FCA didn't use HOAT in the ecodiesel. Is the dealer clueless or what?
Hello John. Very interesting to read your comment. How confident are you in your source for this info? When I google "HOAT and OAT", I can find information that indicates that both "can" be aggressive towards solder and metals. It is very difficult to weight the alternatives for us when we don't know (100% for sure) what the failure actually is. When I study the threads on the forums, I see three possibilities.
1.
The coolant is attaching solder and metals of the system where a cross flow occurs and engine oil is pumped into the coolant system.
2.
The oil cooler is just inherently a poor structural design and won't hold up under operating conditions. This is the failure that results from engine oil being pumped into the coolant system because of a cross flow (rupture) in the oil cooler not related to attacks to the cooler or metals.
3.
The oil cooler is not adequate capacity to keep the engine oil below it's critical breakdown temperatures. I see post that imply that the ED trucks that have lots of towing time or towing weights that are near the towing limits of the truck fail more often than others.
In my talks with Chrysler Customer Service, I can't not get this question answered. Their comment is always that they don't have access to this information and don't know who would have that info. There does not appear to be any Service Bulletins or printed information. I don't know where the Service Manager got his information on the coolant being the problem. I see post that indicate that there are two companies in development of an oil cooler to replace the stock cooler and some forum members who are indicating they will buy this immediately when it hits the market. Wonder if that would void the warranty?
When we buy a diesel, we are expecting a reliable engine life above 200,000 miles. Right now, I would absolutely not want to own this truck without factory drive train warranty. The repair cost for mine with only 13,301 miles was well above $20,000.
We sure need Chrysler to step up and let us know what the root cause of this failure is!
With today's technology, why can't they have engine oil temperature and oil level readouts with buzzers and lights flashing. By the time "low oil pressure" is observed.....most likely the engine is already damaged especially at freeway speeds or towing. Again.....we love this truck, but we do need to be confident on the reliability.