Looking at an EcoDiesel Ram, Good or Bad Idea?

Just like the title states, I'm looking at potentially purchasing a 2018 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel to replace the old and aging Ranger in the stable.  Local Northern California Dealers are throwing pretty large discounts around, that combined with the current rebates make the prices pretty enticing.

I was originally planning on staying midsize and purchasing a Tacoma, but my 6'4" torso heavy frame does not agree with the weird seating angles and lack of headroom.  Also looked at Colorado ZR2's but couldn't get over all the hard black plastic in the cab of a 45k midsize.

Plan is to use the Ram for DD (~70mi round trip commute), and typical truck duties.  I've read opinions from hot to cold on these trucks, so any first hand insight on these motors would be welcomed.

Should also add, current plan includes saying goodbye to the BRZ after 4 years.  While I love the car on a fun twisty track or dodging cones, it isn't exactly the best freeway commuter, and for some reason the insurance premiums on that car are steadily increasing at a pretty alarming rate (no accidents). 

It's time to rethink the fleet. A nice comfy commuter truck and a possible cheap track toy in the near future is the gameplan.

Have they fixed the cam gear stripping issue?

I recall reading that one or maybe both cam gears are press fit to the cam shaft, no keyway, and can spin on the shaft.  I don't remember if they're interference engines or not, bad even if they're not, really bad if they are.

Based on my experience with an ecodiesel Jeep Grand Cherokee I would say stay away from them.  Multiple electrical and sensor issues, an inability to service the vehicle at many dealers (no diesel technicians on staff), and limited support from FCA when problems arose (dealership is within 5 miles of FCA US headquarters in MI) have soured me on FCA products for good.  

In theory they sounded great when they first came out, but I wouldn't be comfortable with how likely an engine failure is and the cost of a replacement engine.

Consider that the EcoDiesel is an engine that GM helped fund and design 10 years ago and walked away from for reliability reasons. The same company that invented AFM, realized it trashed engines, and kept making them anyways in the same timeframe.

Also not to bag on them but the payload capacity is really low.  Like 1280lbs for a 4*4 quad cab low.   Plop a 5000lb bumper pull on it and you may not be able to haul your family around.

My brother in law bought one.  He’s generally a poor decision maker, so I wouldn’t get one based on that.  I do like the rams better than the other fullsize, but just get a hemi.  

I actually own one. I have a 16. Mine has been dead nuts reliable. The most comfortable and quiet highway cruiser I've ever owned. 

The only thing I would recommend- I have the crew with 6'4" bed... I can't imagine a shorter bed. 

Oh, 23 mpg with the 4wd and 3.92 gears

One of my suppliers has a fleet of them and they love them. They are high mileage and get beat like rented mules every day.

Not no, not hell no. NO MOTHERberkeleyINGWAYYINHLEE!!!!  Stay as far away from that engine as you can.

I have been a Chrysler tech for 25 years and have seen no less than 20+ engines with the bottom ends locked up and/ or some with "window" blocks! This engine is going to make the old 2.7 DOHC (one time uses boat anchor ) look like a good engine.

Other than the engine issue the trucks are holding up well, the V6 (gas) is not a bad engine with 300 HP and not bad for cruising and light truck work.

Paul B

Javelin said:

Consider that the EcoDiesel is an engine that GM helped fund and design 10 years ago and walked away from for reliability reasons. The same company that invented AFM, realized it trashed engines, and kept making them anyways in the same timeframe.

Isn't that the Nissan one?  The Ecodiesels definitely do seem to have an issue with rapid unscheduled disassembly from just a quick internet search though.

This feedback pretty much sums up what I’ve found so far, either hot or really cold. And the cold seems to outweigh the hot. I did a good amount of digging around online and found lots of issues with 14-16’s and not as much written about 17-18’s having the habit of ventilating themselve or slipping cams. Not sure if that is because they’ve had changes for the better, or because people just got tired of writing about it.

The thought was fuel efficient, comfortable commuter, that would tow a car trailer on occasion, a load of lumber, etc., and be worth about asking price in 2-3yrs because of the current discounts/rebates.

Maybe the prices are too good to be true?

I can say that seeing their UOA does not make me want to go out and buy one. It’s not pretty. 

Hmm, and Jeep is using this engine in their new Gladiator pick up.  So, scratch that off my list....

My friend who is about your height purchased one, he drives semi and a 3500 set up for 5 th wheel loads for a job, so far he loves it. He is a mechanic and has no reports of an issues in his case

Huh.  My buddy has one, put 110,000 miles on it in 3 years without a single issue.  Lots of towing a 4-wheel trailer with UTVs on it too.  

Tk8398 said:

Javelin said:

Consider that the EcoDiesel is an engine that GM helped fund and design 10 years ago and walked away from for reliability reasons. The same company that invented AFM, realized it trashed engines, and kept making them anyways in the same timeframe.

Isn't that the Nissan one?  The Ecodiesels definitely do seem to have an issue with rapid unscheduled disassembly from just a quick internet search though.

Well that's embarrassing. I'm getting stories mixed up. The EcoDiesel was designed by VM Motori for GM, but was canceled by their bankruptcy. Fiat then bought VM and used the old motor as their new EcoDiesel. The "Cummins" does seem to be the one that was walked away from. No matter, I wouldn't buy either of them. 

I did get my FIL into a Pentastar RAM 1500 2 years ago and it's been a superb truck. I'd recommend it or the Hemi version. 

It's kinda funny how love/hate this motor is. I'll admit that I'm kinda on the fence for this one. My thought was that at the current offer prices (~18-20k off sticker w/ rebates and discounts), that we could drive the truck for 2-3 years, while under warranty.  Then at that point if its doing good keep it, or we could let it go for about what we paid for it (based on 2yr old examples on NADA and local dealers)

If it weren't for the commute I'd jump to a hemi, but the 70mi a day would sting.  And if it weren't for the interior feeling a little too plasticky, I'd probably buy the ZR2 and call it a day.  

I appreciate the feedback, it really has confirmed what I've read searching around the web.  Sounds like I might need to re-evaluate the current plan, haha!!  

In reply to carczar_84 :

If the Pentastar meets your power needs it's a very nice place to be. Failing that I'd go look really hard at the EcoBoost F150. The 3.5 is a powerhouse but the 2.7 is supposed to be a real sweet spot of power and economy. 

In reply to Javelin :

I heard really good things about those 2.7 ecoboost motors, I may need to look a little hard at those.

In reply to bobzilla :

i did a quick google and looked over a few and saw nothing alarming.  what am i missing here?

In reply to ScottyB :

Most that I've seen are low mileage but high wear rates. I've spoken with multiple customers on second and third engines in 100k miles. 

In reply to bobzilla :

i did a quick google and looked over a few and saw nothing alarming.  what am i missing here?  all the high wear metals i saw were in the first or second oil change which is totally normal for any engine that's still breaking in.

Donebrokeit said:

Other than the engine issue the trucks are holding up well, the V6 (gas) is not a bad engine with 300 HP and not bad for cruising and light truck work.

and here's the likely unpopular opinion i was going to suggest.  if "typical truck duties" doesn't include towing something over 2k lbs, i'd just as soon run a V6 up and down the highway.  it wasn't that long ago that 300hp in a 1/2 ton was plenty, i think we just get easily desensitized to the numbers in these days of every V8 making 400+ hp on the worst gas you can pour in it. 

I only have first hand knowledge of one truck with that engine.  It's a '16.  It's on its second owner and I know both of them.  It consistently knocks down a little over 20 MPG and it's been dead reliable for about 100k miles.

I've rented several with the v6 and the Hemi and if either met my truck needs I'd be happy with one as a daily.

A more GRM relevant data point is that the Hemi version is faster around the east test track at Wild Horse Pass than a Hyundai Elantra