1997 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE Complaints

VEHICLE WAS BACKED INTO A TREE AT SLOW SPEED AND CAUSED THE FUEL TANK TO RUPTURE AND LEAK FUEL. *TR

THIS JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LAREDO STALLS AT ANY SPEED AND SUDDENLY THE ENGINE STOPS AND CAN EVEN SEND A STRONG BACKFIRE ABLE TO CRACK THE MUFFLER. IT WORKS PERFECTLY FOR A PERIOD OF TIME AND WITHOUT ANY SYMPTOM IT STRUGGLES AND STALLS. SOMETIMES IT REMAINS ON AND SOMETIMES DIE. IT BROKE ME 3 MUFFLERS. A LOT OF MONEY AND WORK HAVE BEEN DONE BY MECHANICS INCLUDING JEEP DEALER WITHOUT FIXING THE PROBLEM. PCM AND A LOT OF PARTS HAD BEEN REPLACED AND THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED ONLY IN PART. IT STILL DIE WHILE DRIVING. THIS JEEP CHEROKEE IS NOT RELIABLE TO USE IN HIGHWAY FOR THE RISK TO STOP IN THE MIDDLE. JEEP AND MECHANICS ARE AT RANDOM TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE VISITED WEB SITES ABOUT JEEP PROBLEMS AND I KNOW THERE ARE OTHERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

TURNED STEERING WHEEL LEFT TO STOP IN PREPARATION FOR LEAVING PARKING SPACE. HEARD LOUD BREAK/SNAP SOUND AND FELT CHANGE IN STEERING WHEEL TENSION. REALIZED A TOTAL LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL. SAW SIGNIFICANT VOLUME OF FLUID ON GROUND. REVIEW BY MECHANIC FOUND STEERING BOX MOUNT BOLTS HAD SHEARED/FAILED. *TR

DRIVING ON HIGHWAY, JEEP STOPS! STOPPING AT LIGHT, JEEP STOPS-WILL NOT START UNLESS JUMP START, THIS GOES ON AND ON CONSISTANLY FOR 10 MONTHS,WITHIN THOSE MONTHS I REPLACED:FUEL PUMP(2'S)(4 MUFFLERS-GAS KEEP LEAKING INTO MUFFLER AND BLOW UP)(FORTUNATE TO BE ALIVE!)CATALIC CONVERTER ,WATER PUMP,CRANK CENSOR,MAP CENSOR,OXYGEN CENSOR,IGNITION ROTOR,DISTRIBUTOR CAP/MAGNET,ENGINE TUNE-UP,TRANSMISSION TUNE-UP,OIL CHANGE,:ANY AND EVERYTHING, AFTER ABOUT $2000 I WAS READY TO CALL IT QUITS, IT ALL CENTERED AROUND THE (((FUEL PUMP))) I WAS STOPPED AND TOLD I HAD GAS LEAKING OUT AS I WAS DRIVING, BEING LIGHT HEADED FROM FUMES??? *JS

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT SMELLED A GASOLINE FUEL ODOR IN THE VEHICLE AFTER IT STALLED. THERE WAS ALSO A FAILURE WITH THE TURN SIGNALS INTERMITTENTLY NOT ILLUMINATING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC. THE MECHANIC WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 158,000.

VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF INTERMITTENTLY, REGARDLESS OF SPEED, OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE, LENGTH OF TIME ENGINE RUNS, OR ANY OTHER CONCEIVABLE FACTOR. A FEW WEEKS AGO, I DROVE IT TO A TOWN 30 MILES AWAY AND BACK WITH NO ISSUE. THE NEXT TIME I DROVE IT, THE ENGINE SHUT OFF TWO BLOCKS AWAY FROM MY RESIDENCE. THERE IS NO PATTERN TO THE MALFUNCTIONS NOR COMPUTER CODES TO DOWNLOAD. HAVE REPLACED COMPUTER, CONNECTORS TO COMPUTER, CRANKSHAFT SENSOR, CAMSHAFT SENSOR, AND MANY OTHER NUMEROUS PARTS. VARIOUS MECHANICS HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE, SOME HAVE GIVEN UP DUE TO FRUSTRATION. CHRYSLER DEALERSHIPS DENY EVER HEARING OF THE PROBLEM, HOWEVER, I HAVE MET THREE OTHER GRAND CHEROKEE OWNERS IN PERSON WHO HAVE HAD IDENTICAL ISSUES. INTERNET SEARCHES WILL REVEAL NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS FOR THIS VEHICLE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH, THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO WOBBLE ABNORMALLY. THE FAILURE RECURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING HOWEVER, THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 135,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE. THE CONTACT WAS IN AN IDLE POSITION WITH THE BRAKE EPRESSED WHEN SUDDENLY, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED ABNORMALLY. THE CONTACT APPLIED FULL BODY FORCE ON THE BRAKE PEDAL IN ORDER TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE RECURRED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE MALFUNCTION. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 130,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

ENGINE STALLS EITHER AT SPEED OR DURING IDLE AFTER 20 MINUTES. WILL CONTINUE TO STALL FOR ABOUT 4 MINUTES, SOMETIMES VERY HARD TO START DURING THIS TIME. THEN VEHICLE WILL RUN FINE WITH NO PROBLEMS FOR SEVERAL HOURS. THE NEXT DAY, OR AFTER VEHICLE HAS BEEN SITTING FOR SEVERAL HOURS, THE PROCESS WILL START AGAIN. EVERY DAY IT WILL STALL AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES - SOMETIMES WHILE TURNING, WHICH WILL CAUSE A TOTAL LOSS OF STEERING ABILITY, OR WHILE ON THE FREEWAY, OR WHILE AT A RED LIGHT OR INTERSECTION. I NARROWLY ESCAPED AN ACCIDENT WHEN IT STALLED AND A BIG RIG ALMOST SLAMMED INTO ME. I HAVE BEEN STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION MULTIPLE TIMES BECAUSE OF THIS. WHEN THE CAR STALLS, SOMETIMES IT RUNS VERY ROUGH AND BACKFIRES, WHICH CAUSED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER TO BLOW OUT. NOW THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER RATTLES AND CAUSED MY EMISSIONS TEST TO FAIL WITH HIGH NO(PPM) OUTPUT. I'M GOING TO NEED TO CHANGE THE PCM AND THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER TO FIX THIS, BUT THIS WAS COVERED UNDER A RECALL FOR 1996 VEHICLES WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM. JEEP ISSUED AN EMISSIONS RECALL IN LATE 2006 TO UPDATE THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM) SOFTWARE ON CERTAIN 1996 VEHICLES. AS PART OF THE RECALL, THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER WILL ALSO BE INSPECTED FOR DAMAGE AND REPLACED AS NECESSARY. 1997 VEHICLES EXPERIENCING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL FOR SOME REASON. PLEASE INCLUDE THE 1997 VEHICLES IN THIS RECALL. *TR

COURTESY COPY OF PGK SENT TO DITLOW/CFAS JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE DEFECT PETITION 09-005 (DP-09-005) FILE UPDATE AND INQUIRING IF CHRYSLER GROUP DECLARED THE BANKRUPTCY ORDER VOID NOTE: DOCUMENT GIVEN TO RANDY FOR FURTHER REVIEW. 1997 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE. *TGW THE PERSON THAT EXAMINED THE VEHICLE, BELIEVED THE FIRE WAS A DIRECT RESULT OF A DEFECTIVE REAR-MOUNTED UNPROTECTED ZJ BODY FUEL TANK SYSTEM. THE INDIVIDUALS IN THE VEHICLE WERE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT, WHICH THEY WOULD HAVE SURVIVED, IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE DESIGN OF THE FUEL TANK.