P0302 on a Jeep Grand Cherokee
P0302 means cylinder 2 Misfire Detected. On the Grand Cherokee, a few causes come up far more than others.
What P0302 usually means on a Grand Cherokee
P0302 isolates a misfire to cylinder 2, and on the 3.6 Pentastar that location carries weight. The early-generation cylinder-head failures on 2011–2013 engines frequently showed up as a left-bank or cylinder-2 misfire, often paired with a P0300. That said, the ordinary causes come first: a failed coil or plug on cylinder 2, or an injector problem. A head-related failure usually adds a rough cold start and a ticking, exhaust-like noise, and the misfire returns after plugs and coils are swapped.
Most common causes on the Grand Cherokee
- Ignition coil or spark plug on cylinder 2
Swap-test the coil to a neighboring cylinder first; if the misfire follows the coil, you have your answer cheaply.
- Fuel injector on cylinder 2
A clogged or failing injector starves that one cylinder and mimics an ignition fault.
- Early Pentastar cylinder-head / valve-seat failure
On 2011–2013 3.6 engines this is a documented pattern, typically with low compression on the affected cylinder.
- Low compression from a burnt valve
A leak-down test confirms whether the misfire is mechanical rather than electrical.
What P0302 costs to fix on a Grand Cherokee
If it is a coil or plug, this is an inexpensive repair well under a couple hundred dollars. If a leak-down points to the early-build head problem, you are into a cylinder-head replacement that runs well into four figures with labor. The wide gap between those outcomes is exactly why testing before parts matters here.
Year, engine and mileage change the answer. Start a case and Redline weighs these causes against what your car shows, then names the check that would settle it.
Grand Cherokee owners also ask
Does a cylinder 2 misfire always mean a bad head on the Pentastar?
No. Most cylinder-2 misfires are a bad coil or plug and clear for under a couple hundred dollars. The head-failure pattern is real on early 3.6 engines but should be confirmed with a compression or leak-down test, not assumed.
How do I quickly tell a coil problem from a head problem?
Move the cylinder-2 coil to another cylinder and clear the code. If the misfire follows the coil, the coil is bad; if it stays on cylinder 2, suspect the plug, injector, or a mechanical fault in that cylinder.
Other codes on the Jeep Grand Cherokee
Related symptoms
Jeep Grand Cherokee problems & recalls by year
Based on widely reported patterns for this model; individual causes vary by year, engine and history. Generic P0302 behavior is covered on the main P0302 page. Confirm with a scan tool before buying parts.
P0302 on your Grand Cherokee?
Every problem becomes a Case. Tell Redline what your Grand Cherokee is doing: it shows what the evidence supports, what’s still missing, and what to check next, before you approve a repair.
“Inner pad ~1 mm. Outer pad 3 mm.”
Next: check the slide pins move freely before buying parts.