Recently discovered you could get a Jeep Liberty and the Grand Cherokee with a diesel motor.
Are both the 3 liter turbo diesel motor? Any issues with this motor reliability wise?
I need to replace our old Cherokee and I'd love a small diesel SUV for the mileage, durability and performance...
I think both were only offered for a few years.
IIRC, the Grand was only 2007-08.
The Grand is a 3.0L. The Liberty was a 2.8L. I am not sure what the differences are but somewhat different engines.
Is the Liberty a turbo diesel as well, or just a "regular" diesel?
The newer ones are the Mercedes-benz units I believe.
Two entirely different motors. The Liberty got a VM Motori (Italian I believe) 2.5 (later a 2.8) 4-cylinder, and the Grand got the Bluetec Mercedes 3.0 V6.
The only thing I know about the diesel liberty is that the diesel part makes its okay for a man to be seen driving one. 
I have sick thoughts of getting a diesel liberty, doing a solid front axle conversion, big ass north pole expedition flares, and 35" tires.
My dad has a turbo diesel Liberty (psteav is right on the motor designation), which he seems to really like. Somehow, he's been averaging something over 50k miles a year and I think his average mpg is somehwere around 26-28 over the life of the vehicle.
I know he's had a handful of what I'd consider major warranty fixes, mainly pertaining to the t-case and transmission, I think. I'll get him to elaborate and report back.
Despite those issues, and probably thanks to a good dealership, he likes thing. I kinda dig it, too. When he gets tired of it, I'll try to take it off his hands and ruin it like most other Jeep owners do, with a lift and silly tires and such.
And I do think they were fairly rare: only sold for a few years, and not available in all US markets.
The Liberty diesels had a recall for the torque converter disassembling itself. The recall consists of installing a different converter and (here's the good part) reflashing the PCM to cut down engine torque so the new converter will live. Cool, huh? Some of my customers complained that the fuel mileage dropped as well.
They were also known for EGR passage clogging which meant removing and cleaning the throttle body and all the associated tubes. This is a good deal harder and more expensive than it sounds.
Other than that, they were pretty reliable.
The 3.0 Bluetec in the Grand Cherokees is a punchy thing, it accelerates and pulls quite well. It also sounds nothing like a conventional diesel, you literally cannot hear it run.
The one thing the two engines have in common: piezoelectric fuel injectors. These will not tolerate ANY contamination. That means homemade biodiesel is not a real good idea.
Hmm, sounds like the 3 liter Grand Cherokee is the way to go. Now to see if they've depreciated enough to get into my price range...
Torque limiting a diesel in lower gears to allow the torque converter to live is nothing new. The 2007+ ram with CTD has that logic in its ECM.
There are numerous outside DCX reflashes for that ECM that will eliminate the EGR. There are also many EGR elimination kits.
Like the 2007 6.7 rams, you need to remove the emissions stuff to make them reliable. Buuuuutttt... I didn't tell you to do that.
Actually, back in the mid '80s, Cherokees were also available with diesels.
I've never quite understood why, if Jeeps are sold all over the globe, their aren't more diesel Jeeps. Instead of these spotty models, a few years here, and then a different model gets another diesel.
I don't know why but a loud, rattling stinky, soot spewing wrangler sounds awesome to me. 
That makes so much sense. I need a tow vehicle that's more comfortable than my F350, gets better fuel economy than a full size SUV, and is better for towing.
Once these suckers hit 15k, I'm pulling the trigger.
Well, i like the grand cherokee as a platform, but i have no intention of ever owning one.
HOWEVER, what does actually bother me is that the same motor was put into the LX cars (magnum/charger/300/challenger) in most other markets, but NOT here.
This annoys me because im about to buy a cheap magnum, and if there was a CRD one here id sure as hell be buying it and towing with it. 
you have 50k timing belt changes as well. The 2.8 is an interference engine.
IIRC the 3.0 in the Grand cherokee has no real advantage over a v8. I think it got 20-22mpg tops. I think a Hemi with cylinder deactivation can do that.
My mom has a 2007 diesel Grand Cherokee, and it's a great engine for that truck. Getting up to speed on the highway is completely effortless, it's quiet and gets good mileage (the new EPA ratings for the 2007 are 17city/22 highway for the diesel vs. 15/19 for the V6, 13/18 for the 5.7L V8 and 13/19 for a 2010 5.7L). She has had a few small issues, but nothing major - a loose wire in one of the turn light circuits, a missing screw on some door trim caused it to rattle, and there was a check engine light for something, but I can't remember what.
Make sure you look into the maintenance on the diesel GC though. The specified oil is a unique Mercedes Benz spec Mobil 1, only available at Mercedes and Jeep dealers. I remember seeing speculation on Jeep forums that you could run normal Mobil 1 diesel formula, but my mom got a killer deal on oil changes from her dealer so I didn't research it very much (the dealer sold her the "20 oil changes for $200" they usually sell to buyers of gasoline cars - the guy who sold it to her didn't realize how expensive oil changes for the diesel were. They tried to weasel out of it but failed).
The fluids in the transfer case and diff's are supposed to be changed every 30,000 miles as well I believe (it was twice as often as the Hemi powered Jeeps), so make sure you look into those costs. They consider the diesels to only have a heavy duty maintenance schedule, unlike gas powered Jeeps where it's only heavy duty if you do a lot of towing, a lot of trips under 5 miles, etc.
Other than that, she's really happy with it, and has put about 40,000 miles on it in 2.5 years, with a lot of 4+ hour trips. She says it's the most comfortable car she's ever had, although her past vehicles have been a mid 70's Comet, an early 80's Bronco, a late 80's Tempo, a mid 90's Windstar, and a 2001 Neon, so she hasn't exactly been cruising around in luxury cars. I'm a little afraid of the repair costs once the warranty is up though. The fuel systems on new diesels are not cheap.
If you've got any specific questions, let me know and I'll ask her.
Bob
Schmidlap wrote: If you've got any specific questions, let me know and I'll ask her. Bob
Did she do any cost analysis on the Hemi vs. CRD? I know around my parts (MA) diesel is more than premium gas. I really want a CRD GC but I have a feeling the overall cost may be similar and the normal gas engine may be easier to maintain out of warranty. That still doesn't make me want the CRD any less, but I need to figure out how I'm going to give up my Cherokee (XJ) before I get serious about buying a new Jeep.
In reply to integraguy:
they are sold all over the globe, and with diesels too.
why you can't buy a diesel wrangler rubicon in the states is beyond me.
All I know is I watched a diesel Liberty scoot away from a stoplight with downright authority over the unsuspecting ricer next to him. Watching it spew soot and hustle down the road I couldn't help but giggle a little bit.
I was watching diesel liberty's on ebay 6 months or so back. Seems like $7-9k would get you a decent one.
It's impossible to change the spark plugs in a diesel Jeep.
the diesels in the original cherokee's (XJs) were pretty unreliable and most blew which is why it's rare to find them these days.
I dream of putting a I6 Turbo Diesel in my Cherokee someday.... that would be fun.
In reply to docwyte:
Not legal in all states. They could not be sold new in Ct. when they came out; regristering a used one in the state?????? But before you pull the trigger, DO check with your local DMV, or ou might have a nice hood ornament. I've seen two for sale, used in CT., and they were on par with the gas versions.... Both were Jeep Libertys.
In reply to Strizzo: Emission particulants
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