Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Mon 12 Jun 2006 11:47
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Spanner
A mate of mine owns a 2001 Chrysler Grand Cherokee 3.1 turbo-diesel with full service history.

Recently it lost coolant and overheated whilst driving in town.
He could see coolant pouring out from under the engine.

A few days before this happened, he mentioned that a small amber coolant level light illuminated but when the coolant level was checked (when cold) the level was correct.

Anyone out there know if these engines are known for lunching headgaskets or are they known for jammed thermostats as without seeing it, I am assuming a thermostat has failed in the closed position?
Are the core plugs easy to get to?

Where does this inline 5 cyl engine originate as I believe it's an OHV design?

Many thanks,

Andrew
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 11:55
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - madf
iirc it's a VM diesel.

If so heads warp. Sound like the symptons above.
madf
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 12:44
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Aprilia
The Chrysler things are junk. Heads crack and warp somewhere between 50-90k miles. Its a lot worse than head gaskets. Looking at £1000-2000 to fix it, depending on who does the job.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 12:51
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Spanner
Is this engine a VM unit then?

I was aware that the old Cherokee turbo diesel was a VM engine but not sure about the 3.1 5 cyl unit.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 12:58
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Aprilia
VM have a hand in all Chrysler Diesels apart from the Merc-supplied ones used in some recent models. If its got a gear driven cam then its VM. I'm 99.9% sure that you'll find this is the case.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 13:02
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Spanner
Many thanks Aprilia, I believe this engine does have a gear driven cam.
Head gasket failure won't please my mate as he still has head gasket problems on his other car- a Freelander 2.5 V6 petrol.



Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 14:53
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Screwloose
as he still has
head gasket problems on his other car- a Freelander 2.5 V6
petrol.


Of course he still has HG problems! If they're not actually gone; they're certainly going!

So your mate; presumably when of sound mind; chose a Grand Cherokee [the world's worst handling car] and a V6 Freeloader [the world's least reliable car!]

Oh dear... Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear....
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 15:12
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Spanner
I totally agree. I once had a test drive of a Cherokee with the 4 litre straight 6 iron blocked lump and in a straight line it went well but due to the live axles front and rear plus leaf springs handled like the Albert Memorial when I wanted to do something as mundane as drive round a bend.
The steering wheel felt like it was connected to the front wheels via a town planning committee!
Plus it made a Range Rover look economical in comparison.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 16:17
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Aprilia
One of life's mysteries (to me) is how Chrysler ever managed to make inroads into the European market when we have much better products already here (from both Euro and Japanese manufacturers). Chryslers are poor designed cars with shoddy build quality and high running costs (check out parts costs and availability at your local dealer!). In fact this is the reason that they ended up in the hands of DaimlerBenz (now DaimlerChrysler, of course). Hopefully things will gradually improve - in the meantime keep away from Chrysler products, especially their Diesels
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Jun 2006 16:33
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD - Spanner
Thanks Aprilia, I will break the bad news to my mate. I bet his garage bill will look like a phone number!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link