XJ Stroker Twubbles

So what happens is you go on a camping trip with your trusty old XJ, and on that trip you crawl up the hill to flagstaff... Semi's passing you at 40mph.... 225k Miles, Engine got old on me. not the power it used to have. Well if you are gonna do a motor ... do it right... So you start researching motors... Rebuild.... V8.... Stroker.

I chose the stroker. Seemed to be the most plug and play. Took me two weekends, but got it in and running.


I am mechanically inclined.... however diagnosing isnt my strong point. Looking for some input/ ideas for my issue. was thinking electrical... Attached is a video of me shaking all my wires./ driving it and the issue. bare with the video... Manual transmission. only have two hands.

Rpm between 1k-2.5k have sudden drops of power. Causing a bucking effect... 3k and above no issues. Idle no issues. Once the issue starts if i put my foot on the clutch it will stall.


92 cherokee.
4.7 stroker
Stock Ignition replacements.
Fuel: Running 24 lb injectors/ Adjustable fuel pressure regulator at 44psi. (19lbs were too lean getting backfires in intake)
New Dizzy
New plugs/ New alternator/ New coil pack/
Intake that is supposed to be piped into firewall. (working on it)
Pace setter headers

Easier to list what i didnt replace
Fuel rail, throttle body, power steering/ a/c compressor. Engine harness


Ran great for two days then developed this weird stutter. For those two days of break in, I had a smile from ear to ear. Plenty of power, no issues, no knocks/ pings. .



Troubleshooting so far:

Used brake cleaner to check for vacuum leaks... no stutters
New Tps: Check
New o2 Sensor: Check
New Crank Sensor: Check.

"http://youtu.be/dYwXmzO3Nyw"

Make sure your distributor is indexed correctly first: http://www.angelfire.com/my/fan/dist_index.html

Yeah, if you were getting backfires into the intake, your timing is off!

here is a pic. 3cm's, on compression stroke, with crank on zero.

I think you may still be a tooth off...

Krisjeep said:

Ran great for two days then developed this weird stutter.


"http://youtu.be/dYwXmzO3Nyw"

Click to expand...

I don't think it would run "great" at all if he did not get the distributor indexed from the start.

Hypoid said:

I don't think it would run "great" at all if he did not get the distributor indexed from the start.

Click to expand...

I agree


Per the company that i purchased the engine from they stated it would run "Fine" with 19lb injectors. Now the engine did run however thoroughly starved for fuel. i believe this is what caused the intake backfires.

No matter where i look at strokers the constant remains that more fuel was needed. So i upgraded the injectors and it was like night and day.

I swapped out the O2 sensor for kicks last night. . i didnt have too much time to drive it but it appears to have fixed my issue. I'll let ya know

New distriubutors wear a bit on break in. If its a tooth off, it miht have been close enough, but the wear has taken it out of speck. I seem to install one tooth off about two times in three.