Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that Daimler initially "dumped" only 80.1% of its interest in Chrysler.

well than maybe the 20% Mercedes still owns is actually the only thing keeping Chrysler afloat for the moment. Eventually, they'll back the rest of the way out and whom ever is still at Chrysler will be stuck holding the bag. That would be cool.

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That train has already departed the station. But it was Daimler who was left holding the bag. And the bag was empty.

I doubt that they were impressed with build quality. I have a 2000 diesel ram. The dash cracked (multiple threads on the forums), the fuel system is incredibly weak, the front suspension antiquated & weak, steering box & related loose and weak. The truck takes $2000 in aftermarket parts to bring it to where it should have been off the production line. Once fixed, it is great - Dodge put a 500,000 mile motor in a 50,000 mile truck and deserves to go out of business.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Good thing that never happens to a Mercedes!!!

Hasn't happened to my '88 Cherokee, either.

Ha Ha! This is so much fun. I just love tearing up Chrysler. We need a rip up Chrysler, and a Rip up GM thread....Perhaps even sticky's. As I've mentioned, I personally love the old school Chryslers, and GM products, but nearly everything either one of them has produced for about the past 20 years has been total Crapola, and the only thing Ford ever really knew how to make was trucks. I feel that Ford trucks are very difficult for the others to compete with, save for that, they haven't been any better than GM, or Chrysler.

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Yeah, well. Incase a lot of people haven't noticed, there's a reason they call them Dodge....It's their way of saying "Stay out of our piece of crap", while still sounding confident in their product at the same time....Imagine that, all that fits into one single word.."Dodge" Ha Ha!

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Well, FWIW, I have 3 Jeep Cherokees and one Grand Cherokee, plus I just "retired" another Jeep Cherokee. The one that I just put out to pasture had 220k on it and never had anything more major than a head gasket replaced - without even a valve job - and a rear main seal replaced.

When I gutted it the engine still made 30 psi oil pressure at idle and nearly 50 psi at freeway speed. It never failed to start one single time in all the years that I owned it. It had finally gotten to the point of using a quart of oil between changes though. The tranny had never been touched. Nothing more than normal maintenance stuff was ever done to any of the other drivetrain components.

The only reason I retired it was that the body had been so badly beaten up 4-wheeling in the woods around here. All 4 doors had been caved in and pounded back out so many times that none of them sealed water-tight to the body any more. Rear quarter panels and front fenders - same story - caved in and beat back out several times. The coupe de gras was that a hole rusted through the rear passenger floorboard right above the muffler - due to the original heat shield being lost with the original muffler.

They are easy to work on IMO. Maybe not up under the dash, but then what is? Here's a tidbit for you. It was the FIRST vehicle completely designed and crash test modeled on a computer before the first physical prototype was ever built. At the time AMC was owned by Renault and the design and test work was all done on Renault's Cray supercomputer (one of only half a dozen in the world in 1983). It's uni-frame (monocoque) design was recognized as one of the most structurally rigid ever built at the time and became the pattern that all other SUV makers copied.

They have their quirks too, but they are a very solid, durable vehicle. One of mine is in the midst of a conversion. I've wanted a diesel Cherokee for years, but the puny little 2.1 liter Renault always turned me off. The only place in the states to get engine parts for them is a select handful of Winnebago dealers (the same engine went into some of their early 80's "mini winnie" motorhomes). So, I decided to do something different. I thought about the OM617, but wanted an automatic tranny and 4WD. The issues with trying to mate the OM617 to another auto compatible with a transfer case, or using the MB tranny and a divorced transfer case seemed pretty tough to overcome. So I found an alternative.

In 82-85 Oldsmobile produced a 4.3 liter V6 diesel that went in to about 5% of GM's FWD Cutlass Ciereas, 98s, Pontiac 6000s, and Buick LeSabers. Most all of the gaskets and rebuild parts are still available, and I have 3 complete engines, so I have LOTS of spare hard parts. This motor also has a bellhousing compatible with the trannies for the 2.8L-3.4L gas engines. So I picked up a 700R4 4-speed auto and transfer case out of an 85 Blazer, and had a custom torque converter made to marry them up. I have a T3/T4 turbo with a .63 AR hot side and a .60 AR/55 trim cold side that maps out perfectly to give it about 7-8 psi boost and bump the HP up to make it a bit peppier.

I'm just getting started on the transplant now. I've got just over a grand into the project, and don't expect to have to spend more than another $500 or so to complete it. I expect to get 35+ mpg and it will definitely have more oomph than the little 2.1 Renault ever could have...

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

I bought my '98 4.0 Cherokee with 28K on it and put 80K on it before I sold it.

The following things went wrong with it:

1) I had to take off the neutral safety switch, clean it, re-lube it and reinstall because my reverse lights weren't coming on when I put it in reverse.

2) The O2 sensors went bad and I bought two bad Bosch O2 sensors. I eventually had to take it to the stealer who told me that it's not uncommon for the Bosch sensors to be bad out of the box or fail shortly thereafter.

3) In the process I ruined my catalytic converter with multiple, powerful backfires so I replaced it with a high flow cat.

That's it.

It was a Sport 2WD model and I replaced shocks and installed a 2" lift kit because the rear springs started to sag(very common).

I still regret selling that thing.

Chrysler may have issues elsewhere but it wasn't with the Cherokee.

That transmission made the '95 C280 I bought afterward seem like an early KIA when it shifted in comparison.

It had the best air conditioner I have EVER owned or even been in. That thing would freeze you out in 100F/90% humidity days.

I was always having to clear the condensation off my glasses when I got out on a hot, humid day.

I understand that a/c was always a strong point with Chrysler but this is the only Chrysler I've ever owned.

I could take that 2WD off-road , I never got stuck in mud or anything else for that matter and I could climb some serious inclines without missing a beat.

I only sold it because when gas got to $1.70 a gallon I couldn't justify keeping it as my company car that I used to drive about 25K miles a year. It was cutting into my "profit" from the mileage reimbursement.

I bought the C280 to replace it and that thing was a mistake. Gas mileage was roughly the same and I had very little confidence in it in a very short time. I did make about $1,00 when I sold it two months later though...

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.

+1 more XJ cherokees were great vehicles...DEAD easy to work on, both under the hood and dash regardless of what others may say. Compared to most other vehicles they're a walk in the park. They are also INCREDIBLY cheap to keep running, made from 84-01 with loads of aftermarket and interchangable parts

Junkman, what in the world do you mean that dodge the front suspension is antiquated? That's a linked coil front with a D60 if memory serves. Yeah, the dodge wrapper kinda sucks but at least they still put solid axles up front, sucks that the new ram has gone to IFS. Steering box is a well known issue and yeah I guess the CAs and links themselves aren't as strong as they could be. Compared to the weak-ass IFS chevy puts up front, I'd take the dodge. If its going to be weak, it may as well be easy to work on.

The XJ was designed by engineers from ford, AMC, and renault. The original little renault diesel wasn't that great in any respect, something like a 617 would be better and a bt4 simply awesome.

But several people say "I've looked at it" regarding the swap and I wonder how hard they looked. To put a 617 in a 4wd XJ will require about 5" of lift height and you'll still have to bumpstop aggressively. The oilpan will hit the differential otherwise.

Oh, one more thing- the 2.8 CRD in the liberty isn't really a mercedes engine. Its a VM-Motori common rail. Technically, since detroit diesel bought VM several years ago and then DaimlerAG bought DDC, daimler is the parent company by VM stands on their own, I've got a little turbo diesel of theirs in one of our snowcats and its a good little engine.

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'84 300D
'97 Jeep XJ lots of mods
'01 Subaru Forester

IIRC there was a member on here who did an OM617 swap into a YJ by mating it to an AX-15 5-speed. I don't think he had to lift it even close to 5 inches. The YJ and XJ layouts underneath aren't quite the same, but they aren't THAT different.

IIRC he was able to get the lower oil pan in front of the axle so clearing the differential wasn't that big of an issue...

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

Not quite true, YJs are leafs, different wheelbase, real frame off of which to base motor mounts, etc... If his axles were sprung over, that provides the height of the axle tube and spring perch above stock height- right around 5"

I bought my 300D specifically as a donor for that swap as my XJ is lifted right around there, totally possible my measurements are off, but they seemed to be confirmed by a swap I've seen over on NAXJA into a 2wd MJ...

Funny thing is I kinda fell in love with the 300 and there's no way I can chop it up now! Looking for another one that's in worse shape. But it better not have any parts I need for the DD 300.

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'84 300D
'97 Jeep XJ lots of mods
'01 Subaru Forester

Yeah there are a bit more differences between the XJ vs YJ than the XJ vs TJ - mainly the leafs vs slinkies.

You sure you can't just shift things forward enough for the oil pan to end up in front of the axle? 'Cause when I was looking at it, that was my plan. I was thinking of going the MB tranny and divorced T-case route and figured shifting the engine and tranny forward would help compensate for the divorced t-case being set farther back behind the tranny than a married unit would be.

I never took that many detailed measurements though, so maybe you're right and that wouldn't work. With all the driveline modifications required (custom t-case to tranny shaft, a shortened rear DS, and a lengthened front DS) at the rates that driveline shops charge around here, I abandoned the idea as too expensive before I got too far into it...

You need what I have - a good spare motor and tranny

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

If you go to dieselbombers.com you can see lots of conversions.

There was one thread where a guy was documenting the conversion of his XJ to a 617.

He did have some issues IIRC with the steering. He had to weld two Pittman arms together in order for it to reach.

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.

i will paypal you $2 for a profile pic of your almost seven foot tall self sitting in a w123. going to need to see you standing outside the car, too

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