1987 Jeep Cherokee Problems

What owners report

Owners of the 1987 Jeep Cherokee most often describe unexpected acceleration, including a throttle that stays open or sticks, and high engine speed at start-up or idle. Steering column play and front-end looseness, along with failing engine-bay parts, are the next most common themes in the sample. Some reports give mileage, ranging from about 11,000 to 280,000 miles, and many events are described at start-up, while idling, or at highway speed.

1. 1
   Vehicle speed control

   Unexpected acceleration or throttle sticking open

   • 18 complaints (32%)
   • median 200,000 mi at 16.7 yrs old (3 state mileage, few)
   • 3 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 1996–2005

   Owners describe the engine speeding up, or the throttle staying open after the accelerator is released, sometimes at highway speed. Other reports describe the speed control engaging on its own, or the engine racing at start-up or idle, in some cases until the ignition is turned off. Some owners say braking had little effect, and a report describes a crash into a building after the vehicle accelerated while idling. According to complaints, the dealer was sometimes unable to diagnose the fault. Where mileage is given, reports range from about 72,000 to 280,000 miles, and events are described at start-up, while idling and at highway speed.

   Recall 87V035000Recall 87V022000

   What to check: Ask whether the throttle body, linkage and cruise control module were checked under the recall work for this model year, and confirm the VIN with the manufacturer's recall lookup. On a test drive, check that the engine returns to idle when the pedal is released and that the speed control cancels when the brake is pressed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “This Jeep is unpredictable because it accelerates for no expected reason it seems to get stuck on a high throttle idle speed when I first turn it on. I would turn it on and it will accelerate at very high revolutions , it sounds like its going to explode, so I turn it off then on again and it will do the same thing, I will turn it off and on a couple of times and maybe it will get back to normal idle speed, all this while the car is in park. And sometimes I will turn it on again and it turns on like normal like there is nothing wrong with it. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10070419, filed 2004-01, 72,000 miles

   “1. Accelerator sticks intermittently, have to restart Jeep several times to get it to idle down. If I am traveling down the road it will accelerate by itself up to 3500 RPM making braking difficult. Have to pull over and restart Jeep until it unsticks itself. 2. Have noticed really loose front end from the time I bought it from dealer. I replaced a tracking arm and front shocks, now it is making a clunking noise at low speed turns, I read under NHTSA defects that I'm not the only one with this steering problem.”

   NHTSA complaint #720152, filed 2000-03
2. 2
   Steering

   Steering column play, locking and front-end looseness

   • 8 complaints (14%)
   • median 90,000 mi at 16.5 yrs old (3 state mileage, few)
   • filed 1995–2006

   Owners describe the steering column wobbling at the tilt joint and locking in place on left turns, which the complaint says makes the vehicle undrivable. Another report says the column's bearing bushings separated and stretched, letting the ball bearings drop out, with popping noises and looseness. Other owners describe a loose front end that later clunked on low-speed turns. A complaint about a dealer diagnostic visit states that the vehicle was not included in the steering linkage recall because of its VIN, despite similar problems. Where mileage is given, reports range from about 11,000 to 90,000 miles, and the column locking is described on left turns while the front-end clunk is described on low-speed turns.

   Recall 86V159000

   What to check: With the engine off, check the steering wheel for play, locking or popping as it is moved up, down and side to side. Ask whether the steering linkage recall was checked against the VIN, since some complaints say the vehicle was excluded from that recall for that reason.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Ball bearing bushings restrained by metal band in steering column both separated as well as elongate allowing ball bearings to fall out, resulting in steering locking, popping noises and looseness in the steering column. Can be easily detected by jiggling the steering wheel, steering wheel with move up and down and side to side once bearings have dislodged. I was curious about this problem after the third incident, so I visited a junkyard, I inspected 7 Jeep Cherokee's stearing columns and 2 had this problem. …”

   NHTSA complaint #722679, filed 2000-05

   “The contact stated there is a problem with the steering in the vehicle. The vehicle is at the dealership at this time for diagnostics test. There is a NHTSA recall, # 86v159000 regarding the steering linkages. The vehicle has the same problems as indicated in the recall; however it is not included in the recall due to the VIN.”

   NHTSA complaint #10149803, filed 2006-02, 11,000 miles
3. 3
   Engine cooling

   Idler pulley failure or coolant reservoir leak

   Mentioned in 4 of 29 sampled complaints

   Owners describe an idler pulley whose bearings failed while the engine was running, letting the pulley bolt back out so the pulley separated from the engine. Reports say the pulley flew past or near the owner's head, or struck the garage floor after bouncing off a wall. A separate complaint describes a coolant reservoir that leaked at its seam and led to overheating at the dealership, and says the dealer's parts department described this as frequent. None of these reports give mileage; the pulley failures happened with the engine running, some at idle, and the reservoir leak led to overheating at the dealership.

   What to check: Check the idler pulley and its bolt for play or looseness, and ask whether the pulley or bolt was replaced under any service work. Look for wetness or residue along the coolant reservoir seam, and watch the temperature gauge on a test drive.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “With the engine running at idle speed, the idler pulley separated from the engine and almost hit the consumers head, it bounced off the consumers garage wall and impacted the garage concrete floor, the bearings within the idler pulley failed, causing the pulley bolt threads to back out of the housing.”

   NHTSA complaint #562623, filed 2001-08

   “While the engine was running, bearing within the idler pulley failed, the pulley bolt threads back out of the housing, the idler pulley separated from the engine and torpedoed pass owner's head, pulley could have seriously injured or killed anyone in its path.”

   NHTSA complaint #558684, filed 2001-01

Buying note. Used-car buyers considering this model year may want to confirm whether the throttle, cruise control and steering recall work was done for the specific VIN, and have the steering column and idler pulley checked before purchase. Service records showing that the recall and repair work was completed can help clarify the vehicle's history.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 29 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.