2005 Jeep Liberty Limited CRD 4x4 Diesel, GDE Eco & Hot Tune & New Transmission

2005 Jeep Liberty Limited CRD 4x4 (Diesel)

Good mileage in a 4x4 SUV? Where can you get a midsize 4 door SUV that includes Jeep's Trail rated full time and part time 4x4 off-road capabilities, and still get over 30mpg? You can find all that in this turn key example and well sorted 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD with all the known problem areas addressed in the last 15k miles including timing belt/water pump, lots of new parts listed below, good tires, and last but not least a new remanufactured transmission ($3k installed) with a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty (tied to the vin#) that was installed in Jan 2017. This Jeep is ready to go to take you on your next adventure. These jeeps are very popular automatic towed vehicle that can be flat towed with the 4x4 transfer case in N and that was our plan before we bought a large Diesel truck & 5th wheel toy hauler, however it currently does not have any of the flat towing accessories needed. It is a great example of one to start with though.

Vehicle Condition and options:
The Jeep paint is still very shiny as you can see below and overall still looks very nice for a 2005 Jeep. This is the limited model which model includes the color matched fenders, chrome grill, power windows, leather power seats with heat, power door locks, keyless entry key fob, EVIAC computer with mpg, temp, compass, TPMS warnings, and various other settings you can change via the computer. There are no dents or major damage on the Jeep, but there are some minor blemishes on the kick panels behind the tires from road grime to be expected of a vehicle of this age/mileage. The clear coat on all the Aluminum wheels is peeling and there is some very minor surface rust on the passenger door boot kick plate area. The driver's seat has a rip in it just from being used the most. I've tried to show all this below in the pics.

Driving a small Diesel Liberty
The Diesel motor in this Liberty is a blast and it's amazing to feel the low end grunt and power of that Diesel motor and still get great mileage on the highway. I average between 26-30 mpg on the highway and have seen into the high 30's on a long trip. Even towing two motorcycles on my open trailer, I still was in the low 20's. The only time I dropped below 20 was playing off road in 4wd. It's a versatile do it all SUV that can take you to your favorite trail head or tow your toys behind it with ease. The smaller foot print of this SUV and very sharp turning radius make it a breeze to park in a crowded parking lot or navigate to your favorite trail

Do your homework - Timing belts:
As you are sure to research the Jeep Liberty CRD and look at other ones, you'll certainly find that there are lower mileage and cheaper CRD's out there, but do your homework on what has been done to it and what it might need. This one has had thousands of dollars spent correcting the known problem areas that are eventually sure to fail and on top of that just had a new remanufactured transmission with 3 year warranty installed. You have nothing to worry about with this one as all the mechanical stuff has been addressed. On any CRD you look at, ask about the the timing belt as it is a must do item every 100k and even if it isn't due by mileage, after 7-10 years you are playing a catastrophic gamble with the motor if it breaks. By now all the CRD's should have had at least one timing belt change, maybe two just on age alone. That super low mileage 100k mile CRD Liberty may not be the deal it appears to be once you get done doing an expensive timing belt job and related components and updating all the problem areas that are known to be the weak links. I've addressed more of that in detail below

Fly in and drive it home
I have clean title in my hand. If you want to fly in to drive this home, I'll be happy to pick you up from the ATL airport and I'll even put a full tank of fuel in it for you.

Brief history on the CRD motor and optional tuning:
The Jeep Liberty CRD is very unique version of the Liberty that was only made for 2 years from 05-06 and had a very fuel efficient 2.8L 4 cylinder Diesel engine that in stock form put out 160hp/295 ft*lbs of torque. Jeep would later issue a recall and derate the engines to 260 ft*lbs due to an under spec'd torque converter from the factory that had shudder issues under full torque in lockup. Very few jeeps avoided this derating over the years. In later years, a company called Green Diesel Engineering spent hundreds of hours testing and developing an Eco & Hot tune for the KJ Diesel Liberty's that gave them better HP & Torque numbers compared to stock with much better fuel parameters and performance. They gave you full torque unlocked, but included limiting the the torque in full lock-up to protect the stock torque converters. The Eco tune is good for 188hp/335 ft*lbs of torque (270 ft*lbs in lockup) and also increases the fuel mileage from 4-5mpg over stock. The Hot tune bumps it up even further to 200hp/364 ft*lbs of torque (a full 100+ ft*lbs more than over stock). There were many options for stronger torque converters, but the Dodge Ram Hemi was rated up over 420 ft*lbs and works great with the Jeep with a lower stall speed and easily handles the additional torque of the Eco & Hot tunes. The GDE tunes most importantly removed the engine killing EGR that forced the engine soot back through the engine and caused numerous other issues, some taking years to show up. With the tune the engines run so much cleaner and happier, not to mention get way better mileage and have so much more power.

Jeep CRD transmission & 4x4 capabilities:
The Jeep Liberty CRD's all came with a 5 speed automatic 545RFE transmission (same one found in the Hemi Dodge Ram) that has 2 overdrive gears. 3rd is the 1 to 1 ratio with 4th & 5th as over drive gears. This helps keep the Diesel motors in it's torquey powerband as you cruise down the highway and get that awesome mileage. You can lockout O/D with a button on the shifter if you need to maintain 3rd gear for towing or other reasons. All CRD's also came in 4wd and the 4x4 transfer case features 2wd, 4wd part time, 4wd full time, N, & 4wd low. You can shift on the fly from 2wd to either of the 4wd high modes. 4wd part time keeps the front and rear drive shafts locked for snow, mud, or ice when traction is minimal and the most traction is needed. 4wd full time acts more like AWD which unlocks the front/rear drive shafts so the front axles can turn out of sync with the rear and this allows you to use 4wd when you want the extra traction, but might still encounter pavement with more traction as it protects your drive line components. 4wd low has a deep gear reduction to give you that extremely low end torque you want in extreme off-road terrain. The N position totally decouples the transmission and driveline and allows the Jeep to be flat towed behind an RV or motorhome.

Problem areas and online knowledge:
The great thing about rare vehicles like this is they usually develop quite an online following where there ends up being a lot of knowledge shared between everyone leading to a great resource of knowledge and the Liberty sure has that following. Although these Diesel engines have been well used all over Europe for years in taxis and other cars and have proven to be very reliable engines, there were some new issues that developed over time due some of the components used on the US versions. It took some years for these issues to come out and be addressed on the forums and by the aftermarket, but the good thing is since these motors have been around for so long, they have all been addressed now and once addressed, you have a very reliable motor. Most of this was down stream effect from the extra EGR emissions components that played havoc on the motor as mentioned above along with a few other trouble areas like ceramic glow plugs that can break and destroy your engine, head studs that stretch and allow the head gasket to leak, broken/worn valves suspected from the EGR soot which then break the rocker arms, worn cams from the aggressive soot in the motor and of course just the normal waterpump/timing belt maintenance every 100k miles.

My search for a CRD:
I've wanted a CRD Jeep since they first came out although it wouldn't be until years later I decided to pursue one. I searched for months trying to find a Liberty CRD that had had all these trouble areas addressed so it would give many years of trouble free performance. You may find what you think is a real gem of a low mileage liberty, but most times, it's yet to experience the failures that are sure to come if they are not addressed properly. This Jeep liberty had everything I was looking for addressed prior to my purchase and then I had the new transmission put in all in anticipation that I would be keeping this for many years towing behind our RV as we went to a full time RV life. However in the last month we ended up changing our mind about buying a motorhome and instead ended up purchasing a 5th wheel toy hauler and large Diesel truck to pull it. I hate to see the beloved Jeep go, but we don't have a place for it anymore. I know I would be hard pressed to find one as well sorted as this one in the future, but someone else can go on to enjoy such a unique vehicle.

All the parts below were replaced in the last 2 years and 15k miles; I have receipts for most of these parts

Jeep Liberty CRD specific items and problem areas addressed:

• New HDS Model 001 thermostat (Designed by a forum member and keeps the jeep at the proper operating temperature plus makes the thermostat easily replaceable)

• New metal glow plugs (Eliminates the ceramic ones that break off)

• Remanufactured cylinder head (Still have the original)

• New cams

• New rocker arms

• New rear main seal

• EGR/FCV deleted

• ARP head studs

• New head gasket

• GDE ECO tune & HOT tune including the tool to flash it and read & clear codes

• Eliminates EGR problems too

• PML deep sump transmission pan with easy to access drain bolt

• Dodge Ram torque converter

• New Remanufactured 545rfe Transmission with 3yr unlimited mileage warranty (Installed Jan 2017)

Normal wear items & maintenance:

• All fluids changed

• New timing belt and idlers/tensioners

• New water pump

• New battery

• New starter

• New brakes front brakes and rotors

• New rear drum shoes and parking brake

• New front wheel bearings

• New front suspension bushings/ball joints/tie-rod ends

• New turbo inlet hose

• New turbo-to-intercooler hose

• New Fuel Water Separator

• New Fan Clutch

• New Goodyear tires installed at 152k (All 5 with all new TPMS sensors

• Flowmaster DBX muffler

• Updated MOPAR fuel head with new filter

• 2 new BOSCH fuel injectors

• Rear glass lift supports

Entertainment and appearance:

• New double din touchscreen bluetooth radio with DVD/CD player

• Includes bluetooth streaming capabilities and hands free calling

• New underseat subwoofer with controller

• New Speakers

• Tinted window deflectors on all 4 windows and front hood

• Jeep was just fully professionally cleaned, waxed, and detailed

• Have spare front grill

• Have both front inner fender pieces

• Box full of mics parts

• Class 3 tow hitch with towing package