observations a year later
You know, mine never ran rough, never lost power, never made a ticking noise, never got worse fuel mileage... it was just that the check engine light would not go off. Not being able to use the remote start was the most inconvenient thing about it, up until I had to leave it at the dealership for a week, while they changed the head.
BTW, if you've had that done, check all the wiring harnesses that are supposed to be routed across the the topside... 20K miles AFTER my head replacement, check engine light came on, along with the traction control light... this time I did lose power, and the tranny wouldn't shift automatically (it would bump shift, but the computer had quit controlling shift-point) anyway, I limped into the dealer (different one) and they quickly diagnosed it; the dealer who had replaced the heads had failed to properly secure the wiring harness, and it had worked its way to the point it was in a minor bind, which, over the course of 20K miles, eventually caused it to break a couple of pins in the connector.
My biggest gripe in all this is that Jeep/Chrysler service writers and counter-jockeys are STILL pretending like they don't know there's a problem with those engines. The fact that there are still message boards all over the internets with people going "my CEL came, dealer says its a misfire cyl 2... what up with that; anybody else heard about that?"
Some dealership's service managers are more honest than others, and it's very clear they've been told to play ignorant. I understand they had a big problem, what with fixing the tooling that caused the defect, and then manufacturing enough heads to catch up with the ones already sold, and not slow down production of new ones... but who says you don't slow down production of ones to sell until you're damned sure you fixed all the ones you already sold? That's what a company that wanted to ensure the loyalty of its customers would do. I love my jeep, but I really hate the way Chrysler has dealt with this. I'm in the market for a hiway car (but not a car), and would love to have a Grand Cherokee Overland with a Hemi. But first I have to decide whether to give this company any more of my trade.