Although I’m withholding final judgement–the beast is fixed! Anyone who knows me knows I’ve had problems with my 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0 6-cyl for what seems like ages. It’s been having issues (well, one issue in particular) since at least fall of last year. I’ve only owned the car for 5 years now, and I didn’t want to give up on it just yet–most of the time it ran great.
Fixing the car was definitely an adventure involving a lot of research, trips from Boston to Autozone and my parents house to work on the car in their garage. I also had it in a shop a few times for minor part installs, in hopes they would have a solution.
Get ready for a long winded account of how I fixed it.
The problem
Last fall, my car started randomly “stalling” while I was driving–and it’s an automatic. This would happen at any speed, in any gear, at completely random intervals. For awhile I was completely stumped, sometimes I’d go an entire trip without a hitch, sometimes it’d be stalling left and right.
(If you’ve happened to find my site searching for a solution to this stalling issue, skip down to the solution heading.)
Eventually I had to start telling my friends, “hey, if my car stalls while we’re driving, don’t worry about it, it just happens sometimes.”
I did some routine maintenance stuff and cleaned a few parts, but even after reading countless posts on Jeep forums, I didn’t know where to start–it could be any number of things, for example, my Jeep computer could’ve gone haywire.
I took it to a shop, and they had no ideas. It was definitely an esoteric Jeep specific problem.
The arduous process
I then decided I’d have to figure it out myself and do the fix, rather than have a shop throw parts at the car and be charged premiums on parts and labor.
I started reading Jeep forums about similar issues–a lot of them. Whenever I had some time I’d try all sorts of keywords to locate someone who had my problem. There was tons of information on the internet, especially since Jeep owners in particular seem to love to tinker with their cars.
In the meantime I started replacing things that needed to be swapped out of my almost 16 year old car, and also tried a few parts that were my best guess from what I’d read.
I did a bunch of stuff, starting with simple tasks like cleaning the battery posts and throttle body. Eventually I replaced pretty much the entire ignition system–ignition coil, wires, spark plugs, distributor cap & rotor, and the cam shaft sensor. The spark plugs were worn, and the coil was cracked so it was good to get new parts in there. I changed my fuel filter and oil filter. I had the map sensor, o2 sensor, and coolant temperature sensor changed. I cleaned the IAC sensor, eventually changed it, then changed it back.
None of this fixed the problem, although it did help the car. It took a number of weekends to swap out the parts. Whenever I had a free day I’d go home and do just a few parts, since I didn’t want to install too many new parts and not be able to test the effect of each one on the car.
The solution
One part that kept being mentioned online was the Crankshaft Position Sensor, or CKP / CPS as I’ve seen people refer to it. At first I ignored looking at it, because it was one of the more expensive sensors, changing it involved becoming a contortionist (as one Jeep owner put it), and it wasn’t always the fix.
What the sensor does is magnetically determine gaps in the teeth of the crankshaft disc, and use the output voltage as an aid in the rest of the engine’s timing to control emissions.
Eventually I ran out of other ideas, and so I bought a Duralast Crankshaft Position sensor. Not to ruin the suspense, but if there’s one thing I learned while replacing this sensor, it’s this: Don’t Ever Buy Duralast Sensors for your Jeep. In fact, I plan to avoid Duralast if at all possible in the future. You’ll see why in a moment. I read warnings from other Jeep owners on the forums, but figured I’d be fine. I was wrong.
A few months ago I replaced the old Jeep CKP sensor with the Duralast one. It took awhile. The youtube video I watched said you needed to remove a bracket in front of the CKP bolt to get it at. Nothing is ever as simple as it sounds on an older car–this bolt and bracket were completely rusted together. Also, as I found later, you don’t need to remove this at all.
View from under my Jeep. The Crankshaft sensor is held in by the top bolt that is in the middle of the photo, and it goes into a slot on the right.
The results was this: the car no longer stalled (great!), but every 15 minutes or so in a cycle it would buck and miss and stutter and have no power when you try to accelerate. It was even less drivable. It actually took me awhile to link the change in the symptoms back to the new part, I think I just couldn’t believe that a brand new part could be faulty.
At this point I was desperate. I was so sure the new sensor was going to fix the issue, and now instead I had a new problem! What the hell.
The right part for the job
I redoubled my efforts on searching Jeep forums until I found a few threads that convinced me the Duralast part wasn’t going to fix the car, I needed a real MOPAR original Jeep part.
My Dad managed to swing by a nearby Jeep dealer, since of course I was stuck in Boston without a working car. He picked up a new sensor, and I came back on the train to do the install, a trip which was quickly becoming routine. I pulled the CKP out again, much quicker this time, only to discover that I had the wrong MOPAR part! I couldn’t believe it. The Jeep parts department at the dealer swore to my Dad it was the right one. Instead I had a harness for a Cherokee…not a Grand Cherokee.
This weekend for a third time I pulled the part, and finally swapped in the new (correct) one. After about 2.5 hrs of driving, I haven’t had an issue.
The offending part. The crankshaft position sensor.
This week I should finally be able to call my Jeep fixed, and not have to worry about repairs for awhile. It’s been a long road to this solution.
The underside of my Jeep.
Getting out from under the car after the succesful repair.
This repair wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my Dad and his expansive tool set, nor the countless posts on similar Jeep problems from various Jeep forums. If anyone finds this page who has the same problem and wants any information, feel free to contact me.
The jeep lives!! Hopefully it won’t fail on the highway anymore 🙂
I have a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It has the following symptoms: stalls randomly, backfires in the intake, doesn’t always want to start, will randomly not accelerate when pushing on the gas and sucks down fuel like no other since previous symptoms started. Could this be a crank sensor issue? Also how much was the part? I have two young baby boys at home and this is my only vehicle. Needless to say its a problem I need fixed ASAP. Thank you tons -Amy
Hi Amy, I no longer have my Jeep, but it sounds like similar problems to what I had. It could be the CPS, which I got for ~$100 from an OEM Jeep dealership service department. It sounds like the engine is running rich and possibly misfiring, which could be a few other things. Here’s a few other suggestions I tried that are cheaper than the CPS, in increasing order of price: Clean the air intake valve / IAC sensor (be sure to use something that doesn’t leave residue, such as air intake/throttle body cleaner), Check spark plugs for gapping and distributor rotor for “pitting” (poor spark generation leading to missing cylinders), check Ignition coil (front left bolted on engine) for visible cracks (poor spark generation), Replace some or all of spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, ignition coil, replace IAC, replace CPS.
I’d say if everything looks decent, the CPS is a good bet. I’ve heard of other Jeep owners having luck with replacing the IAC which might be half the price, but it didn’t have much effect for me. My Jeep had reasonable carbon residue/buildup in the air intake value and on the IAC, it had old spark plugs and a cracked ignition coil, but I wouldn’t say it was sucking gas or running rich. That lead me down the path of trying the inexpensive fixes first, and only resorting to replacing sensors once I ruled out poor maintenance issues. Of course, cleaning and replacing lots of small things can be time consuming, even if the parts cost is low. I always took it a step at a time and made sure to reset the ODB computer between repairs (simply pull battery power), which causes it to ‘re-learn’ running within proper parameters. Good luck!
Hi I’m Chris I too have a 95 grand Cherokee and you just explained exactly! My issues I too have replaced everything in the same order I too am comfortable with replacing them as it only helps I too bought duralast and could not believe a new part would be worse! Only I swapped it in for another duralast thinking the first was just bad luck (faulty) I put old one back in cleaned connectors and gave me more drive time before stalling but noticed jeep malingering needed to cool to start and starts right up! Gonna go to dealer for new kps for 141$ I now am sure my problem after 5 yrs of all my time off and extra or borrowed cash that my problem might actually be solved after all the research tho I learned Alot and am probably more experienced then a jeep mechanic now I can thank someone that being you! I will hold you in my thoughts forever if it works! But for what it’s worth Thank you!
So I know that this post is a few years old, but I have a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, and I am having problems with it starting. When I say problems, it just wont start. It cranks and cranks, but nothing. I have checked to see if I have spark to my spark plugs, which I do.
I have been having similar issues with my acceleration like you wrote about, but I never had the stalling issues. My jeep is not really the cleanest, so I know that it is very possible that it could be something else other than what your fix was. I would really appreciate any suggestions.
Hey Nick. I never really had issues starting my Jeep but if you have spark it sounds like it could be a fuel delivery or air intake issue. On Jeeps of that age the fuel filter or fuel pump could be at fault. I’ve replaced a filter before, which was fairly cheap and easy, but replacing the fuel pump involves dropping the tank. There’s also fuel cleaning compounds you try. I’m not a trained mechanic, nor do I own a Jeep anymore, so take that with a grain of salt. Hope it helps!
Thanks for the post I have a identical issue and will try to change my front Camshaft sensor . Will keep you posted.
S.S.
hey Andrew, I also own a Grand Cherokee 4.0. I’ve had ignition problem too. When idling or driving I sometimes get a sputter, and there is times it does not do it at all. but while driving it only sputters under 2500 rpm’s above that it very, very seldom will do it. the tach will fall briefly and come back at the end of the sputter. checked everything I could with not luck. and it does not matter if its cold or hot. but it has never stalled while driving, rarely in drive while stopped. at the end of my rope, just checking with you to see if this matches your problem. any suggestions? Thanks, Mike
Hey Mike, that wasn’t my original issue, but sounds similar to what happened after I replaced the faulty OEM CKP with a new Duralast one. For me the sputter would be somewhat cyclic, usually around 2500 rpms every 15-20 minutes or so. At the time my guess was either the computer was getting bad readings from the IAC or CKP, or the computer itself was bad and not controlling the engine properly. If you haven’t checked already, it might be good to inspect your Jeep computer casing and harnesses against the passenger side firewall and look for cracks or corrosion. I thought about replacing my computer at one point with a refurb, but never went down that path because of the cost/risks that it wouldn’t work.
Thanks for the come back. same here on the computer, could buy other toys for the cost of the computer. I’ll keep looking. Thanks again!
Hi I’m having problems with my 99 GC limited. Long story short motor blew. Replaced that. It drove for about 20 miles started shutting off at anytime any speed like yours did. So codes came back that Its the Crankshaft senser put a new one on yet not bolted in just setting there. Replace coils ect my jeep has no plugs or wires so I can’t check for spark. But my dash says the cod e for the senser and on the 4th on it says done. But yet still wont fire we zip tied the senser at its spot till we can get to the darn thing by the easy way of going threw the fire wall.but my question is does this senser need to be screwed in to crank over and start. Jeep will crank but no start.
yes the crankshaft sensor has to be in to fire. my 96 gc was (still is) missing below 2500 rpm. I know the sounds funning but its true. doesn’t make a diff if its sunny, rain, cold or hot when it wants to it will miss like crazy. and sometimes it may not do it for days. ive checked every thing I can think of except change out the crank sensor, but that’s going to happen before hunting season comes around . does your jeep die all together ands you have to restart it or does it just miss bad?
I searched this for a friend and will let you know how it goes. Nice well written article BTW
WOW,you’ve described my problem almost exactly, but mine is a 99,is there much difference?
The ’99 has some differences, and the CKP harness itself attaches to the crankshaft differently, but it performs the same function. I’ve read of some ’98-99 owners having similar issues, so I wouldn’t rule it out.
Man, I have the same issues. Ive replaced a laundry list of parts and since purchasing this 96 JGC v6 in February of this year the damn thing sits outside in the parking lot haunting me because I cant put it on the freeway because im terrified it will die. I have no idea what the problem is??? I put in the zip ties to attempt to fix has worked for the last two weeks in just driving less than 5-10 mins. The part Crankshaft position sensor had been replaced by the previous owner so my question with the part is there a way to tell if its a auto zone replacement or if its a Jeep part?
Whits, the photo of the CKP and harness above was the OEM one I took out of my Jeep 4 years ago now. If I recall correctly, the harness plug and mounting point looked slightly different on the Duralast one, but I’m not positive. I’d try to either find pictures online or get a look at some from a parts department, then maybe pull the CKP and compare. One other thing, as I mentioned in my original post, was many Jeep owners had some success inspecting the throttle body and cleaning or swapping the IAC sensor with a new one. If the IAC is caked with carbon, or failing, it may be choking your engine.
That was my next move…. I have to get the torque screwdriver, and then figure out how to get the bottom screw out.
Parts replaced, spark plugs and wires,catalyst converter, starter, ignition coil and switch, battery& battery terminals. I forgot just before the zip tie trick im testing out now , the jeep would stall and the serpentine belt would pop off? So then i ended up replacing the belt although it was not damaged along with three of the pulleys.
Please HELP!!
Andrew; I had the cps replaced with, Yes a duralast . It was only cranking and not firing, So determined that the cps was shot. Fired right up when the new cps (duralast) was put on, but…. It is running like crap! Engine stumbling, backfiring out of the tailpipe and air intake. When you depress the accelerator it does not want to take gas and almost dies, but doesn’t. It sounds like a drag car engine because it’s stumbling so much. A so called mechanic is telling be that it’s my pcm because one off the connectors doesn’t lock down; but it’s always been that way. I’ve owned it for almost 6 years. Suggestions, please? Help!!
Connie, it’s been awhile, but that issue sounds very similar to what happened when I put a duralast CPS in my Jeep. My recommendation would be to get an OEM one from a Jeep service department and try that. You can check whether it’s returnable if it doesn’t work.
Thank you, Andrew. I never had this kind of running problem until that cps was installed. So called mechanic keeps telling me it’s my pcm. Not believing this at all since it never ran like this before the cps.
It’s possible somethings up with the PCM, but since it’s at least several hundred dollars to acquire one, it’s probably best to try some alternatives first. I heard the same thing from mechanics working on my Jeep and I agree with you, if it was working before, and the sensor changed the symptoms, it’s likely that the PCM is fine.
Yes, Andrew the pcm is pretty expensive and I can’t afford one. So, I will try another cps and see if this fixes it. I can’t afford the Mopar, but done a lot of research and so far there have been no complaints about Napa’s Echlin. They say it is really comparable to the Mopar. Thank you for your help. Really appreciated. 🙂
Andrew; I have an update on my Jeep. After almost 2 weeks of being basically jerked around by my so-called mechanic; I told him what I wanted him to do. Which was to remove the Duralast cps; return it and go to Napa and purchase their Echlin brand, and he actually listened to me this time and did what I asked. So; he put on the Echlin; it started up just fine and is running great! No more backfiring and running horrible. When he took off the Duralast he brought it into the house and showed me where the paper that was supposed to tear off when you start the engine and set the gap; was partially still on it. Meaning that it was Not making proper contact. So for anyone else having these same issues that can not afford the Mopar; Napa’s Echlin Brand works great and is only about $45 compared to Mopar’s over $100. Thank you again, Andrew for this thread. You saved me so much aggravation and a lot of time. God Bless. 🙂
I have a 1996 jeep grand cheroke lerado….
The damn thing is a nightmare! Lol
Throws random codes so far changed out.
PCM,O2 sensor,idle control mod,crank shaft position sensor and varies other tweaks.
The jeep runs to say the least. The issue is that it will completly randomly lose power acceleration or idle does not matter it could go weeks with no problem and then all hell breaks lose.
When it does stall out sometimes it will crank back up and go then other times it wont start back up at all no matter what.
Now its starting to stumble around and sputter then BOOM and then starts sounding like a semi auto with rappid backfires then completly stalls out.
This is at random some days i have zero issues then other days well if u can imagen today i was sitting at a red light and the damn thing stalled and i was stuck there for 3 light changes during rush hour. You can only imagen lol
Any thoughts guys would be amazing this jeep has beeen taken to pittstop and a few various mechanics with no luck at all.
Hey Jason, what were the initial symptoms? What brand(s) of sensors did you install when it threw those codes?
I had a Cherokee that did that very thing. We replaced plugs, wires, distributor, cap& rotor, crank shaft positioning sensor, multiple relays, fuses, fuel pump, fuel filter, new end on the pcv, battery, alternator, water pump, thermostat, radiator, knock sensor, cam shaft sensor, map sensor, throttle body, throttle body sensor, idle speed sensor, starter and finally the ignition coil… I’ll be damned if that didn’t fix all the issues… The stalling, rough idle, loading up on fuel and backfiring so bad It blew my muffler off haha. The cheapest part fixed it lol. I paid $20 for the ignition coil and it now runs and drives like a champ!
Hi Andrew
I have a 1999 Cherokee Jeep Limited which began stalling at random times but would start almost immediately again. It could stall again or continue for hours, days or weeks without further stalling. I took it to several garages but without the stalling occurring whilst there, they couldn’t detect the problem. However, finally a mechanic thought it was a sensor lead very near to the engine that was becoming over heated and cutting out the engine but which would restart almost immediately as the temperature surrounding the lead dropped. He taped the lead with black insulating tape and the jeep performed perfectly for several years….. until now! The stalling has commenced again intermittently (I’m assuming the tape has worn and fallen away) only problem is, the garage has gone and I don’t recall which lead it might have been. Any suggestions please?
By the way, at that time all other possibilities were looked into but didn’t stop problem.
I have a 99 grand cherokee it gets power to the middle coil but not the others from the wire harness it has a new cps and still no change
Im currently in and out of underneath my jeep and i can fit my hand pass the bracket (small hands) but the bolt is too tight for me to pry off what ext./sockets did you use to reach your CPS
I used several healthy applications of PB Blaster to attack the rust, and then some combination of socket extenders and a wrench to get the necessary leverage to break it free. It was awhile so I can’t recall exactly what I used but it definitely involved a fairly long extension and the first time I think I used a flex socket to give me more room away from the underbody.
Next time go up underneath driver side carpet to the fire wall and use the access panel the sensor will stare you right in the face.
Same boat. Rebuilt pcm new complete distributor wires plugs crankshaft position sensor coil honestly it’s a frame of restore im really coming to an end. Ran beautifully. Then left me stranded. Replaced ebay sensor w advanced auto. Same issue
. Headed to dealer in am for new sensor, and tps just to rule out. 4.0 YJ 93′
I have a 96 ZJ with almost 300k miles. It has recently started dying at random times and sometimes failing to start. We replaced the sensors and the coil and condition continued. The loss of spark was happening because the clip that held the harness to the firewall was not attached and the weight of the harness caused looseness in the connections to the computer. We have added dielectric grease and that helped a bunch but we plan to place a large zip tie around the computer to keep the plugs tight against the computer.
I have a 2004 grand Cherokee. Well a week ago I had spark plugs put in. Well a week later leaving work was ready to pull out and it stalled. Tried restarting which it would crank but not start. Could this be the crank postion sensor.
If the car still doesn’t start, or doesn’t start regularly, it’s more likely that it’s an issue with spark, fuel or compression, especially if you just had work done.
I own a 1994 ZJ with about 230,000 miles on it, running a nice but recently finicky MSD-6A multi spark ignition system.
Summarizing what the major issues have been, I have replaced the alternator no less than ‘2’ times since I bought it at about 72k miles, much of my driving has been interstate long distance travel in it.
take heed: the vehicle is extremely sensitive to corrosion on battery terminals. yeah. you’d think that the folks who made the MSD-6A would tell you up front; “do NOT let that connection to the POSITIVE battery connector get even remotely corroded, and every time you loosen that nut holding the lug on the POS connector, you risk ending up with a small resistance that causes mayhem.
when the alternator first began to die, it was brushes, not bearings. I had just finally decided to put in the MSD-6A, and it’s maiden test run was immediately from the west to east coast without preliminary shorter runs. It worked great, saves about 5 mpg on average, and really seems to extend spark plug life alot.
but now the vehicle is starting to get squirrely with electrical issues, everything from the overhead console no longer reliably lighting, and yes, I have replaced the electrolytic caps per another owner’s advice and didn’t buy much reliability there at all.
having said this, it’s been a very comfortable ride for a lot of miles, but it does not like being soaked continually here in the PNW without being garaged or under cover of some sort.
I have well over 100,000 miles on tires I bought in 2004 now and tread depth is still pretty good, albeit I do fear rotted rubber…so they’ll probably be gone soon because of that.
I recommend you all learn that perhaps without exception this vehicle does NOT like connector corrosion on the battery terminals, and the MSD-6A multi spark ignition absolutely is intolerant of that main power lead having ANY on that connection.
if you are ever driving around and suddenly see the voltmeter droop down to a lower voltage, it’s pretty indicative of dying brushes in the alternator. If you are a good electrical person you could probably take it apart and change them without much ado but probably best to get a reconditioned one with fresh bearings in it. By the way, stay away from AutoZone’s ‘LIFETIME WARRANTY’ gig they cancelled mine without my knowledge so when I went to get a fresh alternator this week, they wouldn’t do it without calling corporate in Tennessee. Raw deal. 🙁
other trivia: I run special additives such as an aviation product called; “AV-BLEND” but you can buy that in a plastic lab beaker looking container for about 19 bucks known as Z-MAX. It works, just don’t dump it all in there.
another good product is Lucas Oil Treatment. It really keeps oil consumption to a very very unbelievable minimum. My engine hardly uses oil now, very seldom do I have to add any, due to the use of these two additives.
best wishes to all and as I said, corrosion on battery connectors is probably the enemy that really gets far too much misguided attention. Keep that under control and you’ll probably get much better reliability with your vehicle.
and, I never run high test gasoline ever. My typical MPG is on the road as high as 25 mpg on long trips, intermediate trips I get about 21.4 mpg.
bosch platinum ‘single’ ground electrode type (dual electrode types are proven to be more as ‘anti fouling’ protection than a real power trick because as you may have guessed, only all too likely that you’re only getting an arc across whichever pair that is the shortest gap…hence, mostly bad theory more than electrical good sense.
Hello. I have a 1997 jeep wrangle 4.0. I hydro-locked it when I was off roading. Being the jeep back to my house I pulled the spark plugs out and pushed in while in gear to blow the water out of the engine and attempted to start afterwards. During each attempt to start it it backfired out of the intake. Since then I have pulled my engine, rebuilt it; replaced the bearings, rings, seals, valves lapped, replaced fuel lines, dropped gas tank, drained the fuel, cleaned the tank and filters, new spark plugs, plug wires, new cap, new starter and battery.
Today I finally finished it and go to start it the fuel pump turns on, the spark plugs have blue spark and it still back fires out of the intake.
When I set the timing on the timing chain I lined the two dots op according to how the manual said to do so. When I went to put the distributor in the oil pump I lined up at 11 o-clock position, I then put a screw driver in one of the holes on the disc and lined it up with the hole on the body of the distributor. I side the distributor in place with the bolt notch at 1 o-clock and as I pushed it Lower it moved to about 3 o-clock position. This put the rotor at about 5:30 not quite 5 o-clock and the notch for the bolt wasn’t quite lined up 100%. It was very close. I turned the crankshaft from 0 to about 7-8 to get it to line up with the hole to put the bolt in.
Anyways this being said before I did any of this I still had a problem with it backfiring out of tHe intake and won’t start. This happened right after I hydrolocked it. Before I hydro locked it, it would back fire occasionally out of the intake but it still ran. Now it won’t start at all. Almost does but won’t.
3 weeks ago installed new Coil, Distributor and Crankshaft Position Sensor to fix an issue with cranking but not turning over every once in a while after the jeep warmed up. After replacing these items the Jeep ran great for a two weeks, long trips and short trips with no issues at all. Trips from Gillespie to Hillsboro and Coffeen with no issues at all, drove it all over in town with no issues.
Left it sit for a week in the garage, took a trip to Litchfield, shut it off and 15 minutes later it started but sputtered out and died, restarted with no issues and went to return home and it would drive but cut out and loss of power, intermittent surge and sputtering out, dies when coming to complete stop but will always restart fine.
Current condition, starts up and idles normally, it will even drive normally until engine reaches 190 degrees (normal operating temps) then stalls, drops rpm, sputters out and eventually dies. It will easily restart after it dies but immediately starts dropping rpm’s and sputtering out until it dies.
Symptoms only occur after the jeep warms up to normal operating temps of 190 degrees.
Changed the Throttle Position Sensor, Crankshaft Position Sensor a second time, checked fuel pressure to rule out fuel pump or filter and all normal at 49 psi at all times, even while jeep was hesitating, sputtering and surging, the gauge remained at the normal 49 psi.
Swapped the ignition coil and the jeep idled normally and thought the issue was resolved however after some time the issue cropped back up, but the new coil definitely seemed to help the issue, the sputtering out and stalling was not near as bad.
Ok soooo.. I have a 96 and apparently mopar changed the sensor design on the crank sensor in the last year to where the one they currently just handed me doesn’t have the slotted bolt hole like yours in this picture has sooo by chance u you still have the part number for that part u bought wanna cross reference the # to see if the one for a 95 will fit a 96 the non slotted mount hole is throwing a fit on this thing and driving me insane. .
Hey Derrick. The crankshaft sensor for a Grand Cherokee is the same as the one pictured (L shape with 1 bolt hole) up until 97, when they changed the model up. When I went and asked the parts department, they handed me a Cherokee crankshaft position sensor first, which doesn’t fit at all. That one has a metal cross bar with a hole for bolts on either side. I don’t have the part number on hand, but a quick google turned up Mopar #56027280, can’t be positive that’s the right one but it looks right to me. Just make sure you buy OEM.