10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
98,737 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.

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee engine problems

engine problem

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1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #25

Oct 012011

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 160,000 miles

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

Car stalls without warning, usually within 40 minutes of starting car. Happens at any speed, from 70 on the highway to 5 mph on our road. No warning. Internet search indicated many Jeep owners with same safety issue and no permanent fixes.

- Clovis, CA, USA

problem #24

Jun 012011

Grand Cherokee

  • 162,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle would stall while driving 30 mph and above. The vehicle would operate normal upon restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the PCM needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 162,000.

- Jacksonville, FM, USA

problem #23

Sep 012011

Grand Cherokee

  • 200,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle would stall while driving approximately 30 mph. The vehicle would restart within a few moments after the failure. The vehicle was taken to various independent mechanics and the wiring system in the engine was repaired. The failure continued to occur and the vehicle was taken back to a local mechanic. The wiring system was replaced a second time; however, the failure continued to occur. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

- Gaston, SC, USA

problem #22

Jul 192005

Grand Cherokee

  • 58,896 miles

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

The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated the engine failed to start after several attempts. The battery was jump started and the vehicle began to function normally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer three times for the identical malfunction. The BCM was replaced twice at different times and the problem continued to occur. The approximate failure mileage was 58,896. The VIN was unavailable.

- Peeryville , VA, USA

problem #21

Aug 012011

Grand Cherokee

  • 128,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle would stall intermittently and without warning. The dealer replaced the throttle position sensor, injection coil and the front and rear pinion gasket however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who replaced the idle control air valve motor. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure nor was the vehicle repaired. The current and failure mileages were 128,000.

- Orland Park, IL, USA

problem #20

Jun 172011

Grand Cherokee

  • 150,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact was driving approximately 40 mph when the engine stalled without warning. After waiting a period of two hours the engine eventually restarted. In addition, the vehicle vibrated excessively. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified and they were unable to provide further assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

- Lakeside , CA, USA

problem #19

Dec 012010

Grand Cherokee

  • 180,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated the vehicle would stall while stopped or driving at low speeds. Upon restarting the vehicle it began to function normally; however, intermittently it would not restart immediately unless the contact allowed the vehicle to remain turned off for a few hours. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 180,000 and the current mileage was 184,064.

- Henderson, TX, USA

problem #18

Nov 062010

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 225,000 miles
Out of no where my 98 grand Jeep Cherokee started experiencing stalling problems and misfires sporadically during acceleration. The vehicle will be sitting at idle or going at a very slow speed and will just stall. It cranks back up fine (most of the time-sometimes, it takes about 30 seconds of cranking it) the problem occurs at different times - morning, night, cold, hot, etc. It seems to act worse the longer the vehicle has sat undriven (overnight or during a work shift). I stall out in traffic - recently at a light and then the light changed and I could not start my vehicle. This is definitely a recall item as many people have posted these complaints. The is a big safety hazard. I have small children and with the stalling issues happening while driving - it's a big problem that someone should address before someone gets hurt. I have spent a week at the mechanic shop replacing part and spending money only to not resolve the problem. The distributor, catalytic converter, spark plug wires, etc have been changed and still have the problem - $500 later.

- Citrus Springs, FL, USA

problem #17

May 152010

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 42,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact was driving 30 mph when the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted and resumed normal operation. The failure was continuous. The vehicle was taken to the dealer approximately seven times. There were numerous repairs performed on the vehicle pertaining to the engine failure. The repairs consisted of replacing the ignition coil, crank shift position sensor and the idle air control motor. In addition, the throttle body and fuel injectors were cleaned. The failure recurred following repairs. The failure mileage was 42,000. Updated 01/07/11

- East Northport, NY, USA

problem #16

Aug 022010

Grand Cherokee

  • 160,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. When the contact applied pressure to the brake pedal, the vehicle stalled. Upon restart it operated as normal. The failure began to recur intermittently while driving or stopped. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the crank shaft sensor was replaced. The failure continued to recur intermittently. The failure mileage was 160,000 and the current mileage was 160,050. The VIN was unavailable.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #15

Oct 102009

Grand Cherokee

  • 200,000 miles

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

Car stalls when driving with no warning. Have taken it to the dealership and they have not found the problem. It continues to stall no matter the weather or how long have driven the car. It does not give you a warning of the stall. The car stop while turning or just driving on the freeway (highway) at any speed. I have been very luck and not gotten killed. Due to the car stalling on the freeway. And from the internet information there are alot of Grand Cherokee out there having the same stalling problem. Hope that nobody has to die before this issue is addressed. There was a recall regarding the stall problem for the 2008 cars but it should of been done for the cars from 1996 to 2008. Due to having the same stalling problems.

- Ontario, CA, USA

problem #14

Aug 312009

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee ran over me.

- Carencro, LA, USA

problem #13

Oct 232009

Grand Cherokee

  • 156,000 miles
My 98 jgc started stalling randomly; on acceleration, deceleration, highway, stoplights, etc. It would always start back up and run again, but the stalling would happen at any time. No codes would register either. The dealer tried replacing the idle air control motor and ignition coil ($300), but the problem continued. I replaced the ignition wires, distributor cap, spark plugs, and throttle position sensor but still the same.. when this occurs the electrical system would drop out momentarily. Also, when the asd drops out, there are no computer codes registered. They also cleaned the contacts on all the relays under the hood and coating with di-electric grease. This did not help either.

- Woodstock, GA, USA

problem #12

Apr 092009

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
Yesterday, April 8th 2009, I drove to class and there were no problems or signs of them. After 1 hour, I started the car, which started fine, and began to drive back home. At a stop light 2 minutes after leaving, I press the gas, and the car seemed to stall, as if the engine was giving way or stumbling. This happened about 4 times, getting very close to stalling. The following day, today, April 9th, after leaving the car off for the night, it started perfectly. 2 minutes later, at a stop light, it lost all power. It had trouble turning over the first two attempts, but the third time it started perfectly. After that, I began driving again and in the middle of the road while driving, again the car lost all power. I was in the middle of traffic and put the car into neutral, tried to start it again. The first couple attempts the engine didn't turn over, but again, when it did start, it started perfectly. This happened a couple more times. After leaving again, it was about 20 minutes after ignition that when on a main road, it did not stall completely, but was like it was starting/trying to. It stumbled and jerked roughly. After that, it drove rough, before I returned home and turned it off. I am afraid that if I am on a highway or main road, this will happen again at a higher speed, causing an accident/harm to me/drivers around me. I have searched everywhere for any information on how to fix this, and many other Jeep owner have the same problem, and have spent thousands of dollars and been told by numerous mechanics they can not find the problem.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #11

Aug 052008

Grand Cherokee

  • 170,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. While driving approximately 55 mph on normal road conditions, the engine stalled without warning. The check engine warning indicator illuminated intermittently on the instrument panel. The engine restarted after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing and they replaced the crank and oxygen sensors. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic on three separate occasions for the identical failures, but there were no resolutions. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 170,000 and current mileage was 183,000.

- Chatsworth, GA, USA

problem #10

Mar 032008

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
Jeep stalls intermittently, , sometimes without any warning, causing steering wheel to lock up (almost caused and accident). Have taken to two mechanics who couldn't get the Jeep to "replicate" the problem. It also was cutting out on me while I was driving, ,that since has stopped with installation of new computer. Changed crank sensor, ignition coil, tune up, ,, and there computers (will have a 4th one installed this week. Chrysler is ignoring this problem. There are many others with the same problem and its costing people so much money. And the accident factor is high. Please make them do something about this!!

- Katy, TX, USA

problem #9

Dec 012008

Grand Cherokee

  • 137,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. While driving approximately 20 mph, the vehicle completely shut off. The failure occurred over ten times leaving the contact with no power. An independent mechanic could not find the cause of the failure. The second time the failure occurred, the mechanic insisted that the asd relay and ignition coil needed to be replaced. After replacing the asd relay and ignition coil, the failure recurred. The latest occurrence was when she drove from a parking lot and tried to drive forward and the vehicle shut off. The dealer or manufacturer have not been notified. The current and failure mileages were approximately 137,000. Updated 020209 updated 02/03/09.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #8

May 112008

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 97,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact noticed that the vehicle would stall and completely shut down, usually while in traffic. The failure also occurred while idling. The most recent failure occurred while driving approximately 20 mph and various low speeds. The contact left several messages with a dealer, but received no return call. The manufacturer has not been notified. The current mileage was approximately 98,400 and failure mileage was approximately 97,000. Updated 11/6/08 the vehicle also stalled while in idle. Updated 11/10/08.

- Venice, CA, USA

problem #7

Apr 232008

Grand Cherokee 8-cyl

  • 100,000 miles
My vehicle was sitting in the parking lot of central Maine community college after having been parked for over an hour self combusted into flames.the aubrn firedepartment informed me that they had seen at least a half a dozen of this vehicle self combust as mine had.

- Mechanic Falls, ME, USA

problem #6

Oct 242007

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
Was driving on the highway. At about 65mph, the engine started revving from 3500 RPM all the way to 6000 RPM, but the speed didn't increase at all. Took the car to the shop and the mechanic said they ran a full diagnostics check and found nothing wrong with the Cherokee. So I drove the Jeep for another month until it died on one early morning. I went to start the Jeep just like every morning, but this time the engine won't even turn or make a sound. The gauges indicators went beserks and bottomed out at the max. It looks like an electrical problem. I have yet to find out what exactly is wrong with the Jeep when I take it in to the dealer today.

- Wausau, WI, USA

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