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Thinking about trading my 3.6 for the Diesel. Extra maintenance steps and costs?

JLUW75

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As the title says, I'm thinking about it....
I would like to know the maintenance costs and extra steps you have to take in order to service the diesel engine. I have never owned one before.
I'm in the process of finalizing the order sheet for my JLUW and part of me did toy with the idea of a high torque Diesel engine! But many people provided great feedback below and I eco their sentiment as well. For me, it came down to risk. As was mentioned, Modern diesel engines are very complex. Forget maintenance. Any repair will cost you a lot out of warranty. I read that this engine is designed in Italy by Fiat and that didn't give me great confidence. I'm ordering my Willys with the Manual XMSN just so I avoid the eTorque v6 engine. I want the least complex driveline and the most proven one. It also helps keep costs down. $2500 for the Auto and about $4K cost to upgrade to the Diesel. ouch! I can buy a lot of 87Octane gas for that! Just one man's opinion. Wish you a great shopping experience!
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grimmjeeper

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I'm in the process of finalizing the order sheet for my JLUW and part of me did toy with the idea of a high torque Diesel engine! But many people provided great feedback below and I eco their sentiment as well. For me, it came down to risk. As was mentioned, Modern diesel engines are very complex. Forget maintenance. Any repair will cost you a lot out of warranty. I read that this engine is designed in Italy by Fiat and that didn't give me great confidence. I'm ordering my Willys with the Manual XMSN just so I avoid the eTorque v6 engine. I want the least complex driveline and the most proven one. It also helps keep costs down. $2500 for the Auto and about $4K cost to upgrade to the Diesel. ouch! I can buy a lot of 87Octane gas for that! Just one man's opinion. Wish you a great shopping experience!
The EcoDiesel was designed by VM Motori, an Italian company that has been doing diesels for a while. They also designed the 2.8 diesel that is in the Chevy Colorado. I believe Fiat owns them now but Fiat didn't design the engine.
 

JLUW75

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The EcoDiesel was designed by VM Motori, an Italian company that has been doing diesels for a while. They also designed the 2.8 diesel that is in the Chevy Colorado. I believe Fiat owns them now but Fiat didn't design the engine.
Thanks for the reply. I've heard about VM Motori but wasn't sure if that was their design or not.
 

gerlbaum

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So I have a 2021 Jeep diesel and a 1998 dodge 3500 Cummins. I have always done my own maintenance and would even with a gas car. Everyone keeps saying today’s modern diesels are complex. The two differences from my 98 are the emissions systems and the high pressure fuel injection. High pressure fuel injection was on the original 1994 power stroke. It’s not new - today it’s just even higher pressure. Electronics are part of every engine today.

The emissions are added complexity but it’s not that complex of a system. Both gas and diesels have EGR systems. No offense but there has been a lot of engineering and money spent these diesels (and gas cars) and they are a lot smarter than the average internet poster on here who is just giving his opinion. They can call it a fact, but that doesn’t make it so. The current emissions have been around for 10+ years - diesel EGRs since 2003. A DEF pump is relatively cheap and easy to replace - just don’t have a supply chain issue during a pandemic which is what spooked everyone.

I mean, I’m not under the impression the hybrid on a of the etorque engine is that simple of a system either.
 

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Oh, and my brother in law just back into his mailbox in his 2021 f150. Broke his tail light lens but no real damage otherwise. The tail light was $700 from Ford.
 

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I have had 3 JLUR 3.6L prior to my 2021 JLUR Eco-Diesel. I only have 130 miles on it so far, but it is night and day different driving. The power delivery is way smoother, its like a different vehicle. Before I bought this one we went and drove all available engine options I wanted to like the 2 0 to save some money, but as soon as we drove the Diesel there was no way we would get anything else. I can't speak to long term reliability, but I have ran into aftermarket support issues where parts are not made for it (skids etc ) I never keep anything more than a year or two so long term reliability was not a factor for me. It was all about the power delivery, and fuel economy. It reminded us of a hemi Grand Cherokee with the power delivery. I think the transmission and engine work well together. Off-road I was able to run a trail in 4-high in spots i used to need 4-low. I am sure 4-low is going to be a blast.

Go drive them all and pick what you like best. Everyone will have different preferences and look for different things so your best bet is seat time yourself.

Good luck
 

gerlbaum

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I have had 3 JLUR 3.6L prior to my 2021 JLUR Eco-Diesel. I only have 130 miles on it so far, but it is night and day different driving. The power delivery is way smoother, its like a different vehicle. Before I bought this one we went and drove all available engine options I wanted to like the 2 0 to save some money, but as soon as we drove the Diesel there was no way we would get anything else. I can't speak to long term reliability, but I have ran into aftermarket support issues where parts are not made for it (skids etc ) I never keep anything more than a year or two so long term reliability was not a factor for me. It was all about the power delivery, and fuel economy. It reminded us of a hemi Grand Cherokee with the power delivery. I think the transmission and engine work well together. Off-road I was able to run a trail in 4-high in spots i used to need 4-low. I am sure 4-low is going to be a blast.

Go drive them all and pick what you like best. Everyone will have different preferences and look for different things so your best bet is seat time yourself.

Good luck
I 100% agree. Guys will complain about a repair bills but will happily drop $3k on a belly pan. Everyone says diesel emissions components aren’t warrantied. They are, it’s in your manual. It’s a federally mandated warranty. Gas cars have it too. I think it said all emissions components are 2yr/24k miles and some components are up to 8yr/80k miles (someone will have to verify what I said).
 

nU7OuxIx

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I'm in the process of finalizing the order sheet for my JLUW and part of me did toy with the idea of a high torque Diesel engine! But many people provided great feedback below and I eco their sentiment as well. For me, it came down to risk. As was mentioned, Modern diesel engines are very complex. Forget maintenance. Any repair will cost you a lot out of warranty. I read that this engine is designed in Italy by Fiat and that didn't give me great confidence. I'm ordering my Willys with the Manual XMSN just so I avoid the eTorque v6 engine. I want the least complex driveline and the most proven one. It also helps keep costs down. $2500 for the Auto and about $4K cost to upgrade to the Diesel. ouch! I can buy a lot of 87Octane gas for that! Just one man's opinion. Wish you a great shopping experience!
Not to throw another turn in, but think about the manual vs automatic decision. Is it just to avoid eTorque?

I had the same thoughts too, but ended up with an auto with eTorque. I was a little leery at first with it but so far it's been great and I've been happy with it. The reasons I chose an auto were so that my wife could drive it, it's easier than to constantly having to shift, people say that the auto transmission is stronger than the manual (check the forums here), and, as this may be controversial, I think a manual would be way more challenging offroad. Imagine trying to rock crawl with a manual transmission. You can do it, but an automatic is much more easier.

In the end, you're going to be driving it so make yourself happy and order what you want. Diesel vs Gas, Manual vs Automatic, rock-trac vs AWD; these are very technically designed vehicles and issues most likely will pop up over time.
 

JLUW75

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Not to throw another turn in, but think about the manual vs automatic decision. Is it just to avoid eTorque?

I had the same thoughts too, but ended up with an auto with eTorque. I was a little leery at first with it but so far it's been great and I've been happy with it. The reasons I chose an auto were so that my wife could drive it, it's easier than to constantly having to shift, people say that the auto transmission is stronger than the manual (check the forums here), and, as this may be controversial, I think a manual would be way more challenging offroad. Imagine trying to rock crawl with a manual transmission. You can do it, but an automatic is much more easier.

In the end, you're going to be driving it so make yourself happy and order what you want. Diesel vs Gas, Manual vs Automatic, rock-trac vs AWD; these are very technically designed vehicles and issues most likely will pop up over time.
Thanks for the thoughts and feedback. My first Jeep right out of college was a manual with a straight-six. I loved how the stick worked with the engine. I drove the 4xe and the v6 with auto and found them a bit labored to get the vehicle moving. The stick will be peppier to get up and move. the new six is not as torquey as the old straight-six down low in the rev range (maybe the old Jeep was much lighter). But I read that the manual has very short gearing that gets the Jeep moving. I won't be doing any hard off-roading and my wife drives a manual. I also thought of the security aspect too with a soft top so having a manual trans is a theft deterrent as well. ;) Last but not least, I really tried to keep the OTD price under $50K. Amazing how hard that was with the Jeep. I paid $20,500 for my 2000 TJ Sport with A/C, full doors, and upgraded wheels/tire package!
 

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Get something like Scanguage to monitor regens, soot and turbo temps, and you will have peace of mind with diesel ownership. With suspense and uncertainty gone, you will enjoy the 3.0L and not regret it.
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