14 problems related to steering have been reported for the 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
While traveling at highway speed a total/violent loss of steering control occurred causing vehicle to slam into the left guard rail and spin out. Anti lock brakes have also gone out on this vehicle causing another issue and expensive repair. The transmission has gone out and has been expensively replaced. This is a dangerous lemon.
While driving on the interstate, I hit a bump and my Jeep started shaking violently. I had to pull off the side of the road to make it stop. Every time I hit a small bump this happens only going above 55. Hitting the brakes does not work, you have to slow down to about 40 to get it to stop. This is unsafe when you are on a highway and the speed limit is 65 or 70.
When driving over a big puddle of water the steering became unresponsive. Display panel said "check battery". Slowed down and finally pulled over. After a few minutes it was fine. Went down the road again and hit a big puddle. Steering again became unresponsive. Luckily not many cars around and I was on a side street. Mechanic can not locate the problem as there has been no rain lately to try and dupilicate. I fear a major or fatal accident is forth coming.
The contact owns a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. While traveling approximately 50 mph, there was a violent shaking and vibration that was progressing in the front of the vehicle without warning. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop who replaced the front ball joints and the failure recurred with extreme wobbling and the front suspension was unstable. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled several and then the contact was able to restart the engine. The contact stated that a technician drove the vehicle and indicated that there was an extreme case of wobbling and that the vehicle was not safe to drive and needed to be further diagnosed and repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.
I have contacted your office before following the Jan. 24,2014 crash that took my wife. On the vehicle indicated, it was equipped with michelin tires noted during the period before the recall this year. I had contacted you earlier about the air bags on a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee that failed to deploy in this crash. Could you please get back to me to discuss this latest development in what could have caused the death of my wife. Thank you very much.
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.
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.
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.
Driving down road and our 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee veered to right without being able to control the steering. Our car hit another car causing major damage to the parked car and totalling our car. Upon inspection, the steering knuckle and spindle had broke.
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.
When making left turns at low speeds the steering locked up and would not move any further to the left. This problem is intermittent.
Vehicle was being towed by a motorhome, once stopped consumer noticed steering had locked up and destroyed tires.
The problem is a sudden loss of steering control when the right wheels drive over periodically spaced bumps in road (like road repairs) at 55 mph. Whole vehicle shakes in an increasingly stronger harmonic, until driver brakes to about 20 mph. There is no problem at 40 mph, and no problem with road repair that are not periodically spaced. Has happened 3 times in same road section, and the effect verified by an engineer. Jeep contacted - they refused to take a report (but I will try again in writing). This is a road hazard. We speculate the problem may be in the abs faulty slip sensing, differential slip transmission control, or steering system.
The steering damper, pinion seal , and crush sleeve were replaced.