2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Engine
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
Issue with camshaft. Dealership said there has been an influx of vehicles with the same engine and the same issues.
The check engine light keeps coming on. The Jeep repair shop says that it has to do with the flap on the gas tank where you put the gas in. Hence, the repair light keeps coming on so you never know if its real and needs to be addressed or if its the gas tank issue again
Warped cylinder head without engine overheating. Cylinder 4 misfire.
My 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee suffered a sudden, catastrophic engine failure with no warning lights or alerts. Dealer confirmed the engine seized from overheating and cannot be repaired—replacement engines are on national backorder. This is my only vehicle, I’m 7 months pregnant, and I’ve been without transportation for 30+ days. This appears to be a widespread 3.6L Pentastar defect and a serious safety concern.
The Head gaskets are leaking. Cost of parts to replace is $200 and cost of LABOR is over $4000 quoted from Cross Motors Jeep.
TURBO supply line broke causing coolant to go all over the engine.
The vehicle experienced a failure of the engine lifters/rocker arms, which also caused failure of the intake camshaft. This resulted in severe misfires, loss of power, and left the vehicle completely inoperable. The failure created a hazardous situation when the vehicle lost acceleration and was unable to maintain safe driving speeds, placing my safety and the safety of others at risk of collision. The problem was confirmed by Lou’s Car Care and multiple Stellantis dealerships, including Maguire Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. All inspections identified failed rocker arms/lifters and the intake camshaft as the cause of the malfunction. Critically, Stellantis no longer produces replacement intake camshafts for this engine, and the part is listed as indefinitely back ordered and unavailable. This means there is no factory fix, leaving the vehicle permanently disabled. Prior to the failure, the only symptom was a faint ticking noise from the engine. No warning lights or dashboard messages appeared before the incident. The problem escalated suddenly without adequate warning, causing the vehicle to lose power unexpectedly. This failure has caused severe negative consequences for me and my family. Because the vehicle became inoperable and the repair could not be completed, I lost my job due to lack of reliable transportation. I also experienced financial hardship, including losing my vehicle to repossession. My family, including my newborn child, was left without dependable transportation, which created additional safety concerns in emergencies. The failed components remain available for inspection upon request. This issue is widespread across Stellantis vehicles yet has not been addressed through a recall, despite the fact that the defect can cause sudden stalling or total engine failure at unsafe speeds. The unavailability of replacement camshafts means affected vehicles cannot be repaired at all, leaving owners stranded and financially devastated.
Since the beginning of this year, vehicle began to misfire. So far I have spent over $2000 in repairs including replacing spark plugs, ignition coils, fuel injectors and oil cooler and vehicle continues to misfire and blow white smoke from exhaust. I have been advised that it may be a head gasket issue, which could cost anywhere from $3000 to $5000 but could cost more in the event the engine needs to be completely replaced.
Rockers & cam shaft are worn and making ticking noise. I only have 86k on my 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and am diligent with upkeep on the maintenance. This is a very known issue and should be recalled as I have not driven it anymore to prevent further damage to the engine, and also don't have the funds to fork out almost 5k.
Head gasket/engine failure. Constant check engine light. First it was for a misfire and my engine was overheating. Had oil clogging the filter even though it was changed within the appropriate mileage. I got the check engine fixed April of 2024. May 20,2025, head gasket blew, causing me to now have to replace my engine completely. Same issues as previously reported
The head gasket blows around 80,000 miles. This is a known problem consumers have with this vehicle. My estimate to have this fixed is over $6,000.00.
Water pump failure.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving for approximately 10-minutes, there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the vehicle while depressing the accelerator pedal. The RPM lowered and the vehicle failed to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The failure persisted, and the contact coasted into a parking lot and there was an excessive amount of yellow-grayish smoke coming from the engine compartment. The contact exited the vehicle and became aware of an unknown liquid pouring onto the ground underneath the vehicle, with little pieces of debris and sparks igniting underneath the vehicle. While the contact was on the phone with 9-1-1 Emergency Services, there was a popping sound coming from the vehicle and underneath the hood and over the windshield became engulfed in flames. The Fire Department arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. The contact sustained severe emotional distress because of the failure but had not sought medical attention. The vehicle was towed to an independent tow facility where the vehicle remained. Upon investigation, the contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V699000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that the Insurance Company had not yet determined if the vehicle was a total loss. The dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.
I purchased my Jeep in 2023 and have consistently stayed up to date on all required maintenance. I had no issues with the vehicle until recently, when the check engine light and the start/stop warning appeared out of nowhere. After inspection, the mechanic determined that the entire engine needs to be replaced due to severe coolant leakage. My vehicle has now been in the repair shop for over three months because the engine is on national backorder. I contacted the dealership, but they dismissed my concerns and told me that once the car is purchased, it’s no longer their responsibility. I then reached out to the manufacturer requesting a goodwill resolution, given the unreasonable repair delay and the national backorder of such a critical component. Lemon law mileage limits do not apply to goodwill assistance, trade-in support, or corporate escalations. Despite this, the manufacturer has refused to provide any explanation or documentation for why they cannot assist and it has been three months with no progress. There were no warnings or indicators that something was failing internally, and my mechanic confirmed there was absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent this. I’ve also seen numerous reports of this same issue affecting my specific make and model. Stellantis needs to take accountability. It is completely unfair that I am left without reliable transportation for months over an issue that was entirely out of my control.
In September 2025, the vehicle was shaking upon idle when we started it. We did a test and learned it was somehow losing coolant. We took it to a mechanic who discovered it was burning coolant in the 5th cylinder. They diagnosed the issue as blown head gaskets caused by the engine being machined incorrectly by the manufacturer. This resulted in the need for a short block removal and replacement, resurfacing the cylinder heads, replacing the head gaskets, among with many smaller repairs. The cost was over $8,000 total for a manufacturing error. If left unresolved, this could have caused further mechanical issues and potentially a crash or other safety issues.
Grandfather bought the car for me in December 2024. It was sold and wasn’t told there were any issues with the car. It was bought in Texas. I drove it to Colorado. Two and a half weeks into driving the car, it was leaking a lot of oil. Had it looked at and was told The oil housing unit was dumping oil out of it bc it was made of plastic not aluminum. I was trying to go through extended warranty not knowing the severity of the issues of the car. I was going to have it looked at by jeep instead of Midas. They were booked out for over 2 weeks. I was trying to keep oil in the engine while waiting to get it looked at by Jeep. The engines ended up seizing on me. I had put more oil in it the day it seized up on [XXX]. I had to have it towed to pep boys just find out the engine got messed up by the crack in f he coolant and housing unit. The oil lamp came on 2 days before New Year’s Eve. I was trying to find a place to schedule to be looked at and couldn’t get it looked at until after the New Year. I had called Greg May Honda back in Texas to double check to see if they changed the oil before they sold it and said they did. I barely put over 1200 miles on the car since it was bought off the lot. I started doing research on it after the car engine seized up. Come to find out that there is a recall on the oil issue. I also found out that it would lead to the engine seizing up. I believe Pep boys might have reported the issue as of today for a safety recall on it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
As many others have reported, only 56K miles on this 3.6L Grand Cherokee. When I engage the passing gear an auto stop/start light comes on on the dash followed by the check engine light. Vehicle rides very rough (from a misfire). Taken to an independent shop; they changed plugs and coils but the problem persists. Also a knocking / ticking noise can be heard when accelerating.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light started flashing on and off and the vehicle decelerated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who examined the engine and informed the contact that there were metal shavings inside the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 109,000.
Please see ALL the reports of the same exact issue. There is an issue with the 2018 Grand Cherokee Engines. This blown head gasket is now going to cost me $13,000 to get a new engine. Every report listed in this link IS THE SAME ISSUE. Please address the issues and reimburse owners of this Jeep having to replace their engines. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
A recall NHTSA 20V-699 was issued on our vehicle in March 2021. This is related to a Fire Hazard. The recall repair was done and component exchanged, now 3 years later and 35,000 miles we have exactly the same issue. A cracked EGR cooler, same as previous. My concern is that the replaced part is from the same batch as originally and as such they replaced a dangerous part with another dangerous part. The dealer and FCA refuses to replace the part as they say the recall has been closed. I my opinion this Fire Hazard still exists and repair was not done with a quality product, as it is exactly the same issue. as before.
2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 3.6 L V6 Engines have a high rate of having HEAD GASKET problems around 100,000 miles causing vehicle to overheat and leak liquid into the cylinders damaging the engine. Please look into this problem at dealerships around the country with this year, make and model and discover how common of an issue this is with owners.
At 47,000k miles with all maintenance being done at correct intervals. From one day to the next, check engine light came on with error code p0303; Code P0303 stands for “Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected” which indicates that there have been numerous misfires in engine cylinder 3. After taking it to the Jeep dealership they told me its a cracked cylinder head. This was a fairly common issue with earlier year WK2 models, but continues to be a under-reported issue in later years.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle had failed to start. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was later able to be restarted and taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a warped head gasket and an overheated radiator. The dealer replaced the left and right cylinder heads, head gasket, timing cover gasket, valve cover gasket, cam sensor gasket, upper and lower intake gaskets, exhaust gasket, EGR, spark plugs, performed an oil change, and refilled the coolant. The contact stated that her husband, who owns another 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee, had experienced the same failure, and had the vehicle repaired at the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,599.
Took my 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicle in as oil was leaking badly , which could have made a dangerous situation. Was told by mechanic that my oil filter adapter had to be replaced. Was advised it was made of plastic and had cracked. The mechanic could not believe there wasn’t already a recall on this part. He replaced it with an aluminum part but this was a costly repair costing close to 1,100.00.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start-up as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed as a failure with the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve. The contact was informed that the EGR valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee has 59 Engine complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.