My girlfriend's parents had a Grand Cherokee that had the same issue. They couldn't afford to fix it, so they had to junk it. I've tried junkyards, but I could only find two XJ's, both of which are missing the ECM.

They had their Grand hooked up, and it apparently pointed to the ECM. When her dad showed up to help me, he asked what it did right before it shut off. After I told him, he pointed to the ECM and explained that their Jeep did the same thing, and the ECM was the problem.

I don't want to have to pay out of pocket, again, to have it towed to a shop to get it hooked up to diagnose the issue. And I know how to get the ECM off myself, so towing it to a shop for them to test it and then charge me for something I can buy and do myself seems a little stupid in my opinion.

Does this sound like an ECM problem?

 

The power steering and brakes are powered by the engine itself so they will stiffen when the engine shuts off. Its possible the ECM could have gone but I wouldnt buy a expensive computer without trying other less expensive parts. Maybe the crankshaft sensor, that can cause it not to run when they go bad. Work your way up, you dont want to waste that kind of money on a computer if it isnt the problem. In the past, the magnetic pickup in the distributer caused my 96 to not run, maybe look into that too.

 

What codes did it show when you checked them...

 

I'll check into that. It starts sometimes, and I can go the length of my driveway (probably 50-70 yards) and it shuts off. And then I have to push it to the side, and wait a few hours, and then back up down the driveway to where it was. Does that sound similar to what the crankshaft sensor going out would be?

I've also been recommended to get a new coil where the distributor cap is at. My neighbor is a diesel mechanic, so he said to get the coil, and he'll put it in, and hopefully that will be a solution.

 

My neighbor has the computer thing for that, but it only works for '96-'10. Plus my check engine light isn't coming on. And I can't afford to have it towed to a shop.

 

Find a way to test the CPS when it quits on you, using a simple meter. ECU/PCM is the LAST place to look.

 

Distributer cap could also be the culprit, most of the time when the crankshaft sensor goes bad, it won't run at all.

 

Don't need computer for early years ,just because light aint on don't mean theres not soft codes . If theres no code present that eliminates all ecm controlled systems pretty much then you can concentrate on other ares.....
http://jeep-xj.info/HowtoECUcodes.htm