Jeep Cherokee Grand Cherokee Engine and Performance Problems

maturbo

After further troubleshooting...my mechanic and I found multiple things...first off I had about 3 cracked tubes around the top of the motor that connected to the pcv valve, also my air filter was replaced at a company that I will leave out but they put in the wrong air filter which didn't allow for a good seal! Replaced my sensor for the oil check gauges, did an oil change with a mopar oil filter, changed my spark plugs and found that the plugs were off gap spec!! All in all my oil pump was fine so after returning oil pump and including all above...I fixed my issue with $150 budget...that including the beer for my mechanic!!

[Deleted User]

Sounds like the oil pressure sensor did the trick. I am glad u got all the other stuff done too. To get plugs at the dealer....just the plugs...$125. So u got a sweet deal. Buy him a case next time and maybe he will drop a Hemi in it for $500! :shades:

smokey2873

I am having some issues with my 1993 jeep cherokee 6 cylinder...first off when I am driving on flat surfaces it seems alright with lots of power,but when I go to climb hills it heats up and loses power slowing me down from 55 miles per hour to 20 mph up hill what is going on with my jeep??At this point the overheating occurs. But I did notice oil on my manifold..

maryanne1996

This isn't a solution but are you driving in overdrive when climbing? I've had several cars which overheat going up hills in overdrive. I've since started going into drive or on some cars, 3rd. Seems to provide more power without straining and overheating the engine. Hope this helps get you to the top.

gcat1

I also have a 2011 that was manufactured in Feb 2011 and it has the same problem -- did you get any help from your dealer or Chrysler on this?

halo2

Nope---The company line is it is the normal operation of the MDS system---It has gotten worse.

rdugger

I have a 97 jeep grand cherokee laredo 4.0 6 straight, I was driving up a hill and the jeep just quit. No warning. I pulled over and then first it wouldn't start then it started and worked ok and then it started to want to quit again and I kept giving it gas to get it home. Is this fuel pump or computer module? I have heard it could be either one. Can anyone help me? They are both really expensive so if anyone has had this trouble and got results let me know?

kjo12

Dealer said it was the shifting from 4 to 8 cylinders. The missing or jerking morion seems pretty violent for something as simple as this.

[Deleted User]

I would actually go test drive another Jeep with the same drive-train. See if it does the same same thing as yours.

I think the 2011 is absolutely gorgeous. There are a great many things I love about mine still. The torque, acceleration, commanding view of the road, and the feeling of confidence that goes along with the 4x4 system.

If it doesn't jerk or make any other unseemly noises, then ask your dear service tech to look again. I went through a lot of heartache with my 1999. Never again.

-Chris

halo2

Yep--same as mine---anyone riding with me notices it right away---If you hear of a fix, let me know. Regional Tech drove it and said it was normal operation of the MDS system----It is BS

wipiti27

@rdugger, did you get the "MIL" to light up? My 2001 6 cylinder did somewhat the same as yours. If no engine code is thrown, you can check to see what has been stored on the computer. Put key in the ignition, cycle to just before start position then back to off, repeat two times, on the third let it stay in the position right before start. If there are any codes, they will cycle through the odometer. My MIL did not light, but I got code p0320, no crank reference. My crankshaft position sensor was shot. They go bad at about 150,000 routinely.

wildwally1

My 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee has a "flat spot" when accelerating. When it reaches that spot, I can stand on the accelerator and nothing happens (RPMs do not move). Eventually it figures out that I want it to go faster and then begins acceleration (sometimes after sputtering and backfiring). The dealership where I bought it cannot duplicate the problem and says nothing is wrong. They even had me run fuel with Techron, but the problem still occurs. Now that it's out of warranty I've taken it to my local mechanic. He has driven it and it has done the same thing with him, however he doesn't know what the fix is. He suspicions something with a sensor for the throttle. Any ideas?

brn2skifst

Just got a 2102 Overland with the hemi. Nothing noticeable in normal around town but when I try to accelerate, the motor just seems dead. I took it on the highway and there is no passing power whatsoever. Vehicle bucks when trying to accelerate. It feels like it is running on 4 cylinders. I had rented a 6 cyl in Utah in Feb and loved it. It had pretty good power but this is a DOG. It lugs going up hills. started noticing it around 350 miles. Took it to dealer at 600mi. Reflashed computer and took it on a trip. Horrible on the highway, no power. you have to put your foot to the flor and get it into 4th to accelerate. I am SO disappointed right now. Glad to at least know I am not the only one. Will keep you updated

gbeesjeep

If you think your Hemi has no power, try the V6. It has to kick down all the time to get moving around town and on the highway. They say it is normal. It doesn't help that all the torque and HP is at 4-5000 rpm. Not the right engine for a heavy vehicle. I am going to wait for the diesel and with the 8 speed, should get the performance we need. As far as the Hemi, I don't know what Chrysler did to it but I would be embarrassed to promote that engine as a performance engine. The performance specs on the Hemi barely beats the V6 and is way more thirsty than the V6. I drove a couple of them and would not spend the extra money on price and gas, it is not worth it.

jcrute1

Speed sensors on transmission was my problem.

tliftguy

My 2012 Overland with the 5.7 Hemi is shuddering at Highway speeds every time i come to an incline. I have tryed to see if cruise control changes anything, but no luck. The only way around it is to go back into manual mode and raise the RPMS. Just yesterday I went and complained to my dealership for the second time. The first time they ran the diagnostic , and told me no issues were found. So this time I insisted on taking the service manager out on a drive. On the drive he did his best to educate on how the vehicle is designed save me money.... switching to 4 cylinder mode whenever possible. I myself continued to educate him that for the money I payed, this was not acceptable. With the service manager driving, we approached an incline, the vehicle hesitated right on cue. Back at the dealership we scheduled yet another diagnostic appointment.

halo2

Join the club--Went through the same thing--Regional tech even came out and drove it--He said "normal operating condition" and yes the only way around it is manual down shift. Let me know what hey say when they look at it again.

Thanks

brn2skifst

My lemon law arbitration hearing is Nov 16th. I have several people who are on jeepforum.com that have written me directly describing the same problem. I am bringing their letters with me as extra ammunition. Its frustrating because there are a lot of things to love about the truck but I hate being B.S.'d by Chrysler. They are selling thousands of these things and they all have this problem to some degree I believe. The term "fishbite" describes it well and I heard it from a Chrysler rep. They apparently have software to fix the problem but it has to go through testing. (this was also from a Chrysler rep)

tliftguy

I was told about that softwear fix by my service manager where I bought my Overland. He told me today it will be out in February.... and that I should phone them to see if its out yet.
UM!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I SHOULD PHONE THEM?
Look. This is NOT an entry level vehicle. This is Jeeps "MOST REWARDED EVER" vehicle.
You, me, and everone else who payed to own this vehicle shouldnt have to be searching to solve the problem.
Im sorry... but I am PISSED!

tliftguy

After hearing from my dealership that I need to wait till February new FLASH that should solve my problem. And that I should give them a call to see if it has arrived... I decided to find out how many other people have the same issue as us.
I created a page on Face Book. "Does Your Grand Cherokee Fishbite?"
Please pass this on to as many people as you can!

[Deleted User]

Don't be sorry that you are pissed.

Every year that the Grand Cherokee has been built there have been problems. Mine (99 V8 Laredo) had transmission sensor issues, computer issues.....well it had LOTS of issues. The problem is that it drove BEAUTIFULLY when it worked. It was fun to slide it around (low speed) corners with all the torque; and that V8 howl was totally addictive.

So, I feel your pain. I still post here even though I sold mine after thousand(s) in repairs and warranty issues it had because it had an "X" factor.
My 2012 Optima EX blows it away in (almost) every way, but I would kill to have my GC back sometimes.

halo2

Please let us know what happens---I'm not sure but i think I started this edmund's forum a couple of years ago--still have the problem. I will try to find the FB page

Good luck

billbill2

Same thing here getting it fixed tomorrow. Mech. said transmission circuit board. :mad:

[Deleted User]

In a recent long term review of the JGC Laredo 3.6, Car and driver had a low speed clanking problem with the transmission almost immediately. Not good. It was in the shop at 2.7 k and 3.4 k.
The powertrain and drivetrain modules were replaced (been there done that) and the problem was fixed....but only temporarily. They decided to live with it, and sure enough at 33,860 a new transmission was needed. Chrysler engineers finally found the the plant had not installed a retainer snap ring, and that was the cause. The bigger issue here is that many, many JGC's had bad experiences with the transmission, including myself.

After the tranny was replaced C/D felt their troubles were over, until one of the techs working on the tranny problem failed to install a bracket at the drive shaft and it caused vibration and then bushing failure.

Look, I loved my 99 Jeep 4.7. It drove great, the small block made awesome music and had 320 lb-ft torque along with 235 HP. It was paid for, and I would have kept it forever and planned on training my girls how to drive in it.
However, it was in the shop every other month for something, almost always costing me $1000. This is why I sold my GC WJ. It only had 135K. Look,it is supposed to be a go-anywhere vehicle! Well, unless in the shop, where it is going nowhere.

If anyone else has tranny troubles please let me/us know what the problem was and how it was fixed. I am very curious.

beardog49

I have a 94 Grand Cherokee, 5.2, at, 4wd. I started getting a check engine light awhile
back. It would come on after several miles and stay on. If I stopped and restarted the
car it would go off but come back after several more miles. When we flashed the
car, the code came up as an O2 sensor. Well waiting to replace this the car pretty much
quit. I was driving it and it was running just fine, but all of a sudden just lost power.
It would start, but would not run over about 1500rpm. Flooring the gas pedal did nothing.
I had it towed to the shop where we put in a new O2 sensor and changed the plugs
because they were pretty black. That changed nothing. In the meantime I saw somewhere
online that this could be the symptoms of a clogged catalytic converter. This kind of made
sense because the car just turned over 300,000. So we cut the exhaust pipe right
in front of the converter to eliminate it, but nothing changed. The way the car was running
this does not appear to be a mechanical problem, rather computer or sensor related. The
mechanic is kind of at a loss and doesn't want to spend anymore time on it. Unfortunately
the car has OBD1 diagnostics and their shop does not have the equipment to diagnose the
problem.
I hate to junk it, but I am unemployed and have very little money to throw at it.
Any suggestions

[Deleted User]

Well, the first thing I would do is replace the ECU. You can get a freshly flashed unit on eBay for about $200, and put it in yourself. After these things get hot and cold for 20 yrs they fail. Heck, they failed randomly in my 99. I really think this will solve it.

larrys8

Figured I would post here in the event anyone has ideas/suggestions

Hello all- if you read my previous post about our 2012 GC, you know that I have been dealing with a few electric problems. After two trips to the dealer, the switch to open the rear glass has been replaced.

No on to what happen last night. My wife started up the GC, all the lights were on and blinking including the blind spot warning in the mirrors. She puts the car in drive, gauges dont work, car feels underpowered. She tried to drive, but didn't feel safe doing so. She returned to our in-laws, 20 miles away. I went to pick her up. The only light that stayed on was the check engine light. I drove it home with no problems. This AM, the engine light went off and everything was fine.

Has anyone heard of this? Or have any idea what it is?

I have appointment tomorrow to get it looked at and am hoping that it threw an error code they can see. Although I am preparing myself for the usual "cant replicate customers issue". Im sure it wont happen again until I have my family 15 miles out on the beach this summer.

Any input or feedback would be great.

[Deleted User]

Yeah, the error code will be saved in the ECU.

When these "gremlins" happen, the first thing they usually do is:

A) Look a the code and diagnose. Then R/R as needed. (usually a sensor or sending unit).

If problem persists they will want to replace the ECU.

Hope this helps. It should be covered under your factory warranty.

larrys8

Thanks CSKI- there was no code saved, however they saw "multiple communication failures across several ports" and performed 6 software updates. Hopefully probelm solved. No issues for the past week. Of course a bit frustrating since we just had it in one month ago for another electric problem...

rmoran

I have a 2005 GC Hemi 5.7L. Bought it used 2 years ago with 90k. It has always done the hesitation at exactly 45mph if I try to hold this speed steady. I have done a lot of research on this engine and transmission. At first I thought it was the torque converter not locking up in overdrive properly since it always happens ay 45mph. Then after more research I also believe it has to do with the computer and the MPI. Since in theory the MPI should be starting to engage to cut the cylinders back from 8 to 4 at about the time the torque converter locks up to save fuel, I think it is a computer problem as well. I was going to take it to the dealer to see if any computer patches or upgrades might fix the hesitation but after reading this forum I see Jeep has not fixed the problem yet even as late as 2011. I too wonder when Chrysler will step up to fix the problem. I also wonder if some of the third party computers might eliminate this problem. A performance package might cut into my gas mileage but if it will fix the problem I might be interested in that solution. Don't get me wrong, It's a great vehicle. I love this GC. I've owned 5 Jeep GC's since 1994. 3 of those had over 300k miles when I sold them. I plan on keeping this one till then also. Hopefully the 45mph hesitation or misfire issue is fixed before I get 300k miles on this one too (it just turned over 125k).

nancy0112

We have a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2WD with 68k miles on it. A month ago, we started having problems losing power on the Fwy. It would go all the way down to 25 mph while flooring the gas pedal. It happened intermittently. Then it wouldn't go higher than 25 mph with the engine light coming on now and then. We were very worried that it was the Transmission. We had an extended warranty and were just hoping the repair would be covered. Gladly to say, today the mechanic at the dealership said it was the "sensor in the transmission" that was causing all the problems. Only cost $200 copay of warranty and the rest covered under warranty. The "Electric Hydraulic Assembly" was also the problem. We were pleasantly surprised the warranty covered the big cost. Now we will have to wait and see if the car runs fine afterwards with no further problems. I will keep everyone posted.

albiewan

My 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland (104K miles) is blowing white smoke with slight "sweet" odor inside the vehicle. Curiously, this started immediately after changing the spark plugs. Additionally, right about the same time, it started to overheat intermittently (some times it does, other times it doesn't) I've had to refill coolant occasionally, once a week or less and even then, it's never completely empty. Worried it was a blown head gasket, I did some testing and have ruled out the head gasket.
The tests?
1) Cranked a cold engine with radiator cap off and no coolant came out of radiator. 2) Checked oil color and it was normal, not milky or thick, not burning excess oil from daily driving.
The vehicle runs smooth, never hesitates or misfires, plenty of power, always starts immediately and, except for light puffs of white smoke while driving (off and on all day) everything else seems ok. Any feedback appreciated.