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Help! Took it muddin'----> now Hesitation/Stumbling on Accel

J

J.Green

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Dahlonega
Okay so here 's the rundown:


1998 Cherokee XJ 4x4. 4.0L In-line 6 Engine with no mods.
Lifted 3.5" w/ 31 MTRs

Went on a nice Sunday muddin' excursion and got stuck. Put my 31" tires into a 44" hole.... so didn't quite have the tread to pull out of that one....


Anyways 3 hours later I got it out and then took to wash it off. The engine was fine until the next day I noticed a stumble in the acceleration every few minutes.... the problem got worse the more I drove until now it won't stay running it will just die.


I've been trying to figure out what the problem is... I did new spark plugs and wires a week before I went muddin so those should be good.... I did not put on a new rotor and cap at the time, i just polished the points. Thinking that this could be a problem or moisture had gotten into it I went ahead and replaced the cap and rotor, and still have the same problem.


I am thinking its either some type of sensor, the ICM, or possibly a fuel delivery problem. I will be testing the ICM today and maybe a couple other sensors. On a side note someone mentioned that maybe a vacuum line had been unplugged... I was checking it out and traced two lines coming off the intake manifold that go behind the in-line 6 engine block and over to near the compressor near the passenger side of the engine compartment. I hear a clicking noise doing about 4 to 5 clicks per second. Not sure if this is an electrical pulse I'm hearing or something wrong with the vacuum lines.


If anyone could advise me on what could be a likely cause of my problem it will be very appreciated.
 
J.Green said:
I've been trying to figure out what the problem is... I did new spark plugs and wires a week before I went muddin so those should be good.... I did not put on a new rotor and cap at the time, i just polished the points. Thinking that this could be a problem or moisture had gotten into it I went ahead and replaced the cap and rotor, and still have the same problem.

I am thinking its either some type of sensor, the ICM, or possibly a fuel delivery problem.
Click to expand...

When you washed it off, did you spray water inside the engine bay? Or did water get into the engine bay when you were muddin?

Any check engine light? If so, you must pull stored codes for guidance.

I suspect water got into your throttle position sensor. Along with the dist. cap, the TPS is probably the most susceptible to water intrusion.

You could try removing the TPS connector and applying dielectric grease and seeing if it is a connection issue but it's possible that you may have to replace it. You could try testing it.

Also be sure that your electrical is up to snuff. Freshen battery connections, test battery (load test), verify alternator output. Gotta make sure that there is enough juice to keep the engine management system happy.
 
Last edited:
whose signature is that that says "mud is like a hot chick with an STD, you gotta hit it even though you know the results are going to be bad"? yeah...

My bet is TPS. Also, that clicking noise isn't a good sign, that can be anything from an exhaust leak to bad/sticky lifters, did it suck up water and hydrolock when you dumped it in the mudhole?
 
I don't think it got any water into the intake box... the bottom half under the filter was dirty but the top half was clean... I went ahead and cleaned that and changed the filter as well.

The check engine light was not on while the first signs of the problem showed up so I did not get the codes pulled since I knew it probably would not show up until the light is on. It came on yesterday so I'm taking it in a few minutes to autozone to get the codes.

Also, I do have an exhaust leak on the manifold... I got my APN headers in a month ago but had no time to put them on. This could be the clicking noise I'm hearing so I'm going to go check that out here in a few minutes when I leave for autozone.


I'll post my findings here within an hour or so.
 
Also, Mud is bad don't go through it unless its necessary to get through the trail! Just Sayin'! :D
 
Okay so the codes were a MAP sensor and a cylinder 6 misfire. I'm going to test the MAP sensor and see whats up..... but I don't know why the misfire is there. I changed the plugs about 2 weeks ago and it ran fine until after this muddin incident.


So I'm not sure if its the TPS or not.... havn't tested it yet but I'm going now to test the MAP sensor with multimeter and some instructions I found.
 
check that number 6 plug wire. A clicking noise can sometimes be a plug wire arcing to ground....If you leave the motor run in a dark garage, you can often see the blue flashes.
 
fixxxxxxed it.

Was one of a couple things:

replaced autolite platinum plugs... cleaned electrical connectors with electrical circuit cleaner, cleaned TB.

The ECU was on the side that got it the worst so I think the connectors had crap in them or the new spark plugs i put in were bad or got fouled somehow....either way I'm happy its running good again!

Planning on putting on my APN headers today/tommorrow
 
How about some skids? Keep that mud out! Or just keep out of the mud....;)

it's so hard to do - I know man
 
J.Green said:
replaced autolite platinum plugs... cleaned electrical connectors with electrical circuit cleaner, cleaned TB.
Click to expand...
someone once told me that the only thing Champion copper plugs were made for was lawnmowers and Jeep motors.
run the Champion copper cores and be happy. All of the other fancy plugs either cause problems or dont increase pero\formance.
 
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