EcoDiesel Engine Failure 16,500 miles

[Peter]

What is your engine temp when your pulling your trailer?

Ours runs normal. Even in 100 + temps it runs normal. We when from Tyler Texas to gulf shores al and back for less than $200 in fuel pulling our trailer

 

[Plug]

Does your coolant get above 240?

 

[issanni]

Hopefully I don't have any significant issues with my new ED, however it can't be any worse than the 2007 BMW X5 4.8 that I traded out of......the X5 had over $27k in repairs in 2 years, fortunately I had a really good extended warranty.

 

[BoostN]

Hopefully I don't have any significant issues with my new ED, however it can't be any worse than the 2007 BMW X5 4.8 that I traded out of......the X5 had over $27k in repairs in 2 years, fortunately I had a really good extended warranty.

Ouch! Couldn't imagine that without a warranty.

 

[issanni]

Ouch! Couldn't imagine that without a warranty.

It was quite ridiculous.....one repair was right about $10k and that was replacing all 32 valve stem seals, it was about $300-500 in parts and the rest was labor.....they are prone to leaking due to extended oil change intervals recommended by BMW.

 

[William Wehlage]

I'm not so sure these extended OCIs are all they are cracked up to be. I'm really convinced the Pennzoil Euro L should no have gone 10k in the Eco diesel. The Rotella synthetic may be ok. But if I can find a cheaper high-quality filter, I'll probably drop mine down to about 6-7k.

 

[issanni]

I was the fleet manager for my company for 5 years and had 113 trucks (handed off the role to another guy a couple years ago), F150's to F550's and a few Chevy's. We follow the dash indicator for oil change intervals on all the trucks that have it and since 2010 we haven't see any significant engine related issues by going with extended OCI's. The heavy trucks we usually replace oil by hours rather than mileage but they are done on what equates to 7500 miles and no issues over the past 7+ years due to extended OCI. We have many trucks well over 200k miles (gas burners and diesels) and a handful over 300k miles. For the most part our trucks don't rest, they run about 20 hours a day average. Our biggest issue is getting drivers to check oil levels etc., we've lost a few 6.4L diesel engines due to driver negligence and they aren't cheap to replace at around $18k installed.

 

[Cmopar]

Sorry to hear about the failures! Does anyone make an EGR bypass alone; without other tune modifications?

 

[TRCGDB]

August 26th, leaving for Colorado from Fort Worth TX. We got about a mile from the house with engine running rough and knocking. the sound was troubling as we pulled away from the curb at home, but we were in such disbelief we pushed on. About a mile from the house we knew we were in trouble. I did a quick u turn hoping to get the trailer back to the storage space but the engine blew in the the early morning traffic.

Today the truck is at Autonation Ram/Jeep and they have ordered an new engine. As of now they don't know when the new one will be in.

more to come...

Had 16.5K on mine when the engine seized pulling a 6000 lb trailer in Florence KY. Snapped the crankshaft....been at the dealer for 3 weeks determining what happened. Apparently Ram knows it has an issue with one of the cylinders that probably froze and snapped the crank.
brand new engine is on the way....

 

[MSP548]

I bought my ED strictly for the fuel efficiency with no intentions of pulling a trailer. Has anyone heard of mechanical or engine failures occurring in vehicles not used for towing? Are these issues possibly related to towing? I understand the vehicle is rated to tow just under 10k lbs and so it should be able to without trouble; I'm just wondering if failures are occurring in trucks not being used for towing.

Not to place blame, but I really don't understand why guys like Shawn who used his ED strictly for towing up to 7K pounds almost 500 miles daily didn't just purchase the 3/4 ton designed more for the purpose he desired.

 

[Cmopar]

I bought my ED strictly for the fuel efficiency with no intentions of pulling a trailer. Has anyone heard of mechanical or engine failures occurring in vehicles not used for towing? Are these issues possibly related to towing? I understand the vehicle is rated to tow just under 10k lbs and so it should be able to without trouble; I'm just wondering if failures are occurring in trucks not being used for towing.

Not to place blame, but I really don't understand why guys like Shawn who used his ED strictly for towing up to 7K pounds almost 500 miles daily didn't just purchase the 3/4 ton designed more for the purpose he desired.

Same situation here and I could not agree more. That is a very important question indeed. I have learned over many years in designing machines; never apply/use anything close to, or at its max tolerance/rating. Always apply ample 'head-room' for real longevity.

 

[bobcat67]

Same situation here and I could not agree more. That is a very important question indeed. I have learned over many years in designing machines; never apply/use anything close to, or at its max tolerance/rating. Always apply ample 'head-room' for real longevity.

I agree with you, but I know alot of people that get 100's of thousands of miles on their one tons and abused them severely. Mostly over loading them on weight while towing, but these engines blowing up without any concrete reasoning is concerning. A guy should be able to use a pickup for what it's made for

 

[MoscowEngnr]

Mine made about 114,000 when 3 or 4 of the rod bearings went out. Fortunately the extended warranty covered most all the costs for changing to a used engine with about 20K miles on it. Now working fine with the other engine.

 

[William Jones]

August 26th, leaving for Colorado from Fort Worth TX. We got about a mile from the house with engine running rough and knocking. the sound was troubling as we pulled away from the curb at home, but we were in such disbelief we pushed on. About a mile from the house we knew we were in trouble. I did a quick u turn hoping to get the trailer back to the storage space but the engine blew in the the early morning traffic.

Today the truck is at Autonation Ram/Jeep and they have ordered an new engine. As of now they don't know when the new one will be in.

more to come...

 

[jibsroach]

You get Code P245B, it lights the CEL, but has NO effect on operating the vehicle, you can unplug the actuator but the coolant chamber has a bypass, but it does restrict the flow, MY ED been like this for 14 months I get the P245B occasionally ,I just clear it with My IQ.

Mine just got this code. How do you clear it?

 

[BoostN]

Mine just got this code. How do you clear it?

A scanner, or monitor like the Banks IQ or Edge CTS2

Major auto parts stores will clear codes for you as well free of charge.

 

[Ryan]

August 26th, leaving for Colorado from Fort Worth TX. We got about a mile from the house with engine running rough and knocking. the sound was troubling as we pulled away from the curb at home, but we were in such disbelief we pushed on. About a mile from the house we knew we were in trouble. I did a quick u turn hoping to get the trailer back to the storage space but the engine blew in the the early morning traffic.

Today the truck is at Autonation Ram/Jeep and they have ordered an new engine. As of now they don't know when the new one will be in.

more to come...

Mine blew at 21k it's at the dealer getting a new engine too.

 

[fhedrickjr]

First, I have no first hand experience however, I have been doing a great deal of research as I am waiting to take delivery of my ED. I expect to run a great deal of miles and would like to know and prevent any and all issues that I can...

There is additional videos online that a gentlemen named Shawn posted (Mopar ecodiesel). It is my understanding that he towed approximately 7k lbs nearly daily. He experienced failure of the timing cam. It is a bolt design that allows the cams to slightly shift under stress. Shawn had a mechanic put dowels to eliminate any future problem. D and J diesel out of Salt Lake, City. I called and spoke to them briefly. Interesting they reported a gentlemen from Montana drove his new truck to them with less than 500 miles on the truck they found the time to be off. After the preventative "procedure" the customer drove home and reported better fuel economy.

Know obviously this may not be your issue. But I am discussing this with my mechanic to see if he can do something similar as I am not near SLC. To add I am curious what they found out. Good luck with your truck.

I had the same idea about pinning the timing/cam gears. I saw a video where they could spin the gear with one finger! He said he thought it was an interference fit, meaning heat shrunk/press fit. Hope they change THAT design!!

 

[fhedrickjr]

There is also a thread on this forum about the oil change bulletin. I saw this when I did a search. They are thinking the oil improvement will take care of the main bearing issues: http://www.oildepot.ca/5w-40-motor-oil-now-suggested-all-ecodiesel-engines/