2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo from North America - Comments

On the liftgate lock actuator part that you replace for the duck noise (not sure if that is the same part in the doors): My dealer shows "about 400 per week" sold by Chrysler. Subtract out some for collision repairs and you get how many fail because of quality. Thus its something less than 21,000 per year.

Would be interesting to check it again in a year (March 2007) to see how rapidly the quantity grows.

I have a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and have the same problem with all of my doors except for the back door and drivers side. This is a joke, I went online to see if anyone else had a problem and there are 1,000's of people who do. I don't understand why this isn't recalled. I also have the "bumper to bumper" warranty from jeep up to 80k miles and it covers everything in the door EXCEPT the actuator and door look. So they figure out what the problems are and then specifically take them out of the warranty? I am going to try and fix this myself as I am getting a quote of $200 per door from the dealer. Please send me any info that you have to fix this problem. Shohola979@yahoo.com.

Thanks.

Well I finally managed to fix the drivers door power lock. Besides that horrible noise, it started not to close. Initially I solved this by taking out the mechanism, opening and lubricating it. There were some problems with the springs inside, but it was only a matter of putting them in the right position. As for the noise and with the help of an electrician friend of mine, we opened the box where the motor is, and saw that the problem was not in the motor as I thought. He then put power into it and it worked just fine. So it had to be the plastic gears or the dirt in the several metal parts that make contact with each other. I lubricated those and cleaned these. When I installed it, Bye-Bye noise. Most importantly, I did not give Jeep any money. I'm not buying another American car in my life!

I don't quite understand this. You found a fairly easy fix for a relatively minor problem. But instead of being proud of yourself and glad to have something that is so easily fixable, you're madder than hell and will not be "buying another American car in your life!" I just don't get what you're so mad about. I have a feeling that no car will ever be perfect enough for you, and that you'll always find something to complain about.

About the ignition problem, Don't go to the dealer for repairs. You do have to buy the ignition from them, but get the cheaper 96.00 one, take it to a locksmith with the older not working one and pay him 21.00 to swap them out and you save yourself 350.00-400.00. You can keep the same key's when the locksmith changes them out. Jeep will tell you you have to have everything recoded etc. etc. etc. I also have had the tail light problems, speakers, door locks, and wheel cylinder leaks, I also had to replace the water pump, I did it myself and bought the water pump new at O'Reily's for only 69.00. I don't understand why there has been no recall on the whole vehicle.

I had the tail light's intermittent working problem on my 2000 Jeep GC. The tail light fix I found is to buy 2 of part no. 4676589 ($7.35 + tax at my dealer) - this is the small gray plastic taillight socket that holds the bulb. Throw out your old ones! Carefully clean off the terminals inside the tail light assembly using a small piece of very fine grit sandpaper (gently) and slightly bend the ground contact upward using a small screwdriver. Do all this very carefully! If you break the contact, you're spending $60 to $160, depending on where you buy the lens assembly. I didn't put anything under the contact as some of the other postings have suggested. So far, it's working great - I spent $16 when the dealer wanted to charge me over $400!!! Do it yourself - save yourself big bucks!

I own a 1999 Grand Cherokee Laredo. I realize that I have been fortunate with it after reading all of the comments.

The only serious problem has been the rotors. Two mechanics told me that the problem was torque that causes the warping. Unlike most vehicles, the lbs of torque should not be over 90lbs. Most places that sell and/or repair tires torque at around 125lbs.

My advice is to get yourself a torque wrench and torque the wheels yourself. I have had more than one dealer tell me that they would be torqued at 90lbs and when I check them, they are torqued much more than that.

The lug nut torque brings up an issue that is unfortunately very widespread. The average grease jockey is too lazy to use a regular wrench on lug nuts, and instead they use an air wrench to just jam the nut down until the wrench stalls out. This may be not only how rotors get warped, but also how lugs get stripped or the lug nuts mushroom and crack, allowing tires to fall off. When you go to a garage, don't be afraid to let them know that you won't stand for any SOB trashing your lug nuts, and that you're going to check them when you go home, and if they're overtightened they're going to hear about it. Ironically, because Sears was sued for this very issue, the Sears Auto Centers and National Tire and Battery garages (owned by Sears) are probably the best places to go because their people actually use a torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts.

Amen to the last responder. I truly feel that brake problems today are the result of poor driving habits, or repair facility employees acting like they are on a NASCAR pit crew. Gone are the days when repair/tire change employees would use manual lug wrenches, and actually use the criss-cross method for torquing lug nuts. now they simply use the air tool and go clockwise around the wheel. Additionally, most people on the road today drive full throttle, stop light to stop light, locking up the brakes at each light to get the vehicle stopped in time.

I have the same tail light problem with my Jeep. I am going to use the info. from this site to fix it this weekend. Thanks for everything.

Wow, I read all the comments on this page, and every single one of them has happened to me within the last four months. I bought the Jeep in '02, and since have put over 50K on the vehicle, and am close to rolling over 100K miles. I will definitely use the information here to shave some of the cost, but sadly, I already spent the big bucks on the ignition. Thing is, I believe someone tampered with the vehicle, because somehow the Sentry chips in the keys were no longer programmed to the vehicle. When I took it to the dealer, the battery was dead, the alarm didn't work, and the ignition was bad. It had completely locked out the steering column. I talked to a couple of my mechanic buddies, and they said that it sounded like something had been tampered with, and that having the dealer take care of it was probably the best idea. After the hit in the wallet that I took, I'm not so sure. To fix everything stated above was $710. So definitely try and take care of these issues on your own. But you know what, she still runs great, and have never had any problems with the drive train on this Jeep, so I think that it's still a great vehicle. Electrical problems do suck, but it could be worse. These are problems that you will run into on any vehicle with power everything.

Add me to the list of door locks and tail-light problems. This web site has been a huge blessing since stumbling on it earlier today. I have my work planned and bought the Harada actuators earlier today 2/$21. A short term fix hint on lights: the turn signal socket is the same as the upper tail light (brake light) in the housing and I found it had far less wear than my non-functioning brake socket. I switched them and now the tail/brake lights work correctly... much more important than my signals till I can get the new sockets from Jeep! Thanks again for those who posted solutions to these common problems!!

Wow. I have a 2000 JGC. Same issues.

1.) door locks (duck calling noise) - rear lift, passengers front door, and rear door locks (three total). I fixed the rear lift myself before reading the comments from the Jan 6th 2006 post, www.junkken.blogspot.com/, and Mr. Clark. What a complete pain. But I will purchase the Harada switches asap and try it myself to save $300 to $400 dollars.

2.) brake light problems. - ditto... Same thing. I thought that my wife was crazy or something...

3.) tweeter problem - ditto.. Same thing. I will contact 12positive.com asap.

Plus one other major problem. - Main computer board.

One of the earlier posts noted that his 2000 JGC would just die at a intersection. Same thing was happening to us. The car would just jerk and sputter everywhere. Yes it would give us the dreaded check engine light. Took it to the dealer and got the alarm code read - Bad injectors (1,2,3,7, and 8). The dealer thought that this was a bit unusual, but charged me $500.00 to replace and install the injectors. About one week later same issue. This time I took it to a local garage and he talked me into a tune up and fuel pump. He thought that I got some bad gas. Another $450.00 down the tubes. Same problem. I took it back to the dealer and finally they THOUGHT that it could be the PC board (main computer board). Problem fixed.

NOTE: If you are experiencing this problem be aware that the good old government passed a law stating that all auto manufacturer's must warranty this PC board for 8 years and 80,000 miles. Luckily I had 74,000 miles on mine.

I hope that this helps someone.

This is our fourth jeep (96 JGC, 98 JGC, 02 Liberty, and the 2000 JGC that we all are having problems with) and this one is the only jeep the we had major issues with. I can't believe that Jeep will not stand up and say "We have a problem and lets fix it". I spoke with the dealership service dept. in my area and they are aware of the issues, but can't do anything about it. Its just a shame for another American car company to get a bad rep. for these easily solveable problems. I too will look at a Honda or Toyota in the future.

My 2000 GCL's rear liftgate is starting to quack too, durnit.

For those whose liftgate locks have gone out, you can open it manually through the tiny door on the inside of the liftgate. After it's open you've got to feel your way through the insulation to move the lever down -once it's down you have to go back outside and open the door latch. There's a great pic at http://www.wjjeeps.com/liftgate_03.jpg.

A few weeks ago my passenger front power door lock stopped working and started making the grinding sound. About a week after that, the same thing happened to my passenger rear lock. About a week later, after cleaning my car one Sunday afternoon, I discovered quite a bit of water on my passenger side floorboard. I have very limited experience with cars, the only thing I had done with mine prior is install a stereo (which ended up being helpful because I was familiar with taking the door panels off). I'm writing this comment to help a novice like myself.

I stumbled into this forum when doing a Google search. Although the posts helped, ultimately the solutions varied a little bit, as my car is a bit older than most others in this posit – it is a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. It has about 115,000 miles.

(1) Water on floor boards:

After a look though this forum and a search on the internet I came to these sites:

http://members.cox.net/wilsond/Fixes/acdrip.html

http://www.aircondition.com/tech/questions/4/

Read both, but the second site is a bit more helpful as it has pictures. Take the screws out and pull the carpet back and drill a ¼ inch hole in the middle of the black plastic drain tube housing. I used a coat hanger to try and clear the blockage.

Problem was, after exhausting that means of repairing the problem, it still leaked! It was coming from the bottom of the piece of plastic I had drilled a hole in.

I went to home depot and bought outdoor waterproof caulk. I caulked around the bottom half of the drain tube housing and I am not having a leak any more. If it does start to back up in there I figure the water will leak from the top half of the drain tube housing instead of flooding the blower area (hopefully!).

I also opted to caulk the hole I drilled to clear the drain pipe with the same caulk. It worked great and can easily be peeled out if necessary. Leak is gone and no problems yet – it has been a week.

(2) Door locks:

The 98 part is a bit different than the actuator that everyone talks about here. I called my local Jeep dealer and ask for a door lock mechanism for the passenger front and passenger rear. Actually I called all area dealers to try to get the best price. I found about a $50 variance from the high to the low for both parts, so calling around ended up saving me about $100. I got the front mechanism for (with tax) $94 and the rear for (with tax) $138. Apparently the child safety lock in the rear makes the part more expensive. Part #’s (front passenger 4798914-AC 23018005 // rear passenger 4798916-ab 23018005). Not one dealership carried the rear part, it had to be special ordered, but only took one day to get.

Basically you just have to take the door panels off, disconnect the network of rods, and install the new part. Make sure you have a power drill and also some heavy duty zep hand cleaner with pumice because you are going to get dirty. Didn't think I needed any special hand cleaner and I went to work the next Monday morning looking like I shoved my hands in the dirt before walking through the door. The front lock took me a couple of hours because I didn't know what I was doing, and the rear took about 30 minutes. After you install the new mechanism make sure to adjust the screw (you can see it through the hole in the side of the door after the new mechanism is installed, the inset part looks like a square), or else the door button on the outside of the car will not work! After I both of these completed I also took my trunk panel off and adjusted the tension on the handle for the trunk – it never worked properly, but now it does!

Hope this helps someone.