twinkiedooter

My 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0 4X4 has a swell problem. When I start it, I have to basically start it twice before it keeps running. When I first bought this from some guy who had basically tore the vehicle apart to sell for parts and then put it back together(?) it has always done this. I tried filling it up with gas and got about to the 3/4 at the pump and ended up having a few gallons of gas spewing out from the tank onto the ground. The gas was under a lot of pressure and kept spilling out from the front area of the tank scaring the hell out of me!!! It did stop long enough to drive home. Now for the problem. I tried starting it last night to go home from work. Turned it over once, turned it over again and engine would not catch. Tried a 3rd time and it caught and I could drive home. It was very moist out having rained most of day. Today I tried again twice and it would not catch. Tried about an hour later and it caught the second time.

I think this jerk who took apart the car didn't properly install the fuel pump and did not tighten it down properly. Fuel pump does not die or sputter or lag going up hills, etc. so I don't think I need a new pump.

What do you think this could be other than the fool didn't properly seat fuel pump? He somehow broke the blend door thingy as well when he obviously took the dash apart as well and I now have heat coming out of the defrost vent only. And yes I wish I could smack him a few times in he face with a shovel for good measure!!!

The shocks have been changed and the old ones were the original and all rusted to hell (just to show you how neglected she has been). Have her just about fixed up where she should be a good car for me after dumping a small fortune in parts and labor into her so far.

My 94 Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0 4X4 lasted me 12+ years (second owner) before the frame rusted thru and had to be taken to the junk yard. I am still not over that car!!! Loved it. Perfect deluxe interior and features and perfect body. The price I have to pay for living in Ohio.

dave1123

First of all I want to welcome you to CF. Having said that, it seems to me you bought this jeep knowing full well it had problems. You get what you pay for.

The seal on the fuel pump is probably shot where it mounts to the tank. I haven't done a jeep yet, but my wife's Dodge Caravan had a threaded plastic ring holding the pump to the tank and it's easy to cross-thread it and it will feel tight and not be.

Check the plugs on the PCM. They may be loose or corroded. also check the mounting bolts and ground. It sounds like the PCM needs to heat up or burn a good connection before it will function. Several PCM's have been known to have solder cracks on the circuit boards or bad capacitors. The solder cracks started when they went to lead-free solder. You can repair them by flashing them with heat and a little new solder.

I hear you on the rust. My '97 was in perfect mechanical condition after rebuilding the transmission and rear axle, only to have the rear lower control arms break out of the frame. I paid $1500 for it and put $5000 into it because I was in love with it. I won't do that again.

If you check my signature, I'm in upstate NY.

MNOE

Could it be fuel filter related?

dave1123

Probably not. A plugged filter results in poor fuel pressure all the time, BUT if the pressure is maginal, it could take a while to build it up. Change it to be sure.

twinkiedooter

Thanks Dave for answering my post.

I had my mechanic drop the tank today. And guess what he found? You guessed it, or rather I guessed it, the pump was NOT screwed in at ALL(!) into the tank AND the gasket was floating on the bottom of the tank to boot. Don't you just LOVE amateurs putting a car back together? I need to give him a few kisses with my shovel. My mechanic corrected this problem in a jiffy and now my Jeep is back on the road at not much cost ($60). I knew it had something to do with the compression not being right in the tank. My suspicions paid off (this time) for me. I have an honest mechanic thank God as well. Had I been stupid Doris and taken it to a Dealership I would have paid a small or large fortune and they would have done everything to it including a prostate exam and an enema when it only needed a tightening of the fuel pump. Rule of thumb. When you get an honest mechanic thank your lucky stars. I took very expensive car repair "lessons" from the master mechanic I had in South Florida for 20 years.

Also, yes I knew there were problems with it when I bought it. Duh, just because I am a little old lady (68) does not mean I was stupid when I bought it. I saw the potential and since there are few and no older Jeeps around here that are not rust buckets decided to take a chance on it. For the money the older Jeeps are a better buy as the newer ones in the 2000's all seem to have rebuilt engines in them. What does this say to me? That the older ones are better and the newer ones are junk.

I intend to keep my "problem child" for a few years since I've fixed her up with quality parts. Why take a bath and give her away for peanuts when I can get many more good years from her. I was literally in shock when my silver 94's frame went and I wanted another Jeep. Can't get in and out of the small ******** cars that are available now. Am too used to a Jeep to reeducate myself. And anyway they ARE ADDICTIVE....JEEPS THAT IS. Also having been in two wingding car accidents I want to make sure I walk away.....and not be buried in my car i.e. Focus, Neon, etc. I'd rather make the other idiot into a belt buckle.

Now she starts right up like a champ. My 94 was almost impossible to kill and I think this Black Beauty is going to be the same.

Have a nice day!!!

dave1123

Good luck with your ZJ. I am also 69 years old with limited funds and find smaller cars turn my off. I've been driving 4X4 pick-up trucks for about 30 years until I bought my ZJ and said to myself, "Why didn't you do this sooner?" I now drive a 2000 Grand Cherokee (WJ) with the 6 cylinder. This will probably be the newest vehicle I'll ever buy because of all the (to me) useless electronics in today's cars. Besides, I don't like a car telling ME how to drive. I DO, however, miss the versatility of a pick-up.

The only major problem with Jeeps is gas mileage, but you've got to remember they weigh a lot more for their size because of all the steel and driveline components in them. My WJ weighs 4000 lbs and only has 195 hp.

I'm glad you found a mechanic you can trust. That's the best thing that can happen to someone who can't do their own work. I found a guy who's my own age and loves classic cars. He's only in business because he loves working on them. I'm partially disabled so I have him do whatever I can't do myself. He even lets me buy my own parts!

About the shovel, Use it on the BACK of his head, not the face. It's more effective.

twinkiedooter

Hey Dave, glad to know that you too don't care for the newfangled stuff they jam on the newer cars of today sensor for this sensor for that. And how they have to drop the entire engine in the Ram 2500 to do any engine work!! Had a front end alignment done today and the mechanic (at a repair place no less) somehow jiggled the black ground wire on my battery loose and didn't tell me about it. Ended up at the supermarket with no lights, etc as battery not connected (gee wonder why). Some nice guy in a huge diesel pick up parked nose to nose and gave me a jump. Went to auto parts store and had battery tested ok again and found the black ground wire terminal needed changed!! Gee I wonder why I don't use shops any more? Seems they all don't care a fig but just want to finish the job and move on to the next car. No ethics apparently in telling the car's owner there is a problem. The guys at the auto parts store put on a new terminal for FREE for me by an ex mechanic with 20 years experience under his belt.

I also found out that the fuel filter is in the TANK with the fuel pump and is not underneath like my 94 was and is not easily changeable. Swell. Sure glad they did that. Just to make more money for the mechanics or dealership. Great. A replaceable fuel filter for my 94 was about $10. Now it's all in one unit in the tank. Whoever at General Motors changed this needs to be taken out and shot for that design change or sent to the gallows. Boy was I hot about that change! My 74 Cordoba I could practically fix with a bobby pin while standing in the engine compartment.

I had the rotor and cap, plugs and wires changed the other day on my problem child. Seems the rotor was worse than worn, the cap had RUST on the two attaching screws and and the inside was all full of corrosion. Wonder what century THAT was changed out? The plugs were all fouled (gee wonder why) and the wires were all brittle. It's a miracle that the engine turned over at all at that rate. Now I am running some Lucas fuel cleaner thru the engine to clear out the rest of the junk in the injectors, etc. Seems to be helping. My mechanic lets me buy my own parts as well. I go online and get a 30% discount and pick up at their store helping me stretch my meager monthly stipend. If you have an Advanced Auto near you, try that!! To get the latest 30% discount code use the chat online box when it comes up and ask them for the latest 30% code. They'll give it to you no problem. You can save up to $50 per order. Sometimes I break up an order just to get more of a discount.

I drive about 50 miles a week so the fuel mileage problem is not a problem for me. Rather be safe in an old tank than sorry. Also, I work for an insurance agent part time and find that the little cars are a small fortune to insure as well!!! Seems the smaller the car the more it costs to get repaired, insured, etc. Blast the MPG as you end up paying more in the end just to drive a fancy ******** car that gets 40MPG!! Got over the new car mania years ago. Had 4 new cars in my lifetime and now wouldn't buy another.

P.S. I have to drive past the house of the guy who messed my Jeep up every day. I'm thinking of using my handy dandy Estwing hatchet instead and giving him a really short haircut like the Indians used to give.

dave1123

Let me give you a clue as to how that in tank filter worked. And it was Chrysler corp, not GM. The 93 to 96 used an in-line filter. The 97 to 99 had the filter in the tank. The 2000 and up went back to the in-line filter. The best thing to do is retrofit your 97 with the pump, filter and fuel lines with the 96 ones. That is, if you ever have the problem again.

I buy all my parts at rockauto.com and my mechanic buddy installs them when I can't or don't feel like bothering. He only charges $65/hour and does a very good job. He's really into hot rods and classics just like me, except he has the money! He's got a nice 37 Dodge which is the same as the one I bought as my first car. I put a Dodge Red Ram Hemi in mine, he's still got the 6. Mine was a mean and nasty POS, his is a classic.

Check out Rockauto. They have quality parts at reasonable prices and have NEVER sent me the wrong part. They also have choices of most parts so you can choose which ones suit your needs. If you want to pay for it, they can even ship in one day. For instance, I bought Bendix rear brake rotors for $18.37 each.

Be aware the battery cable ends are a problem. The original lead clamps stretch and don't tighten on the battery post as well as they should, especially the positive one (red). Also, if you ever have to replace the water pump, buy a premium pump with a metal impeller. The plastic ones will shatter if the bearings wear a little. It seems the impeller spins about 1/16" from the #1 cylinder barrel. Be sure you buy one for the v-belt as well. The serpentine one spins in the opposite direction.

Take good care of the transmission. When it's cold outside, warm it up in neutral to give the pump time to pressurize the system before you expect it to do any work. DO NOT use drive as a brake to stop a rearward roll. It puts too much stress on the forward clutch.

twinkiedooter

UPDATE on what really caused my starting problem. And it was such an EASY fix I could kick myself in the situpon for not thinking of it before.

I changed out the battery as I was not happy with the Farm King one and at the same time I changed out both of the PCV valves. Seems that the other owners NEVER changed out these from the factory in 17 years!!! The one valve had absolutely nothing in it and the other (rear) had a little valve left in it and they both crumbled and had to be carefully chipped out of the gaskets.

When they were changed, the motor started up immediately with absolutely NO hesitation, etc like before. No need now to double start to get motor to catch.

Thought you guys just may be interested in what the problem was seeing how it was such an easy fix. I usually change out everything in the engine area that I can when I buy a used car, i.e. plugs, wires, cap, rotor, pcv valves and somehow I missed the valves. Shucks, of course the valves would inhibit the spark and the turning over properly of the engine.

Did NOT change out the fuel pump and old one works just fine. Filled it up to complete full without it splashing out onto the ground. My mechanic just installed it properly with the same gasket he fished out of the tank bottom.

So far even in today's extreme cold temperature (15 degrees) my problem child started right up and idled just great.

Now to get the blend door thingy fixed so I have heat coming out other than the defrost setting.

dave1123

Actually the front hose is the air inlet and is only an elbow. The rear one is the important one. It has a small plunger on two balanced springs. It's designed to vent the crankcase on high vacuum decelerations and allow a small air bleed at idle. Most people DON'T change them and they should. They get crudded up with oil vapor over time and loose their designed calibration.

LOL! He used the same gasket? Well, why not? The fuel shouldn't have hurt it. I hope he checked the tank for dirt.