Eco diesel engine died.

[tjfdesmo]

Being a VM Italian engine, I pretty much knew a Fiat-sourced EcoDiesel would be a disaster for US markets. It was. What a shame first Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler and drained them, just as they were getting back on their feet the Great Recession hit, bankrupting them, and of all possible buyers, horrid quality Fiat took them.

I was at Cummins at the time, and they'd developed the V8 5.0L diesel to go into 1500 Ram. Fiat tore up that contract, leaving Cummins holding the bag and finding a disastrous partnership with Nissan. Fiat wasn't dumb enough to tear up the existing Cummins contract with the 6.7L diesel.

Yep, I read about the 1st gen Duramax 3.0 issues, supposedly fixed on Gen 2? Anyway, all that exhaust crap has pretty much nixed diesels for me. I still run my Yanmar 1.1L tractor engine, EPA Tier II. All it has is an in line injection pump. It's noisy, but powerful and fuel efficient. Nothing earplugs can't handle.

The 5.0 Cummins was not much better, plus it would have hurt the payload and MPG pretty badly in the already payload deficient 1500.

 

[ramffml]

But it does have those issues. A close friend had repeat codes/issues, injectors replaced, etc at low miles. Two others I have spoken to directly, one of them just two days ago, have had huge downtime/ out-of-service for running issues. He is getting to the end of GM buyback, and the other is trying to work it out via the dealer, instead of the corporate battle. They do run strong and get superb MPG, otherwise.

What I'm trying to say: there is a difference between isolated incidents, and "issues". The hemi has lifter issues. The GM 3.0, so far I don't think there are high incident rates to be called "issues".

 

[Fediej]

The 5.0 Cummins was not much better, plus it would have hurt the payload and MPG pretty badly in the already payload deficient 1500.

Pretty sure that's why it went into the *not quite* "heavy duty" XD instead of the regular half-ton Nissan Titan.

 

[huntergreen]

It may help reduce confusion if we use the actual name of the engines.
3.0 EcoDiesel gen 1,2 = GM + FCA design originally designed for cars/cadillac
3.0 EcoDiesel gen 3 = FCA
3.0 Duramax = GM

The 3.0 duramax is an amazing engine. It doesn't have widespread issues, certainly not nearly as high as anything from EcoDiesel or even the hemi and the gm n/a gassers.

The "drop the transmission" is overblown. You'll do that maybe once in the lifetime of the engine, and if you do it twice you're getting a lot of miles on that engine anyway so lets not complain at that point. It's scheduled maintenance, shops will probably get good/fast/cheap at it.

Many engines have "flaws" like this. The hemi will blow manifolds and has its share of lifter/cam issues. You basically have to pick your poison.

The 3.0 duramax should be at the top of anyone's list if you want a refined, quiet, smooth, efficient, and torquey engine for daily driving and/or towing. It's not a racer, it will lose a little steam on the highway for passing compared to the 6.2 and probably the 5.7 too although that's probably a closer match.

It's not a cummins or a big duramax, it doesn't suffer from the same daily driving issues as the bigger diesels do. It has been designed from day 1 to be daily driving with emissions equipment installed.

I would be hard pressed to believe the DPF exhaust filter will survive daily short trips on the 3.0 duramax.
When driven properly, I’m sure it’s a great set up.

 

[huntergreen]

Pretty sure that's why it went into the *not quite* "heavy duty" XD instead of the regular half-ton Nissan Titan.

That was a fiasco. Unusual for Cummins.

 

[HEMIMANN]

The 5.0 Cummins was not much better, plus it would have hurt the payload and MPG pretty badly in the already payload deficient 1500.

Agree. I was astonished Cummins went to a V block, I thought they'd use the ISB 4.5, similar to an Isuzu cabover truck diesel.

 

[huntergreen]

If they applied Nissan with the 4.5 ISB, there would be a Nissan in my driveway!

 

[HEMIMANN]

If they applied Nissan with the 4.5 ISB, there would be a Nissan in my driveway!

Yeah, but the rest of the truck............bleah.

 

[RamCares]

@RamCares

Any help for the OP for a known engine quality failure @109,000 km?

Some of these legacy design failures should be helped if the company doesn't want to lose customers for the new trucks coming out.

Thanks.

Hey thanks so much for tagging us in this! OP is located in Toronto and unfortunately outside of what we can assist with as we can only assist our customers located in the US. However, we'd recommend reaching out Ram Customer Care in Canada. They can be reached via direct messaging on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ramtruckscanada or by phone here: 1-800-465-2001

Callie
Ram Cares

 

[06 Dodge]

Agree. I was astonished Cummins went to a V block, I thought they'd use the ISB 4.5, similar to an Isuzu cabover truck diesel.

It wish Dodge/Ram had put the Cummins 4BTA or similar in the Dakota pickups as I know a lot of guys who would have purchased midsize pick up truck with that engine.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Yup. Me, too!

 

[HEMIMANN]

And, then there's this -

3 Companies 11 Men Charged for "Deleting" Diesel Emission Controls: 1 Already Pleads Guilty

Three companies and 11 men have been charged with defeating and/or modifying diesel emissions hardware in Michigan. One of the 11 has already plead guilty. See what he and the others may be facing.

www.motorbiscuit.com

We are aware that EPA is cracking down in deleters and tuners. Besides, it's really all they have left to do in the 1st place. Guaranteed money-maker. Notice the "go-to-jail" part.

 

[tangocash001]

OP here,

New engine is being put in this week. The mechanic has done a lot of them and said they are bad engines and suggested driving it until the warranty runs out on the new engine and then dumping it. New engine is 3 years or 160km through Chrysler. My cost is 13500 for the engine plus 2-3k install. Canadian dollars. 3rd party warranty covers 4k. Even the warranty company said they have done lots of claims on Eco diesels dying just past Ram warranty. UGH

 

[jimboschnitz]

Sorry to hear your Eco problem. I'm on my second, a 2020 with all the updates from the older version. I had a 2016 that had 120,000 miles on it when I traded for the 2020 and the only issue I ever had was a leaking EGR cooler which
when I purchased it used at 30,000 miles it was probably leaking. Other than that, I've never had any other issues with it. Maybe I'm just extremely lucky. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[bwestwood]

I'm in Kitchener. Who's your Ram guy in Guelph?

 

[turkeybird56]

Boird, was yours a Gen 3 ecodiesel?

Supposedly the initial design flaws were corrected?

Gen 2, the 3's did not come out till 2018 ish.

 

[crash68]

the 3's did not come out till 2018 ish.

Gen3 EcoDiesel motors started with the 2020 model.year in the Gen5 DT body Ram trucks and Jeeps (Wrangler/Gladiator).

 

[tangocash001]

I'm in Kitchener. Who's your Ram guy in Guelph?

I sent you a DM , but for anyone else in that area, it's Goatshop Inc. The Mechanic is Luke and he sells parts as well and is a specialized Ram guy. He knows his Rams.

 

[RamDiver]

One Stop Goat Shop – International Auto Brokers Ltd.

 

[Evguy1]

It wish Dodge/Ram had put the Cummins 4BTA or similar in the Dakota pickups as I know a lot of guys who would have purchased midsize pick up truck with that engine.

Cummins ISB170 is the common rail version of the 4BT and made an amazing truck out of my 08 Dakota. https://youtu.be/9RXqC9_Qgy8
and now the ISB170 in my 2014 RAM 1500 is a very nice and reliable alternative to the ED.

Rambo, Old farts last build

I have been building unique vehicles for the last 45 years and think this may be the last one. A few current vehicles in the family are "blacky" the 08 Dakota with a Cummins ISB170 and NV4500...

www.ramforum.com