Factory diesel Jimnys (DDiS) - all info about them

troubleshooting that engine is not hard, just look up the renault forums, every problem you might have will be common to every other car with that engine.
but that version is not very problematic. you should be ok. just remember, it's a sensitive engine, don't push it too hard offroad and when you spot a problem, you need to take care of it as soon as possible, since anything serious with that engine is gonna be a bit expensive

Thank you very much for all the details.

I already replaced the fuel filter a few weeks ago with a genuine one. Just before I did that, I poured a fuel cleaner additive into full fuel tank and drove until the fuel tank was nearly empty. The throttle/engine sound was rather unstable at idle for the first ~100 kilometers after I poured the additive, indicating that the additive really worked and unclogged some things (or at least decomposed the gum in the tank).
After the initial 100 km or so, the throttle returned to normal at idle and engine now runs a bit smoother!

The certified Renault mechanic who services my car said that the EGR valve in my engine is electronic, and therefore is a lot trickier to clean than older mechanical ones. He advised not to touch it. When asked if blanking the EGR would be advisable or possible, it was the same answer - electronic EGR should not be tampered with unless it becomes problematic.

Oil traces around my turbine come from before the turbine, and therefore are not a problem.

I would agree that this engine should not be force driven. Although I do frequent offroad driving, I always adhere to the "slow as possible, fast as necessary" rule, and therefore rarely throttle the engine. It provides so much low rpm torque that I rarely need to push it. That's definitely the biggest advantage of DDiS Jimny versus petrol one in offroad situations.

The only time when I pushed the engine is when I intentionally drove it on the highway in 4th gear at ~120 km/h at approx 3800 rpm for ~15 km. The idea was to purge all deposits from the exhaust system and the catalytic converter by achieving high temperature and pressure in those systems.

It's a common practice to do in my country, as the fuel quality in the Balkans is relatively bad overall, so periodic "force flushing" like this has proven to be a helpful preventive measure.

I intended to drive like that for 20 km. After 15 km I got a blinking RED STOP light on my dashboard, which is specific to DDiS Jimnys, which indicated engine overheating and serious problem with the injection system. I slowed down and stopped immediately, and luckily that problem never reappeared, but it taught me that this engine should not be forced.

As far as the egr goês, dont really know the difference between and electrónica or mechanical One, but i'm sure mine was the same. It is possible to clean, at least the actuator parte just só it doesn't stick. Just be Warner, its tricky to come off, hás 3 bolts,but One his hidden underneath. Tried to have it cleaned at the dealer, they botched it and broke the thing, my mechanic caught it a few months later, had to havê it replaced. But it is poasible to blank it, just trickier, you either deleate the error in the ECU, or you make some sort of bypass, i think. It will still be working, only doing só somewhere that doesn't interfere with what the turbo uses to work with.

As far as fuel co, i did forget to mention that engine is picky when it comes to fuel. High preassure common rail systems dont like bad fuel very much. In my country se havê low cost fuel,regular and premium. They say it hás to do with the additives. Most people say its no different, AMD i would agree as far as petrol goês. No diffenrence between low cost 95 or regular 95. Premium 98 does make a difference for obvious reasons. But as far as diesel goês, mine didnt like low cost diesel. In comparisson with normal or premium diesel, it was like flat Pepsi versus fresh Pepsi. It pulled, but hád no pop,no burst, felt dead and slughish. Several people in the portugueses fóruns reported injection problema, mostly related with clogged or dirty injectors. Dont skimp on the fuel, spending that extra 5€ a tank will help you in the long run.

As far as that stop light, Take the chance to call your garage and havê them run a diagnosis, that's not normal. Did the tempo gauge indicate excessive heat? Mine did something similar once but in different circumstances, was just idling along in low gear in a dirt road, never going past 2000rpm and it started to hiss and shake, the coil light in the dash lit up, turned it off, Turned it black on and was fine. Hás it checked out, was and injection failure, had a fuel.filter.breaking apart and 2 clogged injectores. But while driving? On high rpm? Wierd. I beat on it several times, was.fine,just smoky lol. All i can think off hás to do with the timming belt instalation or water pump

I finally persuaded the mechanic to clean the tubes which connect to the EGR valve and I think he also did the valve itself. It turned out that the tubes were quite clogged with soot. He says that it would have become critical after 20-30 000 km if it was not sorted.
Good thing! I won't bypass the EGR valve, it is doing OK at the moment.

The tip about quality diesel is a good tip for any modern vehicle. Long gone are the days of crude diesel motors which could run on anything that burns under pressure.

I'll definitely have a checkup by an official Suzuki diagnostic tool when I get a chance to visit them (they are 130 km away).
Another thing to note - I determined that, despite having a Renault engine, Renault diagnostic tools do not work with DDiS Jimnys. Only Suzuki's genuine diagnostic tool, which Suzuki dealers use, has complete access to DDiS Jimny's ECU. This is my first hand experience as I witnessed the original Suzuki tool being used on my Jimny, as well as attempts to use original Renault tool on the same car.

Generic OBD2 diagnostic tools available on Ebay and similar sites do work but with very limited functionality, and I would always use them in read-only mode, as fiddling with your ECU using those cheap tools can be super dangerous.

One question for Decklandpt:

Do you know what is the factory stated replacement interval for the diesel fuel filter?
As I do not have a factory service manual for the diesel model, I have no idea how often (after how many kilometers) I need to replace my fuel filter.

Or maybe there is a "community recommended" replacement interval based on general practical experience?