myred911 Posted 16February, 2014 Report Share Posted 16February, 2014 After 7 years and 152,000 kms I have changed my daily driver. Gone is my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 3 litre/6 cylinder petrol engine. About to arrive is a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2.7 litre diesel engine - yes an "oiler" The AMC 6-cylinder is is a dinosaur in terms of technology. Fuel consumption ranged from 16.5l/100km (17mpg) to 12.7l/100km (22mpg) so tanks fills were often an eye-watering experience, especially if you were out of the major cities. Reliability was 100%, brakes were good to adequate even with discs all around, HVAC - great in all climes and the A/C has never been re-gassed and still works well. Great visibility to boot. I had an on-going issue with the immobiliser until I figured out to remove/then replace a 50amp fuse. That fixed the problem until next time. Bit like a CTRL-ALT-DEL really. The Jeep forums had all sorts of fixes, mostly involving rewiring that part of the circuit. I was never game to do that, just lived with the problem. It drove like a big bucket of custard and was scary if I tried Porschy-type manoeuvres. My guess the new DD will be much the same. My how the market has changed for these relics! No-one wants them except kids who can't afford to run them or least of all fix them. The trade-in was pathetic but hopefully someone will see its good points. That said, I am sure that my passengers and I were considerably safer in the Jeep than in a small super-econo buzz box with no visibility and paper thin protection. The new truck is essentially the same model, this time with a Mercedes 2.7litre 5-cylinder turbo diesel. It gives me a significant increase in torque (towing) and much better fuel economy. Bigger brakes and some better cabin creature comforts as well. Am looking forward to collecting her next week. Cheers rEd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-p Posted 16February, 2014 Report Share Posted 16February, 2014 Sounds good Andrew. I have become a diesel convert over the last 6 years since I got my TDI Passat and now Mazda 6 GT. You will certainly notice a difference in your fuel spend that's for sure.... C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvs11 Posted 16February, 2014 Report Share Posted 16February, 2014 After 7 years and 152,000 kms I have changed my daily driver. Gone is my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 3 litre/6 cylinder petrol engine. About to arrive is a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2.7 litre diesel engine - yes an "oiler" The AMC 6-cylinder is is a dinosaur in terms of technology. Fuel consumption ranged from 16.5l/100km (17mpg) to 12.7l/100km (22mpg) so tanks fills were often an eye-watering experience, especially if you were out of the major cities. Reliability was 100%, brakes were good to adequate even with discs all around, HVAC - great in all climes and the A/C has never been re-gassed and still works well. Great visibility to boot. I had an on-going issue with the immobiliser until I figured out to remove/then replace a 50amp fuse. That fixed the problem until next time. Bit like a CTRL-ALT-DEL really. The Jeep forums had all sorts of fixes, mostly involving rewiring that part of the circuit. I was never game to do that, just lived with the problem. It drove like a big bucket of custard and was scary if I tried Porschy-type manoeuvres. My guess the new DD will be much the same. My how the market has changed for these relics! No-one wants them except kids who can't afford to run them or least of all fix them. The trade-in was pathetic but hopefully someone will see its good points. That said, I am sure that my passengers and I were considerably safer in the Jeep than in a small super-econo buzz box with no visibility and paper thin protection. The new truck is essentially the same model, this time with a Mercedes 2.7litre 5-cylinder turbo diesel. It gives me a significant increase in torque (towing) and much better fuel economy. Bigger brakes and some better cabin creature comforts as well. Am looking forward to collecting her next week. Cheers rEd Is that the same engine as the Ssangyong Stavic? A mate has one to haul his 5 kids around. He put an aftermarket chip in which improved it hugely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 16February, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 16February, 2014 Hi Harvs & Chris, Thanks for your replies. It is the "OM647" engine which is used in other vehicles (including the ML series, the Sprinter van and Ssangyong as well) I have read good reports about the engine hence the decision to go with it. It seems that Chrysler now insert the Fiat V6 diesel in the vehicles, that figures since Chrysler is now owned by Fiat. She will get her work out this weekend on a trip to Sydney. The big test however will be towing the S2 to Bathurst at Easter. I was lucky to secure a slot. Any details on that chip Harvs?? Cheers rEd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvs11 Posted 16February, 2014 Report Share Posted 16February, 2014 Here ya go. http://www.dpchip.com/home/ He's had it a few years now. The Stavic with seven up plus gear holds it's own on the highway and has plenty from go with out the usual lag. The price has gone up since. Easy to fit with clear instructions. The benefit of this setup is it's adjustable to suit your requirements or driving style. You just turn a dial in the control box with a screw driver and away you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleazius Posted 16February, 2014 Report Share Posted 16February, 2014 Grats on the new DD. My daily drives have been diesel for 18years. They started out very truck like, but have progressed now to the point that you don't much notice the difference between a diesel and a petrol, especially in the german marques. Its hard to go back to a Petrol now. My wifes ML gets 9.5L / 100 (real world, and she drives with her foot flat like most women) in a barge that weighs 2300kg. My old pug 306 would do 1600km on a 60L tank on a highway run. Who needs a prius? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 17February, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 17February, 2014 Grats on the new DD. My daily drives have been diesel for 18years. They started out very truck like, but have progressed now to the point that you don't much notice the difference between a diesel and a petrol, especially in the german marques. Its hard to go back to a Petrol now. My wifes ML gets 9.5L / 100 (real world, and she drives with her foot flat like most women) in a barge that weighs 2300kg. My old pug 306 would do 1600km on a 60L tank on a highway run. Who needs a prius? Hey slez.... I agree about using petrol. The Europeans have been doing diesel cars for years. ahh - all that money I spent on petrol cars over the years. I had a series of cars & utes on LPG and was always happy with the economy/cost but at the expense of performance. At that time the cars were mainly used for commuting and long distance trips. "She" could live with the odd slow trip towing a horse float. At that time I was working for Mobil and they gave a generous a 25% discount on staff fuel purchases. Travel costs then were really inconsequential to the family budget back then. Before I bought this diesel Jeep I considered the Cherokee Overland with that great big 4.7l V8 & an LPG conversion (a friend has one). Trouble was that the they are very hard to find already converted. The downside to the LPG conversion is that you lose travel distance because of the limited space for the bulky LPG tank plus a much smaller petrol tank. I am told that the current IMPCO gas injection system is a cracker. The other factor that steered me away from an LPG car is that the price of LPG is rising out of proportion to the cost of ULP. In other words LPG motorists are being stitched up. 400Nm of torque is hard to pass up. Cheers rEd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 17February, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 17February, 2014 Here ya go. http://www.dpchip.com/home/ He's had it a few years now. The Stavic with seven up plus gear holds it's own on the highway and has plenty from go with out the usual lag. The price has gone up since. Easy to fit with clear instructions. The benefit of this setup is it's adjustable to suit your requirements or driving style. You just turn a dial in the control box with a screw driver and away you go. Hi harvs, Thanks for that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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