95 cherokee, 5 spd, 4.0L, 160,000 miles. When I first bought the jeep it had tons of power but recently it will not go over 55 unless down hill . Anyways, it seems to be running solid, no misses, idles like a champ. Going down the road 1st and 2nd seems solid 3rd dogs but builds up to 40 or so and then 4th and 5th have nothing. Going up hills it hardly makes it in low gears. My troubleshooting has been plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter. Now Im at a point where everything proceeding forward will cost bigger $$$ and i hate to replace stuff not needed. Was considering fuel pump and injectors but like I said I want a good opinon. Figured i would ask the jeeps guys, because no one likes a bad example of cherokees on or off the road.

 

noticed nobody had anything to help, im having the same problem and have swiched teh same things, i even cleaned the o2's and throttle body, did you ever figure out the problem? if so let me know

 

Sold the car because I figured I would invest the money from my jeep in a muscle car for the summer. Anways the day I was driving the vehicle to the notary I heard a pop and the car started driving like a rapped ape. Anways it was the cat. Thought about it being the cat but I did not not feel like replacing. Selling it ended up being the best move because that day I bought a 1979 firebird with low miles for the same amount of money I got out of the jeep.

 

HHAHAHAHA i know the answer to this one, the problem is either the cat or, in my case, THE BRAKES! Yes check your brakes, the brakes on my XJ were partially locked down (not enough to know what it was) but just enought to keep me from reaching high speeds. Check the brakes and Cat and all problems will be solved

 

yup it was the cat, ****in thing was realy bad, took the whole exuahst off and drove around, had lots of power and sounded awsome lol.

 

those stock cats are garbage. when i was replacing my muffler and tail pipe a few summers ago, i'd figure i'd take the cat off and check the condition of it. well, the outer sheet metal on it was falling off, there was a hole in it from the inlet, and the dreaded "catalytic anthrax" powder was falling out of it.

 

Could a failing cat cause lose of low end power? Almost like I'm starting in a higher gear but then drives great once it upshifts. Also drives great if i manually shift it.