http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2013/02/its-official-ram-1500-to-get-v6-ecodiesel.html

I would be super excited, if I had an extra 45k to spend...as it is, I'm mildly curious, and insanely jealous, of whoever can afford one when it comes out! (45k isn't any actual pricing, just what I'm going to assume a brand new one will cost...)

Impressed but not... It would be nice to see Dodge have a 1500 Ram but that little V6 engine looks like another Ford or Chevy engine. Looks to be a big pain in the rear to work on.Cast iron block and aluminium heads! Can you hear blown head gaskets? :rolleyes:15.5:1 Compression Ratio? That's the lowest one I've heard of. I guess winter cold would really play hell on that little engine if the glow plugs aren't working.

Ok, so I take back everything I just said earlier...I had seen a different article, that didn't list the same information as this article does...All I had to see was the manufacturer of the diesel is VM...that being said, RUN!:ahhh:Same manufacturers of the 2.8 CRD in the Jeep Libertys. HORRIBLE MECHANICAL DESIGN. If I had to do it all over again, I never would have bought a Liberty CRD, and I never will again. Sure, it gets decent mileage, but as far as reliability? NOPE! So, I recant my previous statement. And plan on buying another 03-04 Cummins again, when I have the money...MAYBE, if I can find one right, I may look into an 08 with the 6 spd manual, but other than that, I'm sticking with what I got.

I could very well be wrong but it seems to me like its nowhere near enough engine for a full size truck. If you look at Ram and Ford they both increased engine displacement so they could detune the engines to conform with the emissions standards. At less than half the engine displacement, it seems as though that little engine is going to be taxed pretty hard, especially with an 8k pound trailer behind it. It will be interesting to see some real world mpg's when they come out. I think it is a step in the right direction however, even if they have to go through some growing pains in the first few years.

cheaper to drop a turbo 4bt into a 1500. but nice to see it took years for dodge to put a diesel in the half ton.:banghead:

All I had to see was the manufacturer of the diesel is VM...that being said, RUN! Same manufacturers of the 2.8 CRD in the Jeep Libertys. HORRIBLE MECHANICAL DESIGN. If I had to do it all over again, I never would have bought a Liberty CRD, and I never will again. Sure, it gets decent mileage, but as far as reliability? NOPE!

You are the first I have seen to post anything bad about the CRD liberty engine. What was your experience with this engine manufacturer to leave such a bad taste in your craw?

I dont know if I will ever own a new vehicle, so looking at potential maintenance issues is a big concern when Im considering a vehicle. As technologically advanced as that engine seems, probably breaks the deal for me. The average do it your selfer is going to be stranded and clueless when that thing starts acting up. And chain driven camshafts on a diesel engine? Hmmm, thats going to be an interesting repair.

cheaper to drop a turbo 4bt into a 1500..:banghead:

This ^^^ - heck yeah

You are the first I have seen to post anything bad about the CRD liberty engine. What was your experience with this engine manufacturer to leave such a bad taste in your craw?

I had posted up my experiences over on ITD, but there are a dozen issues with the liberty off hand. (I still own it too...) While it does get decent economy, for a small turbo diesel engine with a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a refrigerator, the design of the motor leaves much too be desired. The factory designed the crankcase vent to go directly back into the intake tube, which in turns coats the turbo, and leaves an oily film on the inside of the CAC hoses and intercooler. This film rots out the stock hoses, causing boost leaks. I've upgraded mine, at the tune of $200 some dollars for two hoses. Following the same issue, that oil then enters the intake horn, which meets up with then soot off the egr. This then fills the intake horn up. About a 4 square inch diameter horn, and when I pulled mine off, I had about a 1 inch circle in the middle of it that was clear...the rest was completely plugged by an oily soot mess. Took me an hour of scraping to clean it mostly out, and couldn't hardly get any of the soot that was in the intake manifold, so I know theres still stuff in there. The timing belt HAS to be done every 100k miles, else you run then risk of throwing the belt, taking out then dual cams and everything else involved. This is not a cheap job. iIRC, all the parts alone ran me about 600, as you need to replace not only the belt, but the pulleys, tensioner, and may as well do the water pump while you're in there....you have to literally pull the entire front end apart to get to everything. This job also requires special tools to do, so I spent at least another $400 in tools. I could have rented them far cheaper, but if I have to do this again, they'll pay for themselves. Got the timing belt done, and then ran into fuel delivery issues...I already had the "upgraded" 2nd gen fuel filter head, but it was still leaking air. I replaced the factory fuel lines coming off the tank (designed for a gas vehicle, so not airtight) and that still didn't help. Then only thing I was able to do to fix my issue was to add an airtex pump off the tank, to push a steady stream of fuel to the filter head, to mechanically force purge the air from the lines. Despite this, I still have an issue with trying to do a hot start....if I shut it off, I have to wait at least 5 minutes before I can even attempt to start it again...it will not run at all otherwise. I rerouted the CCV hose with a mod, venting to the atmosphere, instead of banking up my intake, but found another side effect of that...you have to check the oil constantly...in the ,matter of two months, I had burned off all the oil in the jeep, destroying my turbo...$1200 later, I had a new one. Several design flaws are that the turbo drain line feeds the crankcase with oil...so I may or may not have caused any damage to the crank, but so far so good. Also, due to the fact that VM had designed an ecu running ISO 9141 (IIRC), and Chrysler had developed their PCM running the same, in order to make the vehicle run at all, they designed the system to shut off one of the computers after the engine started running. I don't know which one, but what this does is cancel any possibility of getting any OBDII scanner or engine monitoring tool to work while driving...ie, scan gauge, edge, bully dog, as after about 20 minutes, there will be no signals to read, and the monitor will think the engine is off. I was able to force the scangauge to pull codes, which was a relief...it wasn't a complete waste of $100, as my other scanner, and none of the auto zone scanners will work on the CRD. The rockers are a known weak spot on the motor, usually recommended to replace every 100k...but I don't have the money to do it...about $1200-1600 for a complete set. In order to keep the egr from plugging up my system, right now I've got the MAF unplugged, which deactivates the egr- and also throws a cel. Don't care about the cel, and there is a company that designed an aftermarket fix for it, its just expensive...about $800 or so. The thermostat on these is just about guaranteed to be broken when you get the,. And instead of a standard, replace the thermostat, its an entire sealed assembly on the side of the motor. I don't remember how much it costs, but you have to take the entire front end apart to remove it. What most do, and what I did, was use a Standt inline tstat to replace my factory broken one...$12 shipped. I'm sure I missed a few things, but I'm trying to fight my tablet as far as typing goes....grr!

Well the timing belt is common on many smaller diesels, Every thing related to the egr is common with almost every diesel now, Heck even on my 03 VW TDI one has to pull the intake manifold off every 100+K or so to clean the carbon buildup out of it. Timing belt job on it includes all the same and just ran me $1000 for the VW dealer to do it a few months ago for its 200k mile swap. Egr isn't a design flaw it is a government regulation flaw that nobody has designed a good system to work around yet. As you stated there are ways around the egr system but that brings other issues even on VW's.As far as fuel system Well goes to prove it is a Chrysler design. Never heard of any engine having rocker shaft issues.

This ^^^ - heck yeah

about a year ago, I was going to write a check for a ISB 175/ allison combo to put down in my '97 1500.. then a little mishap with the '97 put the skids on that! had found a shop in Utah that found a way to reflash the cummins ecu to just about any level I wanted.. 250-300 hp was my target.. They asked me "why so LOW'?? Geez, all the bugs are worked out of the design, the Cummins name is already self aligning with durability.. I can only wonder: why not? Public perception of "just a 4 cylinder".. Maybe chrysler is tired of these engines that 'just wont die'.. and slows down repeat customers to the showroom.. and hate sending Cummins a check every month... After all, the most expensive part of a vehicle is the driveline.. and when someone else gets paid for it... profits go down. I'd think as a 'gofer' type vechicle with occasional medium pulling.. the 4bt/isb is a nice match for a half ton.

I'd think as a 'gofer' type vechicle with occasional medium pulling.. the 4bt/isb is a nice match for a half ton.

They are and have been used in a lot of 1 ton and 1 1/4 ton delivery vans since the 80's and are still used in them today and have plenty of power. Fedex and UPS use tons of the 4bt engines in their van delivery trucks to this day as well.

I will stick with my 04' Cummins, common rail, that I can work on.l

They are and have been used in a lot of 1 ton and 1 1/4 ton delivery vans since the 80's and are still used in them today and have plenty of power. Fedex and UPS use tons of the 4bt engines in their van delivery trucks to this day as well.

Thats true! (lots of them).. until it's time to find one! I swear there is a whole 'community' (4btswaps.com) that make em pretty darn scarce.. Seems like east coast is easier to find them.. probably from the slug of box trucks there. Around here, FedEx trucks are owned by private guys.. and once in awhile you might see one getting parted out. UPS trucks (i am told) are crushed. They don't want them used in possible T&rrorisT plots using brown santa sleds. geez.

Yeah the 4bs are a hard find, there is a huge Bus dealership in Bismarck and they always have old school buses for sale and dirt cheap, I see a lot of fords and bluebirds and others with 6 bt/allison combo powered buses for sale for 2500-3500 bucks, I have always wanted to pick one up but don't have any projects I want to start when I see the deals. Here is one such deal for sale right now. http://www.harlowsbussales.com/inventory/details/?s=2904