engine starts, runs for a few seconds and stalls

I have a 1993 Cherokee Sport with the 4.0, it has 262,000 miles. I started it today and it ran for about 5 seconds and then stalled. It will start every time I try but will not stay running for more than just a few seconds. I can hear the fuel pump turn on every time I turn the ignition on. My first guess was that the fuel pump must be bad since it is original. I did get a full tank of gas yesterday and drove it for about 30 miles on that new tank. Maybe I got some water with the gas? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Your on the right track for guessing its your fuel. Get a fuel pressure gauge plug it in and see what it reads. The pump could be going bad or the filter is plugged so it will prime up, but wont handle the needed flow once the motor is running.

Bypass the fuel pump ballast resister and see if this solves the problem. The resister is the large white ceramic unit on the driver's side just inside the hood and is there just to quiet the pump. It was removed in later models. It is bypassed at start up for a few seconds and then is switched into the circuit to reduce voltage to the pump.

Just unplug the two wires from the resister, clamp them together and start it again. If your Jeep runs, you can decide whether to permanently leave the resister out of the circuit. Let us know how it goes.

Hey Pelican, you must must be a genuis! I did just what you said and bypassed the resister and it ran perfectly! I took a peice of copper sheet metal and cut a small square from it and attached both the connectors to it. It started and ran great. I took it for a test drive, no problems at all...I can't thank you enough for this information, you saved me a lot of trouble....Should I leave it like this? What causes that ceramic block to go bad? Also, could it be that the fuel pump is becoming weak and needs all the voltage to stay running? What do you recommend I do next? I appreciate any information you can provide....many thanks!!!:worship:

Hmmmm...Well it's nice to be a genius for at least a few minutes! In any event glad that I could help.

The block is effectively the housing for a resistance wire and I would guess that after ~19 years of heating and cooling cycles the wire breaks or separates from one of the terminals.

Typically there is no particular reason to think that the fuel pump is becoming weak unless you have other drivability problems. Originally the resistor was added at some point because someone thought that the fuel pump was too loud. I believe they eliminated the resistor ~'95. Most who have encountered this problem suggest that you just bypass the resistor and be done with it. Or you can track down a replacement (JY?) -- your choice. I have a '93 but I haven't had this problem so don't know how loud the pump is.

I wouldn't be surprised if I have to face this someday so would like to hear how loud the pump is and what you end up doing.

I'm going to leave well enough alone Pelican. I took it for a drive and did not even notice any difference in sound. However I also have a high performance exhaust, so I like my Jeep to make a little noise. If noise bothered me, I never would have bought a Jeep in the first place Lol...again, thanks for all your help. I'm so glad it was a problem with an easy fix. This doesn't happen very often for me. :cheers: