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Today, VW of America dealers are the worse automobile dealers in the world. This is the main reason VW is not doing as well in the US. When VW sold the "old bugs" the dealers took very good care of your bug. We had three and it was one of the most economical vehicles to own and operate. You trusted the VW dealer then but not true any more.
The outcome is most interresting:
-The 2 differentials can be inspected in about 15 minutes, including oil level and wheel play.
-The transfer case needs about 3 minutes.
-The ball joints play take 2 minutes per side using a 4" capacity universal plier to try to 'catch' the play if any.
-Ball joint problem over here was related to a missing disc heat deflector on each side.
-ABS sensor cables can be damaged by pinching near the front wheels. One side (left) was wrongly routed.
-Speed sensor on the rear differential has to be wired below the hand-brakes cables, and not above which caused a problem related and discussed in another forum.
-Hand brake setting is trivial. With transfer case in neutral and a medium size flat screwdriver, catch the play on each side via the slot by turning the knurled nut towards the top until a drag can be felt by rotating the wheel by hand, then come down 3 notches. This takes 2 minutes per side.
The rest of the work on the lift is oil change and filling in a computer form.
My diesel uses 10 out of 33 OBDII recognised modules. None are related to pollution or timing. Belts, cd player, speedometer console, ABS brakes, airbags, etc...
I would not recommend purchasing the OBD reader for the diesel.
My tranny is labeled 462RFE, but corresponds to the 545 in the US.
The engine oil is 6.3 liters of full-synthetic SAE 5-40.
To clean the water separator of the fuel line it's best to remove the whole thing: two connectors at the bottom and two tube clamps on the top. Time needed ~15 minutes to install a new filter.
The air filter replacement you know about.
All other fluids and levels checked.
Greasing of all hinges and door key mechanisms.
I have the impression it's quite interresting to take 1/2 a day off at work and be able to sleep well afterwards.
We have also spotted the 'turbo whine' after one hour of road and garage testing at 2000 rpm, time charged on the warranty. This time, I think I owe a few bottles of champagne to the head mechanics!
http://motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/112_04_coy_win/index3.html
It's very difficult to start/stop the diesel engine compared to the gasser. Another issue is the 'optimal' rpm for the generator when you consider cost/mass/vibrations/minimal mechanical losses.
The last but not least criteria is the final efficiency (expressed in USD or BTU) per kilowatt produced if you consider gas versus diesel.
Seen from over here, a possibility would be a diesel-electric combo. At night, you could turn it on when you're in the neighbouring suburbs...
tidester, host
http://www.migrol.ch/default.asp?navig=484
I think that when all service stations will carry such type of clean diesel fuel, Hybrids will not be as appealing as they are today. My tail pipe already smells like when frying vegetable in the kitchen. It will be very difficult to get cleaner fuel.
I thought that the EU was already using ULSD less than 15 PPM sulfur.
-350ppm sulfur until dec 2004.
-50ppm until dec 2008.
-10ppm from jan 2005.
Until last month, I was using the 350ppm diesel fuel and never noticed any trace of black smoke emission from the Jeep. 'Greenlife' diesel sold in Switzerland doesn't smell like heating oil anymore. It has a 'sweeter' smell like sugar, and ignites very well when the temperature is around -10 Celcius.
Mileage figures on the common rail diesels change with temperature. I'm using up to 20% more fuel now, and this applies to VW and Renault diesels as well. The older 'non electronic' diesels are not affected by temperature since they don't have an air flow-meter sensing device.
and
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05063/466021.stm
-Clutch pedal leaking fluid in the cabin after 2000 miles;
-Engine warning light comes on and engine goes into lower power or default mode.
-Miserable shifting feeling.
DC apparently takes the trucks back and gives new ones in exchange. A few Jeep customers are expressing their worries in forums and looking towards the asian builders. This doesn't smell nice! Delivery is now 4 months according to posts
Thanks
Badness,east coast NJ
Also, since this is Winter, you'll likely get lower mileage figures than you will in the summer. On the bright side, a recent evaluation in the Detroit Press shows the actual mileage received by the tester on some hybrid cars was in the upper teens to low 20's in the city, and they're advertised at much higher figures than the Liberty CRD, so you're doing as well or better than they are.
Keep us posted, I'm really interested in the CRD, but not if the mileage is no better than the V6.
I hesitate to make the obvious correction which involves fuel pump timing as the local dealer has the tools for the new CRD sealed up "until Daimler-Chrysler sends my mechanic to school"...quote from service manager. In a trip I took from my home in Corpus to Austin (500+ round trip at 65 mph average speed, the mpg was 19-20)...current odometer reading is 1100. I have allowed for rack and fog lights on top and switch to 17" wheels and the Pirelli Scorpion a/t's I added and I should be getting at least 24mpg on the highway.....business associates following me noted intermittent black smoke from the exhaust....all this tallies to a timing adjustment that is required. I look forward to y'all keeping this issue as a discussion point and learning if any CRD owners check out the timing.
Other: Note your "gas pedal" very cheap assembly...make sure that the travel room when flooring reached the bottom of same...it did not in mine,,,,there is a long bolt with a nut on the end which came missing on mine and the assemble was pushed so far in that you could not depress the throttle to max without hitting the floorboard first. I pulled the unit back from the floorboard to the end of the bolt, inserted a woodblock, sealed same so that I could achieve maximum throttle w/o hitting the floorboard....my dealer was impressed....look for a service bulletin or recall on this in the near future. Look at your windshield washer resevoir and note that the freon cap for freon fill inhibits the lifting of the washer cap...to fill water and lift the resevoir cap you have to unscrew the freon cap first. The stereo system is horrid....when ordered (this is a Limited with every option checked off) I added the subwoofer to this "Infinity System"....final product sounded like an old 8 track sound system from 30 years ago....typical Chrysler "lousy audio". I left the head end which is a Sirius Sat, 6 CD changer, etc. and pulled the speakers and sub-woofer and replaced with four Pioneer 4-way speakers and a Sony x-plod amp....it now exceeds the performance of the stock Bose system in my wife's '04 Yukon Denali, which is pretty darn good.....look forward to hearing from y'all!
So you have better acceleration at lower rpm and less drag at 2500 rpm.
To give you a running budget approach, I now have 43,000 Km on the Jeep and my overall mileage including the canadian winter we just had is in the order of 10.5 Liters per 100 Km. Whatever you hear not being as good as quoted is excellent value for the money seen from over here.
I upgraded the tires on my truck from 245's to 265's and the adjustment for the miles usually adds 1/2mpg compared to just calculating by dividing miles by gallons. So not only do you get hit with a heavier, more aggresive tire you get hit with the odometer being off.
Carry on!
Steve, Host
I am also getting about 25.3 on the German autobahn with cruise control on. I took a recent trip to the German Alps and really enjoyed the ride. I owned a 2002 BMW 325 XI (all wheel drive) so it the Jeep had some tough competition. It rides a little better then a truck and one of the reasons I bought it verses other SUVs in the same class was due to its off roading capability and towing. With only 1500 miles driven so far I am very happy with the performance. I am very pleased with the new chrome grill and chrome accents make the vehicle stand out. What does amaze me is that this vehicle has been available in Europe for years as the (Jeep Cherrokee) and I am thinking that vehicle is also made in Ohio so the 5000K production figure is all hype.
I got a key without the lock transmitter. I believe it was about $25.00. Works fine. It is about the size of a conventional key. The dealer is ripping you off.
"I am also getting about 25.3 on the German autobahn with cruise control on. I took a recent trip to the German Alps and really enjoyed the ride."
I have less than 3,000 miles on the thing. I checked mileage once on a trip of a couple hundred miles. I got 28. The sticker promised 27 so I was happy. This was calculated from the reading on the pump and the odometer. With the price of gas going skywards, I still don't like it.
Caribou: You said you used 10.51 liters in 100 kilometers. That figures to 22 mpg. With the high tax on gas in Canada, I'd want something with quite high mileage if I lived over there. How much is a liter of gas in Canada these days? A liter is .264 gallons so I'd have to multiply by 3.78 and go through the exchange rate which today is one US dollar to .82 for the Canadian dollar. Tell us and make us feel good.
I got a CD ROM manual for the vehicle. I haven't studied it thoroughly, but it looks like they did a good job preparing the manual..
A poster on another website repoted the price of unleaded and diesel in Alberta. Unleaded was $2.78 per gallon US and diesel was $2.35 per gallon US. That was yesterday.
I remember paying 55 cts per canadian gallon for premium gas in 1968 around Montreal area. I don't remember the exchange rate.
Now I live in Europe and I pay about 1.1 Euro per liter gas or diesel. It's the price of cheap table wine! ( 5.72 USD/Usgal) So when we read the signs "Drink or Drive" they are no longer money related . :sick:
Do you think the diesel engines would run on cheap booze? I've had scotch that tasted like kerosene. Do you get biodiesel in Europe? In the winter do you run # 1 diesel (jet A/ kerosene)? Where I work it is 100% # 1 diesel in the 6 months of winter.
Karl drove one the other day, btw:
editor_karl, "Karl's Daily Log Book" #152, 9 Apr 2005 10:08 pm
Steve, Host
On the other hand, a few fast food restaurants are recycling used deep frying oil to show good will. We may hear more in the coming decade due to oil depletion projections.