1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee engine and engine cooling problems

“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 JEEP CHEROKEE. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS UNDERGOING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD CRACKED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000.”

“WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF. AS IF POWER HAD BEEN DISCONNECTED. AFTER COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP STARTED RIGHT BACK UP, AFTER A WHILE NOW IT IS BACKFIRING, STALLING OUT, BUCKING. I HAVE READ MORE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS SAME EXACT PROBLEM THE I CARE TO READ. MOST OF THE TIME THEY LEAD TO THE PCM. AND IM CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHY JEEP HASN'T FIGURED OUT THE PROBLEM. I CANNOT AFFORD TO KEEP THROWING MONEY INTO THE CAR TO KEEP IT RUNNING. LET ALONE I CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY A NEW VEHICLE. I HAVE REPLACED MORE SENSORS THEN I CARE TO MENTION AND HAVE TRIED ALL THE DIY TACTICS. NOW MY MUFFLER IS EXPLODED. THAT BATTERY KEEPS DYING AND I AM FORCED TO BORROW A FAMILY MEMBERS CAR TO GET BACK AND FORTH TO WORK BECAUSE JEEP CANT FIX THE PROBLEM. IT HAS GONE TO A SHOP JUST TO BE TOLD "WE CANT FIND THE PROBLEM". IT IS UNSAFE FOR IT TO STALL OUT AND BACKFIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY. AND IT IS KILLING MY FINANCES. *TR”

“WENT OUT TO GO SOMEWHERE AND IT HAD A HARD TIME STARTING. AS I BEGAN TO DRIVE DOWN THE ROAD MY JEEP STARTED TO BACKFIRE, ALL OF A SUDDEN IT CUT OFF AND THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP AND THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IT WAS DARK SO I COULD OF BEEN INJURED. WHEN I GOT IT TO CRANK BACK MY ABS LIGHT HAS BEEN ON EVER SINCE AND WE HAVE BOUGHT ABOUT 5 HUNDRED DOLLARS IN PARTS AND TRIED EVERYTHING WE KNOW TO DO EVEN THE MECHANICS WE HAVE ASKED ABOUT IT HAVE NO ANSWERS FOR US, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY ANOTHER VEHICLE AND NO ONE WANTS TO BUY IT FROM US BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE HAD WITH OUR JEEP! *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”

“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”

“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…”