2017 Jeep and Ram EcoDiesels Are Legal Again, Baby!

by Steph Willems

Published: July 28th, 2017

2017 jeep and ram ecodiesels are legal again baby

The light-duty Chrysler diesel is back. After a bevy of undeclared emissions control devices sank Fiat Chrysler Automobiles into a cauldron of hot water back in January, U.S. regulators have certified 2017 models powered by the company’s 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6.

Having spent the last half-year cooling their heels, unsold Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee oil-burners are once again legal for sale to torque- and economy-obsessed buyers.

FCA earned itself plenty of bad PR after the Environmental Protection Agency all but accused the automaker of a Volkswagen-like scheme to deceive the U.S. government and cheat on emissions tests. The undeclared software amounted to a violation of the Holy Grail of environmental legislation: the Clean Air Act. Software tweaks have now rendered the engine compliant, earning a certificate of conformity (also known as a thumbs up) from the EPA.

Too bad about that Justice Department lawsuit.

“The approvals announced today represent a significant step toward resolving the issues raised by EPA and ARB”, said Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne in a release. “We appreciate the efforts of the agencies in working with us to achieve this milestone. We are anxious to build on this progress to make appropriate updates to the emissions control software in our earlier model year vehicles.”

EcoDiesel engines found their way into roughly 104,000 Rams and Jeeps from model years 2014 to 2016. The automaker previously said that a fix will be made available to existing owners.

“The 2017 updates include modified emissions software calibrations, with no required hardware changes,” stated FCA in a media release, “and FCA US expects that the modified calibrations will have no effect on the stated fuel economy or the performance of these vehicles.”

FCA filed a certification application for the reworked EcoDiesel back in May. Unfortunately for the automaker, it wasn’t enough to stave off a lawsuit from the Justice Department. The automaker faced a potential for billions in fines, though it isn’t known yet how the certification of 2017 models — and the potential for an older-model fix — will impact the case.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

#Diesel #EcoDiesel #Emissions #EPA #Fca #FiatChryslerAutomobiles #Government #Jeep #Ram

Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 43 comments

DenverMike on Jul 30, 2017

From what I can tell, the cheat software would prevent or delay "regen" mode, under extreme operating conditions, to greatly reduce the chances of a damaged engine, turbo or emissions equipment.

Like Reply
Rreichar on Jul 31, 2017

I recently traded in my 2016 Ram 1500 diesel. It was re-flashed by the dealer at the 10,000 mile oil change. The mileage for my commute went from 30 to 22-23. Still a great truck but not the same vehicle I bought. I bought a 2017 GTI SE for half the price and I am enjoying it just as much. I love diesels and trucks but I spend a lot of time in downtown Austin and don't miss trying to parl a full-sized truck.

Like Reply
- See 1 previous
- Big Al from Oz on Jul 31, 2017
  
  rreichar, Really???? I do find your story quite novel, literally. Come on man! You can overstate and overreach, but if you go too far is sounds just like pure bullsh!t, as it is.
  
  Like
- Vulpine on Jul 31, 2017
  
  So what you're saying, rreichar, is that the full-sized truck was too big for your needs. Right?
  
  Like

Recent Comments

1995 SC The sad thing is GM tends to kill cars when they get them right, so this was probably a pretty good car
Mason Had this identical car as a 17 year old in the late 90's. What a ball of fun, one of many I wish I still had.
FinnEss At my age, sedans are difficult to get into without much neck and hip adjustment.I apologize sincerely but that is just the way it is. A truck is my ride of choice.Pronto
Ajla The market for sedans is weaker than it once was but I think some of you are way overstating the situation and I disagree that the sales numbers show sedans are some niche thing that full line manufacturers should ignore. There are still a sizeable amount of sales. This isn't sports car volume. So far this year the Camry and Civic are selling in the top 10, with the Corolla in 11 and the Accord, Sentra, and Model 3 in the top 20. And sedan volume is off it's nadir from a few years ago with many showing decent growth over the last two years, growth that is outpacing utilities. Cancelling all sedans now seems more of an error than back when Ford did it.
Duties The U.S . would have enough energy to satisfy our needs and export energy if JoeBama hadn’t singlehandedly shut down U.S. energy exploration and production. Furthermore, at current rates of consumption, the U.S. has over two centuries of crude oil, https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/exclusive-current-rates-consumption-us-has-more-two-centuries-oil-report.Imagine we lived in a world where all cars were EV's. And then along comes a new invention: the Internal Combustion Engine.Think how well they would sell. A vehicle HALF the weight, HALF the price that would cause only a quarter of the damage to the road. A vehicle that could be refueled in 1/10th the time, with a range of 4 times the distance in all weather conditions. One that does not rely on the environmentally damaging use of non-renewable rare earth elements to power it, and uses far less steel and other materials. A vehicle that could carry and tow far heavier loads. And is less likely to explode in your garage in the middle of the night and burn down your house with you in it. And ran on an energy source that is readily extracted with hundreds of years known supply.Just think how excited people would be for such technology. It would sell like hot cakes, with no tax credits! Whaddaya think? I'd buy one.