NHTSA Complaint #10178277 — 2004 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE

PURCHASED NEW 2004 JEEP FROM DEALER. WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH OF OWNERSHIP, I BEGAN EXPERIENCING OCCASIONAL, INTERMITTENT ENGINE PROBLEMS AT START-UP-- THE ENGINE WOULD RUN VERY ROUGH, SHAKING THE VEHICLE. THE SERVICE LIGHT IN THE DASH WOULD FLASH. IF DRIVEN, THE ENGINE WOULD STALL UNLESS THE ACCELERATOR WAS CONTINUALLY PRESSED. AFTER A FEW OF THESE EVENTS, WE DISCOVERED THAT, IF TURNED OFF, AFTER ABOUT 5 MINUTES, THE ENGINE WOULD RUN NORMALLY. THE SERVICE LIGHT WOULD REMAIN ON FOR A FEW MINUTES (SOMETIMES A HALF HOUR) AND THEN TURN OFF. THIS PROBLEM RE-OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY, SOMETIMES EVERY MONTH, & SOMETIMES EVERY COUPLE MONTHS, USUALLY IN THE MORNING AT FIRST STARTUP, BUT SOMETIMES WHEN I LEFT WORK IN THE EVENING TO DRIVE HOME. MY SALESMAN AND THE SERVICE MANAGER KNEW OF THE PROBLEM. JEEP DEALER LATER SAID THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SIMPLY IN NEED OF A COMPLETE TUNE-UP. THEY DID THE TUNE UP 6 MONTHS AGO - MAY 2006. THE PROBLEM HAS RECURRED AGAIN. I TOOK THE JEEP IN AGAIN. DEALER REPORTS THAT CAR IS "RUNNING ROUGH" BUT THEY CAN NOT FIND THE PROBLEM. *JB