Window Regulator Failed Problems of Jeep Grand Cherokee

2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee window regulators fail without warning and window falls into door.

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My window regulators keep failing one at a time in my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The first time it happened on a major highway and there was a loud bang in which I thought I hit something. Then my window fell in the door providing me no protection on I-95. Most recently, in June 2009, my passenger window failed during a major electrical storm (evening of June 11, 2009 in wilmington, DE) leaving myself and car soaked with no protection.

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Three of four power window regulators have failed suddenly and without notice, all within a year of each other with the most recent being last week. Each time it occurs, there is a popping sound followed by the window dropping into the door. I have so far been fortunate to only have this happen when driving at speeds <30mph and without my child or dog being in the vehicle; however, there's still that 4th window with the same faulty plastic component that has been failing. I replaced the first window regulator at full cost at the dealership when it happened last year. When the second one went out, I didn't fix it because of the cost and the fact that it was a rear window. After the third one failed, I got suspicious. The service manager at the local dealership has stated that he has seen this issue on numerous occasions mostly with the liberty model, but on the Grand Cherokee as well. It is obvious that Chrysler is aware of the issue; however, each agent I spoke with on their help line tried to downplay the issue like it was a freak occurrence and that there was no reason for a recall. Based on the research I'm now seeing online and the comments from the service manager, I know this is not the case.

In the fall of 2008, my son and my wife exited the front of the vehicle and closed their doors. Within a second or two, both of them heard a bang but saw nothing wrong, as they were both at the front of the vehicle and unable to see their side windows. After returning to the vehicle, my son noticed his window was not up as he had left it. He was unable to raise the window normally so a cold trip home followed. A quick investigation revealed a failed window regulator. Since I was not going to pay someone a ridiculous amount to replace the part, I did it myself after finding a window regulator at a local parts store. Since the vehicle was not operating when the failure of the window regulator occurred, safety was not an issue relative to operation. However, since the failure was undetected at the time, or if it had happened after walking away from the vehicle, there was obviously a safety issue relative to an unsecured vehicle. The vehicle was open to anyone or anything wanting to enter it. It also created a potential for further damage from inclement weather. In August 2009, the driver side window regulator failed. The driver and front passenger side windows had been lowered to help cool the inside prior to driving. When the windows were raised, only the front passenger window responded. The driver side window would not raise. The vehicle was driven home where I replaced the window regulator. The same part failed in both instances. This part is obviously insufficient for its purpose. A failure of the window regulator and subsequent dropping window could easily cause enough distraction to initiate a moving incident. Whoever owns the Jeep trademark these days needs to fix this problem and issue a recall before there is an accident, a driver returns to a ransacked vehicle or worse, there is a car jacking by an unknown and uninvited passenger.

While driving home last year I rolled my driver side window up and heard a loud bang. I at first thought that someone had hit my vehicle with a large rock but then the window dropped down into the door. When I got home, I went online and found quite a few complaints about the window regulators failing in Chrysler Grand Cherokees and the fact that Chrysler is aware of the issue but refuses to cover the repair. I also found that these problems could have been prevented if they'd just used a 25 cent piece of metal instead of the plastic piece they used. Because I could not afford the $400 + it would cost to have this repaired, I found the instructions online and bought the replacement regulator and replaced it myself. However, all the complaints I read about say that all the windows will fail at some point. I have neither the time or even the money to get them all replaced. I think this is something that Chrysler should address. Had I been on the interstate when this happened, it quite possible that the bang of the piece failing would have been enough to cause me distraction and lead to an accident.