Rest In Peace Ecodiesel engine

[Jean-Pierre Seguin]

Hi Ecodiesel brothers and sisters,

My 2016 Laramie Ecodiesel stop running on the highway 3 weeks ago. The engine stopped and display low oil pressure on the dash. Got the truck towed to nearest Ram dealer (4 hours away from home). Got a call from the dealer that they wouldn’t be able to diagnose the problem before 2 weeks. I then took other arrangements with another Ram dealer.
The diagnosis just came in…. Dead engine. The dealer tells me they don’t know what happen… they would have to take the motor apart. They now tell me that a replacement is $20,000 CnD. The truck has only 123,000km ….. extended warranty ended 3,000km ago. The dealer told me I could try to contact Ram to negotiate something. Any advice would be appreciated. I Can’t believe a 5 year old engine well maintained with low mileage would suddenly die like that.

 

[geauxgirl66]

Call dodge customer service and open up a claim with them. If you’ve had previous issues that could be the cause of this. Our 16 Laramie longhorn eco diesel has been in a dealership 6 times because of running hot. They’ve done everything under the sun and not fixed the problem. The coolant is leaking somewhere just not onto the ground. It’s currently in the shop and they believe that whatever they are doing will fix it this time. I am not so confident. I don’t want to get rid of the truck but I worry that I will be faced with what has happened to you. You have to stay on them and stand your ground. I have yet to have to pay for any of these repairs as I believe they are due to a faulty design. These are not wear and tear issues.

 

[TC Diesel]

Some have been successful with Ram covering 1/2 the cost.... IMO Its not worth the risk in ownership, 3.0VM are going on 6 years of the same problems, its Hero or Zero Motor...

 

[Ironcity]

Hi Ecodiesel brothers and sisters,

My 2016 Laramie Ecodiesel stop running on the highway 3 weeks ago. The engine stopped and display low oil pressure on the dash. Got the truck towed to nearest Ram dealer (4 hours away from home). Got a call from the dealer that they wouldn’t be able to diagnose the problem before 2 weeks. I then took other arrangements with another Ram dealer.
The diagnosis just came in…. Dead engine. The dealer tells me they don’t know what happen… they would have to take the motor apart. They now tell me that a replacement is $20,000 CnD. The truck has only 123,000km ….. extended warranty ended 3,000km ago. The dealer told me I could try to contact Ram to negotiate something. Any advice would be appreciated. I Can’t believe a 5 year old engine well maintained with low mileage would suddenly die like that.

Believe it. This has happened to many ecodiesel. This happened to my 2016 with 57,000 miles on it about a year and a half ago. Luckily, it was covered under warranty.
There was a post somewhat recently that you can get a crate eco engine and the link to the page. I want to say the engine was around $7,000. Then got to find a diesel mechanic for the reinstall. But that person said it was way less money than the dealer doing the job. Good luck to you!

 

[wjengle]

My 2015 1500 Eco Diesel died from a similar fate in 2020. Dealer said it was a timing gear laminate problem. I have found stats online indicating that the problem is the pressed on timing gear is not held in place by a key-seat and has a 2-30% chance of slipping between 60K to 75K. Mine went at 68K. Fortunately the dealer was able to get FCA to replace the engine and so far, so good.

 

[Jean-Pierre Seguin]

My 2015 1500 Eco Diesel died from a similar fate in 2020. Dealer said it was a timing gear laminate problem. I have found stats online indicating that the problem is the pressed on timing gear is not held in place by a key-seat and has a 2-30% chance of slipping between 60K to 75K. Mine went at 68K. Fortunately the dealer was able to get FCA to replace the engine and so far, so good.

Thank you for the information. Did the dealer had to take the engine apart to find the cause? Where you still under warranty of FCA replaced based on goodwill?

 

[wjengle]

The dealer had to take the engine apart to an initial level of investigation, report to FCA, then take more of it apart and report to FCA again before FCA approved totally replacing the engine at their cost. It is my understanding that while I was technically over the 5-year warranty period from date of manufacture I was within the 100.000 mile warranty and FCA apparently wanted to offset the statistical failure rate with goodwill hoping to preserve the engine's reputation. I was told that metal shavings were in the oil sump. I have seen videos of other 3.0L ' with similar failures at much higher mileage and the internals were otherwise extremely clean other than the failed part. I am not sure why any gear would be simply a friction held press-on when a key-seated gear could not slip. But the engine design had been in service abroad for years and I waited to see how it performed here a few years before buying one. Other than this issue, I really like the engine and have pulled several trailers long distance just fine.

 

[TC Diesel]

wjengle, I dis-agree with the the failure, when the Pump gear slips it cause upper engine timing destruction, Valves run into pistons and 5 seconds later it BOOM, no metal shaving would be found in the sump it would be BIG pieces, it failed just like 10,000+ other 3.0VM fail rotating mass failure. Glad to hear its being covered Buy Fiat , justifiably So, its a known failure for 5+ years.