Any of You with a New 2014 Jeep Cherokee have Engine Problems?

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Just read the following article about Cars.com's long term 2014 Jeep Cherokee needing a new engine after just 13,300 miles. It goes into detail as to what they ended up finding and was wondering if any of you out there with one of these new Cherokees have had similar issues.

Cars.com's Long-Term 2014 Jeep Cherokee Needed A New Engine
By Patrick George

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One of the reasons I like Cars.com's Kicking Tires blog is that they actually purchase the vehicles in their long-term test fleet rather than borrow them for extended periods from car companies. That approach is a little more honest, and it comes away with a more realistic ownership experience than you can get in a press car. But their 2014 Jeep Cherokee came with an unexpected surprise right before the holidays.

The site bought their Cherokee new back in March for just under $34,000. Nine months and only 13,300 miles later, the SUV needed a brand-new engine, which was replaced under warranty.

Problems can arise even with brand-new cars. Sometimes they're glitches on new models, sometimes they're recall-related, or sometimes they're just caused by faulty parts outside of the manufacturer's control; the 2015 Lincoln MKC I had last week just got sidelined by a dead battery despite only 7,000 miles on the odometer.

But needing a whole new engine? That's a pretty extreme case for sure. The site reports they brought their Cherokee to a dealer after experiencing multiple stalls on its 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. Here's what the tech found:

Excessive amounts of oil had crept into the intake side of the engine, coating the intake manifold, hoses and an engine management sensor. We're not talking about a light coating of oil residue. Oil drained from the intake manifold partially filled a cereal-bowl-sized plastic dish.

The Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor, a vacuum sensor mounted to the intake manifold that's used to communicate fueling information to the engine's computer, was also covered in oil, as were the insides of the engine's crankcase ventilation hoses. Our Cherokee's engine was approximately 2.5 quarts low from the manufacturer-required 5.5-quart capacity.

Not a pleasant thing to contemplate. After multiple tests Mopar techs determined the car was "charting new ground in Cherokee breakage" and experiencing a pretty unprecedented problem. Later testing indicated a lower than expected compression in one of the cylinders. The decision was then made to replace the engine entirely.

Granted, it's a rare and extreme case, according to both Fiat Chrysler and J.D. Power and Associates. At the moment Fiat Chrysler is unaware of other issues affecting the 2.4-liter engine, but the site recommends that anyone who experiences stalling and a check engine light to take their vehicle to a dealer ASAP, obviously.

The 2014 Cherokee has been subject to two recalls this year per NHTSA's site (like everything else these days, it seems) but never for a problem along these lines.

Have any Cherokee owners here experienced problems with their new SUVs?

You can read all about it here:
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/cars-...cherokee-needed-a-new-eng-1674623775/+pgeorge
 

JKWrang

New member
First ive heard of major ENGINE issues. Weve had a plethora of transmission related issues from bad grounds to ECM to Transmission communication failures and poorly programmed shift points.

But this is definitely a first. Thanks for the heads up
 

DirtDevil63

New member
No surprise here.We have a 14 GC. Its been back 5 times for trans reprograms, the uconnect screen was replaced twice, the cluster has gone black twice. The heated seats stuck on hot in the summer and wouldnt shut off. The button part of the radio would change channels by itself when it hit bumps. The knob would actually turn when hitting bumps. The ocs was recalled for pretentioners and air bags not working when in an accident. The brake booster has been replaced because of premature rust (recall). New booster and shield. The wiring for something in the headliner would catch fire (recall). Now there is an alternator recall that it stops working and/or catches fire. Now I hear a lower engine knock. Ill let it explode before I bring it back.. And thats just the GC. My Wrangler is even a better story for another time.
It doesnt surprise me that Fiat is not reliable and then creating a jeep out of it.
I cant understand why so many gears in these transmissions before its redundant. I understand EPA regulations but its really starting to get ridiculous. I doesnt help either that the fuel that we are putting in these cars is grown in a field.
Didnt mean to thread hijack but this stuff is happening to a lot of other brands and worse in some cases. But media outlets "cant" say bad things about them. Didnt hear to much about the TT 3.0 BMW engines exploding did you?
 

ClarksAdventures

New member
My brother bought a trailhawk a few months ago. They've been in love with it during the Montana winters. He says it runs like a champ.
 

07sgt0720

New member
I am a tech at a large Chrysler/Jeep/Fiat dealership in NC. Personally I haven't seen engine issues that wood make me worry. Transmission issues on the other hand have been terrible. We have had multiple brand new Cherokees come off the truck with bad transmissions. The 9 speeds are having terrible issues in Chrysler products.
 

aermotor

Member
That's a wild read. Interested to hear how that plays out.

I just bought a used 2014 Overland with 19K miles and the 5.7 Hemi :thankyou: and I couldn't be happier.
 
The wife has a v6 trailhawk and short of me wanting to shoot the transmission for weird shifting its been ok on the engine.

Short of a pentastar tick that has me waiting for the motor to go. Good thing it has a warranty.
 

jk12blk

New member
I am a tech at a large Chrysler/Jeep/Fiat dealership in NC. Personally I haven't seen engine issues that wood make me worry. Transmission issues on the other hand have been terrible. We have had multiple brand new Cherokees come off the truck with bad transmissions. The 9 speeds are having terrible issues in Chrysler products.
I think it was on edmunds or autotrader where I read about the transmissions issues recently WRT new Cherokees. One reviewer had commented the factory fix was some type of update which disabled second gear. I don't know if that is true, but I find it hard to believe. How is that a fix? :crazyeyes: People seemed pretty upset and there is probably not much a dealer can do until someone buys the jeep and it's covered under warranty.
 

07sgt0720

New member
Lol. There is a recall. R05. It includes a flash of the TCM and PCM. It in now way, shape, or form disables second gear lol.
 

jk12blk

New member
Lol. There is a recall. R05. It includes a flash of the TCM and PCM. It in now way, shape, or form disables second gear lol.
Good to know as we are considering the Cherokee as a possible addition. I was crackin up when I read the post about disabling 2nd gear. lol. thanks!
 
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