Droving with the 2.7

[drover]

Just got back from a 3000k sojourn to SW NSW mostly on the tar and with the camper on back, other than damn rain and cold great trip, the 2.7 usually returns 9lt/100k but went to 11lt/100k with the camper behind and a $1.10 on the dial going down the Newell, was tempted to cut her back but........naw. That extra 10kph sure makes a difference.

Stopped at MB Spares in Fyshwick ACT to resupply with filters and was pleasantly surprised to pick up some PROPER Tranny oil for about $16/lt, now that really made the trip worthwhile, saved heaps, a Tranny service has now gone from about $200 to under $150 for me. Local Tranny shop wants $350.

Also a Tregg hitch for the camper makes a difference even on tar and normal dirt roads. Now back to work....crap.

[Kiwi WJ]

Originally Posted by drover

Just got back from a 3000k sojourn to SW NSW mostly on the tar and with the camper on back, other than damn rain and cold great trip, the 2.7 usually returns 9lt/100k but went to 11lt/100k with the camper behind and a $1.10 on the dial going down the Newell, was tempted to cut her back but........naw. That extra 10kph sure makes a difference.

Stopped at MB Spares in Fyshwick ACT to resupply with filters and was pleasantly surprised to pick up some PROPER Tranny oil for about $16/lt, now that really made the trip worthwhile, saved heaps, a Tranny service has now gone from about $200 to under $150 for me. Local Tranny shop wants $350.

Also a Tregg hitch for the camper makes a difference even on tar and normal dirt roads. Now back to work....crap.

Drover, how many kms have you got on your 2.7? Any issues with this compared to the V8 models?

[drover]

She's got 150,000 odd Ks up on her, the only issue I have is the fuel filter is in a shit position to get at and lousy cup holders. Mine is a Laredo and it hasn't missed a beat in the 100,000K's I've had her. I do my own maintenance and service her more regularly than the schedule but it does live in the country and doesn't do any stop start city driving.
As for the V8's, talking to others that do their own maint no great dramas other than better economy with the 2.7, I would like to have the V8 myself but we do a lot of K's per year so CRD was the way to go, they do have some grunt just not the sweet sound. Sorta like a tractor on steroids.
Overall no more probs than any other vehicle, just depends who works on them seems to be the problem.

[Kiwi WJ]

I know stuff all about diesels, Im looking at one tomorrow (2003 with 200,000kms) Is there anything I should look for? Im good mechanically and do all my oil, spark plugs and gaskets on the V8.

With high kms, wha are the common things to look for? (the only ones that come up for sale here are high mileage ones, currently we have 2 CRD WJ's as opposed to 30 4.7's and 15 4.0's so Im stuffed for choice)

[drover]

At those K's, hoses, auto, diffs and shafts, the normal checks, engine wise under the eng cover to see the injectors, no oil in coolant, when its running it should sound like a tractor but only with quiet diesel knock/rattle. Turbo will probably give a howl when you put the boot in, thats not a problem. Check codes.

[bodgie]

I'd suggest you read the DTC's by doing the following:

Retrieving codes:

Turn the ignition key until the digital odometer displays, repeat three times in succession and then back to "On" (On/Off, On/Off, On/Off, On). At the fourth "On" the odometer will be replaced with codes. If no codes are present then "Done" will appear.

Make sure you've got a piece of paper handy to write them down as there may be a few. You can have a look at what they are here as a rough guide:

http://www.wjjeeps.com/faultcodes.htm

I'd suggest you post them here too as they can indicate a number of issues.

Also when you rev the engine in neutral and it takes a while to return to normal idle speed this can be indicative of a number of problems. On mine I had a bad injector which was the primary culprit.