ZeeJayEveryDay
Member
Hey guys, new sign up but long time lurker. Apologize in advance if this is wrong spot to post but majority of you are Utah Jeep Owner's. Any help is appreciated in this matter.
My '98 ZJ with the 242 4.0 inline 6 has started stalling on me randomly while driving, it has done it at different speeds. (back roads, main roads, freeway.) I am a IT guy by trade but worked in a race shop in my teens (Lozano Bros Porting) Used to be in San Antonio Texas. But I've torn down and washed a few hundred v8's and I'm somewhat mechanically inclined, but super newb at automotive electrical.
The first time it happened was about 3 weeks ago, I was on the freeway using cruise control and the engine just shuts off, I still have power etc and coast to the break down lane. I cranked on it a few times and eventually got it to fire within a couple of minutes and went on my way. About 5 miles later and off the freeway it felt like it was going to cut out then came back, split second it seemed like. Drove it home no issues.
Next day I go to work and come home for lunch with no issues. I leave to go back to work (within a half hour) and the Jeep again stalls a few blocks from home. I crank and crank on it till the point the battery dies. (old battery 6 years out of warranty on a (N)EverStart.)
I have a mechanically inclined friend come help me move it, we don't hear the fuel pump, so we put a few spoonfuls of gas down the tb. With the aid of cables we jump it and it's starts and sound super rough. We get it back to his lumber yard and I shut it off, no start again. I let it sit for a few days and My buddy thinks it is the fuel pump, so I go to pepboy and get a Carter Fuel Pump Assy and we drop everything and replace it. Jeep runs strong and I drive it around town for a few and put a quart of oil in (constant leak, bay is messy is as hell)
Next morning I go to work and sitting in the lot sipping some coffee with it running and it dies on me, won't fire but cranks and cranks till battery is dead again. (still old battery.) At lunch I get a jump and it fires right up, (no gas needed in TB this time) I took it to Wally World and got a brand new battery.
Drove awesome for the next 4-5 days. Then it stalled out again..., far from my house, thankfully a friend came to assist. We tried jumping and no go, would crank really really strong being hooked up to his truck. I ended up leaving it to sit for about 2-3 hours and came back prepared to tow it, I got the crazy idea to try and jump again and it fired right up. I baby it to his house and leave it running to see if it will stall while idling for about 30 mins, I had him follow me home and no stall issues. Was good for about 2-3 days more with only short distances traveled before I parked it (work and home is less than 2 miles for both wife and I) It stalled again on my way back from lunch this past thursday. I let it sit for 2-3 hours walk back to it and it starts up second time.
I get it home and let it idle and it stalls again. The stalling is getting more and more frequent and once it stalls it will not start again until it sits for a several hours or more. It fires up every morning here it Utah and it's still mildly chilly in the mornings. So I drive it 2 more days just the quick trips to work and it stalls on my wife last night a block from the house, I let it sit for about 4 hours and it starts up after a few cranks, the gauges went all nucking futs on me and then went to normal. I put it in it's parking stall and it stalls right out, I can start it but it dies again immediately. I let it cool off until this morning and start it up first try, first crank, let it come to temperature and it stalls on me again. I have tried the on/off/on/off/on with the ignition but can not get it to pull any codes. I do see the CEL the first seconds when the key is turned to on, I think I may be able to rule out the PCM?
So with a entire fuel pump assy and a brand new battery installed, from my reading, it could be the crankshaft position sensor, an o2 sensor's harness near the drive line, the PCM and/or it's connections/harness.
What else could I be looking at, I'm a limited income and taking it to a mechanic is likely out of the question unless money falls from the sky.
My engine bay and engine is filthy as hell because of some oil leaks that I have probably ignored for for too long instead of just keeping it topped off.
I am hoping one of you wizards has a sure fire way to troubleshoot this or point to the most likely cause with the details I have provided.
I apologize for the very long read but wanted to give as much info as possible on my issue occurrences once it started.
Thanks in Advance Guys!
My '98 ZJ with the 242 4.0 inline 6 has started stalling on me randomly while driving, it has done it at different speeds. (back roads, main roads, freeway.) I am a IT guy by trade but worked in a race shop in my teens (Lozano Bros Porting) Used to be in San Antonio Texas. But I've torn down and washed a few hundred v8's and I'm somewhat mechanically inclined, but super newb at automotive electrical.
The first time it happened was about 3 weeks ago, I was on the freeway using cruise control and the engine just shuts off, I still have power etc and coast to the break down lane. I cranked on it a few times and eventually got it to fire within a couple of minutes and went on my way. About 5 miles later and off the freeway it felt like it was going to cut out then came back, split second it seemed like. Drove it home no issues.
Next day I go to work and come home for lunch with no issues. I leave to go back to work (within a half hour) and the Jeep again stalls a few blocks from home. I crank and crank on it till the point the battery dies. (old battery 6 years out of warranty on a (N)EverStart.)
I have a mechanically inclined friend come help me move it, we don't hear the fuel pump, so we put a few spoonfuls of gas down the tb. With the aid of cables we jump it and it's starts and sound super rough. We get it back to his lumber yard and I shut it off, no start again. I let it sit for a few days and My buddy thinks it is the fuel pump, so I go to pepboy and get a Carter Fuel Pump Assy and we drop everything and replace it. Jeep runs strong and I drive it around town for a few and put a quart of oil in (constant leak, bay is messy is as hell)
Next morning I go to work and sitting in the lot sipping some coffee with it running and it dies on me, won't fire but cranks and cranks till battery is dead again. (still old battery.) At lunch I get a jump and it fires right up, (no gas needed in TB this time) I took it to Wally World and got a brand new battery.
Drove awesome for the next 4-5 days. Then it stalled out again..., far from my house, thankfully a friend came to assist. We tried jumping and no go, would crank really really strong being hooked up to his truck. I ended up leaving it to sit for about 2-3 hours and came back prepared to tow it, I got the crazy idea to try and jump again and it fired right up. I baby it to his house and leave it running to see if it will stall while idling for about 30 mins, I had him follow me home and no stall issues. Was good for about 2-3 days more with only short distances traveled before I parked it (work and home is less than 2 miles for both wife and I) It stalled again on my way back from lunch this past thursday. I let it sit for 2-3 hours walk back to it and it starts up second time.
I get it home and let it idle and it stalls again. The stalling is getting more and more frequent and once it stalls it will not start again until it sits for a several hours or more. It fires up every morning here it Utah and it's still mildly chilly in the mornings. So I drive it 2 more days just the quick trips to work and it stalls on my wife last night a block from the house, I let it sit for about 4 hours and it starts up after a few cranks, the gauges went all nucking futs on me and then went to normal. I put it in it's parking stall and it stalls right out, I can start it but it dies again immediately. I let it cool off until this morning and start it up first try, first crank, let it come to temperature and it stalls on me again. I have tried the on/off/on/off/on with the ignition but can not get it to pull any codes. I do see the CEL the first seconds when the key is turned to on, I think I may be able to rule out the PCM?
So with a entire fuel pump assy and a brand new battery installed, from my reading, it could be the crankshaft position sensor, an o2 sensor's harness near the drive line, the PCM and/or it's connections/harness.
What else could I be looking at, I'm a limited income and taking it to a mechanic is likely out of the question unless money falls from the sky.
My engine bay and engine is filthy as hell because of some oil leaks that I have probably ignored for for too long instead of just keeping it topped off.
I am hoping one of you wizards has a sure fire way to troubleshoot this or point to the most likely cause with the details I have provided.
I apologize for the very long read but wanted to give as much info as possible on my issue occurrences once it started.
Thanks in Advance Guys!
