94 XJ, did I goof?

Ok long story short I'm an idiot and left the gas cap on the roof and drove off.:dunce: I live on 4 miles of gravel/dirt road. I did this with a full tank this past summer about early June. I did not notice the cap missing until the low fuel light was on and bought one that day. Any ways I did the full tune-up to her from brass cap and rotor to new wires and champion plugs, Wix air filter and fuel filter. When I removed the fuel filter and tipped the gas from inside it about three teaspoons of mud came out with the gas. It scared the crap out of me. Anyways 3 tankfuls later and it's back to idling rough again even though I used Lucas fuel injector cleaner. My mileage went from 19.2 down to 13.4 MPG what should I start with next money is kind of tight right now.

drain the tank. drop the tank. clean the tank. remove fuel filter. flush the fuel line from tank to fuel filter as good as you can. disconnect fuel line at fuel rail by the engine, and flush from that end backwards towards the fuel filter. don't be cheap either. flush it as long and as much as you need with brake cleaner, etc.. until you are confident it's clean. once you have all that done, put everything back together with a new filter, a new strainer below the fuel pump, and some good quality fuel injector cleaner.

hopefully the injectors aren't ruined.

also for the future, I have a locking gas cap and so when I take off my gas cap I leave my keys connected to it... kinda hard to drive off without your keys...

Jimbo_1321 said:

also for the future, I have a locking gas cap and so when I take off my gas cap I leave my keys connected to it... kinda hard to drive off without your keys...

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haha good idea though, for people that do drive off with the gas cap off. i never thought about that...but i never leave mine off (knock on wood) but really good idea, keeps people from stealing your gas and keeps you from driving off without it...

Have you guys ever tried to syphon gas out of a Cherokee? super hard.

Yah I bought the locking gas cap. I do now leave my keys in it but I should probably not leave my spare in the ignition all the time then huh? lol Be my luck I'll lose my keys and the cap lol

Now I'm just wondering, since one of the most thoughtful pieces of XJ design is the gas cap holder in the lid, why you used the roof?

Matthew Currie said:

Now I'm just wondering, since one of the most thoughtful pieces of XJ design is the gas cap holder in the lid, why you used the roof?

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x2 - it's hard to forget the cap when it's six inches from your hand, and you can't really close the gas door with the cap in it. :shrug:

Jim www.yuccaman.com

Mine never holds the cap and being my gas station still has a gravel driveway with only a small patch of cement I was tired of it falling into the dirt. Maybe mine is bent. meaning the gas cap holder on the door.

I've lost and destroyed my fair share of stuff by leaving it on he roof, especially with a roof that is above eye level. if you have a habit of putting things up there, it is definately one you might want to break. If you gotta put something on yur jeep, put it on the hood. Kinda hard not to notice it before you drive away.

Update on the "running without a gas cap for a whole tank on mostly gravel roads." I've changed the fuel filter 3 times now. I did empty the tank ,flush it out, let it dry, and put a new strainer on the pick up tube. Have used 7 bottles of fuel injector cleaner and still no issues. Thanks for the help guys. I tactfully aquired a gas cap lanyard from a Ford van at the pick and pull. As far as the gas door holding my cap forget it. Do be sure and change the fuel filter. I dumped my filters out in reverse flow and it looked like mud. Until the third one.