AM sickness

2000 xj auto bone stock.
never had any problems (except loose filler stop) until this morning.
last night ran fine, parked it, woke up this AM for work and on first crank of the key it caughed and died. tried the key again and it started and ran rough (like only a few cylinders wre firing?) and started throwing codes (flashing engine light). shut it off and started it again...started fine (check eng. light still on but not flashing). during the second startup the battery seemed to be drained, but third startup it fired perfectly. its not too cold here in cali, but temps are starting to fall a bit (50 deg this AM)
I did a search and found some similar but they specified hot temps and fuel issues, and the rough idle symptom seemed to right itself, but in my situation it kept running rough 'til i shut down and retarted.

As always i am greatful to this web site for its content, and have had great help in the past. thank you to all.
Nim

hmmmmm? has anybody else had the same problems with a 2000-01?
i cant be the first....?
TIA...off to work in the CJ instead.

This doesn't really help but my '95 does the exact same thing when i first start it up in the morning minus the check engine light. When i first start it is misses like hell for like ten seconds and then clears up on its own. Its been doing it for a few months now. its very well maintained too with a recent full tune up. Like you said if i start it and it demonstrates those syptoms i cut it off and restart it and it runs fine instantly. I'll be watching this thread to see if our problems are related. Hopefully if they are we can get some light shed on the problem.

Pull the codes... You are shooting in the dark if you do anything else first. Many things fail and never throw a code, like mine... POS>.. anyway, if you have the codes logged, pull 'em and see what IT says is wrong...
The only way to go for now, in my opinion.

Best of luck...
TheRasper/.

Ok. The battery seems drained, but not always. I'd check the battery cables at both ends.... and nevertheless pull the codes.

thanks guys. i'll pull the codes. i drove it for awhile today and it seems like a loss of power...YIKES! unfortunately i wont have time to take care of it until friday after work (which means driving the work truck home). i'll try and post the degree of fix necessary.
thanks Nim

ok.... here is the solution to my problem.
took it to the dealer and they pulled the codes...
misfire in the #6 cylinder...
their advice was to change the spark plugs...hmmm. anyways i changed the plugs and noticed some corrosion on the bat terminals so i cleaned them and tested the battery (which was almonst dead) and replaced it. i also put in an air cleaner while i was in there. purrs like a kitten now. why it all occured in the first place could be a million other things, but that is what solved my particular problem. the only sad thing is the dealer charged me 95 bucks for the diagnostics...and they said my flasher control module is about to go out. how do they know that its about to go out? that will be a different story for a different day.
thanks again to all who replied, and i hope you find a fix too.
nim

With your heading of AM sickness I thought maybe it was pregnant :shhh:

a couple of days ago my 97 did the same thing, but the check engine light is always on. it was the first time it has ever done it though. i drive a lot at work, and my jeep gets turned off and on a lot during the evenings, i parked it, went into the beach house and came back out. started it, and it made a horrendous grinding sound, not like when you run the starter for too long after it turns over, a lot worse sound. it idled really rough, and when i gave it some gas (smart thing to do...? probably not, hindsight 20/20), it stalled and died. i started it again 2 minutes later, and it started and ran just fine.

so, how do i pull the engine codes? do i need one of those diagnostic thing-a-ma-jigs? and am i right in assuming ill need some sort of code book?

Sounds like your starter did not disengage from the ring gear when you started the engine. It's not a good idea to gun it in that case as the starter can be damaged by spinning too fast, but apparently no damage.

biscuitboy87 said:

ok.... here is the solution to my problem.
took it to the dealer and they pulled the codes...
misfire in the #6 cylinder...
their advice was to change the spark plugs...hmmm. anyways i changed the plugs and noticed some corrosion on the bat terminals so i cleaned them and tested the battery (which was almonst dead) and replaced it. i also put in an air cleaner while i was in there. purrs like a kitten now. why it all occured in the first place could be a million other things, but that is what solved my particular problem. the only sad thing is the dealer charged me 95 bucks for the diagnostics...and they said my flasher control module is about to go out. how do they know that its about to go out? that will be a different story for a different day.
thanks again to all who replied, and i hope you find a fix too.
nim

Click to expand...

Can get it done for free at Advance Auto. At least in my area anyway.