I wanted to buy the Ecodiesel in my 2020 Rebel, found the one I wanted, then found out the dealers in my area were marking the Diesel up by almost 10k dollars. I did the math and found that in the 7 years to pay off the truck, it would not make up that amount of money in savings between diesel and gasoline, so I bought the 5.7 instead.
@@TheGettyAdventures Now I am looking at selling my truck due to gas prices. I am looking at a Rubicon 4xe or just the 2.0L turbo. I want something to take off-road, without costing a lot for a daily driver.
2016 Ecodiesel bought new. Just rolled 100,000 miles, 80% of that was towing a 9500 lb travel trailer. Oil changes every 7500 miles, diesel and air filters every 15,000 miles. Tires at 65,000 miles and battery at 90,000 miles. It had 1 CEL at 70,000 miles and was fixed under the emissions warranty. All software updates are complete and I still get 28 mpg on the highway. Runs and looks great. Yes, my trailer was too heavy but the truck handled like a beast.
right on sir. it does seem that these engines like to be run hard. but you also seem to be on top of your maintenance which is also important. but hey can't complain with 28mpg's
Considering getting one and would be doing a lot of road trips with an rv. Did you ever feel like you would have been better with the 2500 towing that 9500 so much? Thanks for the help!
@@Grant3758 during our travels throughout 38 states the answer to that question is a bit complicated. I usually got around 13 mpg while towing and between 24 and 28 while stationed and unhitched. A 2500 would probably get less than that. Over 100,000 miles, I would estimate the cost differences to be around $1,000 in fuel. I would never get a hemi (gas) 2500 though; that amount would at least double. I knew that I was towing at or above my GCVW so I used a $2000 Pro Pride hitch and kept it at 62mph always. There were probably 3 stretches of road where the grade slowed me down to around 45mph and I noticed transmission and oil temperature climbing to the point where I wondered if I was going to need to pull over. In each instance, we crested the hill and everything returned to normal before there was any real issue. Finally, the Ecodiesel isn't really capable of towing anything but the smallest 5th wheel, so upgrading trailers wasn't an option. I still have my 1500 to this day. I love it and am very proud of the job it did. It continues to be completely reliable and perfect for my current non RV lifestyle. The 2500 wouldn't be as good of an unhitched, around the local area truck but it will give you a lot more towing confidence and trailer options. Also, a 2500 costs more to buy initially. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have bought a used HD truck (I couldn't have afforded new at the time) and a used 5th wheel trailer. When unhitched though, I would have to hear my wife flat out refuse to drive or park the bigger truck. After leaving the life for our current condo, we would have to get rid of the truck. Again, because my wife would complain and make me take her everywhere. I'm sure there are wives out there that wouldn't mind. Hope this all helps. Happy and safe travels and via con Dios.😉
@@michaelmappin4425 that was really helpful. Thank u. I don't think we'd be doing 80% towing but like u mentioned we'd be stuck trying to find a smaller 5th wheel if we had the 1500. Thats really impressive you towed that heavy trailer for that many miles and had minimal issues. I think well check out which travel trailers we like and probably go from there. My wife is already hesitant about having a large truck and rv combo so i definitely understand where you're coming from:) it'll probably then come down to if we want one of the larger 5th wheel rvs with our animals and dirtbikes and what not. Anyways, thanks for the help sir. Have a nice weekend!
Had my 2019 eco for a little over 2 years now. It's completely stock. Best truck I've ever had. No problems what so ever. Change oil every 8000 miles. No turbo drag. Pulls great and it's surprisingly fast for such a big truck. 24 to 27 mpg with 3:92 rear end.
Yeah the basically brand new vehicle you own is so impressive, how about writing that review at 250,000 miles at that point a Diesel's considered midlife. The old 12 valve 5.9 Cummins would do 400,000 mi regularly.
@@seanbutler2291 well I can only comment on the experience I've had so far. Unlike some I can't predict the future. But I will truthfully comment in the future.
Brother I have no experience on Diesel engine but in the future I love to buy one of those, you think delete the def is better or what is better option
@@joelrodriguez7038 I deleted the def system early on. Don't think it's very problematic on the Rams, but it's just something to go bad. Electronicly delete and leave all parts intact. Even dealer won't care.
@@formerice you didnt take out your DPF SCR? I am tuned to disabled my EGR..i am going to gut my SCR and upgrade my tune. What tune do you have? GDE? ..also,..my statement is about off road only..😉
Good video and good job contrasting the ecodiesel vs the hemi. I bought my ecodiesel 6 years ago and now have 88k miles on the engine. No significant issues whatsoever with the drive train, but I am meticulous about having the oil changed regularly along with the filters. I drive both on city streets and freeways. I also use additives in the fuel to boost cetane numbers and lubricate the injection system. I do not use aftermarket tuning systems. I have had the occasional regen during the cold months, especially if I have been sitting and idling much. However, I have only had 8 to 10 regens in 6 years of ownership. The regen does not require hours of driving as stated in your video. The longest regen I had was about 20 to 25 minutes and most are about 10 to 15. If I am in street traffic (i.e. not on a freeway or highway) , I just manually select the gear that would maintain between 2000 to 2500 rpm during the regen process. Just make sure you select carefully so as not to over-rev the engine. Now during the winter months, after letting the engine warm up to operating temps, I use the same method if I am in city traffic to make sure I minimize soot build up. I believe if you own an ecodiesel you should learn about how diesels work and how the modern clean diesels obtain the clean omissions. Understanding the systems will help the owner better maintain their vehicles. I absolutely love the truck which is a Limited and friends who ride in it always remark about how great it is. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the ecodiesel and keep up the good work. I would like to see a video on the aftermarket tuning systems (good and bad points).
Excellent comment! I have 135,000 miles on my 2014 EcoDiesel, mostly driven in town for my short work commute, so the truck has only asked me to drive on the highway for a quick regen maybe once every six or eight weeks. I drive 5 miles up the interstate, turn around, 5 miles back and it’s done! In town I average 18 to 21 miles per gallon, at 55 mph I easily get 33-35 miles per gallon, at 65 between 30 and 32, and at 70 I get between 28 and 30. Last June I towed a 6400 pound U-Haul trailer about 300 miles and averaged 24.5 miles per gallon! The only unscheduled maintenance I’ve had to do was replace a coolant line.
As a guy that has never had a diesel but always been attracted to the ecodiesel - this video was really helpful (my commutes are VERY short and VERY bursty) - thanks my man!
Got mine tuned and EGR deleted. Increased power and picked up 4 to 5 mpg. Also regens went from about every 3 days to about every 3 weeks. Also without the EGR, the oil stays way cleaner. Also solves the problem with the map sensor sooting up, intake has cleaned itself up after 10,000 miles of driving after tuning. Great engine tuned, crap with stock tuning
I just bought a 2016 eco diesel at 70k miles. Some of the things I’ve heard made me a little nervous, I’m only 18 so this was a gigantic purchase for someone like me, but I’m mainly hearing the poor reviews by somewhat city drivers. I live 35 minutes from my nearest store, so the middle of nowhere. I’m driving at around 100 miles a day easy- sometimes more, rarely less. So far, this car has handled my dirt road and the grimy highway near it with ease, and impressive smoothness. If I end up absolutely despising it, I’ll edit this lol, but so far maybe so good? Also the only reason I was comfortable getting a diesel is because my dad is a mechanic on 20,000 lbs water trucks (also with Diesel engines). I don’t know the first thing about heavy loading trucks, let alone trucks in general. So far, he’s also a fan. I got it for $25,500, which to me means I have a lot more wiggle room for mechanical errors. There’s no point to this comment, just stating my experience with it so far... and also to have something to come back to in a year to say “yeah, good truck” or “I’m now in severe debt” :)
Good on you man, sounds like you did some research and with you driving the truck a good distance on a daily basis you'll probably be just fine. It does seem like consistent city driving kills these things. like I've said many times no engine is perfect and there is always the risk of failure. Keep up with the maintenance and I'm sure the truck will run fine for you. and I'm sure your old man can help fix anything that does go wrong worst case scenario
I’ve had my 2016 since new now at 135k. The only big issues have been the EGR cooler which did end up with a recall. Although it broke at 65k and dumped all the coolant through the engine. Only way to tell was when it overheated, all the coolant went out the tailpipe. I was running the Banks oiled air filter and a senor got plugged up from the oil. Went into limp mode. Switched to a dry cleanable filter. I do have the Banks tuner which is huge! Totally wakes the motor up. Average mileage highway and mountain driving has been 23.4. Pure hwy 27. Towing a 7k trailer 10-12. With the tuner there is plenty of low end once the turbo spools up but it does lack the high end power of the hemi. Enjoy!
I bought a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Tradesman Ecodiesel new in June 2020 with about 17k off MSRP, now I have almost 68k and just recently put new Michelin Defenders in there replacing the Goodyear wranglers that came with the truck. The truck runs super awesome and surprisingly quiet for a diesel. I simply follow all the manufacturers maintenance schedule and listen to my truck computer system which there haven’t been any issues. Oil change every 10k, tire rotation every 5k, and the air filters change between 20-30k. The brakes were recently checked during the tire shop visit and surprisingly still has a lot of life left. I drive a lot mostly on highways which averages up to 30 MPG and it’s such a comfortable ride and love the truck.
I will never Trust the Manufacturer's regarding Oil Change intervals, do it @ 5k not 10k, Dealers and their shops would love these trucks to break down. transmission every 30k, only change the transmission filters on every 60k miles but u need to flush the transmission and torque converter.
I have a 2015 Ecodiesel and almost at 240k on it. The engine has been 100% perfect so far. I tow occasionally a 5000lb trailer and it does alright with it. I have been religious with oil changes though and most of the driving was highway. I also refused the emissions recall to be done by the dealer so still running the original software. Now the air suspension on this thing... now that's a huge piece of garbage, especially during Canadian winters. Summer time, no problem it's great and comfy ride. In the winter..man, it's terrible. Had all the parts replaced and still doesn't work. The dealer gave up and so did I.
Haha I feel like the air ride was designed for Florida driven trucks. I mean the intention for air ride is pretty cool but up here with the harsh winters and road salt those system have a short life span. But happy to hear your truck is running strong. I'd be curious if you not getting the emissions recall had any benefit to the truck.
I wonder if the longevity of this engine had Canadian weather contribute to it. Maybe hot southern weather would shorten it’s life span but then again good maintenance is key.
A lot of these issues were addressed before the re release of this motor. Fiat gave it to American engineers and said do it right, we're stepping back. They did and made it better than before. The used over 80% new parts and the block was one of the only things that made it to the new one.
I heard the main bearing design was left in. I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee ecodiesel with 180,000 mile on it still running strong. I'm assuming it wasn't a big problem as everyone is saying. At least I hope so! Lol
@@preslim84 The Gen 2 was produced from 2014 to 2018, took 2019 off, then in 2020 brought the Gen 3. If you are looking at the 3.0 diesel in the Grand Cherokee from 2005-2010, that was a Mercedes Benz diesel engine.
had.... HAD... a 2015 ecodiesel. First 2 yrs of ownership I thought it was good. trailered my jeep with it from time to time ... = max tow and payload....it Did ok... I always did my maintenance on time. With that said, I did a trip from Vegas to San Diego. It was about 90 degrees. No towing, no hills, .. It went into limp mode. The trans was overheating.. LOVELY.. After 30 minutes at a rest stop it was cool enough to continue w/o issue. When I got home I changed the trans pan and fluids. ... No Joy. Then I also found a weeping leak at the EGR... FAMOUS precursor for disaster. I quickly said no thank you. Traded it in for a 2019 Ram 2500 HD 4x 6.4 NON diesel and LOVE IT! No DEF BS, no soot, no lag, .. Best truck I've EVER owned. Yes the mpg sucks but to be honest the Eco only got about 23-24 highway tops. Averaged 20.
I got the 2017 and towing 7.000lbs 33ft travel trailer and it’s working great. By the way we are from the northpole and no problem starting during winter season -30 🥶.
like the town of North pole in Alaska? if so I've actually driven through lol pretty unique town! But that's pretty sweet it starts up with ease in such cold temperature.
Really great video man. As someone actively looking at 1/2 and 3/4 diesel trucks and learning about diesel motors and maintenance for the first time this is very helpful. My main concern as well has been buying a used diesel truck driven by someone disillusioned that it should be treated and driven like a gas motor, and then discovering clogged DPF, not being warmed up or allowing fuel pump to cycle, etc. Great video and thank you.
All you need to do is purchase the Green Diesel Engineering Hot Tune/Trans Tune and you will have a entirely new vehicle in the way it drives, the Hot Tune will give you an additional 34 HP and 60 Lbs Ft of torque bumping you to 254 HP and 480 Lbs Ft torque. The GDE tune eliminates the throttle lag you talked about. You also do not have to drive the truck for hours to complete a ReGen of the Diesel Particle Filter my 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Laramie Ecodiesel will complete a ReGen in about 13 miles. The bottom end bearing issue was because FCA specced 5w-30 oil they have since found that the 30 weight oil did not have a strong enough film strength so they changed to 5w-40 oil because the 40 weight oil has a strength film strength to protect the bottom end bearings. A lot of mis information in this video.
W in oil stands for Winter fyi. If you want a diesel just go with a heavy duty dodge or Chevy. The half ton motors are junk regardless if they are gas or diesel.
My eco diesel was amazing! Then at 43,000kms it just decided to blow a hole in the side of the engine block. No abuse, regular maintenance, all recalls done. Just commuting home from work and “BOOM”.
I have a 2015 EcoDiesel and it has been a great truck it has 170000 on it. I drive it everyday and I drive it hard. I tow my boat and my trailer with my truck. It has had a couple of minor issues like the toner wheel and a couple O2 sensors but it was all covered under the extended free warranty for doing the update. Also got a $3,500 settlement check from Dodge for the lawsuit from the government and for doing the update also. I do all my own oil changes and I do them before 10000 miles. I buy my oil filter and fuel filter off of eBay and I get Rotella oil every time. I drive this truck so much that I have worn out my driver side seat pad and have to replace it. The only thing that's ever been customised on this would be the cold air intake. This has been an excellent truck.
Excellent review. I bought a 2015 eco diesel 3 months ago. It’s been in the shop, three times now with engine lights, electric throttle control sensor, exhaust filter 100%, and now once again engine light on. Love the truck but I can’t afford to maintain it. 1000 dollars every time is to much for a 2015
I've had all 3 generations of this motor.... all of these problems are mostly for the first gen motors. My first gen 2015 had 290k miles when I traded it for the second gen ecodiesel had it 6 months and it was great. Ran it up to 130k miles and i got hit and totaled it out. Now I got a 3rd gen ecodiesel jeep and at 15k I've had good luck. My first gen had emissions issues and I deleted it. Only reason I got rid of it is because the trans lost 3rd and 5th gears.
I bought my 16 back in 18. It had 27k miles. I've had not 1 issue. I'm at 160k miles now. I never had the recall done to it. On 33's I'm getting 26 mpg. I love mine and will be looking into getting a new eco in the future
man a lot of folks are saying they love their eco diesels. I'm not an owner so I can only go off second experience but a lot of people love them. I personally would buy another Hemi before the Eco diesel but no engine is perfect so pick your poison I guess
@@TheGettyAdventures Yes the US govt levied huge fines and the owners got $3750. But you had to do the recall and file a claim . Took several months but obviously worth it.
I own a 2014 Ram Ecodiesel Regular cab, 8 foot bed, 4x4. Once I got a warning displayed on the gauge cluster warning me that the DPF was at 90% capacity and I needed to get it up to temp to clear it out. I live 2 minutes from a highway and within 15 minutes it had completed the cycle. It lags when it is cold, but after 5 to 10 minutes the truck is significantly more responsive.
Had one, loved it! It was a 2014 first run in the Ram. Amazing fuel mileage, good tow manners! No complaints here because I parked in a garage during our northern Manitoba winters and I have a long history with owning Diesel engines and always ran Rotella 0w40 synthetic not that expensive Euro crap oil.
I had a 22 Rebel EcoDiesel and it did lag, however once it did hit, it would cycle through the gears so quick. Now I have an EcoDiesel Jeep Wrangler with the Banks Derringer, and holy moly, this thing pulls so hard that the left side tweaks on acceleration. You can see the twist in the body looking out the windshield. But both of these are 3rd generation variants of the 3.9.
Thanks for the write-up in the video description. I appreciate your detailed video but I don't have time to watch it now and I really appreciate the short hand version .
I had a 2016 ram with the eco diesel and once the recall was done on the emissions stuff it would take 2-3 seconds to accelerate from a stop when cold. Once it was warmed up or about 5 minutes of driving it wasn’t as noticeable. I ended up getting rid of it once the tone wheel broke in half, which is what helps with timing. This was replaced under a recall notice that FCA had for this known issue. Great that it was replaced at no cost because the transmission had to be dropped in order to replace it due to the location.
Yes, the difference between accelerating in the HEMI vs the Eco diesel from a stop was night and day. I mean at least FCA did fix the issue under warranty. I've heard some horror stories about FCA refusing to replacer stuff under warranty for whatever reason.
@@panthermartin7784 it’s a shame these new diesels are so quiet. A old 12 valve will still be running long after most of these newer diesels are gone. And as far as smell? Well it’s a diesel…
@@dieselram05 Hell man I understand , been around them my whole life , owned them, worked on them, traded them, sold them, just tonight rolled into my fav elk hunting spot in a PowerWagon, dead quiet, no stink in the air, I dunno, think Im gonna do the gas pot thing for a bit , mind you my buddy just bought a property and in the barn sits a very muddy 91 cummins 1 ton , looks like its been parked for 20 years and he has no interest in keeping the truck... LoL, here we go again.......
I have a 2016 Ram 1500 Quadcab 4x4 3.92 ratio Ecodiesel, lifted 2" with 33"tires. My wife has a 2018 Ram 2500 Crewcab 4x4 3.42 ratio 6.7 Cummins, stock height with 33"tires. The main bearing issue on the ecodiesel comes from drivers turning off the engine with a hot turbo. I use a Bank's iDash mounted on the pilar. To tell me how close the coolsnt and the oil temperatures are. When both are in the desired range, I will shit the engine down. My truck sees a lot of highway miles on speed control. The engine has 162,226 miles. With 56 idle hours and 3285 drive hours. I did not drive it much in the last year. Because I bought a new Dodge Durango. To deal with a tighter parking situation a my job. But I did take a trip in the past 2 weeks that took me from California to Colorado, then up to Northern Idaho and back to California. I did have a little side trip, towing a U-haul trailer for a nephew. That I went from Colorado into Southern Washington after first going to Idaho. And then back to up to Northern Idaho. A total of just under 4,000 miles. The truck ran beautiful, with lots of power. The truck does have a Bank's silencer delte kit. And a Flowmaster 50 series Big Block 3" inlet and single outlet muffler. The fuel economy used to be outstanding. But I let a tire shop change the oil when getting new tires. And they overfilled it. Then the PCV picked the excess oil. Fouling the intake. And with the EGR issues, the intake got very gunked up. If I did not use Hot Shots Secret products in the fuel. The DPF and the SCR would be gunked up. I understand from some friends with the gen 3 Ecodiesel. The engine now has an 8 quart sump capacity, rather than 10.5. And the EGR gas is taken after the DPF and the SCR. I shouldn't really complain about the fuel economy. I averaged 23mpg, even with the trailer and going over many high mountain passes up to over 10,000ft. I averaged 65-70mph as allowed. The only thing is on a similar trip in 2017. I averaged 28mpg. And that included driving 105mph across some of the flat parts of US-50 in Nevada. And 80mph, as posted in Utah. With 75mph in the spots that 75mph was the speed limit. If my parking situation had not changed. I would have bought a 2020 Ecodiesel. But keep in mind. Diesels are lean burn engines. They love lots of air. And to get out and run with a load! Idling is not a diesel thing.
So it seems like you run your eco diesel in the perfect way lol. long drives to get everything up to operating temperature. You seem very knowledgeable about the engine which is awesome and probably why you won't experience issues. But imagine the average person just buying an ram 1500 with an eco diesel simply because they want good fuel mileage, without knowing anything about how to properly maintain them. that's where I think a lot of these issues arise. is the consumer thinking this engine is just like any gas engine. As for the main bearing issues I'm curious why you say a hot turbo causes that.
@@TheGettyAdventures I have a class A drivers license. When I drove for C.R. England when the electronically controlled diesels were introduced. The Cummins N14 manually discussed this problem. And the operating procedure to prevent it. I currently am a Stationary Engineer. The emergency generators at the facilities that I work at. All have an automated procedure for shutdown. That cools the turbo.
@@zxej6879 very interesting. I mean I've always heard that you want to let the turbo spool down before shutting down the engine( if lets say you were high idling the truck) But i guess it does makes sense you would want a cool turbo
what's the GVWR on your camper, and how does the truck do towing it? I'm looking to get one of these but also tow a 7000lb trailer regularly for family trips. any information would be very helpful
Had my bottom end explode at 21,000k. It started as a super light tick on acceleration. Ran it hard trying to make a ferry reservation and when I got off the ferry this slight tick. I noted it right away and took it in for an oil change and had them listen, dealership didn't make note of it. 2 months of this light tick, was cruising started to hear a louder tick like a rock in a tire, but tied to the rpm. Within 15km it got bad, loud knocking. I couldn't get over and shut it off in time and blew a hole in the side of the block. As you said, they replaced the whole engine. 70K on the new engine no problems. I think it's a small number of these from the factory have this issue. A very select few people have had a second engine die on them but the vast majority have been fine. Your right on needing to drive them. 80km a day when I commute and I've never seen the regen message until I did a week of around town driving and saw the message saying it was 80% full and tells me to drive it at highway speeds, it wasn't hours as your mentioning but a good 20-25km to get it the filter back below 20% full. You need to get it fully warm which takes 10km and then put on a good 15km on it to keep the regen from showing. The lag is bad, it's super bad if the truck is cold, and outright horrible if you go up a 20% sloped driveway while cold. The truck wants to shift out of 1st as quickly as possible into 2nd, then cuts the power bringing the truck nearly to a stop and need to mash the petal to get it to shift back down. This environmentally friendly tune kills this engines performance. My 2018 came with this tune that's now been applied to earlier models so I've never known what it's like to have no lag. Everyone says get it tuned which is the plan once the warranty is over. Fixes the lag, more power and a lot better mpg.
thanks for the info! all in all do you think you would buy the eco diesel again or would you go with something like the HEMI? it is interesting how you said the second engine you received is much better. I wonder if Chrysler did make a fix to the newer engines. only time will tell I guess!
@@TheGettyAdventures Yeah that's what I was leaning towards from what I've gleamed off of forums. They done something in the replacement engines to make sure customers aren't burned twice. I had the identical truck with a hemi, a late production 2013 one of the first to have the 8 speed. The hemi is faster, and will always sound so much better but even with the 4" lift and 35" tires on my ecodiesel the truck still gets better mileage then my hemi did. My 2013 had odd issues with the uconnect system crashing and the truck had chronic brake issues, brakes sticking, pads falling off, bad warped rotors, which my 2018 seems to be completely clear of. The fuel saving was the number one thing I was looking for so I would get the ecodiesel again if I was looking for a half ton truck, even with the lag issue. I would likely pick up a 3rd gen in the new trucks hoping they've addressed these issues in the engines redesign.
@@tonydewaal7581 funny you mention braking issues. my 2017 truck still has the factory pads and rotors with 91,000km on the thing. over 10,000km of towing. either I have been lucky or they upgraded their factory brakes for the later model trucks Very interesting how you would still go with the Eco diesel but I guess if fuel savings is important, you really can't beat it. I used to drive a 96 chev so when I upgraded to a 2017 hemi I was almost in shock how much more fuel efficient it was compared to the 350 small block in the chev lol either way I appreciate your first hand feedback on the old Eco diesel.
I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee ecodiesl with 180,000 miles on it still no issues. I also drive it along. Think that's the key oil changes and driving it. Also noticed after the recall there is a lag but good away after warmed up. Love the Jeep. Hopefully it stays that way. Agree the problem is with a small amount of them!
For bogging, I found with my 2015, that sometimes from a stop it would start in 2nd gear and not first. You can see the gear it is in by quickly pushing the gear+ or gear- button.
You should differentiate between the previous generation EcoDiesel, which was the subject of the recall that you mention, and the newest version of the EcoDiesel that was introduced in North America with the current generation RAM trucks in 2019. The two engines are very different, with the newer model being vastly superior in every point that you mentioned.
One thing about these reviews it’s like comparing apples to oranges if you want gasoline jump get that if you want a diesel that’s what you gonna get if you tune em the life on externals shortens in my opinion I got a 2022 i drove from st louis to mobile al off of one tank at 70 to 85 mph best truck in the world to me just cause of that
My 2015 Ecodiesel cratered when I was passing. Luckily it was covered under warranty. I never floor it now. I am wondering if the 2023 is worth purchasing before they stop selling them. I am not keen to the Duramax and the high maintenance costs of the timing belt, etc. Comments are welcome! Thanks
First off, great review! I do have to disagree with your comment about how long it takes to regen the emissions scrubber. I have a 2014 eco-diesel with all emissions intact and updates done, but most of my driving is in town so every six or eight weeks the info center tells me I need to drive on the highway to scrub the filter. I’m in a different climate than you (St. Petersburg, Florida) so the warmer temperatures might make a difference… I hop on the interstate for 5 miles, turned around, 5 miles back and it’s done! Probably 10 minutes at most. I keep a careful eye on the DEF tank gauge, but I don’t seem to need much of it. In the last six months I’ve driven 9000 miles and it’s only used a half a tank of DEF fluid, just two or 3 gallons. The mileage on this thing is incredible! In town I’m averaging 18 to 21 miles per gallon, and on the highway between 28 and 34, depending on my speed. I absolutely love the truck! 😊
From the teardowns I've seen on this engine, the failure point was in the main bearings losing oil, then spinning. I can see why Mopar made a spec change in the oil viscosity in order to try and combat this. I had one and it treated me fine, but I was trading fairly often then and traded it in on a new hemi. For me, the additional pain of having to buy DEF and the expensive oil changes just wasn't worth it. I found myself always listening and on the alert for trouble. With the hemi, it's just gas n' go. The vm motori is a cool engine though!
People always say AH JUNk HEmiS and thEiR Cam LifteER pROblEms. Well, a lot of shops around barely know it's an issue. Let alone it probably not even doing 2% of the vehicles at most. Take care of it, beat it up a little and try not to idle for 15 hours at once. All i can say.
A known issue has been the fact that it takes so long for the new oil to make it into the pan, I've read you want to wait at least 30 minutes before starting it up after an oil change. Imagine that you take the truck into Jiffy Lube, would they be aware of this? They want to get that thing off the rack ASAP.
Hello from Barrie. I Literally just got my 2022 Ram Rebel echo diesel. I had the 2019 GMC AT4 6.2L and hand nothing but problems with it from the day I brought it home. I’m hoping to get many years of enjoyment out of this Rebel. Love it so far. Thanks for the information.
Great review. I've ordered a 2022 Ram Rebel Echo diesel here in about 8 weeks, hopefully. i commute 52 miles one way to work each day and all but 3 miles are on 4 lane highway.. Hopefully, i should be good. i had a jeep liberty diesel i purchased used and the EGR valve was always causing me problems. Thanks again for the review.
The DPF hates short trips and idling--period. Ford figured this out on their Super Duty 6.7 pickups. Many of those run in commercial fleets where idling and short trips can be an operational necessity. Ford offers an option on the Super Duty (though not available on some of the upper trim levels) that allow the driver to do a stationary regen when the DPF hits 80% or more full. I have that option on my Super Duty and have had to use it several times over the years. If the truck is at operating temperature, a stationary regen will take 10 minutes (engine at 2,000 RPM). In colder weather or if the exhaust temperature is low, it will take longer. Yes, it wastes fuel, but it beats having to "drive to clean" that may not only be inconvenient, but in some conditions may be impossible. As to the 3.0 Ecodiesel, the early ones had a huge failure rate. This latest generation may be better, but I wouldn't buy one until they get a few years under their belt to see if they will hold up. In my opinion, the best of the half-ton diesel engines is the GM 3.0L Duramax. Same story, though, I wouldn't buy one until they've been out for at least a few years.
My dad ran this truck for the better part of a few years before it blew up, ran a construction company out of it and tows his boat. Said the fuel economy was wicked, but it blew up within what 4 years. Extended warranty didn’t want to cover it and ended up only wanting to give 13000$ and he bought it new, has an f-150 tt v6 and will never go back to diesel or dodge.
@@modernbassheads5051 it’s been 3 years now and it’s going strong so we will see. But frankly dodge really doesn’t care enough about quality control to be a legit option for everyday use. We had fords before the dodge and those never blew up either. It’s the first truck to do so.
The lag is when it's cold. It just won't go, and then at 3/4 to the floor it takes off almost out of control. I think it is dangerous and needs another recall to fix it properly. The throttle response changes dramatically from cold to warm. The constantly changing response puts you in dangerous situations when you pull out into traffic and it doesn't go.
I mean it does seem odd how much of a difference it makes when the truck is cold vs hot. My guess would be something to do with emissions, when the engine and aftertreatment system is cold their emission efficiency isn't as good. meaning more "pollution" so it's probable that until both reach a certain temperature power is cut to help decrease emissions.
@@TheGettyAdventures I am sure it is emissions or not plugging the DPF up super fast. They found a solution for it on the gen 3 though, so recall the unsafe thing and fix it.
Used commercially my ED got low on coolant from an EGR cooler leak and pushed a head gasket at 371k miles. They are disposable motors so I put a new motor in and bought an EGR cooler delete kit. 423k miles later it cracked a head. 🤷♂️ Business partner got 452k miles out of his before the fuel pump imploded and filled cylinder 3 with shrapnel. So no 500k yet but both trucks are still in service. Caveat we run aftermarket tunes that turn off the EGR soot recirculator and clean up the fuel management to improve longevity. Well and add turbo brake, better mileage, more power, less maintenance. Oil now only starts to get dark after 8k miles so it’s changed every 10k with T6 or equivalent per warranty. 30 mpg is good. Also with EGR (exhaust gas recirculator) turned off no clogged intakes to melt and cause the coolant to burn hence truck fires 🔥 {EPA should be held responsible for mandating EGR. It’s not even needed to meet emissions output requirements} Last caveat we don’t lug these trucks at low say 12 to 1500 rpms. We use tow mode and let them work at 1,900 rpms plus. Note none of our three motors failed from the common slipped crank bearings. Last if you are looking to buy, the 2020 plus truck & engine is dramatically improved. Enjoy
Thank you for the comment! great info, I think knowledge is key with these engines. and it seems like you are very knowledgeable and understand how to drive these things and it shows by the high mileage.
I think it's worth noting that , you can't really compare this engine to a Hemi in the same way that you would drive the Hemi. This goes for just about any diesel in my experience. Its worthless to just mat the throttle in a turbo diesel , in this case ...an EcoDiesel or Cummins for that matter, like how you would with a 5.7 or 6.4 gas engine. I recommend that you roll into the throttle rather than just hit it where ever you want it at quickly, and at 3/4 throttle roughly, not full to the floor. I guarantee you will absolutely notice a difference in the way your diesel feels under load changing the way you operate it like I just described.
100% agree - " I recommend that you roll into the throttle rather than just hit it where ever you want it at quickly, and at 3/4 throttle roughly, not full to the floor"...it's a diesel.
Well, he hast to compare to something because Ford does no longer sell the “mini power stroke, which was a piece of junk! And only sold in the most expensive Ford vehicle which was 80+ thousand they stop selling them two years ago my friend had one it lasted three months and blew up. He did nothing but drive back-and-forth to work never pulled even a pair of jet skis with it. Ford ended up buying the truck back because they did not want to do an engine swap because the same thing would’ve happened to the next junk mini power stroke engine.
Got 150k on mine. Only the tone wheel went out. Spent about a grand to get it fixed. But it has also been deleted sense 100k and I love it. Getting 25 ish on the highway. Does very little city driving. It's nice being able to go 600 miles on a tank.. granted never get past quarter of a tank. And only use ExxonMobil diesel.
Yeah, let’s take a moment to remember here that rub there is an eco-diesel sold by ram, but there is no “mini power stroke“ sold by Ford because it was junk and you could only buy it in the highest trim level Ford pick up which was about 80 grand And they stop selling them because all of them, all of them! Failed don’t buy Ford junk. The eco-diesel is absolutely reliable and bulletproof. My brothers has 280,000 miles and it drives just like it did off the showroom floor, five years later zero problems And he cruises down the highway at 28 miles per gallon at 70 miles an hour cannot beat tha! Don’t forget, don’t buy Ford junk!
Had one. Had zero problems with it. Pulled a 7,000lb camper great, actually better than my 7.3 Excursion! It needed a better cooling system though,as temps would rise if you went near 70 mph while towing or went up steep hills. Other than that, it was great. Could get better than 30mpg driving it easy and 12 mpg pulling the camper, where the 7.3 was about 9 pulling a camper.
My father In law works for a remanufacturing plant that works with Chrysler Fiat and he said everything on the bottom end is made super weak and thin, so when they got them in they tried to turn down the contract as it would be a waste of time trying to fix.
Well that's no good, But I mean technically this is not supposed to be a heavy duty diesel engine but still you would think they would try and make it strong
You are correct...I own a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with the Ecodiesel motor. At first it was great...I was averaging 23 mpg on 37" tires then I started getting DEF exhaust problems. The dealerships dont have an abundance of diesel mechanics so the repair times are longer. Parts are not readily available either. When the alarm comes on you lose power as well....now I know why JEEP decided to discontinue this motor next year. Great review!!!!
Yeah…..good review. I’ve got a 2015 ecodiesel, and everything he said is right on. I’ve got 98,000 miles on my truck, that’s 157,715 KM. Very little issues other than small things. Nothing wrong with the engine. Had the EGR replaced under warranty, had two exhaust bolts that broke, but weren’t too terrible to fix. Absolutely LOVE getting 24mpg on average in the summer, and 20 mpg in the winter. My ‘01 f-150 was a pig on fuel, and was even worse at towing!! I’ve got a 12x7 enclosed trailer that can fit two full size 800# cycles, and this truck pulled it like no ones business at 75 mph getting 18 mpg on fuel. My ford would barely get 13 mpg and the engine would whine like there’s no tomorrow at 75!! I bought this truck new, and plan on having it for many more miles to come. …….hopefully…..
Had a 2014, best 80000 miles I ever drove in a truck. I have a 3500 Dually now and I miss the comfort of that ecodisel. You are spot on though with your review. I drove 45 mins twice a day to work. The truck never even mentioned anything about Regen or had any issues., But the previous owner had it bought back from FCA at 10k miles because he drove it to the grocery store and back. This is a commuter truck.
So you got rid of it before it was even at 100,000 miles, I don't know how that proves anything for you, any vehicle should be able to do 100,000 miles trouble free. I mean it's cool that you enjoyed it but it certainly doesn't mean that it's a good engine or reliable because even the shittiest of engines these days should be hitting at least 100,000 miles fairly trouble free. Also a "commuter truck" is an oxymoron.
@@seanbutler2291 A commuter truck because no other half ton was better on mileage. Not even v6 gassers. It was better on the highway than my wife's CX-9, so yeah it was a truck and better than most cars other than tiny eco cars economically making it not an oxymoron. I upgraded campers so a half ton want appropriate anymore. Not all modern engines last 100k, and people were complaining of cam failures and engines failing well before 50k hence the post.
2019 White Ram Classic EcoDiesel Crew Cab 3.92 rear end, 6'4 box, upgrades like Titan Tank 150L can go 1900k on a tank, also stage 2 weight loss program. Oil stays very clean
Maintenance is key and that is with anything really. My ‘15 ecodiesel has 180k and still running stong. I had rear airbags and fuel filters replaced. A few recalls such as crank sensor. Overall, I’m still happy and will buy again.
Mine just blew the bottom end at 184,000 km's. FCA told me to pound salt, $20k to replace. I drive 50km each way to work every day, 55000km last year and took great care of my truck. So frustrating. Hope you have better luck then I did!
@@colinwynowsky2835 Thanks. Reading experiences like yours still worries me tho. The fiat motor hasn’t proven itself to be reliable compared to Cummins.
I got a Jeep gladiator with the new 3rd gen ecodiesel, and so far (7k miles) I love the darn thing. Here’s hoping it keeps running just fine for many years to come. I drive 40 miles round trip to work and back, so I figure 20 miles there and 20 miles home is probably enough to keep the filters clear.
The injection pump does not control timing. It's a common rail. But the gear is held on by friction. The bolt clamping it down stretches over time and then the cams timing slides. The failure comes from the valves hitting pistons. Failure is caused by the stretching bolt leading to the slipping cam drive gear. And only occurs on this side of the motor due to the increased load driving the injection pump creates. Supposedly they upgraded the bolt 2017 on. This problem was mostly found prior to 2017 models.
Great Video! I own a 2017 Laramie 4x4 Ecodiesel with 214k miles . I have replaced the following 1. Intake Manifold 2. Lift Pump 3. Fuel Rails (2) 4. Upper/Lower control arms 5 driver/passenger axels 6. Bilstein adjustable shocks 7. (2) wheel bearings 8.Radiator and reservoir I change oil every 7k using Mobil 1 5/40 turbo diesel, change fuel filter every other oil change. I use K&N oil and air filters and every fill-up hot shots EDT diesel additive. I hope to be able to drive it for another 100k plus miles out of it.
I had the high pressure fuel pump go on mine, luckily right before the warranty was up.. FCA was a GIANT pain in the ass to deal with, but begrudgingly replaced the long block and other affected parts.. not that its ecodiesel related, but dont even get me started on their 8.4 Uconnect radio... overall, love the truck, tows my 16ft boat like its not even there!
If I had to do it over again, I would go with the tried and true Hemi 😅 i always like to do performance adders, and kinda worried to do anything with the ecodiesel..
Bought a 2015 eco diesel 05/2020 w/52k. Had a consistent leak and after 6 times in the shop, 4 water pumps, come to find out it was the top end hose! Yes, has the initial lag, needs to warm up. Over all, a good truck, tows well, runs like a champ on road trips and gets 30-33 mpg running clear. I am nervous about it because of track record and will be purchasing another warranty if I keep it. It is different, one has to want it or not. Great video Amigo….just can’t compare it to a Hemi. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos….👍
@@TheGettyAdventures Not really has more to do with keeping the engine in a higher rpm, and it holds gears longer, as well as engine brakes when you brake it.
I've known of 3 people to but them 2 of them spent more time br9ke down than on the road the other guy traded it in at 35k miles for a f150 coyote and loves it.
I have a 2nd GEN 2016, love the truck, 170,000 going solid, I do use heavy duty diesel oil (Rotella T6 5W40 ), these 2nd GENs needs to use the same oil as CUMMINS 6.7 use ,and not the original oil that was intended to used with them. So if you own a second gen use any diesel oil with the CK4 detergent spec. I do have a BANKS systems , inline tunner installed , Proved on a DYNO, I gained HP, torque and also my MPG went up by 3mpg, while staying emission compliance. The BANKS systems keeps the engine working cleaner with less regeneration. I do live in FLORIDA, so for me emissions are not need it, my next step will be deleting the truck and re tune, if you live in a emissions compliance state, I will recommend a banks deringer with the pedal monster combo. I forgot to mention my truck its level running 35 inch tires, daily driver, love the truck. I also run every 6000 miles a bottle of diesel extreme from the hotshot secret products, I have noticed that the fuel systems works better since I start using it, the check engine light went away for the DPF and the engine sounds smoother. Im not affiliated with any of the brands I have mentioned, Im just putting out there what have works for me.
At my house we have 2 diesel Ram pickups. I have a 2016 Ram 1500 Quadcab 4wd 3.0L 3.92 ratio. My wife has a 2018 Ram 2500 Crewcab 4wd 6.7L 3.42 ratio. Both trucks have aftermarket transmission oil pans, with the Hot Shots Secret additive. I put a Bank's Silencer Delete on the intake. But I run a Wix air filter for good flow, but better filtration than a K&N. Then I put a Flowmaster 50 series HD muffler on it. The Ecodiesel has a problem with drivers not having a cool turbo when they shut down. That cooks the oil, which collects as a solid at the main bearings. You are absolutely correct about the after treatment system. The gen 3 engines draw the EGR gases from AFTER the DPF. I almost bought a gen 3 Ecodiesel powered Jeep Wrangler or Gladiator. But I did buy a Dodge Durango that I wish had the Ecodiesel in it. I needed a 3 row SUV for grandpa duties. With Hot Shots Secret products. My Ecodiesel runs good. And I am upgrading the suspension to replace worn parts. On long trips, the Ecodiesel is superior to the Cummins in most cases. But the Cummins has a better program on the exhaust brake, for those extreme downhills. In a Jeep, my friends tell me the Ecodiesel is unbeatable!
Never in my life have I had so many problems with a vehicle. I bought mine for the mileage it was supposed to make. It made 14-16mpg constantly in the shop with stupid issues. I owned my eco diesel for 1 year before calling it quits. I had a 2016 limited ecodiesel. 4 corner air ride is another problem in itself in the cold weather climates I live in.
2D--you win!!! I haven't seen ANYONE get mileage that shitty. Most of the complaints I had seen were getting around 20 after one of those wonderful EPA pressured reflashes. Do you always have shit luck with cars?
@@tomfox1751 Not going to lie, bad luck does follow me. Don't get me started on Hyundai. haha! The eco-diesel takes the cake for the most continuous problems in a vehicle I've owned.
The lag isn't the turbo, it's the throttle-by-wire system. You press on the accelerator, the computer managers the throttle/fuel injection. No doubt the Hemi is faster and more responsive, but I just did a cross-country trip, WA to FL and back. At 70 mph I was getting 24 to 25 mpg. When you consider the 26 gal tank will go 500 miles or more between refueling, how much faster would you have to go in the Hemi to make up for the fuel stops? Regarding engine longevity, what kills these is running them hard and then shutting them down without letting the engine cool... the hot turbo will cook the oil if it's suddenly shut off and the ash will clog oil passages and starve the main bearings. You can't horse them around carelessly... drive the last few miles calmly and then idle the engine for 30 seconds, and don't start it up and then go full throttle without letting the engine warm up. In short, recognize that this is a small engine with a turbo and treat it accordingly (as you would any turbo'd engine, e.g., Ecoboost). Finally, yes, these engines don't like lots of short trips and not fully warming up. A 20 minute freeway trip once a week will clean the DPF with a regen. If your filter is fully clogged with a check engine light because you haven't driven enough to force a regen, a freeway trip at 60 mph but in 7th gear to get engine RPMs above 2000 rpm will fix even that. The author is right: you have to understand these engines... but if you do you'll get a very powerful, economical, efficient, and useful truck. I love mine... it will tow 3000 lbs over mountain passes here in WA state at 70 mph and get better than 20 mpg, while my earlier Dakota with the 4.7L V8 could barely do 55 mph with the pedal to the floor and get 7 mpg with the same load.
Great comment! You aren't wrong its not all bad for the eco-diesel. All I can say is from a mechanical perspective it's just not as reliable as it should be. What you say should apply to all turbo diesel engines yet not all diesel engines are imploding at the rates of the eco-diesel engines. I do know guys who have gotten 200,000 miles and counting on their eco-diesels so they can last. And if you treat them right you'll have better luck!
@@TheGettyAdventures note that this is a 3.0L diesel producing 240 hp. That means Fiat is likely boosting the crap out of it under load. I figure around 70 hp if it was naturally aspirated, so it must be running well over 30 lbs of boost. The EcoBoost gas engines are running around 10 lbs of boost. This engine is really being stressed at high output, thus why I think owners should be a little more mindful about letting it cool down before shutoff.
Hate to break it to you but europeans do a crazy amount of short trip diesel driving, the system is made to handle that lifestyle, these light duty diesels and even the newer big bores handle soot loading way better than earlier SCR models around 2010, i run a fleet of boom trucks and we never have regen issues, and yes they idle for huge periods of time. Soot loading just isnt a huge issue anymore. The bottom end failures were during then growing pains of first gen north american market. The rod caps were improperly torqued, this isnt an issue for any but the first gen. Lastly the recall was for emissions during warm up and acceleration, so the engine waits till it both hot and has air from the turbo before it engages much more fuel.
I don't know how Europeans drive but I would disagree with you. any aftertreatment system runs best when its hot. if it doesn't get hot enough it will eventually clog and have a whole bunch of issues following behind that. the systems have gotten better over the years but I can tell you for a fact, last week at my shop (western star/ freightliner dealer) every single check engine light I diagnosed was to do with the aftertreatment system. NOx sensors, clogged filters, wiring issues, temp sensors. It's none stop. and to be honest it prints money for our dealership. long haul tractors have far fewer issues (at least at my shop) with this stuff then your average dump truck or day cab running around town. as for your boom trucks, are they operating at high idle? I would imagine you have a pto with a pump on it running the hydraulics which put a load on the engine acting very similar to driving. you sound like an inform guy so you probably take care of your truck making sure they are running regens when they need to. that's probably a large contributing factor as to why they are all running so well. regardless, I can only speak for what I see and I don't deal directly with the Ecodiesel so it's all he said she said but I would be concerned about buying an Eco diesel if I was just going to be running it in the city. my opinion take or leave it I guess
That acceleration delay is true for VW diesels as well. Very annoying and sometimes dangerous, but I still prefer diesel to petrol. Software tunes usually solve all issues but my warranty is up to 120k miles
You will love the Malone stage 2 with delete, takes the engine back to its torquey quick responding self, a lot more fun to drive, kiss goodbye to cel’s and no start warnings too. Probably an extra 50 to 80 km more per tank too.
@@steveknight9254 Yeah....I am still under warranty. Today check engine came on, getting fixed for free. I don't think I will keep the car past 120k miles. Already eyeing new Dodge RAM Limited diesel
Yeah, I got the recall and immediately went back to the dealership to tell them that I almost got T-Boned leaving the dealership and that the truck wouldnt accelerate for almost a full 3 seconds at all from a dead stop, and they said the emissions doesnt effect it at all. Fast Forward two years, and when I leave in the morning, and merge onto the highway it takes almost a full 3 seconds to go from 0-30 MPH while turning the wheel to the right. In a straight line its fine, but on a turn it is a HUGE safety risk. 2018 EcoDiesel
Honestly crazy how much this emission recall totally crushed these engines. completely de-tuned them to make emission numbers. a lot of people are saying the 3rd gen eco diesel engine doesn't have this issue but who knows for sure until I can get my hands on one!
I agree, I pulled out onto a road with traffic going 50mph, with a good distance between the oncoming car. Certainly nothing that would ever normally give you any concerns as you would be up to speed with moderate acceleration before it gets close. I push the pedal, nothing, push more, nothing, push it almost all the way down, the car is on my bumper as the engine finally roars to life and it lurches away. It's just dangerous cold, and you cannot rely on it until it is fully up to temperature.
I had a 2016 ED, I wish I would have kept it but heard all the bad things about them breaking down and didn't want to deal with it. 40k, not a single issue. Might have to look at the Gen3.
I bought my 2015 based on all the reviews... from 2016... I've had a mediocre experience at best. I would HIGHLY recommend a tune. I go through SFT and the drivability is night and day.
Had a tone ring failure fall of 2021. Became a recall issue and Chrysler paid for repair. Bad part of the issue was due to parts not available it took 2 months to get parts. Had emissions issues as well both times $300 sensor needed to be replaced. Sold the truck always afraid of what would fail next. It only had 90,000 miles.
The main bearing failures were found to be from using to thick of an oil. Originally the trucks were labeled & filled with 15w-40. Upon investigation they found the oil to be too thick for cold starts in cooler climates. In 2017 they switched to 5w-40 full synthetic. This appears to have solved the problem.
potentially, but you gotta think that the bottom end bearings are designed to be lubricated with 15w-40 so it's great that when cold, the bearings aren't starved of oil but when the engine is at operating temperature the oil being supplied to the bearings is now much thinner then what the bottom end was initially designed for probably resulting is a shortened life of the bottom end bearings. So to me it seems like a temporary fix with potentially lingering side effects. if it were my engine I would run 15w-40 all year but put an oil heater in the oil pan so I wouldn't have to worry about cold starts in -20 here in Canada.
@@TheGettyAdventures All the eco diesels come with a block heater already in them. You just have to buy the cord & plug it in. I plug mine in Everytime the weather is in the 30s or lower as it uses half the power of my 6.7 Cummins block heater & helps provide me with cabin heat for the drive much faster. According to my eco dash panel the block heater heats the engine oil very well. Why would you run a heavier weight oil for clod conditions? These diesel have very tight tolerances. They are very precise machines. Nothing like the diesels of old.
@@davidb9987 as far as my 2019 eco goes, it's only a block heater, (heats the water) not an oil and oil pan heater. So no, the oil is not heated on the stock setup. That would have to be aftermarket.
@@davidb9987 a much better oil heater is to RTV a specific neoprene oil pan heater on the engine. These work to -40 and give the pickup tub unfrozen oil to suck up.
There are random versions of these trucks that randomly go into limp mode and have to be taken to the dealer to get them out of limp mode. This is not an issue the dealer can currently fix and my local Chrysler dealer has had 3 different lemon buybacks on them due to the continuous shop down time. Chrysler Engineering has been looking at the issue for over 2 years now. They run these engines so lean to attempt to pass emissions that they’re essentially always on the ragged edge of a tune from the factory. They’re not recommended by any dealer techs I know.
Thanks Alex, always interesting to see you reviews and comparisons. Lots of serious potential issues with that eco diesel. You warned us long ago in a vid to research before buying one and for good reason. I hope Ontario is treating you guys well , cheers
Ya you just have to know what you are getting yourselves into really. If you understand the need for the aftertreatment system to get nice and warm you should be okay. the engine failures themselves are not that common but are still something to watch for lol And it is nice to be back home in Ontario but we miss the Island and all its awesome scenery!
Thanks for the awesome review. I agree that diesels make sense only if you're driving a lot, towing heavy loads, or carrying large weights all day long. Many years ago I had a 92 F350 diesel with the 7.3L naturally aspirated diesel. It was great on fuel for a truck of that size but when things went on it, it was huge money to repair knocking out any fuel savings you would have earned and that was when diesel was considerably cheaper than gas. Today diesel is equal to and sometimes more expensive than gas. Add in the extra up cost front and more expensive maintenance and repair and it doesn't really make much sense to get a diesel economically. The motor may last longer than a gas but usually the rest of the truck falls apart before the diesel reaches its end. On a side note, have you worked much on the 3.6 Pentastar V6 that's in the Ram? It always seems to be the forgotten child in the Ram engine family. Are they any good?
No I don't have any experience on the 3.6 pentastar but it seems like they are going to be getting a lot more recognition in the near future when they stop making the 5.7 hemi and turbo charge the pentastar and offer it up instead of the hemi lol
Bud it sounds like you need to do a better job at taking care of your shit. Those 7.3 naturally aspirated diesels were the most reliable diesels Ford ever made. End of story. If it was breaking down on you all the time then something was not managed correctly. Same goes with the rest of the pickup of it's falling apart you weren't managing something correctly. Maintenance is on you bud not the manufacturer. And those pentastars are horrible horrible motors. Go for the hemi if ur making that choice. The extra cash for a well maintained hemi will be worth it over the pentastar v6
@seanbutler2291 my buddy at work had a 7.3 diesel and it was a fucking monster. He gave 500 bucks for it. The whole truck was falling part but that drive train would not die. The bolts that hold the cab to the frame rusted out and we hit a big ditch at work and the sumbitch popped off 🤣
@@TheGettyAdventures 4in straight pipe from the downpipe pipe no kitty and the pipe is a side dump infringed of rear tire and kida hidden away, love the sound it makes when going up hill while on the gas or the dmax whine when gunning it
Great review, good stuff! Overall, emissions restrictions are definitely giving "modern' diesels a bad rap. Thank you California Air Resource Board, lol. Being originally designed for marine use, I can see how the engine was not intended to have emissions equip other than maybe a basic catalytic converter. Also, thousands of folks who buy these light duty diesels for the fuel mileage have no idea they really need to be driven, hence the dpf & egr sooting issues. They're not grocery store & Home Depot runners. When Ram decided to put a diesel in its 1500's, I'm surprised they didn't go w/ the Mercedes Benz 3.0 V6, being an automotive engine & designed with emissions in mind. From what I gather, it's been very successful in Sprinters. I know it was an option in Grand Cherokees at the end of the Daimler era at Chrysler. Maybe Ram was contractually obligated to use a product that fell under the Fiat umbrella. That being said, seems strange they used a VM Motori engine in the Jeep Liberty CRD when Chrysler was still part of Diamler Group. I plan on getting a Tahoe/Suburban 3.0 Dirty-Max when the LZ0 is available for 2025 MY. Emissions seem reliable & good design in that the egr system pulls exhaust after the DPF, so less carbon buildup issues.
@@TheGettyAdventures yea warranty covered it but I showed my butt and told em I didnt want it back and to go ahead and put new motor in it and I was goin to trade it in on a Ford. They put me in a 18 2500 with Cummins for just a few $$ more. But not much more.
I'm interested to buy a 2017 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel with 130K kilometers on it. But after I watched this video, I think this truck is not for me. Usually, I only drive 10 kms everyday.
I have a 2015 and tow 7500 pounds daily in town I have 80,000 miles on it and live in the High Desert the key is oil Temps keep them up and and delete the egr
Had a 2015 ecodiesel, had oil cooler leak issue that Jeep didn't want to fix. Put over $4k into it and still not right. Ended up trading in at end of lease. Other than that loved it!
a lot of people are saying they love these engine and that's awesome! personally I think there are some flaws but no engine is perfect and if you like it then that's all that matters!
Throttle lag is caused mainly by the throttle map on these. Get the throttle map changed or one of the banks pedal monsters and you won't believe its the same engine.
Thanks for the information, looking to pick up a 2014 eco diesel I drive one way 600 plus kilometers to work once every two weeks. Plus going through a lot of snow before would be really decent in my eyes.
If you drive pretty long distances you should be okay. I'd still be cautious I just don't think those engines are well built especially those first gen Eco diesels, they were known to have a lot of issues.
Nice review and warnings. I am about to look at one but ... My drive is typically 5 miles to WalMart or 13 miles one way to Sam's Club... though I hope to do some longer distance driving just for fun.
Great review of the history and the issue with the engine. Glad u didn't say anything about transmission. LOL!. I'm in my 2018 ecodiesel at 103K. Do you think reprogramming/re-tunning the engine to what it was like before emissions pressure came down on RAM would solve some of these catastrophic problems? What can one to prevent catastrophic issues? Maybe replace something like high pressure fuel pump with heavy dutyaftermarket , I don't know.... I d love to do all I can to take it to 300-400k. Thanks!
Hey man thanks for the video. I’m looking for a new tow vehicle and I’m stuck between the two engines you demonstrated. I live only four miles from work so that’s something to consider. I like that the hemi has a bit higher tow rating. Anyway thanks a lot.
Hemi all the way. the Eco diesels are trouble in the best situations. since you live so close to work I would almost say the Eco diesel isn't even an option for you. the fuel economy is tempting but the hemi is just a simpler engine with less things to go wrong.
well a powerstroke is much better engine. actually meant to handle a load. I hate fords but I would drive a powerstroke over the Eco diesel every day of the week.
Recommended Manufacturer oil change is at 10k, always change mine at 6k. Full delete at 40k and a 45 hp tune. Been nothing but good to me so far. Probably just jinxed it though 😂 31 mpg tx to mi round trip.
full delete will make a big difference. a lot easier to run any diesel without the aftertreatment system. easier on the engine and you avoid all the crap that comes with it
As a Chrysler tech I'd never own one of these. Every single one is a ticking time bomb. Between broken crankshafts at number 4 journal, injectors blowing in half, high pressure pumps blowing up and destroying the entire fuel system, constant egr failures, oil coolers leaking into the coolant, turbo failures, so on and so forth. They're just not made for longevity or hard use.
I wanted to buy the Ecodiesel in my 2020 Rebel, found the one I wanted, then found out the dealers in my area were marking the Diesel up by almost 10k dollars. I did the math and found that in the 7 years to pay off the truck, it would not make up that amount of money in savings between diesel and gasoline, so I bought the 5.7 instead.
not to mention the price of diesel right now is quite a bit higher then normal gas.
@@TheGettyAdventures Now I am looking at selling my truck due to gas prices. I am looking at a Rubicon 4xe or just the 2.0L turbo. I want something to take off-road, without costing a lot for a daily driver.
@@paladin11C40 A wrangler gets worse gas mileage than a ram lol
@@drunkhusband6257 My Gladiator Rubicon gets better gas mileage than my Rebel.
@@paladin11C40 But....it doesn't
2016 Ecodiesel bought new. Just rolled 100,000 miles, 80% of that was towing a 9500 lb travel trailer. Oil changes every 7500 miles, diesel and air filters every 15,000 miles. Tires at 65,000 miles and battery at 90,000 miles. It had 1 CEL at 70,000 miles and was fixed under the emissions warranty. All software updates are complete and I still get 28 mpg on the highway. Runs and looks great. Yes, my trailer was too heavy but the truck handled like a beast.
right on sir. it does seem that these engines like to be run hard. but you also seem to be on top of your maintenance which is also important. but hey can't complain with 28mpg's
Considering getting one and would be doing a lot of road trips with an rv. Did you ever feel like you would have been better with the 2500 towing that 9500 so much? Thanks for the help!
@@Grant3758 during our travels throughout 38 states the answer to that question is a bit complicated. I usually got around 13 mpg while towing and between 24 and 28 while stationed and unhitched. A 2500 would probably get less than that. Over 100,000 miles, I would estimate the cost differences to be around $1,000 in fuel. I would never get a hemi (gas) 2500 though; that amount would at least double. I knew that I was towing at or above my GCVW so I used a $2000 Pro Pride hitch and kept it at 62mph always. There were probably 3 stretches of road where the grade slowed me down to around 45mph and I noticed transmission and oil temperature climbing to the point where I wondered if I was going to need to pull over. In each instance, we crested the hill and everything returned to normal before there was any real issue. Finally, the Ecodiesel isn't really capable of towing anything but the smallest 5th wheel, so upgrading trailers wasn't an option. I still have my 1500 to this day. I love it and am very proud of the job it did. It continues to be completely reliable and perfect for my current non RV lifestyle. The 2500 wouldn't be as good of an unhitched, around the local area truck but it will give you a lot more towing confidence and trailer options. Also, a 2500 costs more to buy initially. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have bought a used HD truck (I couldn't have afforded new at the time) and a used 5th wheel trailer. When unhitched though, I would have to hear my wife flat out refuse to drive or park the bigger truck. After leaving the life for our current condo, we would have to get rid of the truck. Again, because my wife would complain and make me take her everywhere. I'm sure there are wives out there that wouldn't mind. Hope this all helps. Happy and safe travels and via con Dios.😉
@@michaelmappin4425 that was really helpful. Thank u. I don't think we'd be doing 80% towing but like u mentioned we'd be stuck trying to find a smaller 5th wheel if we had the 1500. Thats really impressive you towed that heavy trailer for that many miles and had minimal issues. I think well check out which travel trailers we like and probably go from there. My wife is already hesitant about having a large truck and rv combo so i definitely understand where you're coming from:) it'll probably then come down to if we want one of the larger 5th wheel rvs with our animals and dirtbikes and what not. Anyways, thanks for the help sir. Have a nice weekend!
@@Grant3758 I agree, choose the trailer first.
Had my 2019 eco for a little over 2 years now. It's completely stock. Best truck I've ever had. No problems what so ever. Change oil every 8000 miles. No turbo drag. Pulls great and it's surprisingly fast for such a big truck. 24 to 27 mpg with 3:92 rear end.
Yeah the basically brand new vehicle you own is so impressive, how about writing that review at 250,000 miles at that point a Diesel's considered midlife. The old 12 valve 5.9 Cummins would do 400,000 mi regularly.
@@seanbutler2291 well I can only comment on the experience I've had so far. Unlike some I can't predict the future. But I will truthfully comment in the future.
I do agree the Cummins is a better engine. At 20 to 30 thousand more they probably wouldn't sell very many of them if that were not the case.
How many miles do you have so far?
@@toddbutler5869update?
Tuned and deleted mine at 5,000 miles, trouble free for almost 120,000 miles. Never take to dealer, do my own service.
Same truck runs strong, love it... put bags, lift kit and a goose neck and towed our toy hualer from Montana to Alaska..
Brother I have no experience on Diesel engine but in the future I love to buy one of those, you think delete the def is better or what is better option
@@joelrodriguez7038 I deleted the def system early on. Don't think it's very problematic on the Rams, but it's just something to go bad. Electronicly delete and leave all parts intact. Even dealer won't care.
@@formerice thanks brother
@@formerice you didnt take out your DPF SCR? I am tuned to disabled my EGR..i am going to gut my SCR and upgrade my tune. What tune do you have? GDE? ..also,..my statement is about off road only..😉
Good video and good job contrasting the ecodiesel vs the hemi. I bought my ecodiesel 6 years ago and now have 88k miles on the engine. No significant issues whatsoever with the drive train, but I am meticulous about having the oil changed regularly along with the filters. I drive both on city streets and freeways. I also use additives in the fuel to boost cetane numbers and lubricate the injection system. I do not use aftermarket tuning systems.
I have had the occasional regen during the cold months, especially if I have been sitting and idling much. However, I have only had 8 to 10 regens in 6 years of ownership. The regen does not require hours of driving as stated in your video. The longest regen I had was about 20 to 25 minutes and most are about 10 to 15. If I am in street traffic (i.e. not on a freeway or highway) , I just manually select the gear that would maintain between 2000 to 2500 rpm during the regen process. Just make sure you select carefully so as not to over-rev the engine.
Now during the winter months, after letting the engine warm up to operating temps, I use the same method if I am in city traffic to make sure I minimize soot build up.
I believe if you own an ecodiesel you should learn about how diesels work and how the modern clean diesels obtain the clean omissions. Understanding the systems will help the owner better maintain their vehicles.
I absolutely love the truck which is a Limited and friends who ride in it always remark about how great it is.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the ecodiesel and keep up the good work. I would like to see a video on the aftermarket tuning systems (good and bad points).
Excellent comment! I have 135,000 miles on my 2014 EcoDiesel, mostly driven in town for my short work commute, so the truck has only asked me to drive on the highway for a quick regen maybe once every six or eight weeks. I drive 5 miles up the interstate, turn around, 5 miles back and it’s done! In town I average 18 to 21 miles per gallon, at 55 mph I easily get 33-35 miles per gallon, at 65 between 30 and 32, and at 70 I get between 28 and 30. Last June I towed a 6400 pound U-Haul trailer about 300 miles and averaged 24.5 miles per gallon! The only unscheduled maintenance I’ve had to do was replace a coolant line.
Have 180k on my 2015 and get 31mpg. I love it
As a guy that has never had a diesel but always been attracted to the ecodiesel - this video was really helpful (my commutes are VERY short and VERY bursty) - thanks my man!
thank you, it does seem that consistent short trips (city driving) with this engine causes issues. so unfortunately may not be the best engine option
I saw heavy diesel mechanic and thought,” what’s his weight got anything to do with this?”
heavy duty mechanic meaning they change axels on loaders as big wuipemebt
@@tipstolevelupinlife5837 lol,there's always at least one person that doesn't comprehend humor......
I mean I could probably drop a few pounds..
Try being instrumentation journeyman
Got mine tuned and EGR deleted. Increased power and picked up 4 to 5 mpg. Also regens went from about every 3 days to about every 3 weeks. Also without the EGR, the oil stays way cleaner. Also solves the problem with the map sensor sooting up, intake has cleaned itself up after 10,000 miles of driving after tuning. Great engine tuned, crap with stock tuning
I believe it 100%, a solid tune alone on these trucks would solve a lot of issues. an EGR delete is also a probably a great way to go.
I just bought a 2016 eco diesel at 70k miles. Some of the things I’ve heard made me a little nervous, I’m only 18 so this was a gigantic purchase for someone like me, but I’m mainly hearing the poor reviews by somewhat city drivers. I live 35 minutes from my nearest store, so the middle of nowhere. I’m driving at around 100 miles a day easy- sometimes more, rarely less. So far, this car has handled my dirt road and the grimy highway near it with ease, and impressive smoothness. If I end up absolutely despising it, I’ll edit this lol, but so far maybe so good?
Also the only reason I was comfortable getting a diesel is because my dad is a mechanic on 20,000 lbs water trucks (also with Diesel engines). I don’t know the first thing about heavy loading trucks, let alone trucks in general. So far, he’s also a fan. I got it for $25,500, which to me means I have a lot more wiggle room for mechanical errors.
There’s no point to this comment, just stating my experience with it so far... and also to have something to come back to in a year to say “yeah, good truck” or “I’m now in severe debt” :)
Good on you man, sounds like you did some research and with you driving the truck a good distance on a daily basis you'll probably be just fine. It does seem like consistent city driving kills these things.
like I've said many times no engine is perfect and there is always the risk of failure. Keep up with the maintenance and I'm sure the truck will run fine for you. and I'm sure your old man can help fix anything that does go wrong worst case scenario
I wouldn't classify an eco diesel truck as a car 😉 haha jokes aside congrats on the truck. Welcome to the diesel community
I’ve had my 2016 since new now at 135k.
The only big issues have been the EGR cooler which did end up with a recall. Although it broke at 65k and dumped all the coolant through the engine. Only way to tell was when it overheated, all the coolant went out the tailpipe.
I was running the Banks oiled air filter and a senor got plugged up from the oil. Went into limp mode. Switched to a dry cleanable filter.
I do have the Banks tuner which is huge! Totally wakes the motor up.
Average mileage highway and mountain driving has been 23.4. Pure hwy 27.
Towing a 7k trailer 10-12.
With the tuner there is plenty of low end once the turbo spools up but it does lack the high end power of the hemi.
Enjoy!
I bought a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Tradesman Ecodiesel new in June 2020 with about 17k off MSRP, now I have almost 68k and just recently put new Michelin Defenders in there replacing the Goodyear wranglers that came with the truck. The truck runs super awesome and surprisingly quiet for a diesel. I simply follow all the manufacturers maintenance schedule and listen to my truck computer system which there haven’t been any issues. Oil change every 10k, tire rotation every 5k, and the air filters change between 20-30k. The brakes were recently checked during the tire shop visit and surprisingly still has a lot of life left. I drive a lot mostly on highways which averages up to 30 MPG and it’s such a comfortable ride and love the truck.
I will never Trust the Manufacturer's regarding Oil Change intervals, do it @ 5k not 10k, Dealers and their shops would love these trucks to break down. transmission every 30k, only change the transmission filters on every 60k miles but u need to flush the transmission and torque converter.
I have a 2015 Ecodiesel and almost at 240k on it. The engine has been 100% perfect so far. I tow occasionally a 5000lb trailer and it does alright with it. I have been religious with oil changes though and most of the driving was highway. I also refused the emissions recall to be done by the dealer so still running the original software. Now the air suspension on this thing... now that's a huge piece of garbage, especially during Canadian winters. Summer time, no problem it's great and comfy ride. In the winter..man, it's terrible. Had all the parts replaced and still doesn't work. The dealer gave up and so did I.
Haha I feel like the air ride was designed for Florida driven trucks. I mean the intention for air ride is pretty cool but up here with the harsh winters and road salt those system have a short life span.
But happy to hear your truck is running strong. I'd be curious if you not getting the emissions recall had any benefit to the truck.
@@TheGettyAdventures I think you’re correct, I have 256,000 miles on my echo diesel and the air suspension has been flawless....I live in FL
I wonder if the longevity of this engine had Canadian weather contribute to it. Maybe hot southern weather would shorten it’s life span but then again good maintenance is key.
@@lynwoodspire8503 Good maintenance is key. aftertreatment system's don't like the cold. DEF system can freeze up causing a lot of issues
I have the ecodiesel in a Grand Cherokee and COMPLETELY regret having the recalls done.
A lot of these issues were addressed before the re release of this motor. Fiat gave it to American engineers and said do it right, we're stepping back. They did and made it better than before. The used over 80% new parts and the block was one of the only things that made it to the new one.
what year was the re release?
I heard the main bearing design was left in. I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee ecodiesel with 180,000 mile on it still running strong. I'm assuming it wasn't a big problem as everyone is saying. At least I hope so! Lol
@@preslim84 I think your are talking about the 2020 Gen 3.
@@preslim84 The Gen 2 was produced from 2014 to 2018, took 2019 off, then in 2020 brought the Gen 3.
If you are looking at the 3.0 diesel in the Grand Cherokee from 2005-2010, that was a Mercedes Benz diesel engine.
had.... HAD... a 2015 ecodiesel. First 2 yrs of ownership I thought it was good. trailered my jeep with it from time to time ... = max tow and payload....it Did ok... I always did my maintenance on time. With that said, I did a trip from Vegas to San Diego. It was about 90 degrees. No towing, no hills, .. It went into limp mode. The trans was overheating.. LOVELY.. After 30 minutes at a rest stop it was cool enough to continue w/o issue. When I got home I changed the trans pan and fluids. ... No Joy. Then I also found a weeping leak at the EGR... FAMOUS precursor for disaster. I quickly said no thank you. Traded it in for a 2019 Ram 2500 HD 4x 6.4 NON diesel and LOVE IT! No DEF BS, no soot, no lag, .. Best truck I've EVER owned. Yes the mpg sucks but to be honest the Eco only got about 23-24 highway tops. Averaged 20.
I got the 2017 and towing 7.000lbs 33ft travel trailer and it’s working great. By the way we are from the northpole and no problem starting during winter season -30 🥶.
like the town of North pole in Alaska? if so I've actually driven through lol pretty unique town!
But that's pretty sweet it starts up with ease in such cold temperature.
@@TheGettyAdventures Sweet! Actually I live up here in Yukon Canada, and the next stop that we usually driven are Alaskan town and cities..
I bought one the first year they came out tin 2014. I still have it. All recalls completed. I love it.
Really great video man. As someone actively looking at 1/2 and 3/4 diesel trucks and learning about diesel motors and maintenance for the first time this is very helpful. My main concern as well has been buying a used diesel truck driven by someone disillusioned that it should be treated and driven like a gas motor, and then discovering clogged DPF, not being warmed up or allowing fuel pump to cycle, etc. Great video and thank you.
All you need to do is purchase the Green Diesel Engineering Hot Tune/Trans Tune and you will have a entirely new vehicle in the way it drives, the Hot Tune will give you an additional 34 HP and 60 Lbs Ft of torque bumping you to 254 HP and 480 Lbs Ft torque. The GDE tune eliminates the throttle lag you talked about.
You also do not have to drive the truck for hours to complete a ReGen of the Diesel Particle Filter my 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Laramie Ecodiesel will complete a ReGen in about 13 miles.
The bottom end bearing issue was because FCA specced 5w-30 oil they have since found that the 30 weight oil did not have a strong enough film strength so they changed to 5w-40 oil because the 40 weight oil has a strength film strength to protect the bottom end bearings.
A lot of mis information in this video.
W in oil stands for Winter fyi. If you want a diesel just go with a heavy duty dodge or Chevy. The half ton motors are junk regardless if they are gas or diesel.
My eco diesel was amazing! Then at 43,000kms it just decided to blow a hole in the side of the engine block. No abuse, regular maintenance, all recalls done. Just commuting home from work and “BOOM”.
I have a 2015 EcoDiesel and it has been a great truck it has 170000 on it. I drive it everyday and I drive it hard. I tow my boat and my trailer with my truck. It has had a couple of minor issues like the toner wheel and a couple O2 sensors but it was all covered under the extended free warranty for doing the update. Also got a $3,500 settlement check from Dodge for the lawsuit from the government and for doing the update also. I do all my own oil changes and I do them before 10000 miles. I buy my oil filter and fuel filter off of eBay and I get Rotella oil every time. I drive this truck so much that I have worn out my driver side seat pad and have to replace it. The only thing that's ever been customised on this would be the cold air intake. This has been an excellent truck.
pays to drive these things hard. folks who tend to take this engine to get groceries and back usually aren't having the same luck!
Excellent review. I bought a 2015 eco diesel 3 months ago. It’s been in the shop, three times now with engine lights, electric throttle control sensor, exhaust filter 100%, and now once again engine light on. Love the truck but I can’t afford to maintain it. 1000 dollars every time is to much for a 2015
Being that is out of warranty, you should have done a full delete immediately and never have those problems again.
@@SPHINX144 I should have done my research.
I've had all 3 generations of this motor.... all of these problems are mostly for the first gen motors. My first gen 2015 had 290k miles when I traded it for the second gen ecodiesel had it 6 months and it was great. Ran it up to 130k miles and i got hit and totaled it out. Now I got a 3rd gen ecodiesel jeep and at 15k I've had good luck. My first gen had emissions issues and I deleted it. Only reason I got rid of it is because the trans lost 3rd and 5th gears.
I bought my 16 back in 18. It had 27k miles. I've had not 1 issue. I'm at 160k miles now. I never had the recall done to it. On 33's I'm getting 26 mpg. I love mine and will be looking into getting a new eco in the future
man a lot of folks are saying they love their eco diesels. I'm not an owner so I can only go off second experience but a lot of people love them. I personally would buy another Hemi before the Eco diesel but no engine is perfect so pick your poison I guess
If you didn’t do the recall you didn’t get the $3750
@@jackb9812 really?? okay so apparently in Canada you weren't able to get any money either way. but for almost 4k I'd probably get it done as well
@@TheGettyAdventures Yes the US govt levied huge fines and the owners got $3750. But you had to do the recall and file a claim . Took several months but obviously worth it.
Mines the same 2016 on 33s and did the recall and back and forth from the shop cause of the def issues
I own a 2014 Ram Ecodiesel Regular cab, 8 foot bed, 4x4. Once I got a warning displayed on the gauge cluster warning me that the DPF was at 90% capacity and I needed to get it up to temp to clear it out. I live 2 minutes from a highway and within 15 minutes it had completed the cycle. It lags when it is cold, but after 5 to 10 minutes the truck is significantly more responsive.
How many miles on yours?
Had one, loved it! It was a 2014 first run in the Ram.
Amazing fuel mileage, good tow manners!
No complaints here because I parked in a garage during our northern Manitoba winters and I have a long history with owning Diesel engines and always ran Rotella 0w40 synthetic not that expensive Euro crap oil.
Rotella!! #1
You use 15w40 for diesel
@@umadbrooo6947 ya 15w40 in the summer and 5w40 in the winter
@@umadbrooo6947no ,15-40 is the Cummins engine,,,,t6,5-40 is for the 3 ltr..
I had a 22 Rebel EcoDiesel and it did lag, however once it did hit, it would cycle through the gears so quick. Now I have an EcoDiesel Jeep Wrangler with the Banks Derringer, and holy moly, this thing pulls so hard that the left side tweaks on acceleration. You can see the twist in the body looking out the windshield. But both of these are 3rd generation variants of the 3.9.
Thanks for the write-up in the video description. I appreciate your detailed video but I don't have time to watch it now and I really appreciate the short hand version .
Pedal commander was the best add. On the fly throttle response. A MUST for towing.
I had a 2016 ram with the eco diesel and once the recall was done on the emissions stuff it would take 2-3 seconds to accelerate from a stop when cold. Once it was warmed up or about 5 minutes of driving it wasn’t as noticeable. I ended up getting rid of it once the tone wheel broke in half, which is what helps with timing. This was replaced under a recall notice that FCA had for this known issue. Great that it was replaced at no cost because the transmission had to be dropped in order to replace it due to the location.
Yes, the difference between accelerating in the HEMI vs the Eco diesel from a stop was night and day. I mean at least FCA did fix the issue under warranty. I've heard some horror stories about FCA refusing to replacer stuff under warranty for whatever reason.
I’ll keep my old 12 valve Cummins. No computer snd over 435,000 miles. Twelve valves are the best engine ever put in a pickup
those old Cummins were pretty strong engines. what would be awesome is if those engines used liners so you could easily rebuild them in the chassis.
hear here
U turn into an old guy and who the heck wants to hear or smell a 12V anymore.
@@panthermartin7784 it’s a shame these new diesels are so quiet. A old 12 valve will still be running long after most of these newer diesels are gone. And as far as smell? Well it’s a diesel…
@@dieselram05 Hell man I understand , been around them my whole life , owned them, worked on them, traded them, sold them, just tonight rolled into my fav elk hunting spot in a PowerWagon, dead quiet, no stink in the air, I dunno, think Im gonna do the gas pot thing for a bit , mind you my buddy just bought a property and in the barn sits a very muddy 91 cummins 1 ton , looks like its been parked for 20 years and he has no interest in keeping the truck... LoL, here we go again.......
I have a 2016 Ram 1500 Quadcab 4x4 3.92 ratio Ecodiesel, lifted 2" with 33"tires. My wife has a 2018 Ram 2500 Crewcab 4x4 3.42 ratio 6.7 Cummins, stock height with 33"tires.
The main bearing issue on the ecodiesel comes from drivers turning off the engine with a hot turbo. I use a Bank's iDash mounted on the pilar. To tell me how close the coolsnt and the oil temperatures are. When both are in the desired range, I will shit the engine down. My truck sees a lot of highway miles on speed control. The engine has 162,226 miles. With 56 idle hours and 3285 drive hours.
I did not drive it much in the last year. Because I bought a new Dodge Durango. To deal with a tighter parking situation a my job. But I did take a trip in the past 2 weeks that took me from California to Colorado, then up to Northern Idaho and back to California. I did have a little side trip, towing a U-haul trailer for a nephew. That I went from Colorado into Southern Washington after first going to Idaho. And then back to up to Northern Idaho. A total of just under 4,000 miles. The truck ran beautiful, with lots of power.
The truck does have a Bank's silencer delte kit. And a Flowmaster 50 series Big Block 3" inlet and single outlet muffler.
The fuel economy used to be outstanding. But I let a tire shop change the oil when getting new tires. And they overfilled it. Then the PCV picked the excess oil. Fouling the intake. And with the EGR issues, the intake got very gunked up. If I did not use Hot Shots Secret products in the fuel. The DPF and the SCR would be gunked up.
I understand from some friends with the gen 3 Ecodiesel. The engine now has an 8 quart sump capacity, rather than 10.5. And the EGR gas is taken after the DPF and the SCR.
I shouldn't really complain about the fuel economy. I averaged 23mpg, even with the trailer and going over many high mountain passes up to over 10,000ft. I averaged 65-70mph as allowed. The only thing is on a similar trip in 2017. I averaged 28mpg. And that included driving 105mph across some of the flat parts of US-50 in Nevada. And 80mph, as posted in Utah. With 75mph in the spots that 75mph was the speed limit.
If my parking situation had not changed. I would have bought a 2020 Ecodiesel.
But keep in mind. Diesels are lean burn engines. They love lots of air. And to get out and run with a load! Idling is not a diesel thing.
So it seems like you run your eco diesel in the perfect way lol. long drives to get everything up to operating temperature. You seem very knowledgeable about the engine which is awesome and probably why you won't experience issues. But imagine the average person just buying an ram 1500 with an eco diesel simply because they want good fuel mileage, without knowing anything about how to properly maintain them.
that's where I think a lot of these issues arise. is the consumer thinking this engine is just like any gas engine. As for the main bearing issues I'm curious why you say a hot turbo causes that.
@@TheGettyAdventures I have a class A drivers license. When I drove for C.R. England when the electronically controlled diesels were introduced. The Cummins N14 manually discussed this problem. And the operating procedure to prevent it.
I currently am a Stationary Engineer. The emergency generators at the facilities that I work at. All have an automated procedure for shutdown. That cools the turbo.
@@zxej6879 very interesting. I mean I've always heard that you want to let the turbo spool down before shutting down the engine( if lets say you were high idling the truck) But i guess it does makes sense you would want a cool turbo
Love my 2015 ram ecodiesel 2 years owned. Pulls a 38 foot camper. 79k miles
what's the GVWR on your camper, and how does the truck do towing it? I'm looking to get one of these but also tow a 7000lb trailer regularly for family trips. any information would be very helpful
Had my bottom end explode at 21,000k. It started as a super light tick on acceleration. Ran it hard trying to make a ferry reservation and when I got off the ferry this slight tick. I noted it right away and took it in for an oil change and had them listen, dealership didn't make note of it. 2 months of this light tick, was cruising started to hear a louder tick like a rock in a tire, but tied to the rpm. Within 15km it got bad, loud knocking. I couldn't get over and shut it off in time and blew a hole in the side of the block. As you said, they replaced the whole engine. 70K on the new engine no problems. I think it's a small number of these from the factory have this issue. A very select few people have had a second engine die on them but the vast majority have been fine.
Your right on needing to drive them. 80km a day when I commute and I've never seen the regen message until I did a week of around town driving and saw the message saying it was 80% full and tells me to drive it at highway speeds, it wasn't hours as your mentioning but a good 20-25km to get it the filter back below 20% full. You need to get it fully warm which takes 10km and then put on a good 15km on it to keep the regen from showing.
The lag is bad, it's super bad if the truck is cold, and outright horrible if you go up a 20% sloped driveway while cold. The truck wants to shift out of 1st as quickly as possible into 2nd, then cuts the power bringing the truck nearly to a stop and need to mash the petal to get it to shift back down. This environmentally friendly tune kills this engines performance. My 2018 came with this tune that's now been applied to earlier models so I've never known what it's like to have no lag. Everyone says get it tuned which is the plan once the warranty is over. Fixes the lag, more power and a lot better mpg.
thanks for the info! all in all do you think you would buy the eco diesel again or would you go with something like the HEMI?
it is interesting how you said the second engine you received is much better. I wonder if Chrysler did make a fix to the newer engines. only time will tell I guess!
@@TheGettyAdventures Yeah that's what I was leaning towards from what I've gleamed off of forums. They done something in the replacement engines to make sure customers aren't burned twice.
I had the identical truck with a hemi, a late production 2013 one of the first to have the 8 speed. The hemi is faster, and will always sound so much better but even with the 4" lift and 35" tires on my ecodiesel the truck still gets better mileage then my hemi did. My 2013 had odd issues with the uconnect system crashing and the truck had chronic brake issues, brakes sticking, pads falling off, bad warped rotors, which my 2018 seems to be completely clear of.
The fuel saving was the number one thing I was looking for so I would get the ecodiesel again if I was looking for a half ton truck, even with the lag issue. I would likely pick up a 3rd gen in the new trucks hoping they've addressed these issues in the engines redesign.
@@tonydewaal7581 funny you mention braking issues. my 2017 truck still has the factory pads and rotors with 91,000km on the thing. over 10,000km of towing. either I have been lucky or they upgraded their factory brakes for the later model trucks
Very interesting how you would still go with the Eco diesel but I guess if fuel savings is important, you really can't beat it. I used to drive a 96 chev so when I upgraded to a 2017 hemi I was almost in shock how much more fuel efficient it was compared to the 350 small block in the chev lol
either way I appreciate your first hand feedback on the old Eco diesel.
Thrown rod because bad bearing. Lesson to learn when your block is ticking fix it or she gone be missing
I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee ecodiesl with 180,000 miles on it still no issues. I also drive it along. Think that's the key oil changes and driving it. Also noticed after the recall there is a lag but good away after warmed up. Love the Jeep. Hopefully it stays that way. Agree the problem is with a small amount of them!
For bogging, I found with my 2015, that sometimes from a stop it would start in 2nd gear and not first. You can see the gear it is in by quickly pushing the gear+ or gear- button.
You should differentiate between the previous generation EcoDiesel, which was the subject of the recall that you mention, and the newest version of the EcoDiesel that was introduced in North America with the current generation RAM trucks in 2019. The two engines are very different, with the newer model being vastly superior in every point that you mentioned.
One thing about these reviews it’s like comparing apples to oranges if you want gasoline jump get that if you want a diesel that’s what you gonna get if you tune em the life on externals shortens in my opinion I got a 2022 i drove from st louis to mobile al off of one tank at 70 to 85 mph best truck in the world to me just cause of that
My 2015 Ecodiesel cratered when I was passing. Luckily it was covered under warranty. I never floor it now. I am wondering if the 2023 is worth purchasing before they stop selling them. I am not keen to the Duramax and the high maintenance costs of the timing belt, etc. Comments are welcome! Thanks
First off, great review! I do have to disagree with your comment about how long it takes to regen the emissions scrubber. I have a 2014 eco-diesel with all emissions intact and updates done, but most of my driving is in town so every six or eight weeks the info center tells me I need to drive on the highway to scrub the filter. I’m in a different climate than you (St. Petersburg, Florida) so the warmer temperatures might make a difference… I hop on the interstate for 5 miles, turned around, 5 miles back and it’s done! Probably 10 minutes at most. I keep a careful eye on the DEF tank gauge, but I don’t seem to need much of it. In the last six months I’ve driven 9000 miles and it’s only used a half a tank of DEF fluid, just two or 3 gallons.
The mileage on this thing is incredible! In town I’m averaging 18 to 21 miles per gallon, and on the highway between 28 and 34, depending on my speed. I absolutely love the truck! 😊
From the teardowns I've seen on this engine, the failure point was in the main bearings losing oil, then spinning. I can see why Mopar made a spec change in the oil viscosity in order to try and combat this. I had one and it treated me fine, but I was trading fairly often then and traded it in on a new hemi. For me, the additional pain of having to buy DEF and the expensive oil changes just wasn't worth it. I found myself always listening and on the alert for trouble. With the hemi, it's just gas n' go. The vm motori is a cool engine though!
People always say AH JUNk HEmiS and thEiR Cam LifteER pROblEms. Well, a lot of shops around barely know it's an issue. Let alone it probably not even doing 2% of the vehicles at most. Take care of it, beat it up a little and try not to idle for 15 hours at once. All i can say.
We’re you towing with it? If yes, are you still towing with the hemi?
I heard it was the oil and they switched to Shell oil. Change the oil often to get the emission cleaning gunk removed, and install oil catch can.
A known issue has been the fact that it takes so long for the new oil to make it into the pan, I've read you want to wait at least 30 minutes before starting it up after an oil change. Imagine that you take the truck into Jiffy Lube, would they be aware of this? They want to get that thing off the rack ASAP.
@@baileyhatfield4273 I had a lifter replaced and it was the most annoying thing I’ve ever dealt with on a vehicle. It was through warranty.
Hello from Barrie. I Literally just got my 2022 Ram Rebel echo diesel. I had the 2019 GMC AT4 6.2L and hand nothing but problems with it from the day I brought it home. I’m hoping to get many years of enjoyment out of this Rebel. Love it so far. Thanks for the information.
Awesome man hopefully she runs well for you!
Great review. I've ordered a 2022 Ram Rebel Echo diesel here in about 8 weeks, hopefully. i commute 52 miles one way to work each day and all but 3 miles are on 4 lane highway.. Hopefully, i should be good. i had a jeep liberty diesel i purchased used and the EGR valve was always causing me problems. Thanks again for the review.
My EGR cooler started leaking.. decided to do a full exhaust delete... WOW what a difference. No more lag, better fuel economy and 80 more torque.
That's awesome. How much more mpg?
@@philliprader6298 they say 5% improvement. Never really calculated it but I'm around 10-11L/100k combined city.and highway
The DPF hates short trips and idling--period. Ford figured this out on their Super Duty 6.7 pickups. Many of those run in commercial fleets where idling and short trips can be an operational necessity. Ford offers an option on the Super Duty (though not available on some of the upper trim levels) that allow the driver to do a stationary regen when the DPF hits 80% or more full. I have that option on my Super Duty and have had to use it several times over the years. If the truck is at operating temperature, a stationary regen will take 10 minutes (engine at 2,000 RPM). In colder weather or if the exhaust temperature is low, it will take longer. Yes, it wastes fuel, but it beats having to "drive to clean" that may not only be inconvenient, but in some conditions may be impossible. As to the 3.0 Ecodiesel, the early ones had a huge failure rate. This latest generation may be better, but I wouldn't buy one until they get a few years under their belt to see if they will hold up. In my opinion, the best of the half-ton diesel engines is the GM 3.0L Duramax. Same story, though, I wouldn't buy one until they've been out for at least a few years.
cough cough delete cough
My dad ran this truck for the better part of a few years before it blew up, ran a construction company out of it and tows his boat. Said the fuel economy was wicked, but it blew up within what 4 years. Extended warranty didn’t want to cover it and ended up only wanting to give 13000$ and he bought it new, has an f-150 tt v6 and will never go back to diesel or dodge.
Wait till the ford blows up, they call it ecoboom for a reason
@@modernbassheads5051 it’s been 3 years now and it’s going strong so we will see. But frankly dodge really doesn’t care enough about quality control to be a legit option for everyday use. We had fords before the dodge and those never blew up either. It’s the first truck to do so.
The lag is when it's cold. It just won't go, and then at 3/4 to the floor it takes off almost out of control. I think it is dangerous and needs another recall to fix it properly. The throttle response changes dramatically from cold to warm. The constantly changing response puts you in dangerous situations when you pull out into traffic and it doesn't go.
I mean it does seem odd how much of a difference it makes when the truck is cold vs hot. My guess would be something to do with emissions, when the engine and aftertreatment system is cold their emission efficiency isn't as good. meaning more "pollution" so it's probable that until both reach a certain temperature power is cut to help decrease emissions.
@@TheGettyAdventures I am sure it is emissions or not plugging the DPF up super fast. They found a solution for it on the gen 3 though, so recall the unsafe thing and fix it.
Used commercially my ED got low on coolant from an EGR cooler leak and pushed a head gasket at 371k miles.
They are disposable motors so I put a new motor in and bought an EGR cooler delete kit. 423k miles later it cracked a head. 🤷♂️
Business partner got 452k miles out of his before the fuel pump imploded and filled cylinder 3 with shrapnel. So no 500k yet but both trucks are still in service.
Caveat we run aftermarket tunes that turn off the EGR soot recirculator and clean up the fuel management to improve longevity. Well and add turbo brake, better mileage, more power, less maintenance. Oil now only starts to get dark after 8k miles so it’s changed every 10k with T6 or equivalent per warranty. 30 mpg is good.
Also with EGR (exhaust gas recirculator) turned off no clogged intakes to melt and cause the coolant to burn hence truck fires 🔥
{EPA should be held responsible for mandating EGR. It’s not even needed to meet emissions output requirements}
Last caveat we don’t lug these trucks at low say 12 to 1500 rpms. We use tow mode and let them work at 1,900 rpms plus. Note none of our three motors failed from the common slipped crank bearings.
Last if you are looking to buy, the 2020 plus truck & engine is dramatically improved. Enjoy
Thank you for the comment! great info, I think knowledge is key with these engines. and it seems like you are very knowledgeable and understand how to drive these things and it shows by the high mileage.
I think it's worth noting that , you can't really compare this engine to a Hemi in the same way that you would drive the Hemi. This goes for just about any diesel in my experience. Its worthless to just mat the throttle in a turbo diesel , in this case ...an EcoDiesel or Cummins for that matter, like how you would with a 5.7 or 6.4 gas engine. I recommend that you roll into the throttle rather than just hit it where ever you want it at quickly, and at 3/4 throttle roughly, not full to the floor. I guarantee you will absolutely notice a difference in the way your diesel feels under load changing the way you operate it like I just described.
100% agree - " I recommend that you roll into the throttle rather than just hit it where ever you want it at quickly, and at 3/4 throttle roughly, not full to the floor"...it's a diesel.
I agree, I have found that it performs better if you don’t hit the throttle but go smooth on it. I have squawked the tires 🤣
Well, he hast to compare to something because Ford does no longer sell the “mini power stroke, which was a piece of junk! And only sold in the most expensive Ford vehicle which was 80+ thousand they stop selling them two years ago my friend had one it lasted three months and blew up. He did nothing but drive back-and-forth to work never pulled even a pair of jet skis with it. Ford ended up buying the truck back because they did not want to do an engine swap because the same thing would’ve happened to the next junk mini power stroke engine.
Got 150k on mine. Only the tone wheel went out. Spent about a grand to get it fixed. But it has also been deleted sense 100k and I love it. Getting 25 ish on the highway. Does very little city driving. It's nice being able to go 600 miles on a tank.. granted never get past quarter of a tank. And only use ExxonMobil diesel.
Yeah, let’s take a moment to remember here that rub there is an eco-diesel sold by ram, but there is no “mini power stroke“ sold by Ford because it was junk and you could only buy it in the highest trim level Ford pick up which was about 80 grand And they stop selling them because all of them, all of them! Failed don’t buy Ford junk. The eco-diesel is absolutely reliable and bulletproof. My brothers has 280,000 miles and it drives just like it did off the showroom floor, five years later zero problems And he cruises down the highway at 28 miles per gallon at 70 miles an hour cannot beat tha! Don’t forget, don’t buy Ford junk!
I have a 2018 f-15o platinum and it’s a piece of shit. Nothing but problems from that truck.
I have a one. In the 20 months that I have owned it, the truck has spent 8 months at the dealership. Hopefully getting rid of this turd tomorrow
Finally the truth someone had the balls to tell it how it is!
Holy crap, would like to hear a bit more about this…
Thanks , I worry about the issues he talked about plus the emissions systems are fragile even when driven long haul.
Yes that dealership had to be a turd you should have figured out to dump 7 months ago.
Had one. Had zero problems with it. Pulled a 7,000lb camper great, actually better than my 7.3 Excursion! It needed a better cooling system though,as temps would rise if you went near 70 mph while towing or went up steep hills. Other than that, it was great.
Could get better than 30mpg driving it easy and 12 mpg pulling the camper, where the 7.3 was about 9 pulling a camper.
My father In law works for a remanufacturing plant that works with Chrysler Fiat and he said everything on the bottom end is made super weak and thin, so when they got them in they tried to turn down the contract as it would be a waste of time trying to fix.
Well that's no good, But I mean technically this is not supposed to be a heavy duty diesel engine but still you would think they would try and make it strong
You are correct...I own a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with the Ecodiesel motor. At first it was great...I was averaging 23 mpg on 37" tires then I started getting DEF exhaust problems. The dealerships dont have an abundance of diesel mechanics so the repair times are longer. Parts are not readily available either. When the alarm comes on you lose power as well....now I know why JEEP decided to discontinue this motor next year. Great review!!!!
Yeah…..good review. I’ve got a 2015 ecodiesel, and everything he said is right on. I’ve got 98,000 miles on my truck, that’s 157,715 KM. Very little issues other than small things. Nothing wrong with the engine. Had the EGR replaced under warranty, had two exhaust bolts that broke, but weren’t too terrible to fix. Absolutely LOVE getting 24mpg on average in the summer, and 20 mpg in the winter. My ‘01 f-150 was a pig on fuel, and was even worse at towing!! I’ve got a 12x7 enclosed trailer that can fit two full size 800# cycles, and this truck pulled it like no ones business at 75 mph getting 18 mpg on fuel. My ford would barely get 13 mpg and the engine would whine like there’s no tomorrow at 75!!
I bought this truck new, and plan on having it for many more miles to come. …….hopefully…..
How many miles did you go with a full tank of gas ? With the 2015 eco diesel?
@@SanAntonioNewHomesForSale winter time i get 19 in the city 24 highway. Summer months 22 city 27 highway.
Had a 2014, best 80000 miles I ever drove in a truck. I have a 3500
Dually now and I miss the comfort of that ecodisel. You are spot on though with your review. I drove 45 mins twice a day to work. The truck never even mentioned anything about Regen or had any issues., But the previous owner had it bought back from FCA at 10k miles because he drove it to the grocery store and back. This is a commuter truck.
So you got rid of it before it was even at 100,000 miles, I don't know how that proves anything for you, any vehicle should be able to do 100,000 miles trouble free. I mean it's cool that you enjoyed it but it certainly doesn't mean that it's a good engine or reliable because even the shittiest of engines these days should be hitting at least 100,000 miles fairly trouble free. Also a "commuter truck" is an oxymoron.
@@seanbutler2291 A commuter truck because no other half ton was better on mileage. Not even v6 gassers. It was better on the highway than my wife's CX-9, so yeah it was a truck and better than most cars other than tiny eco cars economically making it not an oxymoron. I upgraded campers so a half ton want appropriate anymore. Not all modern engines last 100k, and people were complaining of cam failures and engines failing well before 50k hence the post.
I had the emissions recall done on my Volkswagen Passat TDI and my car has terrible turbo lag now. My MPGs also dropped
2019 White Ram Classic EcoDiesel Crew Cab 3.92 rear end, 6'4 box, upgrades like Titan Tank 150L can go 1900k on a tank, also stage 2 weight loss program. Oil stays very clean
I've had mine since 2015 and I love it. It hasn't cost me any repairs yet.
Maintenance is key and that is with anything really. My ‘15 ecodiesel has 180k and still running stong. I had rear airbags and fuel filters replaced. A few recalls such as crank sensor. Overall, I’m still happy and will buy again.
if you are happy with your truck than that's all that matters!
Mine just blew the bottom end at 184,000 km's. FCA told me to pound salt, $20k to replace. I drive 50km each way to work every day, 55000km last year and took great care of my truck. So frustrating. Hope you have better luck then I did!
@@colinwynowsky2835 Thanks. Reading experiences like yours still worries me tho. The fiat motor hasn’t proven itself to be reliable compared to Cummins.
@@colinwynowsky2835 tough luck man. seems like once these things are out of warranty FCA don't really care
I got a Jeep gladiator with the new 3rd gen ecodiesel, and so far (7k miles) I love the darn thing. Here’s hoping it keeps running just fine for many years to come. I drive 40 miles round trip to work and back, so I figure 20 miles there and 20 miles home is probably enough to keep the filters clear.
Thats awesome, ive been looking at one and dont know if i should go with the gas or diesel. Im just a bit nervous about that diesel engine.
@@davidmopar8446 I totally understand the nervousness.
7 k miles???? Are you serious
fair and true words ... thank u for the video ...
greetings from the ecodiesel guys in germany
The injection pump does not control timing. It's a common rail. But the gear is held on by friction. The bolt clamping it down stretches over time and then the cams timing slides. The failure comes from the valves hitting pistons. Failure is caused by the stretching bolt leading to the slipping cam drive gear. And only occurs on this side of the motor due to the increased load driving the injection pump creates. Supposedly they upgraded the bolt 2017 on. This problem was mostly found prior to 2017 models.
what you said lol that's what I was trying to say but sometimes things come out all weird when the camera is rolling.
Great Video! I own a 2017 Laramie 4x4 Ecodiesel with 214k miles .
I have replaced the following
1. Intake Manifold
2. Lift Pump
3. Fuel Rails (2)
4. Upper/Lower control arms
5 driver/passenger axels
6. Bilstein adjustable shocks
7. (2) wheel bearings
8.Radiator and reservoir
I change oil every 7k using Mobil 1 5/40 turbo diesel, change fuel filter every other oil change.
I use K&N oil and air filters and every fill-up hot shots EDT diesel additive. I hope to be able to drive it for another 100k plus miles out of it.
I also did a drain and refill of transmission with the doorman pan @240k miles.
I had the high pressure fuel pump go on mine, luckily right before the warranty was up.. FCA was a GIANT pain in the ass to deal with, but begrudgingly replaced the long block and other affected parts.. not that its ecodiesel related, but dont even get me started on their 8.4 Uconnect radio... overall, love the truck, tows my 16ft boat like its not even there!
If I had to do it over again, I would go with the tried and true Hemi 😅 i always like to do performance adders, and kinda worried to do anything with the ecodiesel..
Bought a 2015 eco diesel 05/2020 w/52k. Had a consistent leak and after 6 times in the shop, 4 water pumps, come to find out it was the top end hose! Yes, has the initial lag, needs to warm up. Over all, a good truck, tows well, runs like a champ on road trips and gets 30-33 mpg running clear. I am nervous about it because of track record and will be purchasing another warranty if I keep it. It is different, one has to want it or not. Great video Amigo….just can’t compare it to a Hemi. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos….👍
If you drive in the tow/haul mode you will get a significant performance increase, it's basically the ram version of a sport button when not towing.
probably cuts down on some of the emission related tuning crap also!
@@TheGettyAdventures Not really has more to do with keeping the engine in a higher rpm, and it holds gears longer, as well as engine brakes when you brake it.
I've known of 3 people to but them 2 of them spent more time br9ke down than on the road the other guy traded it in at 35k miles for a f150 coyote and loves it.
I have a 2nd GEN 2016, love the truck, 170,000 going solid, I do use heavy duty diesel oil (Rotella T6 5W40 ), these 2nd GENs needs to use the same oil as CUMMINS 6.7 use ,and not the original oil that was intended to used with them. So if you own a second gen use any diesel oil with the CK4 detergent spec. I do have a BANKS systems , inline tunner installed , Proved on a DYNO, I gained HP, torque and also my MPG went up by 3mpg, while staying emission compliance. The BANKS systems keeps the engine working cleaner with less regeneration. I do live in FLORIDA, so for me emissions are not need it, my next step will be deleting the truck and re tune, if you live in a emissions compliance state, I will recommend a banks deringer with the pedal monster combo. I forgot to mention my truck its level running 35 inch tires, daily driver, love the truck. I also run every 6000 miles a bottle of diesel extreme from the
hotshot secret products, I have noticed that the fuel systems works better since I start using it, the check engine light went away for the DPF and the engine sounds smoother. Im not affiliated with any of the brands I have mentioned, Im just putting
out there what have works for me.
At my house we have 2 diesel Ram pickups. I have a 2016 Ram 1500 Quadcab 4wd 3.0L 3.92 ratio. My wife has a 2018 Ram 2500 Crewcab 4wd 6.7L 3.42 ratio. Both trucks have aftermarket transmission oil pans, with the Hot Shots Secret additive.
I put a Bank's Silencer Delete on the intake. But I run a Wix air filter for good flow, but better filtration than a K&N. Then I put a Flowmaster 50 series HD muffler on it.
The Ecodiesel has a problem with drivers not having a cool turbo when they shut down. That cooks the oil, which collects as a solid at the main bearings.
You are absolutely correct about the after treatment system. The gen 3 engines draw the EGR gases from AFTER the DPF. I almost bought a gen 3 Ecodiesel powered Jeep Wrangler or Gladiator. But I did buy a Dodge Durango that I wish had the Ecodiesel in it. I needed a 3 row SUV for grandpa duties.
With Hot Shots Secret products. My Ecodiesel runs good. And I am upgrading the suspension to replace worn parts. On long trips, the Ecodiesel is superior to the Cummins in most cases. But the Cummins has a better program on the exhaust brake, for those extreme downhills.
In a Jeep, my friends tell me the Ecodiesel is unbeatable!
Oops I forgot to add. If accelerating from a dead stop. Powerbraking to spool up the turbo. Will give better results!
Never in my life have I had so many problems with a vehicle. I bought mine for the mileage it was supposed to make. It made 14-16mpg constantly in the shop with stupid issues. I owned my eco diesel for 1 year before calling it quits. I had a 2016 limited ecodiesel. 4 corner air ride is another problem in itself in the cold weather climates I live in.
2D--you win!!! I haven't seen ANYONE get mileage that shitty. Most of the complaints I had seen were getting around 20 after one of those wonderful EPA pressured reflashes. Do you always have shit luck with cars?
@@tomfox1751 Not going to lie, bad luck does follow me. Don't get me started on Hyundai. haha! The eco-diesel takes the cake for the most continuous problems in a vehicle I've owned.
The lag isn't the turbo, it's the throttle-by-wire system. You press on the accelerator, the computer managers the throttle/fuel injection. No doubt the Hemi is faster and more responsive, but I just did a cross-country trip, WA to FL and back. At 70 mph I was getting 24 to 25 mpg. When you consider the 26 gal tank will go 500 miles or more between refueling, how much faster would you have to go in the Hemi to make up for the fuel stops?
Regarding engine longevity, what kills these is running them hard and then shutting them down without letting the engine cool... the hot turbo will cook the oil if it's suddenly shut off and the ash will clog oil passages and starve the main bearings. You can't horse them around carelessly... drive the last few miles calmly and then idle the engine for 30 seconds, and don't start it up and then go full throttle without letting the engine warm up. In short, recognize that this is a small engine with a turbo and treat it accordingly (as you would any turbo'd engine, e.g., Ecoboost).
Finally, yes, these engines don't like lots of short trips and not fully warming up. A 20 minute freeway trip once a week will clean the DPF with a regen. If your filter is fully clogged with a check engine light because you haven't driven enough to force a regen, a freeway trip at 60 mph but in 7th gear to get engine RPMs above 2000 rpm will fix even that.
The author is right: you have to understand these engines... but if you do you'll get a very powerful, economical, efficient, and useful truck. I love mine... it will tow 3000 lbs over mountain passes here in WA state at 70 mph and get better than 20 mpg, while my earlier Dakota with the 4.7L V8 could barely do 55 mph with the pedal to the floor and get 7 mpg with the same load.
Great comment! You aren't wrong its not all bad for the eco-diesel. All I can say is from a mechanical perspective it's just not as reliable as it should be. What you say should apply to all turbo diesel engines yet not all diesel engines are imploding at the rates of the eco-diesel engines.
I do know guys who have gotten 200,000 miles and counting on their eco-diesels so they can last. And if you treat them right you'll have better luck!
@@TheGettyAdventures note that this is a 3.0L diesel producing 240 hp. That means Fiat is likely boosting the crap out of it under load. I figure around 70 hp if it was naturally aspirated, so it must be running well over 30 lbs of boost. The EcoBoost gas engines are running around 10 lbs of boost. This engine is really being stressed at high output, thus why I think owners should be a little more mindful about letting it cool down before shutoff.
Hate to break it to you but europeans do a crazy amount of short trip diesel driving, the system is made to handle that lifestyle, these light duty diesels and even the newer big bores handle soot loading way better than earlier SCR models around 2010, i run a fleet of boom trucks and we never have regen issues, and yes they idle for huge periods of time. Soot loading just isnt a huge issue anymore.
The bottom end failures were during then growing pains of first gen north american market. The rod caps were improperly torqued, this isnt an issue for any but the first gen.
Lastly the recall was for emissions during warm up and acceleration, so the engine waits till it both hot and has air from the turbo before it engages much more fuel.
I don't know how Europeans drive but I would disagree with you. any aftertreatment system runs best when its hot. if it doesn't get hot enough it will eventually clog and have a whole bunch of issues following behind that.
the systems have gotten better over the years but I can tell you for a fact, last week at my shop (western star/ freightliner dealer) every single check engine light I diagnosed was to do with the aftertreatment system. NOx sensors, clogged filters, wiring issues, temp sensors. It's none stop. and to be honest it prints money for our dealership. long haul tractors have far fewer issues (at least at my shop) with this stuff then your average dump truck or day cab running around town.
as for your boom trucks, are they operating at high idle? I would imagine you have a pto with a pump on it running the hydraulics which put a load on the engine acting very similar to driving. you sound like an inform guy so you probably take care of your truck making sure they are running regens when they need to. that's probably a large contributing factor as to why they are all running so well.
regardless, I can only speak for what I see and I don't deal directly with the Ecodiesel so it's all he said she said but I would be concerned about buying an Eco diesel if I was just going to be running it in the city. my opinion take or leave it I guess
That acceleration delay is true for VW diesels as well. Very annoying and sometimes dangerous, but I still prefer diesel to petrol. Software tunes usually solve all issues but my warranty is up to 120k miles
You will love the Malone stage 2 with delete, takes the engine back to its torquey quick responding self, a lot more fun to drive, kiss goodbye to cel’s and no start warnings too. Probably an extra 50 to 80 km more per tank too.
@@steveknight9254 Yeah....I am still under warranty. Today check engine came on, getting fixed for free. I don't think I will keep the car past 120k miles. Already eyeing new Dodge RAM Limited diesel
About 1 km past warranty I was done, in it went.
I had a 2008 charger all wheel drive with a hemi. Man did that thing pull on the freeway.
Yeah, I got the recall and immediately went back to the dealership to tell them that I almost got T-Boned leaving the dealership and that the truck wouldnt accelerate for almost a full 3 seconds at all from a dead stop, and they said the emissions doesnt effect it at all. Fast Forward two years, and when I leave in the morning, and merge onto the highway it takes almost a full 3 seconds to go from 0-30 MPH while turning the wheel to the right. In a straight line its fine, but on a turn it is a HUGE safety risk. 2018 EcoDiesel
Honestly crazy how much this emission recall totally crushed these engines. completely de-tuned them to make emission numbers. a lot of people are saying the 3rd gen eco diesel engine doesn't have this issue but who knows for sure until I can get my hands on one!
my buddy has a 2019 classic, he was having similar issues. dealer reflashed his about a week ago and the issues went totally away. Maybe try that?
My 2016 isn't scared to giver a go.
Buy a 9 drive helped out slot with mine no waiting at all got response
I agree, I pulled out onto a road with traffic going 50mph, with a good distance between the oncoming car. Certainly nothing that would ever normally give you any concerns as you would be up to speed with moderate acceleration before it gets close. I push the pedal, nothing, push more, nothing, push it almost all the way down, the car is on my bumper as the engine finally roars to life and it lurches away. It's just dangerous cold, and you cannot rely on it until it is fully up to temperature.
I had a 2016 ED, I wish I would have kept it but heard all the bad things about them breaking down and didn't want to deal with it. 40k, not a single issue. Might have to look at the Gen3.
I bought my 2015 based on all the reviews... from 2016... I've had a mediocre experience at best. I would HIGHLY recommend a tune. I go through SFT and the drivability is night and day.
Had a tone ring failure fall of 2021. Became a recall issue and Chrysler paid for repair. Bad part of the issue was due to parts not available it took 2 months to get parts. Had emissions issues as well both times $300 sensor needed to be replaced. Sold the truck always afraid of what would fail next. It only had 90,000 miles.
These engines are a tough look for ram. Not a bad idea to sell the truck lol
The main bearing failures were found to be from using to thick of an oil. Originally the trucks were labeled & filled with 15w-40. Upon investigation they found the oil to be too thick for cold starts in cooler climates. In 2017 they switched to 5w-40 full synthetic. This appears to have solved the problem.
potentially, but you gotta think that the bottom end bearings are designed to be lubricated with 15w-40 so it's great that when cold, the bearings aren't starved of oil but when the engine is at operating temperature the oil being supplied to the bearings is now much thinner then what the bottom end was initially designed for probably resulting is a shortened life of the bottom end bearings.
So to me it seems like a temporary fix with potentially lingering side effects. if it were my engine I would run 15w-40 all year but put an oil heater in the oil pan so I wouldn't have to worry about cold starts in -20 here in Canada.
@@TheGettyAdventures All the eco diesels come with a block heater already in them. You just have to buy the cord & plug it in. I plug mine in Everytime the weather is in the 30s or lower as it uses half the power of my 6.7 Cummins block heater & helps provide me with cabin heat for the drive much faster. According to my eco dash panel the block heater heats the engine oil very well. Why would you run a heavier weight oil for clod conditions? These diesel have very tight tolerances. They are very precise machines. Nothing like the diesels of old.
@@davidb9987 as far as my 2019 eco goes, it's only a block heater, (heats the water) not an oil and oil pan heater. So no, the oil is not heated on the stock setup. That would have to be aftermarket.
Correct. But take a look at the guages in the truck. The oil will also be warmer. Most likely because the oil pan is attached to the engine block.
@@davidb9987 a much better oil heater is to RTV a specific neoprene oil pan heater on the engine. These work to -40 and give the pickup tub unfrozen oil to suck up.
Now, remember he is reviewing the 1st generation EcoDiesel. The current generation has much more HP and especially torque, 480 lb-ft.
Yes Chrysler redesign the whole thing... I own a 2021 limited, love the truck but I don't like that the acceleration takes a while to respond.
There are random versions of these trucks that randomly go into limp mode and have to be taken to the dealer to get them out of limp mode. This is not an issue the dealer can currently fix and my local Chrysler dealer has had 3 different lemon buybacks on them due to the continuous shop down time. Chrysler Engineering has been looking at the issue for over 2 years now. They run these engines so lean to attempt to pass emissions that they’re essentially always on the ragged edge of a tune from the factory. They’re not recommended by any dealer techs I know.
Thanks Alex, always interesting to see you reviews and comparisons. Lots of serious potential issues with that eco diesel. You warned us long ago in a vid to research before buying one and for good reason. I hope Ontario is treating you guys well , cheers
Ya you just have to know what you are getting yourselves into really. If you understand the need for the aftertreatment system to get nice and warm you should be okay.
the engine failures themselves are not that common but are still something to watch for lol
And it is nice to be back home in Ontario but we miss the Island and all its awesome scenery!
Thanks for the awesome review. I agree that diesels make sense only if you're driving a lot, towing heavy loads, or carrying large weights all day long. Many years ago I had a 92 F350 diesel with the 7.3L naturally aspirated diesel. It was great on fuel for a truck of that size but when things went on it, it was huge money to repair knocking out any fuel savings you would have earned and that was when diesel was considerably cheaper than gas. Today diesel is equal to and sometimes more expensive than gas. Add in the extra up cost front and more expensive maintenance and repair and it doesn't really make much sense to get a diesel economically. The motor may last longer than a gas but usually the rest of the truck falls apart before the diesel reaches its end. On a side note, have you worked much on the 3.6 Pentastar V6 that's in the Ram? It always seems to be the forgotten child in the Ram engine family. Are they any good?
No I don't have any experience on the 3.6 pentastar but it seems like they are going to be getting a lot more recognition in the near future when they stop making the 5.7 hemi and turbo charge the pentastar and offer it up instead of the hemi lol
Bud it sounds like you need to do a better job at taking care of your shit. Those 7.3 naturally aspirated diesels were the most reliable diesels Ford ever made. End of story. If it was breaking down on you all the time then something was not managed correctly. Same goes with the rest of the pickup of it's falling apart you weren't managing something correctly. Maintenance is on you bud not the manufacturer. And those pentastars are horrible horrible motors. Go for the hemi if ur making that choice. The extra cash for a well maintained hemi will be worth it over the pentastar v6
@@joedifranco6045 the hemi literally had the record with the demon. So yeah already happened, if anything chevy and ford are the ones behind.
@seanbutler2291 my buddy at work had a 7.3 diesel and it was a fucking monster. He gave 500 bucks for it. The whole truck was falling part but that drive train would not die. The bolts that hold the cab to the frame rusted out and we hit a big ditch at work and the sumbitch popped off 🤣
I have a 2016 Laramie. I put a Pedal Commander in it… Huge improvement with the lag.
I love the sound diesels make, don't take away our freedom sounds, also I have a lbz so I am just watching cause this sounds interesting, good job
LBZ's have a great sound.
@@TheGettyAdventures 4in straight pipe from the downpipe pipe no kitty and the pipe is a side dump infringed of rear tire and kida hidden away, love the sound it makes when going up hill while on the gas or the dmax whine when gunning it
Great review, good stuff! Overall, emissions restrictions are definitely giving "modern' diesels a bad rap. Thank you California Air Resource Board, lol. Being originally designed for marine use, I can see how the engine was not intended to have emissions equip other than maybe a basic catalytic converter. Also, thousands of folks who buy these light duty diesels for the fuel mileage have no idea they really need to be driven, hence the dpf & egr sooting issues. They're not grocery store & Home Depot runners. When Ram decided to put a diesel in its 1500's, I'm surprised they didn't go w/ the Mercedes Benz 3.0 V6, being an automotive engine & designed with emissions in mind. From what I gather, it's been very successful in Sprinters. I know it was an option in Grand Cherokees at the end of the Daimler era at Chrysler. Maybe Ram was contractually obligated to use a product that fell under the Fiat umbrella. That being said, seems strange they used a VM Motori engine in the Jeep Liberty CRD when Chrysler was still part of Diamler Group. I plan on getting a Tahoe/Suburban 3.0 Dirty-Max when the LZ0 is available for 2025 MY. Emissions seem reliable & good design in that the egr system pulls exhaust after the DPF, so less carbon buildup issues.
Had a 2017 Eco Diesel....HAD!!. 12K miles the piston ended up in the oil pan. Let go at 80mph on the interstate.
lol well I meant hopefully warranty covered you but still probably a loud surprise when that happened. one way to ruin your day
@@TheGettyAdventures yea warranty covered it but I showed my butt and told em I didnt want it back and to go ahead and put new motor in it and I was goin to trade it in on a Ford. They put me in a 18 2500 with Cummins for just a few $$ more. But not much more.
@@chucksharpe3537 I drive a 18 2500 diesel and love it, im sure you will to.
@@Matt85ism yes. I do love it...
I'm interested to buy a 2017 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel with 130K kilometers on it. But after I watched this video, I think this truck is not for me. Usually, I only drive 10 kms everyday.
I have a 2015 and tow 7500 pounds daily in town I have 80,000 miles on it and live in the High Desert the key is oil Temps keep them up and and delete the egr
Had a 2015 ecodiesel, had oil cooler leak issue that Jeep didn't want to fix. Put over $4k into it and still not right. Ended up trading in at end of lease. Other than that loved it!
My is from 2014 and really is fantastic no problem with the engine I love my truck
a lot of people are saying they love these engine and that's awesome! personally I think there are some flaws but no engine is perfect and if you like it then that's all that matters!
Throttle lag is caused mainly by the throttle map on these. Get the throttle map changed or one of the banks pedal monsters and you won't believe its the same engine.
Greatly appreciate this video. Now going to see your hemi information. This video told me because I live so close to work to avoid the diesel engine.
Thanks for the information, looking to pick up a 2014 eco diesel I drive one way 600 plus kilometers to work once every two weeks. Plus going through a lot of snow before would be really decent in my eyes.
If you drive pretty long distances you should be okay. I'd still be cautious I just don't think those engines are well built especially those first gen Eco diesels, they were known to have a lot of issues.
Nice review and warnings. I am about to look at one but ... My drive is typically 5 miles to WalMart or 13 miles one way to Sam's Club... though I hope to do some longer distance driving just for fun.
Great review of the history and the issue with the engine. Glad u didn't say anything about transmission. LOL!. I'm in my 2018 ecodiesel at 103K. Do you think reprogramming/re-tunning the engine to what it was like before emissions pressure came down on RAM would solve some of these catastrophic problems? What can one to prevent catastrophic issues? Maybe replace something like high pressure fuel pump with heavy dutyaftermarket , I don't know.... I d love to do all I can to take it to 300-400k. Thanks!
Hey man thanks for the video. I’m looking for a new tow vehicle and I’m stuck between the two engines you demonstrated. I live only four miles from work so that’s something to consider. I like that the hemi has a bit higher tow rating. Anyway thanks a lot.
Hemi all the way. the Eco diesels are trouble in the best situations. since you live so close to work I would almost say the Eco diesel isn't even an option for you. the fuel economy is tempting but the hemi is just a simpler engine with less things to go wrong.
My 6.7 powerstroke getting 21mpg highway,, tows 13000+, 900+ftlb torque.
It's a hybrid too, also runs on whale oil.
well a powerstroke is much better engine. actually meant to handle a load. I hate fords but I would drive a powerstroke over the Eco diesel every day of the week.
@@TheGettyAdventures great vid man. use to have a little diesel VW as well.
That thing got 40+mpg,,, and you couldn't even hear the engine on idle
Recommended Manufacturer oil change is at 10k, always change mine at 6k. Full delete at 40k and a 45 hp tune. Been nothing but good to me so far. Probably just jinxed it though 😂 31 mpg tx to mi round trip.
full delete will make a big difference. a lot easier to run any diesel without the aftertreatment system. easier on the engine and you avoid all the crap that comes with it
Awesomeness @
How does one get a full delete?
Man I want to buy this 2016 ecodiesel..I may be one of the lucky ones though, some go for years
@@ram43x80 hddiesel is who I got it through but there's others out there!
As a Chrysler tech I'd never own one of these. Every single one is a ticking time bomb. Between broken crankshafts at number 4 journal, injectors blowing in half, high pressure pumps blowing up and destroying the entire fuel system, constant egr failures, oil coolers leaking into the coolant, turbo failures, so on and so forth. They're just not made for longevity or hard use.
As a Chrysler te h, we both know you wouldn’t buy any Chrysler/Dodge vehicle. 🗑!