Quote
MoparNorm
Certification of engines cost about 1 million dollars for every engine. Generally the manufacturer will know before hand if the engine is going to pass. Changing the chassis, transmission, etc for a diesel might cost in excess of 500 million dollars, for each vehicle model. Given that they just emerging from bankruptcy, they are going to proceed very cautiously.

The Cummins B engine (6.7 and 3.9) only pass emissions in trucks over 8500 GVW. The 3.9 is too heavy, too large and too antiquated to meet emissions standards for 2016, in cars. But fear not, new Cummins V6's, V8's and small Fiat diesels are just around the corner. Soon the Euro standards will match US diesel standards and the certification issue will be a thing of the past. Chrysler already builds every vehicle except Challenger with a diesel for export. Just as soon as the certification hurdle can be economically overcome, we will see diesels here.

Manufacturers are hesitant to bring diesels to the US because they don't think they will sell here. I think they are full of fear and too timid, but if the manufacturers and dealers are pressured by customers to sell diesels, then the diesels will come.

Don't know about the latest, greatest, but first couple of generations of CTD's were 5.9L werent they? Maybe they've punched it out to 6.7 now, but can't imagine why.

No, I wasn't saying to drop a boat anchor 5.9 or even 3.9 in 6BT or 4BT form into today's vehicles: rather: 'Okay, guys, here's the technology: GET ON IT!' but they didn't. Instead of drive & vision, to take bold & dramatic steps in their whole product line, they were too happy patting themselves on the back out at the 19th hole of the golf course for one successful product.

The CTD trucks were a bold step in themselves, and I'm sure Chrysler was amazed to see them take off and be accepted like they were! It was such a firestorm that Furd and Generic Moturds had to rush to buy some diesel engines somewhere QUICK, to try to get on the train that already left the station and was down the track clean outta sight!

Likewise, the CTD Dodge trucks opened the doors for acceptibility of diesels in the average American driveway. Up to then stinky, rattling Mercedes and semi-trucks were people's understanding of diesel, until Chrysler showed them the right way to do it.

Cummins were overkill on sheer mass of the assembly, but of course it was an industrial, not passenger engine. Chrysler pioneered thinwall castings for blocks & heads, but there were initially some serious teething pains with core shift, porosity and spiderweb cracking etc. With that solved it was green lights all the way, and again Furd and Generic Moturd rushing to steal that technology.

What was needed was a compromise between mega-mass Cummins and ultra-light Mopar thinwall castings, something like oh, say a 318 Poly block with stouter heads, forged crank, rods & pistons to handle 17.5:1 compression, plus a solid 8 cylinder distribution pump for fuel injection, like an 8 port Bosch VE pump that already existed. Chop that in half for a Slant 4 Diesel of 159 c.i. with Bosch VE-4 for lighter vehicles!

It was all sitting right there in the back room while they were playing grabass in the boardroom. As emissions requirements advanced, calling for later designs of Bosch pumps, they could have easily merged that techno into these designs. Murdercedes didn't take over Chrysler until 1998, so there was 9 years after the first Cummins Dodges where Chrysler was still 100% Chrysler.

Unfortunately some jerks were calling the shots over at Ma Mopar and all by themselves they torpedoed a tremendous opportunity to change the world forever in the name of Chrysler. Also unfortunate, this was a repeat of past ultra-conservative stupidity on the part of Chrysler execs where other great designs leaked through their pudgy little fingers along with billion$ of dollar$!

Fact is, the death of Chrysler Corporation as we once knew it lies right there. What came later was only the results of earlier failed management. Chrysler disembarked the train when they could have stayed as Casey Jones, with throttles slammed forward in the CAB of the Super-Train locomotive barreling down the track of automotive legends.