2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee transmission problems

POWER TRAIN

On November 23, 2025, I was driving approximately 60 mph in the middle lane of I-495 near Exit 62 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, with a passenger in the vehicle. I signaled to change lanes to pass a slower vehicle, selected Sport Mode, and accelerated. The engine RPM increased sharply and, almost immediately, I heard an extremely loud bang from the engine area. Multiple warning lights began flashing on the instrument panel, the vehicle made abnormal noises, and the engine lost power. The loss of propulsion was immediate while I was traveling at highway speed. Because that section of I-495 slopes slightly downhill and I was already close to Exit 62, the vehicle's momentum allowed me to reach the exit and pull onto the shoulder. Had this occurred in heavier traffic or in a location without a safe shoulder or exit nearby, the sudden loss of propulsion could have resulted in a collision. The vehicle became inoperable and required towing. It was later inspected by an authorized Jeep dealership. The dealer documented a hole in the side of the engine with engine fluid leaking out and determined that the engine requires replacement. The vehicle had approximately 94,298 miles at the time of the incident and had been regularly maintained. The same vehicle had previously experienced a significant engine problem in 2023 at approximately 67,987 miles, involving white smoke, a head gasket leak affecting cylinder 5, and replacement of the cylinder head. I am reporting this because the catastrophic engine failure caused a sudden and complete loss of propulsion at highway speed. The vehicle and failed engine remain available for inspection.

NHTSA complaint #11757968 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

My 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee just completely lost power again and almost got hit by the car following me. Almost got hit again coasting to the side of the road! This has happened before and the repair shop tried updating software which did not fix it. Why was the 2017 not included in your recall of the Power Transfer Case? Repair shop diagnosed problem the last time it happened as the PTC! I am an Attorney and want this included in your 2019-2023 recall! Please do not force me to file a lawsuit to fix this safety issue!

NHTSA complaint #11737363 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into park(P) to exit the vehicle, the vehicle started moving backwards down the slanted driveway. The contact depressed the brake pedal, and the vehicle stopped. The contact then started the vehicle and shifted into park(P). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. On another occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed or while the vehicle was stopped, the vehicle hesitated and jerked while shifting from a lower to a higher gear. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V011000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 76,000.

NHTSA complaint #11727231 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Vehicle head gasket blown. Stated by mechanic that this is a chronic problem with model due to cylinder head warming and gasket failure. Shortly after repaired the left rear Factory OEM rocker arm broke and damaged one of the overhead cams. Again stated by mechanic that this is a common problem due to known oiling problems with this model. Repaired once again. Vehicle drove less than 500 miles before complete engine failure. Also stated by mechanic as well as multiple online forums that Jeep stoped recalls for these problems because they had become to widespread. They were only willing to repair if the vehicle was still within factory warranty.

NHTSA complaint #11724173 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

There have been several issues that have occured over the course of the last 3-4 years . Just this winter alone , i have had my 4wd serv needed maintenance , the air conditioning doest get cold the heater doesnt heat up , i have checkee fluids && cleaned necessary components , i have checked all fuses . My vehicle seems to start most of it's issues once the temperature starts to his below 30degrees F . Tthermostat , ABS light had just turned on recently , unable to add gasoline to tank .airbag light for service , changed both batteries but no changes in performance, tire pressure sensor does not read even with correct amoount, parking sensor , rear view camera visibility blurry , driver side window rolls up with down && down for up . Power loss , battery drainage , headlight harness wont allow any bulb to light up , . I have done all necessary procedures in order to verify all issues , scanner wont reset or delete any old codes . Battery removal has no effeft in change . All these mechnical , electrical && suspensiom issues , have occured making vehicle unoperable through out majority of the year . About 6-8 months out of 12 . Way too many issues for me to rememeber , let alone list on here . The whole vehicle has unfortunately been nothing but a big maintainence issue .

NHTSA complaint #11711061 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

I used my cruise control on the highway and once I turned it off my Jeep began vibrating a lot. My Jeep now vibrates all of the time when I accelerate. I took it to the shop and had over $2,200 in work done and they are unable to find the specific reason that it is vibrating when I accelerate and stated it likely to due to something with the transfer case. After hours of non stop research I discovered that the issue that I am having is exactly like the Stellantis 01C issue but I am not finding my Jeep under the recall list. I also had an issue where my oil cooler housing unit was cracked and had to be replaced because it is made out of plastic.

NHTSA complaint #11709547 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 15 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal sound and was stuck in first gear. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed, and determined that an unknown internal transmission part needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.

NHTSA complaint #11707626 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while accelerating from a complete stop at a stop sign at approximately 5 MPH, the contact heard an abnormally loud banging sound followed by an abnormal grinding sound coming from underneath the vehicle, near the driver's feet. The vehicle then shifted to neutral and failed to move. The contact was able to turn off the vehicle after disconnecting the ECM. The contact was able to push the vehicle to the side of the road with assistance, and the vehicle was left on the side of the road overnight. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the sheer pins and the power transfer unit (PTU) connection had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V011000 (Power Train). The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

NHTSA complaint #11701429 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Defect in transmission causing a total replacement to be needed. Jeep is aware of issue and is changing the way they’re built but not recalling.

NHTSA complaint #11697742 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While driving, my car stopped and on the dashboard was a message that said shift to p. This happened 2x in a week.

NHTSA complaint #11693218 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving out of the driveway, the transmission unexpectedly shifted into neutral. The shift to park message was displayed on the screen. The shifter became stuck and failed to shift to park(P). The vehicle was restarted. While driving 55 MPH, the message “Shift to Park" was displayed. The "Vehicle was at too high a Speed" message was displayed. The vehicle failed to shift into park. The vehicle failed to move. The drive warning light was flashing, accompanied by an abnormal dinging sound. Upon further research, the contact was able to link the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V011000 (Power Train). The contact called the local dealer, who confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.

NHTSA complaint #11691554 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

I was taking my daughter to school and we were stopped at a light when the check engine light came on. When the light turned green and I pressed the gas the vehicle didn’t seem to respond at all and I rolled my car at the right turn and parked it. I turned it off and back on and it was still doing the same thing. I had someone pick up my daughter and take her to school. I started scheduling a tow but after it sat for a while it was able to drive to a shop for inspection where they tested it and received the error code: P076F = Gear 7 incorrect ratio. I was told the entire engine needs to be replaced. The vehicle has low mileage. Our safety was at risk because I had no warning to get the car to the shop before a major malfunction. I was very fortunate my car was stopped at the time. If I was waiting at a left turn in an intersection we could have had a terrible collision. The exact problem has not been reproduced. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer.

NHTSA complaint #11691345 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving 45-50 MPH, the “Service 4WD” message was displayed and flashing on and off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the transfer case needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 116,387.

NHTSA complaint #11689117 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The PTU (transfer case) is not working. It started as more of a transmission issue. I would be driving at times and my transmission would not shift up. I had to manually shift my car to get it into gear. Now, it lead to knocking noises when I turn my steering wheel.

NHTSA complaint #11687811 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle jerked, and the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. In addition, the contact stated there was an abnormal sound coming from the power train. The message "Transmission Overheated" was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal before the vehicle stalled. Additionally, there was an abnormal sound coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that the gear shift lever failed to operate as intended. The message "Transmission Overheated" was displayed. The contact waited until the transmission had cooled down and the vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was able to drive to the residence, but was driving roughly. A mobile mechanic arrived at the residence and diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact parked the vehicle out of safety concerns. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 181,000.

NHTSA complaint #11684574 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Unknown or uncertain about needing a recall. Recently my car has been having trouble with acceleration in the sense that either it will lag or stall out and at times will give acceleration even without me trying to depress the gas harder. It sputters like it either cannot get gas or the fuel system is faulty, it keeps throwing codes and the check engine light dings and flashes. Cruise control sometimes will not come on, theres a burnt smell and rough idles, i have noticed a deep humming sound under my feet while driving, and sometimes when shifting from park to gear it jerks really hard, going down the road it acts like it takes too long to shift. It really is very scary when it does these things, its a daily occurrence. Sometimes it drives just fine then all of a sudden will malfunction. I've only had the car not quite 2 years and they said they repaired the recalls in 2018, after I had scheduled an appointment for July 2025.

NHTSA complaint #11673957 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

When I was driving onto the high way my jeep just cut off and I couldn’t accelerate only steer doing 45 mph with cars behind me and I saw on the dash a message “ shift to park. And then put into Desired gear” well it was on drive D and I couldn’t put it in park until I completely stopped at this point I had a guy pull over next to me and called me jerkoff because he thought I was trying to brake check him , I explained to him what happened . Well once I did this I got moving , but it happened again latter on that day when I was almost home . I dont feel safe driving it anymore

NHTSA complaint #11666678 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was slipping. Additionally, the contact stated that the transmission failed to shift into park(P) intermittently. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the transmission was replaced. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V011000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. No further information was available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

NHTSA complaint #11652528 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The PTU and transfer case have the same issue outlined in this recall “Safety Recall W47 / NHTSA 20V-343 PTU Input Spline” My vehicle misses the covered manufacture date of the this recall by 1 month but has the same problems.

NHTSA complaint #11648600 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while making a U-turn at approximately 4 MPH, there was an abnormal sound from underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that the "Service 4WD" warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal; however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact received help from a co-worker who checked the vehicle and informed her that the driveshaft had fractured. The contact was able to turn the vehicle off but was unable to shift the vehicle into park(P). The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the driveshaft had fractured due to a failure with the PTU in the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the driveshaft had been replaced one month prior to the failure by the same mechanic. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that there was a known failure under NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V343000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

NHTSA complaint #11646495 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the transmission slipped and failed to shift into second and third gear. The vehicle jerked violently. On another occasion, the transmission was stuck in second gear with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 89,500.

NHTSA complaint #11646340 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle started jerking and hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled into a parking lot before the vehicle shut off. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to a dealer and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The transmission was replaced by the dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.

NHTSA complaint #11645499 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Lost power(ability to accelerate) while jeep was still in drive. I had to switch to neutral and back to drive to regain power. This happened 2x in the past 3 weeks. Jeep felt slightly rough driving about 5 miles leading up to incidents. If this happens in certain driving conditions there is great chance for accident. Both times it happened, I had been at a stop light, then accelerated 5 to 15 miles per hour. Please recall my vehicle.

NHTSA complaint #11642112 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, several warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle was restarted; however, the electronic stability control and 4WD features were inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a possible power transfer unit failure. The contact stated that the dealer was uncertain about the diagnostic due to conflicting diagnostic codes. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.

NHTSA complaint #11638929 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Transmission failed. Stuck in drive while on busy road, could not put vehicle in park or neutral and could not turn vehicle off. Drove very slowly to dealership because no one would tow without being able to turn it off and stuck in drive. Dealership did diagnostic and decided transmission needed replaced. Safety of other drivers were put at risk because car could not be taken out of drive and could not be shut off. No warning lamps, no messages prior to failure. Message came on to place vehicle in park to reset after trouble started but nothing worked at that time. Would not go into neutral or park. The emergency brake had to be used to keep car from moving forward. I recently had transmission replaced (1/24/2025) and now have a check engine light on with a code reads P1DCA Park Sensor Circuit Open

NHTSA complaint #11638957 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly down shifted into a lower gear. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The contact who is a certified mechanic used an OBD scanner to diagnose the vehicle and retrieved a fault code for transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

NHTSA complaint #11615687 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

My 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee would not start. The power connection on the starter burned and I could smell smoke emanating from the vehicle. My jeep required a tow to a local garage to be fixed. Upon my Mechanic examining my vehicle, he discovered the engine also had a blown head gasket. To fix these issues is estimated to cost $5k - $6k. My jeep only has 82,000 miles on it.

NHTSA complaint #11586700 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The rear differential keeps failing has been replaced 5 times in 3 years. When it fails it causes a lot of the safety features to disable, additionally it greatly affects the stability and handling of the vehicle. When this fails it’s an extremely difficult time driving the jeep and it’s quite dangerous due to the car not being stable.

NHTSA complaint #11584208 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Issue with transmission/transmission control module. Jeep has a hard time shifting from Reverse, after 3 tries the gear is lost and vehicle must be shut down in order to try again. Once engaged, it'll "BANG" loudly, cause the tires to squeal, and then reverse is granted. Also have an issue going between 3rd and 4th gears. To shift, we have to increase pressure in the transmission, sometimes getting the RPM up to 6k before shifting is allowed. After three unsuccessful attempts, all gears are lost and you have to get down to 33 mph in order to gain 3rd gear back or you have to pull over and restart the vehicle.

NHTSA complaint #11578009 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

UNKNOWN needs to be diagnosed

NHTSA complaint #11573285 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.