1.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
138,960 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee engine problems

engine problem

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1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Owner Comments

problem #15

Aug 122011

Grand Cherokee

  • 120,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

ECM has a fault circuit board per dealer and needs replacing. Causes completer power failure and engine will quit running, all electrical goes out -- no lights at night or emergency flashers -- and power brakes fail to work. This happens at any time, stopped or on the road.

- Lake Havasu City, AZ, USA

problem #14

Mar 152017

Grand Cherokee

  • 172,000 miles
The contact owns a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. While driving, the vehicle seized and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. A dealer was not notified. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and stated that they could not assist. The failure mileage was 172,000.

- Stone Robbins, GA, USA

problem #13

Mar 042017

Grand Cherokee

  • 10 miles
Engine stalls when driving the vehicle

- Oxnard, CA, USA

problem #12

Feb 022016

Grand Cherokee

  • 247,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Engine stall/shut off on a highway at 70 miles/hr in center lane of a five lane interstate highway with plenty of gas in the tank. Has happened three times on different days. I'm original owner. Heavy failure analysis done. Allege that Jeep cut corners that risk driver safety. They used and may still be using cheap chinese microprocessor chips in their program control modules (PCM). Fred bailey fatal accident is telling. His Jeep shut down on a bridge. Plenty of gas in the tank. Tractor trailer plows into the back of this Jeep (like mine). The gas tank explodes and he dies. www.dyingjeep.com shows a Jeep video actually doing the stall/die routine. www.Jeep forum.com has literally thousands on posts/threads by angry and frustrated owner who have even much newer Jeep that do the same thing. I paid a lot of money to keep my Jeep in working condition. It is worth about $3,000 if it was reliable. I did the fuel tank recall. Brought in the Jeep. It already had a tow package installed. They keep the Jeep for hours. Likely did nothing to it under the recall. Didn't give me $100 gift card. Edmonds value of my car with 247,000 miles on the odometer is less than $1,000. Even if I got the extra $1,000 recall credit, it means I have to buy another low quality vehicle from a brand I do not trust. In short, Jeep needs to make new program control modules available again and at affordable cost. They owe safety to all Jeep owners. Shame on them and good on you for fining them $105 million. There is potential cause to fine them even more for not addressing this stall/die issue. The stall leads to the rear end collision as we can easily deduce from the fred bailey event. No time to react to the stall... then boom. I believe Jeep has hidden information about these events from you. The problem is no secret to owners from 1992 on.

- Duluth, GA, USA

problem #11

Apr 142014

Grand Cherokee

  • 118,811 miles
Last summer I had the vehicle in the shop for intermittently shuts off when driving.they replaced fuel pump. And alternaer and belts.the vehicle was also had a tuneup.the vehicle sta.. iirts right up but when I am driving it will cut off at any time.the vehicle is unsafe.I have put over two thousand dollars in my vehicle.the dealer has taken my money and the vehicle is a death trap.I am retired and I need my car to get around.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #10

Oct 202015

Grand Cherokee

  • 210,000 miles
The contact owns a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. While driving at 45 mph, the power steering failed. In addition, water spilled from the vehicle's water pump. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 210,000.

- Trenton, FL, USA

problem #9

Oct 012014

Grand Cherokee

  • 230,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My Jeep Grand Cherokee has been sputtering, stalling when stopped and when driving, backfires blown apart 2 mufflers. It will not show a check light or give an error code when hooked up to a computer. Have researched online and found several people with same issue. Have done as they have and replaced nearly every sensor. Have yet to replace PCM/ECM. Don't know if this will fix due to some online have and still having the same issue. Like the people online I have taken it to different mechanics, none of which could duplicate or find a problem. Surprised with as many people having this issue Jeep hasn't resolved this. I think dealerships are aware of this issue because some people online have traded their Jeep in and gotten very little towards trade-in.

- Monett, MO, USA

problem #8

Mar 022015

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • 169,000 miles
My 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee (original owner) stumbles and dies, it does restart once I shift to neutral. It is getting more frequent. I had a total of 8 incidences in the past week. 6 times happened pulling up to stop sign at about 15 mph. 2 times happened while cruising along at 55 mph. I lost power steering and brake boost. There is a lot of internet information regarding the same problem. This is a safety issue. I'm worried driving my Jeep in any traffic now.

- Sunnyvale, CA, USA

problem #7

Mar 222010

Grand Cherokee 8-cyl

  • 75,000 miles
I received my safety recall notice over 2 months ago, and have not yet heard from any dealer #VC741345 N45 besides the gas tank problem, my Jeep ignition just turns off while I'm driving.it really scares me to death.plus after driving for atleast 30 minutes, and I put my car in park to turn off, the car keeps moving forward, like a jerk motion, I'm disabled & on ss & can't afford to buy another car.please include my car in the recall for the ignition replaced[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Island Lake, IL, USA

problem #6

Oct 062013

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 152,000 miles
Was driving at relatively low highway speed (50mph) up a small incline. Low RPM (1200rpm). With sharp highway curve coming up, vehicle stalled for no reason. Steering became unresponsive. Turned key off and on several times trying to turn steering to follow curve. Luckily Sunday night traffic was light or could have resulted in accident. Engine finally started up and steering pressure was restored. Kept RPM over 2500rpm for a couple of minutes and car bucked a number of times in the first 5 or so minutes. Ran smoothly afterwards with engine RPM kept higher (2500+). had to get off the highway and follow side streets to get home. This problem has been occurring for 3000-4000 miles and I've had nearly everything replaced, coil, spark plugs, plug wires, distributor rotor, distributor cap, starting on sensors now.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #5

Nov 162011

Grand Cherokee

  • 175,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Stalls idling and while going down the road. With faulty gas tank news causing fires that kill after rear collisions, driving not knowing if it will stall or not is pretty unnerving. Please for the safety of all drivers, recall these death traps.

- Concord, NC, USA

problem #4

Oct 012012

Grand Cherokee

  • 101,000 miles
The contact owns a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the camshaft sensor was replaced but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 101,000.

- Norfold, VA, USA

problem #3

Oct 292010

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 164,577 miles
Driving at steady 35 mph engine started to stutter, lost power and stalled unexpectedly. Took a few times cranking to restart, finally started. This has occurred intermittently with no warning or dash indicator like check engine light coming on. Numerous repair attempts and thousands spent since, problem still occurs now average of twice weekly. Occurs at different speeds, temperatures and conditions. Have found online reference to many similar stalling problems for people around us. Dealer said there is no recall or bulletins that would help fix, very hard to diagnose. Finally found that if jiggle wire connector to engine E.C.U. could make engine stall. E.C.U. has been replaced but website electrical engineer said the wiring pulls down on the connectors eventually fracturing the solder holding connector pins against inner connections causes this.he proved by resoldering as needed but said the wire routing and 90 degree angle to the connectors will cause recurrence.

- Yakima, WA, USA

problem #2

Mar 142007

Grand Cherokee

  • 150,000 miles
The contact owns a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the driver of the vehicle was attempting to stop when the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle could not be restarted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection where they advised the contact that the central computer needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and stated that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The failure mileage was 150,000.

- Aynor, SC, USA

problem #1

Jun 152010

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
The contact owns a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. The contact stated that while traveling 45 mph the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was unknown.

- Mayer, AZ, USA

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