Blaine B.
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Northwest Indiana
Here's the deal. In mid July I was driving along when all of a sudden the XJ died. I coasted off to a side street and tried to restart, it would not start. Had a buddy tow me home. When I got it back to the front of my home I tried to start it just for kicks, and what do you know it started!
Fast foward until about a week and a half ago. The XJ had been sitting in my garage and I had not been driving it since this incident while I worked on various other things that needed to be repaired. I never got a check engine code but finally did get a check engine light about a week before I replaced my crank position sensor (with an Advance Automotive replacement) as the code said there was a fualt between the pcm and the crank position sensor. I previously replaced the crank position sensor with an AutoZone sensor about 3 years ago. So much for "built to last"!
So all has been fine for about a week and a half until tonight.
I gave my XJ a few full throttle runs this evening, and about a mile or two later it died again It didn't so much die as it was running really rough, "pinging" if you will, and the RPM's were dancing between 0 rpm and about 500 rpm or so. Regardless I turned it off and restarted, drove about 3 miles further until it died on me again. This time I wasn't able to successfully restart it. Twice or so I was able to restart it but it died again only after running for about a second. It would crank but not fire. So I waited on the side of the road about 15 minutes or so (at this point I was about a half mile from home) and then it finally started. The last few blocks to home it was running rough, pinging again, RPM's dancing. Died in front of my home, and would not restart.
At first I suspected the fuel pump as I couldn't hear it prime. Although it seems to be rather quiet as I found out and the annoying buzzing as well as my electric fan setup seemed to mute the sound of the fuel pump on the side of the road. I switched around my starter, auto-shut down relay, and fuel pump relays to no avail. I noticed that my fuel pump will only prime during the first few off-to-on key cycles. Is this normal?
Anyay I do have plenty of pressurized fuel in my fuel rail, I am guessing the fuel pump is not the problem. I did notice a faint noise coming from the PCM, almost like a buzzing or squealing....while I was parked on the side of the road. Perhaps the PCM is bad? I thought that was fairly unlikely!
In 2007 I replaced my oxygen sensor with a Bosch unit. In 2006 I installed an AutoZone ignition coil (I know, not the best choice!)
Besides that, my throttle position sensor, idle air controller, coolant temp sensor, and intake air temperature sensors were also replaced in 2008. I pulled them out of a 1994 Cherokee with low miles.....not new, that's for sure, but with a heck of a lot of use on them compared to mine! In 2006 I also replace the cam sensor under the distributor cap with a new unit from a small local car parts store.
My plugs are less than 30,000 miles old and my distributor cap and rotor button are the same age. I have AC Delco silicone plug wires which are a few years old as well.
I did not check for spark but obviously that is what I am lacking since I have air and fuel. What else can there be?
About a half hour ago at 2:30 am I went back out to try and see if I could start the XJ. No luck, just crank, when all of a sudden, on my second try, it fired up. But only for a second, then it died again, and would only crank after that. No check engine light either. Still have pressurized fuel in the fuel rail. And the pump is priming, but only on the first few key cycles. Then it will not prime after that.
Any ideas? That would be greatly appreciated!
(1995 Cherokee, 4.0 liter, AW4, OBD1)
Fast foward until about a week and a half ago. The XJ had been sitting in my garage and I had not been driving it since this incident while I worked on various other things that needed to be repaired. I never got a check engine code but finally did get a check engine light about a week before I replaced my crank position sensor (with an Advance Automotive replacement) as the code said there was a fualt between the pcm and the crank position sensor. I previously replaced the crank position sensor with an AutoZone sensor about 3 years ago. So much for "built to last"!
So all has been fine for about a week and a half until tonight.
I gave my XJ a few full throttle runs this evening, and about a mile or two later it died again It didn't so much die as it was running really rough, "pinging" if you will, and the RPM's were dancing between 0 rpm and about 500 rpm or so. Regardless I turned it off and restarted, drove about 3 miles further until it died on me again. This time I wasn't able to successfully restart it. Twice or so I was able to restart it but it died again only after running for about a second. It would crank but not fire. So I waited on the side of the road about 15 minutes or so (at this point I was about a half mile from home) and then it finally started. The last few blocks to home it was running rough, pinging again, RPM's dancing. Died in front of my home, and would not restart.
At first I suspected the fuel pump as I couldn't hear it prime. Although it seems to be rather quiet as I found out and the annoying buzzing as well as my electric fan setup seemed to mute the sound of the fuel pump on the side of the road. I switched around my starter, auto-shut down relay, and fuel pump relays to no avail. I noticed that my fuel pump will only prime during the first few off-to-on key cycles. Is this normal?
Anyay I do have plenty of pressurized fuel in my fuel rail, I am guessing the fuel pump is not the problem. I did notice a faint noise coming from the PCM, almost like a buzzing or squealing....while I was parked on the side of the road. Perhaps the PCM is bad? I thought that was fairly unlikely!
In 2007 I replaced my oxygen sensor with a Bosch unit. In 2006 I installed an AutoZone ignition coil (I know, not the best choice!)
Besides that, my throttle position sensor, idle air controller, coolant temp sensor, and intake air temperature sensors were also replaced in 2008. I pulled them out of a 1994 Cherokee with low miles.....not new, that's for sure, but with a heck of a lot of use on them compared to mine! In 2006 I also replace the cam sensor under the distributor cap with a new unit from a small local car parts store.
My plugs are less than 30,000 miles old and my distributor cap and rotor button are the same age. I have AC Delco silicone plug wires which are a few years old as well.
I did not check for spark but obviously that is what I am lacking since I have air and fuel. What else can there be?
About a half hour ago at 2:30 am I went back out to try and see if I could start the XJ. No luck, just crank, when all of a sudden, on my second try, it fired up. But only for a second, then it died again, and would only crank after that. No check engine light either. Still have pressurized fuel in the fuel rail. And the pump is priming, but only on the first few key cycles. Then it will not prime after that.
Any ideas? That would be greatly appreciated!
(1995 Cherokee, 4.0 liter, AW4, OBD1)
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