U.S. public vehicle records

Jeep CJ5 problems and owner complaints

Explore the records behind recurring owner reports.

Key facts

2 owner complaints analyzed

12 distinct recall campaigns

50,000 mi median reported failure mileage

Scope: 1972 to 1982 model years. Data updated: 2026-10-01 (October 1, 2026). 1 complaints include usable failure mileage. View data status.

This selection has limited data. It remains available for lookup but is excluded from search indexing.

Owner-reported patterns

Most common problems

Power Train:Manual Transmission is the most frequently named component, appearing in 1 of 2 complaints (50.0%). A complaint can name multiple components.

Recurring terms in complaint narratives
Topic	Matching reports	Share of complaints
Transmission and shifting	1	50.0%
Steering behavior	1	50.0%

Topic matches use published keyword rules. They describe mentions, including negations or comparisons, and do not confirm a diagnosis. Read the matching rules.

Component breakdown

Number of unique complaints naming each component. Top eight shown.

Power Train:Manual Transmission

Steering:Column

Power Train:Manual Transmission: 1; Steering:Column: 1

Reported problems by failure mileage

Complaint counts in mileage bands. These are not failure rates per vehicle or mile.

Under 25,000

25,000 to 49,999

50,000 to 74,999

75,000 to 99,999

100,000 to 149,999

150,000 and above

Under 25,000: 0; 25,000 to 49,999: 0; 50,000 to 74,999: 1; 75,000 to 99,999: 0; 100,000 to 149,999: 0; 150,000 and above: 0

50,000 to 74,999 miles has the most reports with usable mileage (1). 1 complaints have missing, zero or invalid mileage.

Complaints over time

Year the complaint was filed, not the vehicle model year or incident year. The snapshot year is partial.

2007

2010

2007: 1; 2010: 1

Pattern summary

Power Train:Manual Transmission leads the component reports. Transmission and shifting appears in 1 complaint narratives. Steering behavior appears in 1 complaint narratives. Use these patterns to inspect individual reports and prepare questions for a mechanic.

Calculated from recorded counts. An AI narrative has not been published for this selection.

Complaint evidence

Examples provide context, not a representative sample or a verified diagnosis.

Owner report 10335720 · 2010-06-10 (June 10, 2010)

TL*THE CONTACTS OWN A 1979 JEEP CJ5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 30MPH HE SHIFTED INTO SECOND GEAR AND THE VEHICLE MADE A LOUD NOISE. WHEN HE SHIFTED INTO THIRD GEAR THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. HE NOTICED THAT TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS LEAKING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CHRYSLER DEALER REFERRED HIM TO A JEEP DEALER WHO CONFIRMED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN 79V070000, POWER TRAIN, MANUAL TRANSMISSION RECALL WAS RELATED TO THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE JEEP DEALER REFUSED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE SI…

Owner-reported narrative. 50,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10335720 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10189536 · 2007-05-02 (May 2, 2007)

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1978 JEEP CJ5. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 200, REBUILT ENGINE, AND THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. THE STEERING COLUMN WAS VERY LOOSE WHERE THE COLUMN JOINED THE SHAFT UNDERNEATH THE HOOD. WHEN HITTING BUMPS OR UNEVEN PAVEMENT ONE COULD HEAR THE STEERING COLUMN RATTLING. THE STEERING COLUMN GOT WORSE WITH TIME. *AK

Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 10189536 at NHTSA ↗

Compare model years

Recalls by model year

All campaigns in the snapshot affecting each model year, including recalls announced years later.

From yearThrough year

Recall campaigns

Shared campaigns appear once in each affected model year.

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1981

1982

1972: 3; 1973: 1; 1974: 2; 1975: 2; 1976: 4; 1977: 1; 1978: 2; 1979: 2; 1981: 1; 1982: 1

First model yearSecond model year

Year-by-year records

Jeep CJ5 model-year comparison
Model year	Complaints	Recalls	Change in recalls
1972	0	3	Not available
1973	0	1	-2
1974	0	2	+1
1975	0	2	0
1976	0	4	+2
1977	0	1	-3
1978	1	2	+1
1979	1	2	0
1981	0	1	Not available
1982	0	1	0

Explore the data

Vehicle analysis explorer

Inspect model-year patterns, reported mileage, monthly activity and the evidence behind each signal.

Data completeness

2 unique complaints in this selection. Analysis snapshot: 2026-10-01.

50.0%Usable mileage1 / 2 records

100.0%Valid incident date2 / 2 records

100.0%Valid filing date2 / 2 records

100.0%Ordered incident and filing dates2 / 2 records

Missing, zero and invalid mileage is excluded. Dates after the snapshot are excluded. Examples are limited selections, not a representative sample.

Problems by model year

Model-wide comparison of the eight most reported components across the model. Cells show counts and shares within each model year. Open a cell for source examples.

From model yearThrough model year

Component complaint heatmap
Component	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1981	1982
Power Train:Manual Transmission	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	00.0% No examples available for this selection.	1100.0% ODI 10335720 · 50,000 mi TL*THE CONTACTS OWN A 1979 JEEP CJ5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 30MPH HE SHIFTED INTO SECOND GEAR AND THE VEHICLE MADE A LOUD NOISE. WHEN HE SHIFTED INTO THIRD GEAR THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. HE NOTICED THAT TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS LEAKING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CHRYSLER DEALER REFERRED HIM TO A JEEP DEALER WHO CONFIRMED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN 79V070000, POWER TRAIN, MANUAL TRANSMISSION RECALL WAS RELATED TO THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE JEEP DEALER REFUSED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE SI… Look up ODI 10335720 at NHTSA ↗	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.
Steering:Column	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	1100.0% ODI 10189536 TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1978 JEEP CJ5. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 200, REBUILT ENGINE, AND THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. THE STEERING COLUMN WAS VERY LOOSE WHERE THE COLUMN JOINED THE SHAFT UNDERNEATH THE HOOD. WHEN HITTING BUMPS OR UNEVEN PAVEMENT ONE COULD HEAR THE STEERING COLUMN RATTLING. THE STEERING COLUMN GOT WORSE WITH TIME. *AK Look up ODI 10189536 at NHTSA ↗	00.0% No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.	0Unavailable No examples available for this selection.

Darker cells indicate a larger share of submitted complaints. Components overlap. This measures complaint composition, not failure probability.

Failure mileage by component

Median and middle 50% of usable owner-reported mileages. Ranges require at least five records.

Component failure mileage distribution
Component	Mileage range (25th–75th percentile)	Median	Usable records	Examples
Power Train:Manual Transmission	Too few reports for a range	50,000 mi	1 (sparse)	ODI 10335720 · 50,000 mi TL*THE CONTACTS OWN A 1979 JEEP CJ5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 30MPH HE SHIFTED INTO SECOND GEAR AND THE VEHICLE MADE A LOUD NOISE. WHEN HE SHIFTED INTO THIRD GEAR THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. A FEW MINUTES LATER, THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. HE NOTICED THAT TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS LEAKING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CHRYSLER DEALER REFERRED HIM TO A JEEP DEALER WHO CONFIRMED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN 79V070000, POWER TRAIN, MANUAL TRANSMISSION RECALL WAS RELATED TO THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE JEEP DEALER REFUSED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE SI… Look up ODI 10335720 at NHTSA ↗

Complaint and recall timeline

Explore monthly filing activity alongside recall announcements. Up to ten years of monthly history is available.

ComponentPeriod

Solid line: filed complaints. Dashed amber lines: recall announcement dates for this vehicle selection; markers include all recall components. The latest month is partial. Temporal proximity does not establish causation.

Monthly counts, recall campaigns and complaint examples

Monthly complaint and recall timeline
Month	Campaigns announced	Examples
2024-11	None	No examples available for this selection.
2024-12	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-01	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-02	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-03	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-04	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-05	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-06	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-07	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-08	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-09	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-10	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-11	None	No examples available for this selection.
2025-12	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-01	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-02	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-03	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-04	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-05	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-06	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-07	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-08	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-09	None	No examples available for this selection.
2026-10 (partial)	None	No examples available for this selection.

Emerging complaint spikes

Complete months in the latest six months with at least 10 complaints, at least twice the preceding 12-month average, and at least three square-root deviations above that average.

This is a descriptive screening rule, not a statistical defect finding. Publicity and reporting changes can increase submissions.

No complete months meet the spike thresholds for this selection.

Equal-age model-year comparison

Model-wide cumulative reports during the first three or five calendar years, starting with the model year (age 0). Only fully elapsed windows are compared.

Observation windowFirst model yearSecond model year

1981: 0 complaints · 1982: 0 complaints

Equal observation windows
Model year	Through age 0	Through age 1	Through age 2
1981	0	0	0
1982	0	0	0

Date coverage across each selected cohort

Date basis for all complaints in selected model years
Year	Incident dates used	Filing date fallbacks	Excluded dates
1981	0	0	0
1982	0	0	0

Incident date is preferred when valid and no later than filing; otherwise filing date is used. Model year approximates age. Equal observation time does not adjust for sales, distance driven or reporting delays. One complaint linked to multiple model years can appear in each cohort.

Components reported together

Each cell counts unique complaints naming both components. Open a nonzero cell for examples.

Component co-occurrence matrix
Component	Power Train:Manual Transmission	Steering:Column
Power Train:Manual Transmission	—	0
Steering:Column	0	—

Co-reporting does not establish that one component caused another concern.

Recurring narrative patterns

Specific keyword mentions beyond broad component labels. Matching includes negations and comparisons and does not confirm a diagnosis.

Search patterns

1 patterns with matching reports.

Stalling or loss of power

1 mentions · 50.0% of complaints

Median mileage: 50,000 mi (1 usable records).

ODI 10335720 · 50,000 mi

Look up ODI 10335720 at NHTSA ↗

Matching rule

\b(stall\w*|loss of power|lost power|engine shut\w* off)\b

Complaints over time data
Category	Count
2007	1
2010	1