[Stakealot]

Hello all, I am letting my last class A diesel pusher motor home go, and will be searching for an extended 159wb 3500 Diesel, which I plan to convert to a fairly comfortable RV. I have owned enough (11) motor homes in the past to kinda know what works for us, and what doesn't, and hopefully, with the guidance of much more experienced and knowledgeable folks on this forum....I won't screw it up too bad.
I have a ton of questions, but I should start slowly, like, what year diesels are more troublesome? I will buy used if I can find one, but not sure where to look, Are diesels all 4 cylinder? I have owned diesels in the past, with very positive results, usually the only issues stem from the emissions controls which is a head scratcher at times, but usually simple to fix. (Not always cheap tho). Anyhow, Thank You all for any input you may pass along, looking forward to this undertaking. Regards!

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Only the earliest diesels had an unusual number of emissions issues, fixed in my opinion by computer updates. Look for a build date of 2/2015 or later and you will be fine. Nothing else about the 4 cyl engine has been more than one incident issue here. There are a few transmission complaints with one replaced IIRC and a few with external work done on them such as actuators. Much less issues than the gasser after the date I gave you but so many fewer diesels it is not statistically important.
The 3.0L I-4 is the only diesel engine with an automatically shifted manual transmission.
FCA got into a scuffle with EPA and withdrew sales of the diesel in 2017 and we haven’t heard if 2018 diesels will be available. This mean you have to look for a 2015 or 2016 or possibly an early 2017.
Good luck with your search.