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Just shoot it or ...

ren

ren

NAXJA Forum User
Location
frenchburg, ky
Wife just called, said come get her, the "new" XJ just died. How ? going down the interstate, and power started dropping off, then, the tranny quit pulling. She got off the interstate, but, the tranny barely pulled, and the motor would not go past 1,800 RPM. Got to the stop light, the motor died and would not restart. Got towed by a friend to the gas station, then tried to start the motor. Cranked over back-fired once, then spewed oil out of the air filter. will not try to startnow, just cranks slowly. ANYBODY have any ideas? I am probably going to go and get this thing tomorrow, and may or may not fix it. If not, it is a parts buggy.
 
Okay, sorry to leave out the info, kind of frazzled right now. It is another 88 LIMITED, 4.0, AW4. Has 141,000 miles on it, old folks owned it.
TIA
 
Start by, checking for trouble codes. Then check to see if there is fuel and spark. Might be your crank positions sensor, or your just low on fluids. Check your fluids, and let us know
 
devile said:
Start by, checking for trouble codes. Then check to see if there is fuel and spark. Might be your crank positions sensor, or your just low on fluids. Check your fluids, and let us know
Click to expand...
dude he said it shot oil THROUGH the air filter... dont think its a sensor problem just my $.02
 
Just got the stupid thing home alittle bit ago, the fluids are good, changed cps to check, got spark fuel STILL no go and still rubbing head about oil from air filter. doesn't look good for XJ. Only paid 150 bucks, parts worth that.
STUPID 4.0 I AM REALLY STARTING TO HATE THESE THINGS. Don't know if trouble is because of RENIX or not, starting to not care. Maybe motor swap like others??
 
Hey neighbor. Anything i can help ya with tomorrow? Just live about an hour or less away. Let me know if i can help, if ya do any wrenching.

If you can't or don't fix it, i might be interested in the rear diff. if it's a D44.
 
Last edited:
Just a few quick questions to help set-up the condition of the engine.
1. How did it run? ANY knocks on start-up, part-throttle, or otherwise?

2. What kind of Oil pressure did the engine carry? What was the Start-up PSI....and PSI after it was up to operating temperature and with the transmission in gear?

3. What kind of temperature did the engine get up to....on the average, and, what was the highest temperature that you ever seen it get to?

4. Did you change/check the oil frequently? Was it using/leaking oil at all?

5. Did you happen to do a compression check on the engine since it was only $150 for the whole Cherokee? If so, what was it....and were the cylinders all the same?

These are just a few questions that I would ask anyone who was having a problem with their engine like you stated. That way you can kind of get an ideal about the condition of the engine before the incident.

I wouldn't be mad about any XJ that ran and drove for $150 bucks....that's a great deal! I hope it's nothing too bad. Good luck.
Aron
 
Well the answers in order
1) ran smooth, no rattle, surge, etc.
2) OIL Press. at start 38lbs. At Temp. 35-40
3) Water Temp 190-195*
4) NO oil useage/ changed every 2500-3000
5) 110-112 psi compression

The XJ sat in a barn for about 6 years, so I expect tranny trouble ( good excuse to change to AX-15).
It was cheap because it had been whacked on a guard rail lightly on the pass. front and the ins. company paid off. Dude said take if you want it. DONE DEAL!!
Even had good papers. Needed bumber, fender, tires and battery.
 
That Oil psi sounds kinda weird...at start-up...all of the ones that I've owned have been about 10-20lbs more than at temperature.

Other than that it looks like everything was kosher with your motor. I'll have to double check the specs, but, I'm pretty sure that the compression that you listed is acceptable as well. Maybe it sucked up some oil from the air box because of having blow-by or something.

Sounds like it could possibly be that the distributor's moved . I've done that in other engine's before....and I've seen it done a time or two. The slow cranking is the part that would bother me. Is the battery partly ran down? Slow cranking with a good battery usually either means.....bearing/crank problems.....or timing problems. I'd charge that battery up and look for some copper dust in the oil while you're waiting for it to finish charging. I hope it's nothing like that....that would suck. Good luck.
Aron
 
Have you checked here? http://www.off-road.com/jeep/cherokee/xjtech/engine/40ltr/blowby.htm or http://www.madxj.com on blowby.

I think you may have a bad case of blowby and a very dirty carb/throttle body. I fixed (well you can never completely fix it) mine, by using a 2.5" air filter and attaching it to the hose that used to be attached to the air filter. I used a long enough hose, so that when it dripped a little oil, it would drip on the ground or drip on the framerail (and then the ground). Works really great for me, plus it gets a little more air having it's own air filter.

You can upgrade to a newer valve cover with the larger CCV vent on the backside of the valve cover. We'll look at it in the morning. Do you have an auto parts place in Frenchburg?
 
Well, this morning we are going to take a look and see what is going on. Messed with it a little already, and it ran about three- four seconds and then shut down, no re-start. Will update later today, hopefully good news.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest the possibility of a plugged catalyst?

We had a WJ that did the same thing, the clue was that the more throttle added, the quicker it'd sag and die, especially on a freeway on-ramp. You'd have the excess crankcase presssure too...
 
OK lets start over here and get some more info

How much oil in the air filter? if jsut a bit or even a bunch some of that is normal for a 4.0.

unless the aw4 has not been serviced at all the chance of it failing is very slim. also an auto trans malfunction will not cause it to not start.

hae you check the codes yet? its an 88 so you cnat use the key method it will need to be scanned.

to me this sounds lke an ignition problem, bad coil would be first guess.

Do you have spark to the distributor?

do you have spark after the distributor?

I had the bearings freeze up in a distributor and it was ahd to start and would not go over about 1500 rpm

also the 88 has a ballast resistor behind the airbox on the drivers fender. about 3" long with 2 wires, make sure its connected and not cracked

check the CPS wiring connector under the exhaust manifold, it is a common problem area. shake it check it. also remove it and make sure its clean

eliminate teh obvious first
 
Clogged catalytic converter?

Usually it happens more gradually than that, but it's something worth checking. Just unbolt the cat and then try to start, if that's the case it should start up and run fine through the open header (it'll be loud too... lol).
 
You can't read the codes on an '88 with the key off-on trick. That does not work with the Renix systems. I would not worry about the oil in the airbox. That is blowby. Search this forum for the NAPA part numbers and save a bunch over the stealership parts.
 
NotMatt said:
Clogged catalytic converter?

Usually it happens more gradually than that, but it's something worth checking. Just unbolt the cat and then try to start, if that's the case it should start up and run fine through the open header (it'll be loud too... lol).
Click to expand...

Everytime I've had the same symptoms, it's been a clogged cat. If you loosen the bolts ahead of the cat & it runs fine, then loosen the rear bolts and using a broom stick or the handle of your Hi Lift, knock the guts out for now
 
OKAY,messed with it some more yesterday. It will run as long as you spray ether into the air filter, but will not run on gas. Also it WILL NOT answer throttle input, so I think it may be that the TPS finally quit. When/if I get it going on it's own, I can see if the tranny is good or not. Right now, I think it may be o.k., but I need the motor running to tell for sure. OH yeah, it rattles REAL bad for about 4-5 seconds when you start it, then it gets quite. I am starting to think that maybe stuffing the 0.60" over 258 rebuilt motor in it is a good idea, but I want to check the tranny so I don't have to puul it all apart again.
 
The complete exhaust system is new-not even 400 miles on it.
 
Have you ran a pressure check on the fuel pump? I wouldn't run very much ether down it....it's damaging to the cylinder walls(washes away the oil) and to any electronic sensors that it comes into contact with. IMHO
Aron
 
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