2018 JEEP CHEROKEE Power Train Problems

This car has been in the shop multiple times for engine and transmission problems. Had a new transmission installed at 19000 miles. Now at 30000 the transmission has failed again. Car has multiple TPM, ABS, and power train issues that Jeep cannot correct.

SRV 4WD. Warning lamps. PTU internal failure. Other 2018 Jeep Cherokee on recall. Driving down highway at speed 75. 4 people in car. Disengaged gear. Almost hit an 18 wheeler. Death for sure.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while the vehicle was running, the "Parking Brake On" and "Remove Parking Brake" messages were displayed; however, the parking brake was not engaged. The contact stated that several days later while the vehicle was running, the vehicle started rolling while the gear shifter was in park(P). The contact was able to stop the vehicle and the vehicle restarted. The contact stated that while driving later that day, the vehicle was not accelerating above 20 MPH. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a drivetrain failure, and it was recommended that the transmission, transfer unit, and rear differential be replaced. The contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 20E037000 (Power Train), and the contact was informed that...

The shift lever lights are all illuminated red, the shift Service message appears on the dashboard, the error appears and disappears.

The rear differential has failed on my Jeep after 42,000 miles. I tow this this vehicle behind a motorhome and it could have locked up or thrown parts and differential oil on the highway. It would be worse if it exploded while driving at highway speeds. It was replaced but failed again after only 900 miles. There are no parts available, Jeep has also changed suppliers, again with no parts available. It is now nearly April, with no ETA for a replacement part. There should be a recall on this part, as there are multiple incidents of similar failures on various Jeep websites. I paid $1,000 to Jeep out of pocket, as my powertrain warranty was 4 months past expiration. I contacted NHTSA in January about this and have not received a response as of yet.

All lights on shifter light up red (P, R, N, D) and an error message of "SERVICE SHIFTER." Come to find a lot of people are having this same issue.

Vehicle is driving as usual with no odors or sounds. 4wd unavailable light came on. The code for this states PTU is bad and must be replaced. Dealer quote is $5270 to replace. Apparently there was a recall on these for my car just not my year. Obviously there is a huge issue with this part. This vehicle is well maintained. There should be a warranty to cover this or the very least we should get a reimbursement. Please look into this. Also read the keep forums as this is a common issue. I thought keep was supposed to be a hearty vehicle. Very disappointed. I will be happy to provide receipt once I get my car back from dealer

My 2018 Jeep Cherokee with 88K miles on it. I heard a loud popping sound, and my car was jerking. Took it into the dealership for maintenance and I need to replace the rear diff and axle shaft. This could have locked up worse and caused an accident. I see that there are more complaints about this same problem.

At exactly 37000 miles my service “shifter light” comes on every 4-5 days. I’ve noticed in the warmer months it comes on more frequently. During the cold winter it came on twice. It’s becoming warmer again and it’s popping up often. My husband has a 2017 jeep Cherokee with the same exact issue. Our dealership gave us no answer to this problem. Not sure why, i just hope this doesn’t cause a major issue or hopefully a recall soon to fix this!

2018 Jeep Cherokee The power transfer unit malfunctioned and had to be replaced. A warning light indicated that there was an issue. It cost more than $5000 and the part was on back-order for 2 months. The dealer explained that they had so many power transfer unit replacements they could not repair my car unit the back-ordered part arrived. I also paid $2000 or more in rental car fees during that time. This all occurred only a few months after the manufacturer's warranty had expired. The repair was completed at the dealer. I am filing this complaint because Jeep Cherokees from 2017 had a recall for power transfer units. My car was built in 2017. I believe the power transfer units in some of the 2018 Jeep Cherokees are also faulty. There are many, many posts online regarding this issue. I appreciate that you are able to look into this....

My 4 wheel drive service light came on. I took it to the dealer and they said it will cost me 4000 dollars to be fixed , I checked on the internet and this has been and on going problem for the jeep cherokee car since 2014, In fact the ptu problem has recalls on some of these cars. I called the dodge corporation and they said my car was not under warranty and has not been recalled My car need to be recalled, this is a flaw in the cars design . If problem is not addressed sudden lost of motive power can potential cause vehicle to crash without prior warning. Lost of park function is at stake and can lead to unintended vehicle rollaways. The car is at the dealership to be fixed

Service shifter light comes on intermittently. Have noticed a “catch” that occurs at times when accelerating when the light is on but not every time.

My 2018 Jeep Cherokee rear differential started making an intermittent noise at about 35,000 miles. Now at 42,000 miles the dealership I purchased it new from has determined that the differential needs replacing. It is four months past the 5 year/60,000 mile power train warranty. There are no repair parts available, it is on back order with no ETA. This condition indicates to me that there may be a part recall in order for the rear differential failures, as there are no parts available in a nationwide search by my Jeep representative. Is there a history of known failures?

Failure of PTU while driving. Seems to be the same issue with the 2016-2017 that currently has a recall

Service 4WD light came on. Vehicle was diagnosed at dealership and they advised the PTU needs to be replaced. This poses a serious risk for injury.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost PTU functionality. Additionally, the service footwell drive warning light was illuminated. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V302000 (Power Train). The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the front drive shaft and the rear end of the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

The Service Shifter message comes on replacing the speedometer display on the dash. All of the LED's on the shifter bezel light up when it occurs, so you can't tell the gear you are in. It has been happening more frequently lately and began around 3 years ago. The only way to reset it is to put it in PARK and shut the car off and restart it. I am on the Jeep Cherokee Club and see this quite often on their forums. It happens now every 2nd or 3rd time I drive it. Thanks.

I believe the shifter bezel is faulty. When pulling out of my drive way backwards a service shifter light came on and caused me to get stuck sideways and having multiple cars nearly tbone be because the hazard lights wouldn’t turn on after. I can’t even drive because of this incident I don’t feel safe in this jeep!!! I called jeep in Elk Grove California and they never heard of it, however I’ve found over 500 issues on Reddit and other forum sites of people having the same issue but more at 16,000 miles! No because I don’t have the money to fix their faulty product. The light “service shifter” appeared right when I put it into drive then everything went to [XXX].

It is my understanding that the PTU systems in Jeep Cherokee latitudes is an ongoing issue with them. If this fails I could lose power of my vehicle, which in my opinion is a safety issue. I found out today that mine is going bad and there isn’t a recall on the 2018 models. This could cost me thousands for an issue that Jeep should’ve fixed with past models that have had the same problems. I bought this vehicle a few years ago with 78,000 miles and it now has around 124,700 miles. I would think if Jeep cared about the customers that are buying these vehicles then they would want to make sure they’re safe. So basically the complaint is that there isn’t a recall on the 2018 models. Please help!!!

My Jeep has started to massively consume oil. I can only go roughly 1500-2000 miles before needing to add oil to my vehicle. I’ve taken it into my mechanic’s shop twice and they’ve been unable to fix it. Once was Nov of 2022 where they just did an oil change. I brought it back on Feb 13, 2023 because it was completely dry/devoid of oil and had to be towed to their shop. The car would not turn on due to no oil. They replaced the crankcase ventilation valve to attempt to fix the oil consumption issue and did another oil change. They also advised I bring it to the dealership for the oil consumption issue because there was an open recall on it, which I did on Feb 23, 2023. Chrysler reprogrammed the Powertrain Control Module. Still consumes oil at an alarming rate. My last oil change I had...

Transmission seemed to go into neutral momentarily while driving at highway speed, causing engine to rev and loss of power to drive wheels. Problem occurred on four separate occasions on approximately 300 mile drive. There were no warning lights except a notice that cruise control was automatically turned off on the one occasion that it was active when the failure occurred. I was towing a trailer weighing approximately 3200-3300 lbs. and in semi-manual shift mode in 5th and 6th gear when problem occurred. Vehicle has not yet been taken to dealer.

The shifter service came one

Power transfer unit went out. While I was driving lost power to all wheels and luckily I was able to avoid a wreck and have no parking on trans mission.

The SERVICE SHIFTER light comes on when the vehicle is put in DRIVE. The first time it happened was about 1 year after purchase (March 2019). I found out there was a recall for a part (the bezel on the shifter) associated with this and the dealer replaced it. Now the SERIVCE SHIFTER light is coming on EVERY time the car is used(at least this week)--when I back out of the driveway and shift to DRIVE. I called the dealership and they told me that most of the time, turning the car off and restarting it will clear the problem. It hasn't and I asked what they can do to fix it. They told me to bring the car in for a $200 computer diagnosis and they will go from there. I have only owned the car for a couple months shy of 5 yrs and it only has 35,000...

Since the car hit 20,000 miles, the "Service shifter" light will come on randomly. The dealership has had to "replace" the shifter components twice. And now it will come on when you put the car into reverse. This is a faulty part which needs to be replaced.

The service shifter light keeps coming on. Sometimes when stopped in traffic the vehicle’s transmission will shift from drive, to some unknown position, then the engine will stall out when attempting to go forward with traffic. The car will then not start and the shifter will not allow any gear shifting to be done. Can not be put into neutral in order to be push or easily towed. This has happened 4 time within the past 18 months. Each time the dealership acts surprised and responds that they have never heard of a service shifter issue before. They tried a software update, which didn’t help. They also stated that they could replace several parts that added up to over $2000. Stated it wasn’t their problem since it is out of warranty. Yes, it is available for inspection. Always being out in risk at busy intersections due to a potential of...

4WD not working. A message started appearing in December 2022 that the 4WD was not available and to have it serviced. I was shocked because the vehicle is only 5 years old. The 4WD is very important because we live up a large hill. When it snows it is definitely a safety issue to be able to get up and down the hill as well as driving on snowy roads. Without it working it could cause an accident and we could be hurt. We took it to an automotive service center to have it diagnosed. They said the power transfer unit and actuator case assembly needed to be replaced. They also said the week before they checked this vehicle they had a 2016 and 2017 jeep Cherokee that had the same problem. Both of those vehicles had recalls to fix them. This jeep is a 2018 with 79,500 miles. It...

Was driving and "Service 4wd" came on, no change in the driving, then went off and comes back. Now I'm getting "Service shifter" no change in the driving but all the lights on the shifter (P, R, N, D, +/-) are all red and display won't move from Service shifter.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with the "Shift to Park(P) message displayed. The contact stated that after shifting into park(P) and turning off the vehicle, she had to press and hold the Push to Start button for 30-seconds for the vehicle to restart. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure recurred daily, and that the engine revved independently while starting the vehicle. The contact made the local dealer aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was awaiting a diagnostic test and the repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000.

My car continues to flash service Shifter and won't accelerate when the gas pedal is pushed

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at various speeds between 5-60 MPH, the message "Service Shifter" was displayed. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,645.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the message "Service Shifter" was displayed, and the service warning lights illuminated. During the failure, the gear shifter indicator became inoperable, and the driver was no longer able to determine what gear the transmission was in. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were both notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 58,000.

Service shifter light randomly comes on; vehicle has stalled several times. Sometimes hesitates when pushing gas to accelerate.

SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING -takes up full screen on vehicle cannot see any other specs of the vehicle -safety, service shifter recalls in past day to not operate vehicle. This warning randomly comes on when no problem is present. -the problem has been recreated on multiple occasions for dealer, mechanics, and friends -has not been inspected. States not sure what causes this -no other warning lamps came on and none can come on since this takes up the entire screen and places the MPH in smaller lettering at the top

This vehicle had a recall for the shifter. It went in for the recall but not long after the shifter lights are back. Every time we drive the shifter lights come on. Went back and the dealer will not fix the problem.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to coast to the side of the roadway. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and continue driving to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated he had experienced the failure three times. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.

Shifter failure. All lights on shifter control panel lit (park, reverse, neutral, drive). Service Shifter message on dash cluster and message stating “must be in park to shift gears” or similar. Shifter must be replaced.

As I accelerate the vehicle shudders as if the engine is misfiring, even accelerating at low rpm’s, the vehicle acts as if the trans is slipping or engine is misfiring causing the my Jeep to jerk or shudder. I also had the engine replaced in the past due to excessive oil consumption so I would assume there shouldn’t be further issues. Not only does my Jeep not perform up to expectation , the service shifter light continues to come on and all lights on the shifter turn a solid red color. I have to turn the car off and back on for it to turn on. When taking it to the dealer, they continue to tell me that they cannot find the service shifter error when when hooking it up to the computer. The combination of issues reported with this vehicle type are only going to lead to a serious...

My steering system sensor light illuminated while driving and steering became tight when driving. I took it to a local Jeep dealer and it was determined that the electronic rack had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer said this is very unusual for my 2018 Jeep. My Jeep has less than 55K miles and is less than 5 years old. I am surprised it is not covered under the power train warranty. It is my understanding that 2019 and 2020 Jeep Cherokees have a recall for electronic rack failures in these models. If the 2018 electronic rack is the same in the 2018 then I believe my 2018 with less than 60k miles and less than 5 years old should be covered under a recall. Thank you.

2018 Jeep Cherokee Overland 4x4 ~ Service shifter warning light appears randomly while driving normally; has happened 2-3 times in one year of ownership. All lights for gears on shifter panel light up red simultaneously; all lights constant and service shifter message remains until vehicle is stopped and engine turned off. No lights, nor warning message displayed upon restart. Purchased vehicle at 42,675 miles and currently has 67k miles. FYI, vehicle is driven daily in city/metro area in Texas with extreme outdoor heat temps.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while parking her vehicle, the service shifter warning light illuminated. The contact stated that when the failure occurred, the vehicle would not operate as designed until the vehicle was restarted. The contact stated that the failure never occurred while the vehicle was in motion. The dealer was contacted and advised that they were unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 61,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the "Service Shifter" warning message was displayed. The dealer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to turn off the vehicle to reset the computer system; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the gear shifter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 58,917.

Rear differential and power transfer unit. Under warranty but part is not available for a min of 3 weeks backorder and was not offered a loaner or rental car. Was told no.loaners available and my car is ok to drive. I drive 300 miles commute 3 days a week on interstate. I think a rental car is covered under the powertrain warranty. I also read now where 2014 thru 2017 have been recalled for this same issues. I am concerned these failing parts could be a risk to my safety. Dealer told me it was safe to drive. However stated there are metal shavings and its binding up. I do not believe it is safe to drive.

My car will randomly shut off going 60mph. I will start it back up and it will make a pop sounds and give a little gas to go and it acts like I I’m giving it more gas than I am. I have almost been hit on freeways because of this. This is the 2nd time in 2 years. I took to a dealership and was told they had to rest my motor but gave me no paper work on that

Car shuts down after seeing "service shifter"

Coming to a stop at a stop sign and the dash made a ding followed by the engine light coming on, the shifter went into park on its own, the display stated “Shift to park and then select desired gear”, lights flashed on the shifter console. Unable to drive I had to restart more than once. Car barely restarted before I was able to shift again and continue home.

The other day yet again, a “service shifter” error showed up on my jeeps dashboard shortly after I started to the vehicle. The error showed on the dash and all of the lights on my shifter turned solid red. This is a big safety issue and seems as if there could be some electrical or power train components malfunctioning internally in my Jeep. After turning the car of and then on again, the error did not come back on. This happens repeatedly every few months or so and is very concerning. I took it to my hero dealer and they stated they could find any faulty codes when running diagnostics and they was nothing they can do. This issue needs to be addressed with Jeep and a recalled needs to be issued immediately before this leads to serious malfunctioning while operating.

All of the lights came on on the shifter while driving and the dash warning stated there was a shifter problem. The check engine light was also illuminated. This issue put my child's safety at risk as she had to pull over on the side of the interstate not knowing if the car would continue to operate in drive. The car had previous problems that resulted in a sudden engine stall making her fear it was too risky to continue to drive. This problem is not rare, and Jeep should be required to fix it.

Twice so far on this particular Jeep, all of the lights on the shifter light up and on the display above the steering wheel it displays the message “Service Shifter”. The issue will go away once the Jeep is shut off and turned back on. I have researched this online and a ton of people are having the same exact issue with low mileage. This needs resolved ASAP. I would hate to see what happens if we’re driving or to get left stranded somewhere.

While driving, all lights on gear shifter all light up and message on screen will say shifter needs service. Stays on while driving. Typically occurs at night. When I start the vehicle the next morning the light isn’t on.