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Fuel problems...I believe

GottaBeJeep

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Colorado Springs
I am having problems with my 98 XJ. For the last two days, my jeep will sputter and die while driving. It seems to choke out when hitting the gas pedal, like when taking off at a light or trying to jump into passing gear on the highway. The less gas I have in the tank, the more often it just starts sputtering and then dies. I pull over, let it sit for a few minutes, fire it up again, then drive it as far as I can until it dies again, and continue doing this til I get to a gas station to fill it up. I'm sure it is the fuel pump/filter assembly, but I'm going to fix that and replace the injectors at the same time. I have been searching around the forums and have found a great writeup on changing the fuel filter/pump, even though the part is considered "non-serviceable". Here is the writeup incase someone else in the future does a search on this same problem: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138580&highlight=fuel+filter

I have also found in my searches that I will need 24lb injectors for my year of XJ according to this site: http://www.jeep4.0performance.4mg.com/tech_specs.html
Please let me know if I am wrong on the 24lb injectors before I order some.

I am going to replace everything anyways, but would like to know what my actual problem is caused from. Any ideas? Anywhere else I need to look besides the fuel pump and injectors? I'm not real familiar with the fuel delivery system, but I opened the valve on the fuel rail, and it hissed a bunch of air, with an occasional shot of fuel. Pressure lasted about 20 seconds with mostly air and about 6-7 spurts of fuel. This was done about 45 minutes after last running the jeep. Is this normal for there to be so much air and very little fuel, or did all the fuel drain back into the tank while sitting for 45 minutes. The sputtering and stalling is getting worse, and today, even after topping off the tank, it starts sputtering, but didn't die.

What are your thoughts? Am I on the right track? What's up with the air in my fuel rail?

Thanks

Edit: Oops, one more thing. For the last month or so before this sputtering and dying stuff, it takes an extremely long time to start, and when it starts, it sputters and idles very rough, and smells like fuel. Don't know if that helps.
 
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How many miles?? I wouldn't consider changing all your injectors unless you can pin point the problem to them. It most deffinitly sounds like a pump problem - the filter's are probably clogged with crap. When you shut the vehicle off, the sludge settles - then gets sucked back up into the sock/filter and your jeep sputters and dies.... I would replace/rebuild the fuel pump/filter and see if that doesn't solve your problems first, before you replace good injectors...

Will.
 
Be sure the tank is full of fuel first. The sending units on that style have been known to read 1/8 to 1/4 tank and really be out of fuel. If your taking the pump out, you can measure the sending unit w/ an ohm meter. I believe it should range from @60- 180 ohms but more importantly, it should have a smooth sweep from one end to the other. If it drops out erraticly, the sender is bad. This was either a TSB or a recall, so check them for more info.
 
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