JonnyB

Hey everybody. I have a 96 Cherokee Sport 4.0L Automatic and it's sputtering and not giving that good of throttle response when taking off from a stand still. My guess would be that it might need a tune up (not sure when the last one was done...bought this a few months ago..) or that one of the fuel injectors is clogged up... When i put it in Neutral and rev it up; it's fine; only when in gear whether it be 1/2, 3, or Drive. Any ideas on where to start troubleshooting would be great! Thanks!

smtippin

Before you go digging, have you tried the cheap and easy stuff like seafoaming. Bad fuel or water in your fuel can cause this. I'd first start with the full seafoam ritual and see what happens before I moved on to bigger procedures.

s

Nick

Be sure that you are sure of how to run the seafoam. I cleaned out my engine 6mo ago, and checked with my mechanic on the correct way. For some help which you may not need: Pull off one of your vacuum lines (I used the one for the brakes) and keep your finger over the line. Letting your finger off a little, pour the seafoam SLOWLY (small stream) into the engine. It will bog down a little bit, so back off when this happens. I put about 1/2 pint in the first time. When you have it in the system, turn off the engine for 10 mins. Fire it up, and make sure you aren't where anyone will freak out about smoke. It will pump quite a bit of white smoke out for a while, then simply stop when out of the system. You can run this twice. Note: be careful when applying the seafoam-too much+too fast=seized engine. Have fun.

JonnyB

Thanks Nick for the advice! I'll make sure i'm careful with the seafoam...

BudgetXJ

If the seafoam doesn't work, you might want to check your cat to see if its clogged or coming apart. I've seen them clogged to the point that under load, it pops and sputters and feels like its running like crap but just revving in neutral it seems fine. Just an idea of where to go next if you have to

JonnyB

Update: Did a tune up and seafoam....worked well. The previous owner had NGK spark plugs in it and it didn't help that some of the wires broke when uninstalling....thanks for the advice

95Forrest

I have a 95 XJ cherokee 4.0L wiht a 5-spd and im havin the same problem. it will be driving fine when i first start goin and its almost like when i stop the first time and start back going through the gears it starts sputterin usually bout 45mph and wont accelerate at all, prolly the worst sound ive heard in a while without anything breaking. does anyone have any suggestions about what i should try