NHTSA Complaint #11597277 — 2017 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE

The oil filter housing in the Jeep Grand Cherokee is known to have serious problems and safety concerns. The Pentastar oil filter housing used in these vehicles can crack and warp due to heat exposure and this can lead to serious oil leaks. Despite knowing about this issue, the company has never issued a recall, instead, they have discontinued the production of the Pentastar and redesigned the oil filter housing for newer vehicle models. This oil filter housing is prone to so many issues mainly because it is made from plastic, not a metal that can withstand high engine temperatures. My mechanic is replacing the plastic housing now with an Aluminum one that will withstand the heat and pressure needed to hold up. He told me that it has been a major issue for several years now and he has personally changed several of these out over the years. At one point he said it was such a big issue that he couldn't get parts to repair numerous vehicles that ended up sitting in his lot for a long time until parts become available. Everything I read online suggests that this is a major issue and one that people can't understand why Jeep has not been ordered to recall the wrongly designed housing. The safety issue on this one is potential breakdowns on highways where oil will make roadways slick and cpould also start an oil fire when oil starts to spray on the hot engine. Stranded cars will be parked on the sides of the road posing a risk to them and the other cars on the roads as well I didn't even know about the issue or that mine was failing until I had it in the shop to replace a leaking motor mount. It was during this work that they noticed the issue with the housing and told us that we need to replace it very soon. We decided to change it out and incur another 650.00 in repairs.