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.
1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee steering complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 47, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* 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.
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that the steering box failed while the contact was driving, causing difficulty in maneuvering the steering wheel. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact spoke with the manufacturer and was advised that there were no recalls for the vehicle and provided no further assistance. The failure and the current mileage was 147,000.
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.
1997 jeep grand cherokee. Turning vehicle in drive. Steering box securing bolts sheared. Result total loss of steering potential for crash and deaths. One bracket on the steering box casting had failed and been undetected for some time. Replaced steering box.
97 jeep cheeroke tsi, power steering pump bracket broke. Resulting in loss of steering control. Vehicle then goes to battery drain to keep engine running. This loss can result in accident or death. There was no sold associated with the break that could be heard from inside the vehicle.
My wife started the car and began to back out of her parking space. She suddenly found that she could not turn the steering wheel and warning lights on the dash board started to go on. If this had occurred while driving at highway speeds, she most likely would have lost control of the vehicle and crashed. When I checked, I found that the cast aluminum bracket holding the power steering pump had broken in 3 places, allowing the serpentine belt to fall off. Examination of the fractures showed that one was much older than the others, suggesting that the bracket had broken in one place much earlier and that the first break had increased the strain on other parts of the bracket, resulting in the eventual total failure. When I replaced the bracket, I noted that manufacturer had increased the thickness of the reinforcing ribs in the casting and added a new rib in the area where the older fracture had occurred. The dealer parts clerk also anticipated which engine option I had in the vehicle when I told him the model and the part I needed, and indicated that the dealership had around 30 pieces of the replacement part in stock. Since the manufacturer clearly knows that this part is defective and since the failure of the part has the potential to cause a catastrophic accident, this really should be the subject of a recall. It is possible that major crashes have been caused by this failure without being attributed to it since a frontal impact to the vehicle would also be likely to break this bracket, obscuring the fact that the bracket broke prior to impact. Other model years with this engine and other engine options in this model year have the power steering pump bolted directly to the engine block (no bracket required). The purpose of this bracket appears to be to allow the use of the same power steering pump on two different engine options (reducing cost).
While driving 70 MPH the steering became very hard to maneuver all of a sudden. The dealer states that the bearing for the power steering malfunctioned. Please provide additional information.
When making left turns at low speeds the steering locked up and would not move any further to the left. This problem is intermittent. *ak
Power steering pump bracket broke in half making the vehicle very difficult to control. Because of the broken bracket the fan belt came off so there was no cooling system or alternator and the vehicle overheated almost immediately. Was able to get the vehicle off the road and had to be towed to a repair shop.
Rattling in front end over minor bumps. Shocks already replaced, front-end checks out by mechanic. Also, popping and slipping of front-end into turns at slow speeds and right after a turn. It sounds dangerously like front-end is going to fall apart. I heard it's expensive and everything checks out so I desperately need help before I discard the vehicle altogether.
The bolt in the steering gear box fell out while driving.*ak
Consumer stated that when vehicle was in park on a hill the vehicle came out of park causing the vehicle to roll back. Dealer notified. Ts
Took in to delaer for a recall b02 secondary detent system on floor system, after recall was performed, now there is a shimmey that was not there before recall was done. Cause is unknown. Please provide any further information. Mr
While driving and without warning power steering pulley and shaft diconnected from power steering pump, causing complete power steering failure. *ak
No summary listed for abov evehicle.
Consumer states the rear axle bearing was replaced, and now a front differential is needed.
Bracket that holds steering pump broke, causing loss of steering. Dealer has repaired vehicle.*ak due to the faulty bracket, dealer had to replace the tensioner and serpenetine belt also.
While driving down a steep hill, vehicle began to shimmy, brakes locked, and consumer had no control of vehicle, it was determined by a mechanic that vehicle contained two cracked axles on the front end, trac bar was replaced, as well as wheel bearings.
Catastrophic failure of pwer steering pump mounting bracket at interstate speed, suddenly loss of power steering, power brakes, engine cooling and alternator...everything in the belt drive on the front of the engine. Nearly lost control of car, managed to get off highway. Repaired by dealer, head tech said "I see them all the time, chrysler won't do anything about the bracket, still using it depite numerous failures. Been the same for 5 or 6 years now." is this a $35,000 car made of junk at american tax-payer expense(remember the big government handout to chrysler)? And, chrysler consumer complaint bureau basically said, "too bad. Your problem, not ours."
Bracket attaching power steering pump broke off while driving, making the car virtually mpossible to steer. Similar problem reported on this vehicle type on jeep owner related I-net sites.
Vehicle was being towed by a motorhome, once stopped consumer noticed steering had locked up and destroyed tires. *ak
The power steering pump bracket broke and ruined the power steering pump in the process. Nlm
While driving lost power steering, and it was very hard to steer. Vehicle was taken to dealer for repairs, and they replaced the power steering pump mounting bracket.
While traveling 50-55 MPH in rain vehicle skidded out of control, resulting in an accident. Upon impact, airbags did not deploy without indication . Please provide further information.
Light bulb failed on the front panel. Nlm
Vehicle pulls to the right. Fuel pump went out.
Air leak in the passenger door, unable to be rectified. Mjs
The fuel sending unit replaced 4 times(car stops in traffic),power steering pulley disentigrated while driving(had no steering), front and rear axles have been rebuilt or replaced 2times,transmission has been replaced,transfer case has been replaced,air conditioning condenser and hoses replaced 3times,and numerous other problems......
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