Regenerating Jeep?

So, I'm driving down to Houston from Dallas over the weekend. I'm driving along and a Cadillac CTS passes me going about 90mph. Me, being an ego maniac, can't be outdone, so I catch up to him and pass him. So we are driving down the highway going about 90-95mph when all of the sudden my engine power cuts and the "Check Engine" light turns on. Temperature, Oil PSI, Volts, RPM's, everything is fine. No smoke, no leaking fluids (which is suprising since my Auto tranny has a bad habit of over heating). Then the engine power returns to normal after about a second. Check Engine light is still on though, so I pull over and check things out. The Jeep idles fine, starts and runs fine, and I can't tell a diffirence in power from before the problem. Keep on going towards Houston and get there fine with no problems. Then, after three or four more times driving the Jeep, the Check Engine light magically disappears. This is not the first time my Jeep has fixed itself without me doing anything. Any thoughts? Do I actually have a problem, or did my Jeep just say enough and cut my power for a second. Is my Jeep possesed by some self-repairing spirit, or does every Jeep fix itself like this?

Osprey413 said:

does every Jeep fix itself like this?

Click to expand...

I WISH....

Could be a speed or rev limiter.

never heard of the governer affecting power or throwing the light before. they normally cut just enough fuel to stop the acceleration...sounds like some sensor might be malfunctioning.... i wouldn't worry about it- if it gets worse, and affects performance at lower speeds, one is probably going out on you. you could try and retrieve it, but most of the time these computers won't tell you what it is until it happens for a while. they can be kinda onry sometimes....

Profile says you've got a 97; take it to Autozone to pull the codes and see what the 'Check Engine' light was all about. O yeah, think about renaming the Jeep Christine :laugh3:

Sounds like a classic, tired 02 sensor.

I won't be able to pull the code anymore will I? The Check Engine light turned itself off the very next day.

being an OBD2 vehicle, the code should be stored in the PCMs memory

And about the light going away on its own, if the computer doesn't see the fault (that turned on the light in the first place) present for a certain number of drive cycles, it assumes that the fault is rectified and turns the light off. The same thing would happen if you had the light on, diagnosed the problem, and changed the faulty part, the light would go off after some driving, sometimes it can take a while to get the specific monitor to run, depending on what system the fault was in (just more driving)

you have 22nd Century technology. LOVE IT!

XJsaabTech said:

if the computer doesn't see the fault (that turned on the light in the first place) present for a certain number of drive cycles, it assumes that the fault is rectified and turns the light off.

Click to expand...

It is 50 on-off key cycles I believe.