one prob down, one to go...hopefully...

Ok, just got the 87 problem prone, rebuilt 4.0, 4wd, 4 door, Cherokee with back from the shop, first time they got a chance to work on this problem solely, nothing else broke on the way there....he he.

Problems:

Hard/No start cold and hot.
Stalling when not accellerating.
Dying on bumps in road and over railroad tracks.
Cutting out when under load passing on the highway or up steep hill roads in town

Found:
Melted wiring near exhaust that was not found at earlier checks pertaining to CPS. Did a hasty wire fix to see if that was the prob. So far so good on the hard start/stalling/dying on bumps issue. Will be rewired the right way at a later date if this solves it.

Still there:
Cutting out when under load in Overdrive like passing on highway and in town up steep hill roads. Doesnt do this in Drive (3 on the shifter).

Any suggestions?? TPS adjustment maybe??

Cory

Cory,

Don't be cheap on the CPS wire fix. Without that CPS the XJ will not run.

I had a problem with some wires thatfound there way to near the exhaust manfold. They did not look to bad at first but after the XJ stopped running I had to seperate all the wires and found the heat had softened the insulation to where some wires were just making contact.

Sorry. no help on the on the cutting out problem. But that could be when there is enough force to cause some bad wires to make contact?

WQhen you say it cuts out, is it actually seeming to kill the engine, or just sputtering and missing? If the latter, you may be looking at a problem that occurs under very low vacuum conditions. Double check for good plugs and ignition, and also possibly the map sensor.

Check distributor indexing, some 87's came out of the factory with the distributor installed one tooth off(mine included). There was a bullitan on this back in 87 but a 90 shop manual shows the procedure for installing the distributor correctly.

Ok,

Ron,
Im pretty sure the distributor index is right, this motor was rebuilt in North Carolina by a reputable machinist/engine builder. I did the pulling and putting back in...kinda went cheap there, well more like ran out of money on the external stuff.

Matt,
When i say it cuts out, its like a jiggle of the drivetrain over some bumps, and on the highway it does exactly that, cuts out, like the motor shuts down for those split seconds...Will have them do all the vacuum, fuel pressure, compression, spark and all that jazz again after the new harness is in next week.

Dave W,
New harness will be installed and rerouted next week sometime. We still believe that the cutting out will be solved with this new harnes as there may be other damage in the harness unseen right now. I told them i wanted all new connectors as well as wiring put in. So, NO JUNK YARD HARNESS!! I hope...They rigged it up so i could drive it this weekend and to get some driving in to see if that was the problem. CPS is fine.

Will find out next week as i have a road trip to make, if the new wiring/rerouting of harness worked.

Thanks, will post an update later next week.

Cory