14th Sep 2010, 22:34

My partner has a 4.0L 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Orvis edition and had a few common problems with it that I have answers to after reading through this page.

One was the window electrics stopping and at the same time the central locking and remote not working. This problem was only intermittent and I normally solved it by disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes. Had all the contacts cleaned etc. I later discovered a problem with the vehicle computers is the actual cause to this.

Another was the vehicle battery kept going flat, even with a new battery. Had the alternator and the charge checked and was all working fine. Typical cause to this is incorrect battery type. Spent a lot of money and time trying to fix this, and the problem was the AA road side assistance didn't know what they were doing, and put the wrong battery type into the Jeep. So if your Jeep is going flat all the time, check this out.

And the last common fault is the welds in the exhaust manifolds will crack at the flanges. This one was easy to pick up as the car all of the sudden started to sound tinny.

Other than that, our Jeep has served us well for a long time. :)

24th Sep 2010, 12:25

I am the original owner of a 95 Jeep Orvis. It has 81000 original miles on it. I am 75 yrs old and retired. My Orvis is always garaged during the Mich. winters as my winter months are spent in Florida with my Chrysler 300. My vehicle is in perfect condition. I use it primarily for bow hunting in Oct and rifle hunting in Nov. I never had any major problem with this truck. I have always taken good care of this vehicle, I change the oil as called for including my filters. I wouldn't give this Jeep away to a dealer for three thousand dollars in trade, no way!! I am curious as to what this vehicle might bring on the resale market, should I elect to put it up for sale???

26th Oct 2010, 19:47

I just purchased a 1995 Grand Cherokee with 160,000 miles on it and it runs great. Very surprised with the overall quality of this SUV. Paid $3,000. However I have some of the same problems.

Passenger window goes down, but hard going up with it?

Alarm goes off for no reason, so I use the push button to lock all doors, but then use the key to turn off the alarm and lock the front drivers door.

The message on the display says check 4 wheel drive switch?

7th Jan 2011, 17:55

I own a '95 Orvis, 4.0l, auto trans. I've had it for about 4 years now. It has seen a lot of off road use, everything is stock expect I did put some 31x10.5/15 BFG A/Ts on it. I have had very few problems with it. Rear window will go down from the master switch, but not up.. they will go up from the door switch though. Another issues is the speedo does not work.. replaced the gauge and sensor, but still nothing.

The biggest problem I had was not with my Orvis itself, but with the person who stole it 6 days ago... happily she was recovered with no damage. I love my Orvis, lives up to the Jeep name very well, and does like to go places others say she can't.

12th Dec 2014, 16:37

It's usually within the on board console computer that is issuing the warning. There is a circuit board inside that gets hairline cracks. Replace the unit or fix the problem yourself by soldering a jumper wire; it's actually pretty simple.

11th Feb 2017, 23:17

I have a 1995 Orvis with a rare inline 6 custom from the factory. 190,000 miles, bought it for $1,400, I love this Jeep! Need to get new tires for this beast pretty soon. Traveled 4 states to get her and no regrets whatsoever.

8th Jul 2017, 19:08

Well it's been over 10 years now since your post. Do you still have your Orvis?

8th Jul 2017, 19:17

Darn, I paid $600.00 for mine. All original except tires, battery, ball joints, CV joints & my UNC Tar Heel magnet.

3rd Mar 2020, 00:52

Crank position sensor.