VehicleVerdict

1997 Jeep Cherokee engine problems

The 1997 Jeep Cherokee has 54 engine complaints filed with NHTSA — 11% of the year's total, and roughly flat versus the prior model year.

54

Engine complaints

11%

Share of year

5

Crash-involved

0

Related recalls

Engine complaints by year

Cherokee engine complaints by model year522 complaints1984: 2 complaints1985: 2 complaints1986: 1 complaints1987: 9 complaints1988: 9 complaints1989: 21 complaints1990: 35 complaints1991: 23 complaints1992: 11 complaints1993: 40 complaints1994: 87 complaints1995: 151 complaints1996: 64 complaints1997: 54 complaints1998: 35 complaints1999: 44 complaints2000: 82 complaints2001: 51 complaints2006: 2 complaints2014: 522 complaints2015: 373 complaints2016: 319 complaints2017: 262 complaints2018: 159 complaints2019: 461 complaints2020: 39 complaints2021: 22 complaints2022: 7 complaints2026: 1 complaints
Cherokee engine complaints by model year. Red bars are years to avoid.

What owners report

“ENGINE LOST ALL POWER, CAUSING MULTIPLE NEAR REAR END COLLISIONS. DIAGNOSTICS INDICATED IN CHRYSLER SERVICE MANUAL POSTED "55" (END OF MIL CODES) INDICATING NO FAILED COMPONENTS. SERVICE STATION REPLACED O2 SENSOR AND CLEANED SUBSEQUENT IMPACTS TO FUEL INJECTORS. PER CHRYSLER SERVICE MANUAL, O2…”

Complaint filed with NHTSA · Engine · March 10, 2001 · crash

Common questions

How many engine complaints does the 1997 Jeep Cherokee have?

NHTSA has 54 complaints about the 1997 Jeep Cherokee engine — 11% of all complaints filed for that model year.

Related

Based on NHTSA ODI data through June 2026. Complaints are consumer-reported and unverified. Updated July 5, 2026.

Compiled by Sharon Ben-Moshe, Founder.