What is the turbo diesel about?

[Bluegoose972]

With all of the big powerful diesel engines out there, not sure that I've seen many diesel buggies or conversions. The diesel emissions don't really like to idle....needs RPM's and temperature to get the heat up in the exhaust system to burn off all of the fuel. Haven't seen many high mileage vehicles with the DEF yet, so not sure if that fixes the problem.

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[BillG]

I’d say main benefit of diesel is towing and longevity.

 

[BillG]

I’ve seen a few conversions using a Cummins 4bt, but they don’t have the emissions system. That’s where the problem will be, if there is one.

 

[jlrocks]

icon4x4.com can use a turbo diesel. Not sure which one but I think it's that Cummins.

 

[BillG]

For actual off road stuff, diesel can be great. 90%of farm tractors use them.
The problem will be in the emissions system. To be honest I’ve not used a diesel that uses diesel exhaust fluid. That might take care of some of the problems.
I used to tow a lot. My life has changed and now I don’t. My commute is five miles. That’s not enough to keep my engine happy. That’s one of the reasons I’m trading.
My Ram is an 11. More recent ones might do better, or you might live somewhere that you can remove the emissions system. If I lived one county over, I could get away with that.

 

[kylebw7]

Need the 392

 

[WXman]

Can anybody name a manual transmission, small diesel, 4x4 vehicle sold in the U.S.? It doesn't happen because it takes an act of Congress (no pun intended) just to be able to sell them here in the States, and mating them to a manual transmission makes emissions certification even harder. The KJ CRD was automatic trans. only, the WK CRD was automatic only, the WK2 EcoDiesel is automatic only, the Chevy Colorado Duramax is automatic only, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is automatic only. The odds of a JL EcoDiesel with a manual transmission are near zero.

20 years ago, diesel was the only way to go. Far more power than gas engines, far better fuel economy, and they lasted forever. Diesel fuel was also dirt cheap, which it should be since it's a less refined product. Today, the EPA has stripped away most of the benefit. The fuel economy is only slightly better, fuel is more expensive, and you've got to deal with frequent regen cycles and EGR issues.

I love diesel power. I really do. I want to test drive a JL EcoDiesel. But the truth is... I'm not sure you could pry the Pentastar out of my hands. It's economical, isn't finicky, makes great power, and is easier to live with day to day.

 

[Vegas_Sirk]

I love diesel power. I really do. I want to test drive a JL EcoDiesel. But the truth is... I'm not sure you could pry the Pentastar out of my hands. It's economical, isn't finicky, makes great power, and is easier to live with day to day.

 

[Sean L]

TORQUE!!! not power... lol

 

[Vegas_Sirk]

TORQUE!!! not power... lol

IMO the Pentastar dosen't make great TQ or HP. I have been living with it for the last 5 years and there is nothing great about it.

 

[Sean L]

IMO the Pentastar dosen't make great TQ or HP. I have been living with it for the last 5 years and there is nothing great about it.

Sorry, thought he was talking about the diesel. But yeah I think the 3.6 is a good engine, and much better than the 3.5, 3.7 and 3.8 engines it replaced. Not a torque monster by any means though but probably the best V6 engine I've owned in any of my vehicles.

 

[Namib]

Diesels are not the best vehicles for short runs or town hopping. They need long drives and towing to be happy with the emissions system in place.

I am not sure this is true anymore. People still have a lot of perceptions about diesels from older truck style engines, but the newer turbo diesels are awesome. My wife drives a MB ML Diesel and it is an awesome daily driver. Gets great gas mileage!

 

[Namib]

I’d say main benefit of diesel is towing and longevity.

I will add gas mileage and torque to this list. Should be awesome for crawling.

 

[Vegas_Sirk]

I will add gas mileage and torque to this list. Should be awesome for crawling.

Also the mileage = more range too. So less stops for fuel if overlanding or traveling. With how small the Wrangler's tank is this could be a HUGE benefit.

Also aftermarket tuning, is there too. So you can make additional HP & TQ from a simple flash. On the Gen 1 Eco Diesels people were seeing 80 HP / 100 TQ gains from a simple $500 flash. Something that would take $1,000s of dollars to do on the V6.

 

[Sean L]

I am not sure this is true anymore. People still have a lot of perceptions about diesels from older truck style engines, but the newer turbo diesels are awesome. My wife drives a MB ML Diesel and it is an awesome daily driver. Gets great gas mileage!

I think it depends on the type of emissions controls it has. The Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) from the late 2000s were notorious for clogging up if you did a lot of idling and didn't do long highway drives. My company bought a 2010 Freightliner bucket truck (does a lot of idling on PTO) that had a lot of issues with the DPF and it had to be removed to get all of the soot cleaned out. now we have to make sure it goes on a good long drive every once in a while to make sure it can regen fully.

We havent had any issues with the DEF trucks.

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