Sick to death of 01 XJ cali emissions misfire! HELP!

Another day of wheeling in the snow, everything was good untill the runs got steep and deep and the group bunched up and speeds slowed down. then the 01XJ demon took hold and started to ruin my day, again.

I know people cant talk about cat removal for fear of some internet cat cop cracking down on them. but just so ya know, i live in Canada, dont have emissions testing, or inspections. and this is the only vehicle i have ever owned that has had the factory cat filled exhaust on it.. but anyways...

these damn cats are killing my jeep, they are not plugged, the 02 sensors are good. the water stays cool, but the #3 injector goes nuts, leaves me stranded on the hill melting into the snow with no power and blinking CEL.

so, other than the obvious unspeakable fix, what works??? i have to pop my hood every time i stop, makes for shitty pics, i can drive with the hood poped but that does not cut it, i am going to install hood vents, i have insulated the injector, i run ethanol free fuel (helps a bit) but honestly i am not going wheeling again untill i can solve this embarassing issue. what do you do??? i see a million posts about people with the same issue and speaking the unspeakable and getting flamed for it. so all legal to talk about options are welcome LOL, hating that exhaust right now, hate i tell you

i wanted to add that i JUST changed all plugs with new NGK's, changed EVERY oil/fluid on the vehicle, changed belt and air filter, ran two rounds of MOPAR upper cylinder/injector cleaner via IV through the fuel rail (ran out of BG44K) tested 02's, swapped out the 87 octane and factory tune for a superchips performance tune and 94 ethanol free fuel, the tune did make a great overall improvement in driveability despite the internet bash on the superchip.. and i did get a little more wheel time in before the CEL started...but still, same problem in the end. my jeep is not a POS, i take great care of it and it never lets me down, unless im slow speed wheeling, problem is, if its not DD, its slow low speed wheeling.

Heat soak--TSB 18-031-03, September 5, 2003. Insulating the injector is a JOKE--it is the FACTORY "fix", and it wasn't a fix.

Put an electronic timer in the efan circuit that will keep the efan running for about FIVE minutes after you shut off the ignition, and kiss that "heat soak" GOODBYE.

i was just looking at timers, i will get on that right away. thanks

Boost_Retard said:

i was just looking at timers, i will get on that right away. thanks

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This is one type:

http://www.at-fairfax.com/P1786-ELK-960.htm

joe_peters said:

Heat soak--TSB 18-031-03, September 5, 2003. Insulating the injector is a JOKE--it is the FACTORY "fix", and it wasn't a fix.

Put an electronic timer in the efan circuit that will keep the efan running for about FIVE minutes after you shut off the ignition, and kiss that "heat soak" GOODBYE.

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Thats just what I was going to suggest. Until then you could either jumper the relay (make sure you do the current side, and not the coil side) or install a override to make it run constantly.

That timer circuit Joe suggests looks like a good solution and a bargain. Just realize you will still need to use a heavy duty relay with that timer. According to the specs its on board relay is only good to 7A which is no where near enough to carry the fans current draw.

What about installing a pre 01 federal emissions header and ecu?

sidewaysstarion said:

What about installing a pre 01 federal emissions header and ecu?

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That may or may not help. My old 2000 was a non Calli emissions without the pre-cats, and it still would heat soak. Now i never had it give me issues while wheeling or even in a low airflow moment. It would however give me issues after a hot restart. I never had it light the CEL because of it either. Besides adding a timer/fan override is much cheaper than swapping the header, and ECU.

thanks for the link, and yea a relay is a must.
so far i have ordered up a set of hood vents, will get my hands on a timer..and have spent a good half a day reading up on how to improve my ridiculous factory exahust.

i will give the vents and timer a shot, if it shows even the slightest sign of acting up again afterwards...exhuast is getting fixed for good.

if my jeep fires up fine, it will continue to run fine, problem is when your in a big group heading up the mountain in the 3+ feet of snow, there is a lot of down time, and unless i keep the jeep running the entire time i am helping spot or un stick so&so, the jeep will bake.

sometimes i get lucky with the hood open if its shut off for long enough, but its just such a PITA to deal with constantly. and last trip it out it caused me some serious trouble, got me stuck on a steep fall to your death off camber snow hill..had to stop mid way up, no big deal, jump back in jeep..fire it up and no matter what i would do, i had zero power. then it finally got moving slightly and stalled..brakes toast, steering toast, slip sliding away. not cool.

anyways, i will stop bitching and get to fixing the problem. thanks again for the tips.

my good buddies 01' had this issue. for him, some hood vents and the heat tape on the injectors where all he needed. no more issues. im sure the timed fan would be that much better.

Im glad I read this thread. I just bought an 01 and am having to find these issue now in winter. I got locked out with engine running at idle for a half hour. when I started to drive away it started popping in the intake revved it up a little drove around it was all right. Ran it out on freeway to blow out some carbon before smog test. Big mistake cel light, code was #4 cylinder missfire. Im hoping to pass smog.

I actually used some exhaust wrap from Oreilly, and completely wrapped each injector, and the fuel rail. I then wrapped all of that with heat reflecting tape. Lebaron vents as well, and no heat soak issues.

srmitchell said:

I actually used some exhaust wrap from Oreilly, and completely wrapped each injector, and the fuel rail. I then wrapped all of that with heat reflecting tape. Lebaron vents as well, and no heat soak issues.

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I'd like to see a pic of that.

anyone ever seen any type of spray on heat insulating type material? like a light duty version of that industrial building fireproof spray?? i will look into it.. it would be nice to just pull the rail and injectors, mask a bit here and there and spray on some insulation....might even look half decent if done right.

Spray on stuff won't protect much or will just burn off.

Several companies offer insulating/heat reflective wraps and socks though.