engine is new.

jeepdan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:21 am

Another interstate highway trip through Ohio and back today, 400miles round trip 29.3MPG

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:30 pm

Some times I think people either love them of hate them. We just love ours pulls the travel trailer. Get good fuel mileage. Bought 5000. back of book. Its 4 wheel drive for the bad weather. Whats not to like. But if I hated it would be gone. Good experiences for us but if I would have the problems I read in this post. She would be gone and 3/4 ton would be in the drive way.

captaincrd · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:08 pm

I bought my 06 in 2008 with 20,000 miles on it. It has been very reliable with very few problems and I now have 94,000 miles. I have replaced one sensor, thermostat, a hub plus regular maintenance items. When I bought it I put an SEGR kit in right away so that may have saved a lot issues such as EGR and boost hoses. Since the ecotune I now have a bit of shudder at lower RPM uphill (occasionally). I do some heavy towing so I think I will have to do the torque converter at some point.

bugnout · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:26 pm

Love mine. Factory ordered Mar 2005, 128k so far.

Only real issue I've had with it is fuel head problems. I fixed those with Racor head and lift pump.

barley00 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:25 pm

Love mine. Have had it for 2-1/2 years and 30K. Haven't had any problems that were unforeseen/undeserved. Contrary to a few of the above posts, this diesel is much less problematic than my '02 TDI Golf. I used to have anxiety every time I started that darn thing, that I'd see another CEL. I would jump in and do a roadtrip in this Jeep in a heartbeat. This forum is priceless. For instance, I recently discovered a fluid leak which was diagnosed as a transmission cooler issue (just today). My mechanic said I need to replace the cooler/ac condenser combo to the tune of $350. I jumped on this forum and within minutes found a much more reasonable solution, bypass the combo cooler and install a stand alone cooler. When I picked the Jeep up the mechanic said that's a good idea and wasn't annoyed that I looked at the forum or that I'll probably fix it myself. The reason that I'm on here now is to look for some more info for which cooler to get.

Take home message. Find a decent/hard working/honest mechanic that may not know these things inside out and realizes that and isn't ashamed to admit it, expect to tinker a little bit now and then on mods, and have fun with it.

TJ2 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:49 pm

FWIW, I've been on a road trip for the last ten days. Utah to Colorado (during snowstorm), roamed the front range a couple days and went to central Kansas for a funeral. Have put about 1300 miles on it and have about 600 more to get home.

Am back in C Springs at my niece's house. Her husband bought an '06 Ltd after he saw my sport. I referred him to this board, but he's not a joiner. He's done no mods and drives it like he stole it. He commutes to Pueblo four days a week and can't imagine having mechanical problems. He's coming up on 125k miles.

naturist · **Posted:** Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:41 am

Yup, people do post looking for help when they have a problem, but not just to say "love my ride, it's built like a tank."

We bought our 2005 new with something like 5 miles on the ticker. It's now got 160,000 and counting. I like it but don't love it. My wife hates it. Strong on pull and good on fuel, but not what I'd call reliable. And, yes, needs more than its share of maintenance. It is exactly what you'd expect from a vehicle of this sort made on the cheap. It is a very worthy competitor with an Isuzu, but not so much with a BMW X5.

I very much like the availability of both AWD and the older 4WD Hi-Lo. This little diesel is very strong. And I like very much the mileage. It is both my daily driver and the tow vehicle for our travel trailer, and it has dragged that trailer from Virginia to Sault St Marie, to Seattle, to LA and back to Virginia. Then from Virginia to Denver to Las Vegas, around the Grand Canyon, through Bryce & Zion back to Vegas, and back home to Virginia.

But it has needed more repairs than any other vehicle I've ever owned. It had the EGR replaced at 4,000, 6,000 and 11,000 miles. At 11,000, it also got a new FCV and a Provent. At 80.000 miles while on that first cross-country jaunt, we had overheating problems that were resolved by the replacement of both the thermostat and the fan clutch. At 130,000 miles the EGR started acting up again, an issue resolved with a GDE eco tune. At 135,000 miles, while on the second cross country jaunt, the high pressure oil line to the turbo blew out on me in Russell, Kansas. I got lucky twice on that one, that there was no damage to the turbo itself and to find a great Jeep Dealer in nearby Hayes, Kansas, who bent over backwards to get hold of the only replacement line left west of the Mississippi and to make sure that was the only problem I had. They got me back on the road again in only three working days in spite of a backlogged shop schedule, most of that time awaiting arrival of the part.

At 145,000 miles the fan clutch was replaced (again) with the Hayden unit, as the replacement OEM clutch was again clearly toast. At 150,000 miles, the overheating finally exacted its toll with a blown head gasket and cracked head. While we had it apart for the head, we did the second timing belt and water pump replacement. Along the way we've also experienced clogging fuel filters 3 or 4 times, even though the filters were always changed before they were officially due.

And this brings up a word of warning to anyone new to the Libby CRD: if your fuel filter starts to clog, it will throw your engine into limp mode from which you must shut down and restart to clear limp mode. This nearly got us killed once pulling out on the highway in the "shadow" of a blind curve. We were fine until seeing the truck coming, I stepped on it and discovered no power. I'm sure the trucker who came around that curve to find us in the way was annoyed. I got over onto the berm and switched the engine off at 30 mph, and got restarted at 25 mph just as the truck whooshed by. I understand if the engine can't get enough fuel to make full power, but making the limp mode THAT limp AND "sticky" to boot is asking to get people rear-ended.

Owning a Libby CRD is a bit like owning a British sports car in the 60s and 70s; lovely little cars and fun to drive, but a proper gentleman was expected to spend half his time tinkering with 'em on the weekends. Don't buy one if reliability is high on your list. But they are good little performers.

Dennis MacGyver · **Posted:** Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:58 pm

Here's a similar topic in another forum that's been going since June 2007.

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1416ef/0

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

We've got an 06 bought new and love it. 125K on the clock now. I do all the work on it except a few warranty issues early on. I did most of the preventive fixes from this forum.

It has the best stock TC (late 06) and we've had no issues. I tried to get dealer to do Euro TC but they wouldn't, didn't qualify. (F37 did get done). It tows light occasionally.

I've done:
EHM at about 15K now Provent since 115K
ORM at 15K then GDE later
External fuel pump then Cummins in tank pump with Stanadyne FM 100 with 2 micron (Used the Libby canister in the truck)
Bright box for headlights
Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, coolant, brake and PS fluid changed at 100K
10K OCI with Rotella and excellent UOA
ALL maintenance done on schedule except missed one trans oil change interval and all done by me except very first oil change at 3K.

Problems:
FVC would get stuck when new due to stock ccv and egr - warrantied, then EHM and ORM - no re-occurrences
BJs warrantied
Window motor replaced
Shocks and springs are shot - might do OME
4X4 shift sensor replaced
Battery crapped out about year and a half ago
Rear brake caliper froze and replaced under warranty (they wouldn't replace the toasted rotor though -

)

To date no other issues. As you can see, almost no drive train problems but has been running clean (egr/ccv) and with good fuel supply nearly all it's life. Runs great, 30 hwy MPG. Wife drives it everywhere and she drives very conservatively. No bio fuel.

If it has a major problem before 200K I'd be disappointed. I'd like to let my wife drive it til about 150K then I plan on a Cherokee diesel or the like for her. Then I'll take over the Libby for a run about until it pukes for good. If anything major happens to it from now on, I don't plan on spending a ton of money on it. But at this point, we are very happy with the vehicle.

Good experiences with CRD?

Who is online