Adam in NYC USA

Hello from Adam in NYC.

Hi from New York and From Brooklyn especially.

I am the owner of a 1996 Cherokee 4 door Auto Transmission with 171000 miles and it has a peculiar stall after warming up and doing a bit of stop and go driving. You would roll to a stop at a stop sign or even on the Brooklyn Bridge and it would die in drive.

You crank it and then the motor would come back to life and recover nicely. That was that after the hottest summer we had had here in NYC in 50 years and a few tornados as well.

The quick recovery tells me it is an electrical problem. No MIL light no codes with a generic Actron code reader. Had the plugs distributor cap changed but the other night I left me stranded on the street and it did not start after two hours.

maybe ignition coil , bad crankshaft sensor, or just Jeep gremlins I don't know.
I could use some help please. Had it towed by AAA, and it starts just fine back at their shop.

I'm at a loss.

Adam

Adam in NYC USA

AAA towed my Jeep to their "depot" where it sat over the Columbus Day weekend and when they started the car, it started right up.

Greaaaat. Took it for several drives and it would not repeat the stall, even after leaving the car run for awhile. By the way, the problem was not that it would stall on idle but when you did city driving, the engine temp would start to rise to the one o'clock position and then it would suddenly stall.

Priorly, you can start it right up after 30 seconds. The last time stranded me but good. I was outside my job for two hours and it would not start. It wold crank but not start.

Im thinking it is the ignition coil or a baked intermittent either on the ECU or one of the connectors.

I joined the forum to see if anyone else have something to add but the SILENCE is DEAFENING HERE. Just because Im new, I don't get a response. I see quite a few views though. Hello?

Now we are going thru the temperature slide into Autumn so the problem will probably go into hibernation like a black bear, but then I dont need this when it gets hot again here in the Big Apple.

Adam in NYC USA

Hi again from Adam in NYC (Bay Ridge Brooklyn).

I ordered the drop in replacement ignition coil from Accel. Waited and it arrived the other day.

I work nights and today I just got up early and did the swap out thanks with some help with a next door neighbor. Nice that the designers put the coil next to the distributor and behind the a/c compressor. Absolutely little space with the lefthand machine bolt.

Started the Cherokee and the new running idle behavior was apparent. The erratic engine shaking was gone and the engine ran like clockwork. High revved the engine for a few minutes until the engine got up to 210 with no stall. I had also sprayed the intake with MAF cleaner a few days prior and another big difference in performance and pickup was noted.

took it to work and the engine runs reliable and more quietly than before. Took a good look at the OE coil and it looked new. I remember what the Car Doctor said: NEW means Never Ever Worked. I guess that not all coils are built the same.

I am going to put another 18 miles in the morning and see if it stalls again.
I got my fingers crossed but it does feel good when there is a noticeable and positive improvement with the Jeep running.

See you soon.

Adam in NYC USA

Hi again from Brooklyn.

Just wanted to update you on what has happened since. I went with the wife to the local fruit market and parked the car. Actually I left it running with the a/c on since it was a humid day. The idle ran rough and then it finally died.

It would crank but not start. It was towing time. The local shop was a block away so I took a walk in the rain to the shop. They were nice enough to get a tow truck and drop my wife and groceries back to the ranch.

Long story short, the Check Engine light finally turned on. The mechanic said it had two codes. IAC and Crankshaft sensor both bad. Replaced both and got a new battery too.

Back on the road again. No stalls since. I did get a Check Engine Light again. Multiple misfires on most of the cylinders. Only thing changed is a tank of 89 octane and some Techron fuel cleaner. Reset the ecu and see what else is going on.

Later.

Adam

Adam in NYC USA

hi again. just updating. Stalling is gone but I did have to reset the ECU after some Techron and 93 octane fuel gave the Cherokee some pinging and set the Check ENgine light.

Reset the ECU and it has been purring fine under drive. There is still a bit of a slight roughness of the idle but I think it is the old oxygen sensors and old software asserting themselves.

Happy motoring.

Adam

ol'DixieJeep

having same problem, nothing seems to work, mine however hasnt failed to start...
what finally did the trick? i replaced crank sensor and iac and map and tpc... all my vaccume elbows too! the coil packs and fuel pump also... i am getting pretty upset.

Adam in NYC USA

In the end for me, the distributor was swapped out and the stalling stopped. Did you finally fix it and what was your solution?

tighten-them-bolts

Hello

I also have the same issue, i own a 1996 jeep lardeo 4.0 180k miles, owned for 2 years before problem started about a month ago. starts up fine for the morning drive about 15 miles. once parked for a short time (1 hour) and attempt to drive again it will spit and sputtter and dies. some times it will die and start right back up . sometimes i must wait a few minutes before starting again. There are no fault codes displayed.
current attempted repairs 1). checked fuel pressure with gauge on fuel rail 49 psi 2). replaced crank position sensor. no help. Before spending a bunch of money on sensors which reading that other had done in this forum i decided to try the no cost checks. i read several places in other forums about the same issue and found the discussion on the 2 torq head bolts on the computer casing. people where removing them and shortening them which some mention it fixed the problem. so i went down the rabbit hole also. the only thing that made since was possibley reseating the 3 plugs on the computer . i did notice when i removed the 2 torqs head screws that the hole which they came out of might have been a grounding surface for the cpu..I will update as i attempt repairs

PatHenry

Did you inspect all the wiring in and around the engine compartment?? Did you clean and tighten down the ground wires? I noticed you are new,... if you spend any time here you'll notice that all the old wise men (and women maybe) around here will tell you that the first and foremost thing you should do when you have electrical/ignition issues, before anything else, is check the wiring, clean your connectors, make sure the grounds are making good contact (clean and tight).

If not, do that first. These Jeeps are 20+ years old.... rust, corrosion, "rub"... plenty of chances for wires to fail and short out, lose connectivity, etc.

318SixPack

The problem all of you describe, including the parts cannon volleys, sounds like the wires that ground to the dip stick mount stud. I have had to redo mine about 3 times. Have eyelet terminals on all four and they are grounded directly to the stud.

At least once I replaced the Crank Position Sensor, and the problem more likely was just the connection needed to be refreshed, and I still had to fix those four wires that go to the dip stick mounting stud.

PatHenry

Speak of the devil... .lololol.. here's an "old wise person" now..

Tighten-them-bolts - Check your grounds my friend!

tighten-them-bolts

Hello

Well since i have ground the screws down on the face of the computer i have NOT had any more problems !! I plan going the the grounding on the motor as soon as the weather warmsup here.

tighten-them-bolts

Stalling issue update, after about a month of trouble free driving my stalling issue returned. i decided to send the computer to be tested and they found the coil circuit for the iginition system was bad. turns out the ECM on this older jeeps are not sealed very good and over time the terminal connects from the plugs to the electical componets will also corroide . i sent it to a place called EUexchange for repair .I hate doing the voodoo things that are mentioned in some of these forums but he screw thing worked for awhile . after thinking about it most likely it tightened the connections on the between the circuit board and the plugs from the way its designed. I really like this old jeep and and want to keep it on the road for many more years.

ole man

My 97 cherrokee is doing the same thing. crank senser is new, ignition coil new, distributor is new. No new codes or lights showing up. Took it to the dealer they can't get it to stall and no codes show up. Anyone have ideas of what this.
Thanks
ole man.

tighten-them-bolts

My problem was the same as yours, i did the parts canon also.... crank sensors, cam sensor, throttle position sensor, even did the ignition switch asemmbly . After that it lead me to the computer, i sent the CPU to have it be tested and there was suspect corrision inside the plug transition board so they replaced it. ran great for about a week and started acting up again.. So it got to the point it would run and die and would not restart unless i disconnected the negative side of the battery for a momnent and it would start back up again. during this troubleshooting i noticed the relays next to the battery in the fuse compartment were chattering. so i started to do the tap and wiggle test on the wiring at that point i found a ground wire with a eyelet dettached from a cluster of other grounds on the engine block.it was in a area hard to see so must have been touching the other wires and finally slipped away from the connection. After finding this i reattached the ground wire and checked every grounding point .I unlanded and cleaned and reattched evey one i could find and there are many..So far its running great. i read in this forum about the CPU screws on the face cover. it did that also but must have been pure luck it ran fine for about 2 week after doing that so i now beleive my bad grounds ws the culprit all long. Well good luck with your Jeep