3.0L V6 Turbo Diesel Gen 3

shooter65

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Totally off topic and I'm not looking but I was just curious about this engine. It seems when they first came out, Ram was marketing pretty hard but I don't hear anything about them anymore. Are their inherent problems? What about the 8HP75 trans that is required with this engine?
 
The Eco Diesel was FCA's answer to the Ford Ecoboost. The premise is that it will out perform in towing and fuel mileage over a twin turbo setup while using "less expensive" diesel fuel versus Premium on the Ford. The engine worked very well at the outset but then became plagued with quality control issues. When FCA got embroiled in the whole emission fiasco with the engine not meeting the Govmint EPA standards it suffered a halt in production while the Corp worked to overcome the issue and deal with the subsequent fines. That took the engine out of production for a year when it was just getting known in the market.

My personal opinion is that it is a great engine in the right configuration and under the right circumstances. If you are a city dweller driving 5 minutes to work each day not the truck for you. If you tow consistently or do highway driving then it will be a benefit as it performs as well as the Hemi in towing but better on fuel. HOWEVER this isn't your grandpa's Cummins.... It will require more maintenance and you have Glow Plugs to deal with. EGR's have been problematic, DEF tanks freezing solid, coolant leaks etc are all valid concerns with this engine. The 8 speed works well and has had little issue in my experience.

Bottom line is if you can make use of a Diesel Engine in your driving habits then it is a good alternative to to the Hemi. Just keep your maintenance up and when its off warranty get rid of it.
 
I love mine, course it's not stock. Transmission is basically bullet proof, it's manufactured by ZF and is used globally in many, many vehicles.
 
If you intend to put more than 200,000 miles on it, find something else. They are on borrowed time after that even with religious maintenance and synthetic oil. When they go, you'll need a broom and a shovel to clean up the mess and there's no warning. Running smooth, earth shattering kaboom...

Kevin
 
The reason I asked was that a buddy of mine was talking about converting a high roof work van into a motor home and i was surprised that the only engine option in any of the Renault....er, I mean Ram vans is the 3.6L gas. I was thinking this would be a good engine for that application.
 
The reason I asked was that a buddy of mine was talking about converting a high roof work van into a motor home and i was surprised that the only engine option in any of the Renault....er, I mean Ram vans is the 3.6L gas. I was thinking this would be a good engine for that application.

Promaster diesel van ceased when the émission issue occurred. We would like to see them back.
 
The Eco Diesel was FCA's answer to the Ford Ecoboost. The premise is that it will out perform in towing and fuel mileage over a twin turbo setup while using "less expensive" diesel fuel versus Premium on the Ford. The engine worked very well at the outset but then became plagued with quality control issues. When FCA got embroiled in the whole emission fiasco with the engine not meeting the Govmint EPA standards it suffered a halt in production while the Corp worked to overcome the issue and deal with the subsequent fines. That took the engine out of production for a year when it was just getting known in the market.

My personal opinion is that it is a great engine in the right configuration and under the right circumstances. If you are a city dweller driving 5 minutes to work each day not the truck for you. If you tow consistently or do highway driving then it will be a benefit as it performs as well as the Hemi in towing but better on fuel. HOWEVER this isn't your grandpa's Cummins.... It will require more maintenance and you have Glow Plugs to deal with. EGR's have been problematic, DEF tanks freezing solid, coolant leaks etc are all valid concerns with this engine. The 8 speed works well and has had little issue in my experience.

Bottom line is if you can make use of a Diesel Engine in your driving habits then it is a good alternative to to the Hemi. Just keep your maintenance up and when its off warranty get rid of it.
On paper a RAM1500 crew cab with EcoDiesel seems like the perfect daily driver for me. However, I've heard enough bad about the engine such as the above to conclude that my '07 Megacab (Cummins 5.9, not the 6.7) will probably be my last diesel. :(
 
I have one in my wifes 2014 grand Cherokee. Quality is no where near the 2003 5.9 Cummins I drive. Have had issues since day 1 with it. Most recent was the bolt holding the fuel pump drive gear to the passenger side timing gear came loose causing camshaft gear to freewheel and resulting in piston to valve contact. Broke all the rocker arms on right bank. Absolute pain in the *** to get the right valve cover off. Put new rockers in and lock tight on the bolt and torqued. Runs fine now but this shouldn't have happen on a 50k mile engine. Not to mention the check engine light forever comes on for dpf and cat codes. My 2003 5.9 Cummins with 210k is way more reliable than the 3.0vm crap. One good thing it does get pretty good highway mileage. 30+mpg
 
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