metoo

"....not another thread on this. Do you know there is a search feature?" That said, please only provide solutions to the issue not Google or other how-to-search info.

THE ISSUE:

I had a very minor radiator leak in my '01 XJ and a oil leak at the filter adapter that left quite an oil mess on the block. The radiator shop owner said just to use a particular stop leak by, adding it to the radiator, allowing the truck to idle for 30 minutes with it, flush the radiator and refill with fresh fluid. I did this, then drove to the nearby coin-op car wash to wash off the the old fluid stains and the oily gunk off the block, lines, a braces, and other components under the truck. [The Jeep was not running during the wash]. I drove back home to allow the engine to cool so that I could get change the adapter seal. As, I entered the garage, the engine shut off before I turned it off. I figured some water got somewhere, but would be all dry by the time I started it again.

I fixed my oil leak issued, performed and oil change, insulated my injectors, installed a new air filter, and did some other non-engine/engine bay related things. 3 weeks later, I started it and it died a few seconds later. I did this 3 times. On the fourth, I held the throttle at about 1500. I would stay on for quite a while. As I got off the throttle, it would die aroun 900 rpm. The scenerio of using a little throttle became less and less effective. Now (5 weeks later), I can try holding the throttle a bit, but it will still die and fairly quickly.

HOW IT RUNS OTHERWISE/ HISTORY:
It ran fairly smooth while holding the throttle with nothing really suggesting and issue with a single spark plug, coil, or injector. but, in the later starting trials, there would be a pop or two before it would start.

Also, while I was working on it in the garage, I saw that the possitive terminal seemed to have worn at the insulation on the battery hold down. I wiggle it and there was a short for small time before I disconnected the neg. terminal. More on that later.

Prior to any of this, I have had a couple instances were the truck ran rough and even didn't start after parking a on a couple of heavy rain days where I drove threw puddles spraying water 2-4ft up.

I've always had the issue in hot weather with vapro lock, where the car would miss upon starting if the car has been sitting in a parking lot for more than 5 minutes and less than 15minutes. That's what the aforementioned insulation was for.

IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE:
This is what came up most when doing a search, so I pulled it off and cleaned it. That didn't help. I replaced it with a new one. That didn't help. I really didn't think it would, since I wasn't having a high-idle issue.

OUT OF GAS:
The light was all from the beginning, so I added 5 gallons. That's didn't help.

VACUUM LINES:
There was only one damaged area. There is a somewhat stiff thin (less than 1/4" OD) black plastic line that runs along the passengers side bay wall at the top to a hollow plastic sphere mounted to the inside of the bumper. It had some damage, so I patched it.

THERMOSTAT:
Other that the after the trip from the car wash, all starts have been on a cold (under 100 deg F) engine, so the thermo shouldn't be in the equation, unless it got stuck open on the carwash day.

COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR:
When I could keep it running for about a minute, I had a friend check the resistance across the leads of the sensor. Resistance changed as temperature changed. I have a new sensor, but haven't tried it yet, because it seems the other is a least functioning. That said, it may be giving out the wrong info.

BATTERY ALTERNATOR:
Battery voltage after a few starts was at 12.5V with the engine off. Fired up, the reading off the terminals was over 13.5V. The gauge in the truck said around 14V. There was a point that the voltage gauge in truck pegged out at 19+V and the "check gauges" light came on. I shut the truck off, and hadn't seen that happen since.

Since I have that "short" issue, I took the battery out of the situation. I disconnected the battery completely and used jumper cables to connect the terminals to another running car (Pontiac G8). Same result. The engine dies.

FUSES AND CONNECTIONS:
I checked all the fuses in the box on the passenger engine bay box. They are all good. I did not run any tests on the relays. I looked at every electric connection in the engine bay. I didn't see any loose ones.

SO NOW WHAT?
I figured originally that maybe some water got somewhere it shouldn't be, but it would dry out by the time I start the car again. It's been over a month now tho. Unless it got in a connector and the water never got out. HELP!!!

THINGS NOT TRIED YET:
-cleaning the throttle body
-new relays
-replacing the coolant temp sensor
-replacing the battery/alternator
-fuel filter /fuel pump replacement

RTorrez1

Start by having it checked for any codes even if you don't have a CEL on. You can have some stored codes. If any codes do come up they will give a a direction to start looking.