WTF?!! Fuel Pump? CP Sensor? Neutral Safety Switch? Computer?

How about none of the above?

This is an extremely poor area with some of the best people I have ever had the good fortune to meet. Today, I was directed to take the jeep by the local garage. As I could not get the codes by any other means and did not want to start blindly throwing money I don't have into the thing, I relented. Mind you, I am also a White guy, driving a vehicle with out of state plates and a luggage carrier on the roof on a reservation which, at times, makes me a tax beacon - a position I am coming to, more or less, accept. I went into this guy's family run garage. On the wall above his desk, I noticed work orders organized categorically according to various stages of payment for work completed. Hardly any had made it over to the "paid in full," section, while the majority were in the "Partially Paid" section. After I watched this guy help out a distressed mom with her car for no money, he hooked up his computer to my jeep, ran the codes, gave me a print out with a description and picture of the part, and said, "good luck," - never hinting at expecting any payment. I gave him $20.00. The problem turned out to be the "Intake Evaporation Solenoid." I have one on order from Napa. The jeep stalled out on me again on my way home. I removed the plug on an unused vacuum port (I don't even know why, except that it was the only thing I hadn't tried) on the intake manifold, turned the ignition with the pedal to the floor, she started up and I was able to drive over 10 miles home without it stalling again. Hopefully, the solenoid I am picking up tomorrow will fix the issue. I'll tell you what, though. I think that all this computer and electronic **** in Jeeps is ridiculous! Before buying this XJ, a guy wanted to trade a beautiful, 82', lifted wagoneer with a Chevy 350 for my Buick and my motorcycle. I couldn't give up the bike. But, I wonder how that wagoneer is doing. It sure was pretty.

 

OK...and forgive the TOTAL ignorance.........

WTF is a "intake evaporative solenoid" ????

Do you by chance have an EGR valve mounted on the intake manifold?

it is a 4.0 L in line six correct?

I do understand your ethnical situation completely, I have been in Arab and hindu and buddhist climes. Your Jeep is a FINE vehicle, you must learn the zen of it. It requires research, and as is here fountains of knowledge to direct you to the correct solution. I would ask, do you have a repair manual you can peruse to narrow down symptoms? A HAYNES manual for your year? If not a SHOP manual through HELM perchance?

One thing.. open hood, visually inspect ALL vacuum lines fro cracks or deterioration....USE A STRONG FLASHLIGHT and a small mirror to check for those. Are all the connections secure and tight?

my 2 cents sir, and a starting point.
cpnwrench

 

See, told you we had Cavalry /\........I did some googleong and found nothing dangerous regarding Zen and Jeeps. The below was under "how do I fix the Evap Sol....for a Mitsubishi.

Maybe when you bashed it the, >from the gas tank to the intake manifold< line was damaged.


if you are getting a (dtc) check engine light for an evap leak try checking the fuel filler neck-fuel cap for leaks. tracing the fuel lines from the gas tank, there are two lines for fuel injection systems. the feed line and the return line connect to the fuel rail and the fuel psi regulator. at the gas tank the fuel lines should be beside a nylon tube connecting to your evap system, which releases fumes from the gas tank to the intake manifold to be recycled for lower emissions. check for cracks or leaks in this section of the system. this nylon line holds one psi of fuel fumes. the evap senser monitors psi and sends a signal to the solenoid to release the fumes to the engine. these sensers and solenoids are usually vacuum and electronicaly operated. also try searching for cracked or dislocated vacuum lines. bepending on what motor option you'll be working with i highly suggest finding a haynes or chilton's manual of your specific vehicle. these manuals have tips for troubles, componant locators, electrical diagrams, as well as vacuum diagrams.

 

I had troubles starting my jeep a while back and it was all thanks to that damn Neutral Safety Switch. Turns out it was filled with dirty oily grease making it an open circuit. That will cause your back up lights not to work as well. I would recommend taking a look at it, it's not to hard to get to.

 

10-4 on that Bush League. Mine has need cleaning for 10 years! Priorities. paulutions main problem might be it stopping as opposed to gettn goen. wheelchair:

 

Thank you all. It was the solenoid. The thing runs better than ever and my gas mileage appears to be tons better today too. I do still have that neutral safety switch issue, caused by an oil leak at the valve cover so, I'll have to take care of that soon. It seems that, even if I had a manual, I might have gone to a lot of unnecessary trouble trying to fix this. The computer didn't lie. I was going to start with the fuel pump. Now, I've gotta get a lift kit and some new tires and a winch and one of those cool roof cages! Yee Haw!

 

Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!! There's a fuel mixture problem. Maybe, I bought a faulty solenoid? ****! I don't know. It runs good in the morning. Today, we took it down to Gallup. No problems. Was purring like never before. Ran a bunch of errands, end of the day it dies, takes us hours to get home. Its like it works a union shift that ends every day at 4:00pm. It will quit, I take the vacuum line off that leads to the evaporation solenoid, I crank it, she coughs some noxious fumes, I get down the road a ways, she quits, I do it again. I bought an idle air valve for the hell of it. Didn't do ****. Damn! What a pain in the ***!

 

I am going to do all of these things, just as you describe tomorrow, OB1. I shall submit to your obvious wisdom. Thank you, sir.

 

Hey now! Don't get carried away! >>>your obvious wisdom<<<. I just ripped out my whole headliner to find the nail holes in my roof! Should have looked on top first.

Just that the article said to check that line, and you bashed it good enough to damage the fuel pump wiring in that area.

So it won't start unless you remove that vacuum line? Codes again?

Maybe someone with a clue will chime in.

 

Well, I can't get the codes with the key trick. I have to take it down to the gracious man with the tool. But, I had the neutral safety switch code, which I expected, & the code for the solenoid. I am assuming that the overwhelming fog of noxious fumes that is present when the jeep dies is what is choking it out. The removal of the vaccum line allows it to suck a lot of air in. You can hear it clearly. It is quite loud. But, of course, it doesn't run right, just enough to get down the road.

 

You're in obdII you need a scanner. Your map is manifold absolute pressure and reads vacuum to adjust fuel mixture. It's on the firewall almost straight back from the valve cover. High isle issues are usually caused by the tps and dirty iac. Obviously your neutral safety switch is messed up. There's a write up in technical write up section about it. There are several sensors that can cause a rich condition. ThY causes all sorts of interesting problems. You really should start by testing your fuel pressure. The hard start no start plus weird around at the pump could indicate a failing check valve.. so I would focus on nss and fuel pump to begin with. what'd I miss?

 

A no start cause of the check valve? OB1 says listen to slick and have him check the fuel pressure while your getting the codes, if he's agreeable to that.

And make sure that vent line and the wires are nifty back under there where things where smashed.


And that smell, you sure it's not fuel leaking? It's from the exhaust?

 

I woke this morning, drove up a steep mountain, 85 m.p.h. across the mesa for 1/2 hr, & then back home. I ran some errands. It wouldn't quit, so I drove it down to Gallup, went into a restaurant for about an hour, came out & she wouldn't start. So, I put an O2 sensor in & she started right up. Drove a 1/2 mile & died. Found a ground that needed cleaning, did that; she started right up. Drove up the hill, she died, rolled back down the hill. I cleaned everthing, pulled the pvc valve line to the intake manifold, very dirty, cleaned it, she started right up. Got up the hill around the corner, onto a bridge, she died. Put some starting fluid down that pvc line port into intake, she started right up. Drove to auto store, bought new pvc valve, put it in, drove 1/2 mile, she died. I wiggled lines to fuel pump, she started up. Drove a couple of mile, she died. None of the fore mentioned steps worked, so I called a tow truck. Of course, she started right up when I got home, runs real nice.

 

Stuff done to date:
Reconnected spliced wires by fuel pump with connectors.

New Intake evaporation solenoid

New 02 sensor

New Idle sensor

Cleaned grounds

New air filter (just because)

New Pvc valve

When it dies, it just dies. RPM's and oil pressure immediately drop to 0. No sputtering or coughing, just sudden death.

One more detail: back when it died the first time, the gauges went out too. I believe I fixed that by replacing the blown fuse, but I may have fixed it by disconnecting the battery. I don't recall.

 

Does it smell like gas still? Is that new O2 the first one closest to the engine?

>>>when it died the first time, the gauges went out too.<<< That might be a big deal, loosing power there.

The fuel pump power wire shorting could trigger the ASD relay to shut down. (or other shorts) If 98 HAS an ASD relay.(auto shutdown) Did you double check the wiring repair? (and the fuel tank vent tube)A $5 Harbor Freight meter sure could be handy.

Getting the codes read again seems to make sense.