2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Nov 30, 2015 · Acceleration, Electrical · 64,000 miles · NJ

Jeep accelerated without stepping on gas. Accelerator cable did not seem to operate smoothly, when applying, felt somewhat "rough/nothy" owner agreed to change as suggested. Cable changed total $477.39 in 5/2010.this time car was towed to jeep dealer. C. Stated jeep accelerated on its own, towed in. Jan. 13,11 jeep towed in to jeep dealer for bucking and accelerating on its own, no issue was found. May 13,11 towed into jeep dealer, changed several components and $1,074.68, never had a definite answer, and after each incident took its toll on my nerves, scared to death to drive my jeep, which I purchased to make our family safe. Fast forward, 11/23/2015 this jeep once again started accelerating and racing in park and with the hand brake up. My jeep has 64,k and is taken care of, looks great. But, once again I cannot risk putting my family or myself in it to drive. I have found numerous stories like this and some a lot worse. My instincts were to just shut the engine off and I did all4 times over the years. I am now on a fixed income and would love to be happy and keep this jeep grand cheroee but, I can no longer take this chance. I would love to know how many people must die or how many accidents have to happen before chrysler wakes up and recalls, I'm guessing they don't really know what to fix. I also had problems with my tail lights and had repairs several time, when I got a ticket after it was already fixed a few times I had to pay. Failed nj inspection 1 time due to what they called a wig wag, which jeeps are know for, who out there is on the consumers side, no one it appears. No recalls on this this but, they will get back to me on a passenger restraint module, maybe next year 2016, if we are lucky. All 4 times the vehicle was being driven and the only thing that worked was shutting off the engine using the key. My vehicle must be safe for grandchild.

Filed Jul 11, 2013 · Acceleration · 174,000 miles · SC · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that while parking, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into a car port. The contact sustained mouth and knee injuries, and was transported to the hospital for treatment. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostics. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 174,000.

Filed Jul 7, 2011 · Acceleration · 134,500 miles · OR

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, it suddenly accelerated while in reverse. The contact applied the brakes to stop the vehicle. The contact has not taken the vehicle to a dealer. The contact called the manufacturer regarding the sudden acceleration and they stated that there is no recall on the vehicle. The contact stated the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The failure mileage was 134,500.

Filed Apr 12, 2010 · Acceleration · 77,575 miles · MO · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 jeep grand cherokee. The contact was driving approximately 5 MPH attempting to park the vehicle and a sudden acceleration occurred which caused the vehicle to crash into a pole. The engine was turned off and restarted. There was no personal injury. The vehicle sustained damages to the driver side front bumper. The police was not called to the scene. The vehicle resumed normal operation. The failure mileage was 77,575.

Filed Mar 3, 2010 · Acceleration · 53,000 miles · NY

When preparing to go through a car wash, I was given an announcement relating to sudden acceleration relating to "some jeep and toyotas". Being a jeep owner, I contacted a jeep dealer. They have heard nothing of this and do not have a recall for it. I have experienced the sudden acceleration twice..

Filed Oct 26, 2009 · Transmission · 59,500 miles · CO · crash

I was pulling up to the curb at a shopping center and my 2004 jeep grand cherokee overland suddenly jumped the curb, knocked down a large concrete planter and took out a light pole. The brake would not override the sudden acceleration. Luckily, no one was on the sidewalk. This information was reported to the local jeep dealer and to chrysler corporation but they are not admitting their is a problem. The damage to my jeep has been fixed but now I am afraid to drive it.

Filed Oct 18, 2009 · Transmission · 45,000 miles · PA · crash

2004 jeep grand cherokee. Started engine, with foot on brake, put transmission in drive. The car suddenly accelerated, couldn't stop it and it rear-ended another vehicle. This was in a shopping mall parking lot.

Filed Mar 29, 2009 · Acceleration · 57,400 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

Unintended acceleration of 2004 v8 jeep grand cherokee, when shifting the gear to park from neutral, after the vehicle had come to a stop, the car accelerated and shot though a fence with the foot was still pressed hard on the brake but the engine accelerated and stopped after hitting a tree stump missing the house.

Filed Aug 6, 2008 · Acceleration · 83,600 miles · PA · crash · 1 injury

Jeep accident as result of unintended acceleration: I drove up driveway to put 2004 jeep grand cherokee overland in garage (normal daily activity). Electricity was out from a storm so the automatic garage door opener did not operate. I parked in front of the bay, put the car in park, turned off the engine and opened the garage door manually. I got back in the vehicle, started the engine, put it in drive and started slowly into the garage. I wanted to reposition the car, so I applied the brakes and was about to put it in reverse when, suddenly, the engine revved and the car shot forward like a torpedo. I had my foot plastered on the brake but the car would not stop and plowed into a garden tractor at the back of the garage. I tried to put it in park to stop it, but with the engine still revving, the car shot backwards out of the garage, across 37 feet of driveway, climbed over a low stone wall and went another 2 feet before slamming into the fieldstone bay window of our house, finally stopping. All of this happened within seconds. The brakes would not stop the car in either direction, and it accelerated at a frightening speed. When the car sped forward, it destroyed the tractor and threw it into another car parked in the garage. It also cracked the back block wall of the garage and did other property damage. When it went backwards, it hit the house so hard that it bowed the fieldstone front of the house, split drywall, damaged studs, etc. My husband got in the vehicle to move it, using the emergency brake to stop it. He said the brakes were very spongy and close to the floor. The next morning, pedal pressure was better and by two days later, the pedal pressure had improved even more. Total damage is still being computed, but the jeep has been totaled, the other car in the garage sustained $2,000 in damages and other damage to the garage, house and property is well in excess of $20,000.

Filed Jan 17, 2008 · Acceleration, Electrical · 25,000 miles · FL

I own a 2004 jeep grand cherokee limited......I took my car in for the seat heater recall and since then I have terrible problems with the sudden acceleration of the car....(700rpms to 1800) I constantly have to push the brake down and be very conscious of keeping my foot on the brake. The check engine light then came on with a p0505 code. Air intake sensor. Well a new one was put in and the problem was not resolved. The mechanic could not control the idle even with the diagnostic computer attached to it. It was found that two wires on the wiring harness were shorting out and melting......then after driving approx 1200 miles the idle starts jumping again.....the check engine light come on about two days later......then within the same day the idle calms down and the check engine light goes off. I have paid lots of money to have this repaired.....I believe that there is a short somewhere from the seat heater recall since the car did not do this prior to having the dealership fix the seat heater with the recall. I really like my car when the idle is right ........I am not comfortable having anyone else drive it due to this issue and do not always feel safe when the acceleration goes wild.....please help.....this is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed quickly before other people get hurt or killed.

Filed May 21, 2007 · Engine · 33,010 miles · SC

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 jeep grand cherokee. While making a left turn at 45 MPH, the vehicle accelerated without warning. The vehicle would not stop when the brakes were depressed. The contact was finally able to decelerate and turned the vehicle off. The failure was due to the throttle cable becoming stuck. The vehicle operated normally once the throttle cable was released. The vehicle was driven to a repair shop where it is currently being diagnosed. The purchase date was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 33,010.

Filed Jan 31, 2007 · Acceleration · 39,577 miles · NJ

Tl* - the contact owns a 2004 jeep cherokee. The contacts vehicle accelerated without warning. The contact was unable to engage the brakes, which almost caused a collision on the highway. No matter how hard he applied the brakes the vehicle would not stop immediately. This failure occurred on two occasions. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer, who stated that the gas pedal and brake pedal were too close together and he was engaging both at one time. The contact stated that the failure was due to the vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal. The contact had spoken to several owners and they are experienced the same failure. The failure occurs occasionally in the morning. *ak updated 08/13/07