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“Stay away from the 4.7L V-8 engines, and you can have...”

written by MG McAnick on 14/07/2004

Good Points
I have owned four Jeep Grand Cherokees, beginning with a '93, followed by a '96, '99, and 2000. Their comfort is quite good despite their rather stiff suspension. We have actually taken the '93 off road on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies. It handled that task with ease. All of my Jeeps were bought used, three with over 100K miles on them. The old fashioned 5.2 or 318 V-8s in my earlier Jeeps were flawless. They now have over 160K miles and STILL use so little oil between changes that no additions are needed. (They are still in the family.)

Bad Points
The viscous clutchs in the transfer cases of '93 and '96 Jeeps were both worn and causing a bad jerking motion in them at around 100K miles. I never replaced either of them, and they are still jerking in tight turns. The cure is a new viscous clutch in. It's about a $1100 job.

The WORST part of both of my later Jeeps were the 4.7 liter engines. Both spun rod bearings at around 120K miles. Both engines had to be rebuilt. IMHO the 4.7 overhead cam V-8 is one of, if not the WORST, engine Jeep ever put into a vehicle.

General Comments
Stay away from the 4.7L V-8 engines, and you can have a good Jeep. Find a Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV with a 318 or even a 383. The venerable 4.0 "Nash" inline six is also good. Power is adequate, if not mind blowing. It'll still tow a good sized trailer. It will get about 2MPG more than a V-8.



Handling is just fair om GJCs, but it is offset by the vehicles sheer climbing ability. While the JGC will not actually go ANYWHERE, it will get you into some unbelieveable places (and back out).



The leather interiors of the Jeeps I've had were all quite good, even at 160,000 miles.