Hey what's up Cherokee nation?! How yinz livin?

Check it out. 1996 country edition. Forest green. 144k miles, only last 10k are mine. Little while back I ran the beast up to Mercer County Pa from Washington DC. About 300 miles one way. Stopped once on the turnpike about halfway there to take a leak. My next stop, 2 miles from my destination, is a little pizza shop. I'm in there for like 15 minutes waiting for my pie. This is where **** goes down.

Fired up a little slowly when I came out of the shop, and was idling kind of rough. Put it in reverse to back out of my spot and she starts to stuttering. Throw it into drive and the sputtering gets worse. I give it a bunch of gas and the sputtering gets worse for a few seconds, the whole thing is bucking and shaking wildly, I keep my foot firmly on the gas and it just settles down and everything is back to normal. Thankfully the pizza is intact. Drive it the remaining miles to my folk's place without incident. Over the next week or so I drive it around town, including some 15-20 mile trips with no problem. Drive it the 300 miles back to DC with no problem and continue taking short trips around DC with no problem.

But then it happened again. Only this time, despite me laying on the gas pedal, it died, right on 16th street in a bunch of traffic. Fortunately I was on a hill and could coast out of the way. Then it would crank but wouldn't turn over. I get on the phone with AAA. About 45 minutes later they still haven't arrived so I decide to see if it'll fire up and what do you know? It roars right on up.

So what do you all think? Bad sensor of some sort?

Thanks for reading, and an even bigger thanks for weighing in with suggestions.

 

First off is the check engine light on? The symptoms you encountered could be caused by a few things. Have codes read if check engine light is on.

 

No, the check engine light is not on.

 

Does't matter ...... read the codes anyway.

Make sure the scanner can read for " Pending Codes ".

I had a 2000 here with NO LIGHTS ...... as a matter of routine I scanned it for codes and what do you know ..... there was a code for the CPS.

When the new head was installed, the tech damaged the CPS.

 

check your fuel pressure

prime the system, but don't start it. hop out and see what it builds to and then if it falls off and how much.

start the jeep and check it while running and if possible on the road under a fair load.

i'd guess the first one will tell the tale.

 

Crank sensor