2018 Jeep Cherokee POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
PTU/transfer case issues under 50,000 miles, jeep randomly shuts off 4wd in dangerous areas without any warning
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.
The shift lever lights are all illuminated red, the shift Service message appears on the dashboard, the error appears and disappears.
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. Best Regards
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.
Service shifter light randomly comes on; vehicle has stalled several times. Sometimes hesitates when pushing gas to accelerate.
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.
I was getting a service shifter light and called the dealer and the said it was a recall it needed a system reboot to bring it in. I did. But that did not fix the problem the light is still on and after doing research it really is the wiring for the shifter. Which can cause the vehicle to not signal what gear it is in. My car had failed to to indicate which gear it has been in multiply times.
MY VEHICLE TOLD ME TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL AND THEN PARK WHILE I WAS AT A RED LIGHT. I DID THAT AND MY VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE. I LEFT IT IN PARK AND TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF BUT IT WOULD NOT RESTART. I SAT AT THE LIGHT WITH MY HAZARDS ON FOR ABOUT 2 MIN, I TRIED TO TURN IT ON AGAIN AND IT STRUGGLED BUT IT ENDED UP TURNING ON. 3 DAYS LATER AT THE SAME LIGHT ON MY WAY TO WORK THE BATTERY LIGHT STARTED FLASHING AND BEEPING, MY ENGINE LIGHT TURNED, AND THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT TURNED ON. IT WOULDN'T LET ME DRIVE BUT 5 MPH. I PULLED OVER AND TURNED THE CAR OFF. LATER THAT DAY WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE SHOP NONE OF THOSE LIGHTS WERE ON AND I WAS TOLD "THERE'S NOTHING WRONG" WITH MY JEEP. I'M SO FRUSTRATED BECAUSE CLEARLY THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG.
WHEN I PUT MY JEEP CHEROKEE IN REVERSE, MY SCREEN STARTED GLITCHING AND THEN 'SERVICE SHIFTER' CAME ON MY SCREEN. WHEN I LOOKED DOWN AT MY SHIFTER, ALL THE LIGHTS WERE LIT UP, SO I PUT IT IN PARK AND CUT THE ENGINE OFF. WHEN I STARTED IT IT WAS GONE. THE NEXT DAY, THIS CAME ON AGAIN - AS I STARTED THE CAR SO I AGAIN, SHUT THE ENGINE OFF AND RESTARTED IT. AFTER GETTING 2 MILES DOWN THE ROAD, THE SERVICE SHIFTER CAME BACK ON AND NOT EVEN 15 SECONDS LATER, MY CAR ABRUPTLY PUT ITSELF IN PARK, MY LIGHTS WENT HAYWIRE, MY STEERING WHEEL WENT STIFF AS IF THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING AVAILABLE, ALL AS I WAS SLOWING DOWN TO A STOP SINCE I'VE READ ABOUT PEOPLE WRECKING AFTER THIS LIGHT CAME ON. I CHECKED MY VIN FOR A RECALL, BUT COULDN'T FIND ONE AND I AM NOT ABOUT TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FOR AN UNSAFE HUNK OF METAL. I'M STILL UNDER WARRANTY AT 32,800 MILES ON MY 2018 JEEP CHEROKEE, BUT I FULLY INTEND ON LETTING EVERY PERSON I KNOW THAT HAS AN FCA PRODUCT TO STAY AWAY FROM THEM IF THIS DOES NOT BECOME A RECALL. THE PICTURES BELOW ARE OF THE FIRST TIME WHEN I WAS BACKING UP IN MY PARENTS DRIVEWAY. I DIDN'T GET PICTURES OF THE SECOND TIME DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD BECAUSE MY FOCUS WAS ON GETTING HOME SAFELY TRYING TO NOT GO OVER 25-30 MPH.
SERVICE SHIFTER LIGHT CAME ON ON DASH AFTER I STARTED MY JEEP, ALSO ALL THE RED LIGHTS NEXT TO THE SHIFTER WERE LIT UP. WOULD NOT TURN OFF UNTIL RESTARTING THE VEHICLE. HAVE READ MANY JEEP OWNERS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE WITH THEIR CHEROKEES. SHOULD BE RECALLED AND FIXED BY JEEP!
THE SERVICE SHIFTER ERROR HAS REPEATEDLY COMING ON DESPITE THE SHIFTER HARNESS BEING REPLACED TWICE, THE HARNESS BEING REPLACED AND COMPUTER UPDATES. ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE SHIFTER TURN RED. THE CAR RANDOMLY JUMPS TO 5000 RPMS AND WILL GO INTO NEUTRAL OR PARK WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR WILL HESITATE WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP AND IS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE. I HAVE CONTACTED CHRYSLER JEEP ABOUT THE ISSUE AND THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP MULTIPLE TIMES OVER THE YEAR AND HAS RECENTLY BEEN IN THERE FOR A MONTH. *TR
"SERVICE SHIFTER" MESSAGE APPEARS IN THE METER CLUSTER AND MESSAGE DOES NOT DISAPPEAR UNTIL ENGINE IS SHUT OFF AND TURNED BACK ON. ALL LIGHTS ON THE SHIFTER (IN THE CENTER CONSOLE) ILLUMINATE AND DO NOT TURN OFF UNTIL THE ENGINE IS SHUT OFF AND TURNED BACK ON. PHENOMENA OCCURRED BOTH AT FIRST START UP AS WELL AS WHILE DRIVING ON A MAJOR STREET.
2018 JEEP 22000 MILES, HAS CONTINUED AND WORSENING SHIFTIER OR TRANSMISSION ISSUE WITH RED LIGHTS, NEEDS SERVICE AND LOCKS OUT TRANSMISSION CHANGES TO REGULATE SPEED. THIS HAS BEEN AT THE TWO DIFFERENT DEALERS WITH AN ONGOING SAFETY ISSUE. I AM A RETIRED NICB SPECIAL AGENT AND HAVE WORKED AUTO THEFT.
WARNING APPEARS ABOUT THE SHIFTER AND ALL THE LIGHTS COME ON. I READ A FORUM WHERE DOZENS OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM AND HAVING TO REPLACE THEIR HARNESS AND WIRING KIT. I'VE ALSO BEEN TOLD THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MODELS CRUISE CONTROL BUT WHEN I SEARCH ON HERE NOTHING COMES UP.
SERVICE SHIFTER LIGHTS AND WARNING COME ON RANDOMLY WHEN DRIVING. WHEN THE ERROR MESSAGE IS DISPLAYED, THERE IS NO WAY TO GET RID OF IT EXCEPT TURNING VEHICLE OFF AND ON. THE ERROR MESSAGE TAKES UP THE ENTIRE IN DASH SCREEN AND DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER TO BE SHOWN. THERE DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A PATTERN AS TO WHEN THIS OCCURS, HAS HAPPENED WHEN STARTING UP AND JUST RANDOMLY WHILE DRIVING (NOT SPECIFICALLY LINKED WITH A SPEED, DIRECTION, OR TURN).
THE "SERVICE SHIFTER" WARNING MESSAGE APPEARS IN THE "MESSAGE SCREEN" & YOU CANNOT CLEAR IT SO THE MPH & OTHER NEEDED DRIVING DATA IS UNAVAILABLE. ALSO ALL OF THE SHIFTER LIGHTS BECOME ILLUMINATED SO YOU CANNOT SEE WHAT GEAR THE TRANSMISSION IS IN. "CARGURUS.COM" HAS A LOT OF COMPLAINTS ON THIS SAFETY ISSUE. CAR IS IN MOTION & STATIONARY;.THE SHIFTER SERVICE MESSAGE APPEARS. IT 1ST OCCURRED YESTERDAY; 8/19/2019 TO ME. THIS IS A SAFET ISSUE BECAUSE MY MPH ETC IS UNAVAILABLE & I CANNOT VERIFY GEAR I AM IN. (DRIVE/REVERSE ETC)
"SERVICE SHIFTER" WARNING COMES ON AT RANDOM TIMES. LIGHTS ON SHIFTER ALL CAME ON. ONLY CAME ON WITH LEFT HAND TURNS. FIRST TIME IN HAPPENED I WAS ON AN INTERSTATE ON RAMP. HAS HAPPENED AT 5 MPH AND 70 MPH. PULL OVER PUT IN PARK, SHUT OFF ENGINE, WAIT A MINUTE, RESTART VEHICLE AND EVERYTHING IS FINE FOR A WHILE. IT CAN BE DAYS BETWEEN OR 3 TIMES IN A 5 MINUTE DRIVE. UP TO 9 TIMES IT HAS HAPPENED.
SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING KEEPS COMING ON AND ALL PARK NUTURAL REV ALL LIGHT UP AT THE SAME TIME.TRANSMISSION BUCKS FEELS LIKE BEING REAR ENDED.BEEN TO THE DEALERSHIP MANY TIMES GOING TO KEEP GOING BACK WHILE IM STILL UNDER WARRANTY.HAPPENS STATIONARY AND WHILE DRIVING MOSTLY ON THE FREEWAY WHERE YOU HAVE TO PULL OVER TURN OFF AND TRY TO LET IT RESET.A DANGEROUS SITUATION.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 JEEP CHEROKEE. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AND WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PARKING SYMBOL ON THE GEAR SHIFT MECHANISM AND ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE GEAR SHIFT MECHANISM ILLUMINATED. COURTESY CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM FIAT (607 ENTERPRISE PARKWAY, BREAUX BRIDGE, LOUISIANA 70517, (337) 240-9947) DIAGNOSED THAT THE COMPUTER SOFTWARE MALFUNCTIONED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE AND VIN WERE UNKNOWN.
I PURCHASE THE VEHICLE NEW ON MARCH 30. ON SUNDAY, APRIL 1 THE CAR AUTOMATICALLY WENT INTO PARK ASSIST MODE WITHOUT THE BUTTON BEING PUSHED. THIS HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH DOWN THE HIGHWAY CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL. IT WOULD NOT SHIFT BACK TO DRIVE. WE HAD TO PULL OVER AND TURN THE ENGINE OFF AND RESTART THE VEHICLE TO GET THE CAR TO GO IN DRIVE AGAIN. LUCKILY WE WERE IN AN OUTSIDE LANE AND COULD PULL OVER TO THE EDGE OF THE HIGHWAY. IT IS SCARY TO THINK WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD WE BEEN IN THE MIDDLE OF RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC ON THE INTERSTATE. *TT *TR
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Jeep Cherokee has 22 POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.