Emergency advice/help needed - Jeep XJ stranded - Suddenly died

[ozzy702]

My wife and kids (2 y/o and 5 months) and I were on our way to go camping off cascade springs drive on the Provo side of Timp and all of a sudden our 97' Jeep XJ with a 4.0 just died. No sputtering or anything, just cut out completely. I tried restarting and the motor turns over but does not sound like it's attempting to fire so either no spark or no fuel. I'm no expert mechanic but I'm leaning towards it being an electrical problem since it died so suddenly. I am also completely retarded when it comes to electrical problems so I'm posting here for advice. I hitched my way back into alpine at a friends house and the wife and kids are up on the mountain hanging out. My buddy here doesn't have any tools so I'm working on getting another friend(s) to bring some over.

Any ideas on what would be wrong and how to fix? Really hoping it's not a fuel pump since it's got a full tank of gas and is in the dirt.

Any help/advice is appreciated. If you need to call or text: 801-556-8133 - Eric

Edit: Jeep is right next to the alpine loop campground.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Where is your (dead) XJ, exactly?

EDIT: my vote is the crank position sensor.

 

[Greg]

Grab a can of starting fluid, spray a little bit into the intake and see if it will start... to help narrow down your diagnosis. If it starts, then I would say fuel pump. If it does not start, I would look into ignition problems... Perhaps an ignition control module or a bad coil.

I don't know if XJ's have known problems with their ignition control modules, but from what you're describing and the way it quit running that's the direction I would lean.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

Crank position sensor.

let it cool down a bit and see if it'll start back up.

Very common problems on jeeps and mercedes

 

[ozzy702]

Where is your (dead) XJ, exactly?

Right next to the alpine loop campground.

 

[ozzy702]

Crank position sensor.

let it cool down a bit and see if it'll start back up.

Very common problems on jeeps and mercedes

Wife just called. She got it to start up and is driving to the camp site since that's where we planned on meeting people.

 

[Kevin B.]

I was going to say, I've been out with XJs that have suddenly died a couple times, and each time they've started up after cooling down. It's the CPS that does that?

Sounds like you've got it under control Ozzy, but holler if you need another truck up there.

 

[ozzy702]

Wife just called. She got it to start up and is driving to the camp site since that's where we planned on meeting people.

 

[ozzy702]

I was going to say, I've been out with XJs that have suddenly died a couple times, and each time they've started up after cooling down. It's the CPS that does that?

Sounds like you've got it under control Ozzy, but holler if you need another truck up there.

Sounds like the general consensus is that it's the cps? I have a buddy that is willing to drive up tonight and help me swap it out. The camp site we'll be at has cell service. I really appreciate all the advice and help. RME ROCKS!!!

 

[phatfoto]

Just make sure you multiple long extensions for your sockets and its sort of easy.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

make sure to get a good one. i bought a cheap one and it screwed me over for a month. took it back and replaced it under warranty for a better brand, and then my GC worked great again. make sure you get a good allen set with a long reach. its a pain in the arse since its so close to the firewall.

 

[Toad]

Buy OEM!! parts store ones are garbage

 

[mbryson]

OEM

 

[TEAM FRED]

Could also be the ignition coil.

 

[ozzy702]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Megan was able to drive the jeep to the camp site and Rich (localrich on rme) came up to hang out and drop off parts and tools in case the problem happened again. We made it home this morning and after I'm done unpacking and helping out around the house I'll swap out the cps since I'm fairly sure that's the problem.

 

[Bart]

My vote would be CPS also. Exact same thing happened on a couple of mine.

 

[Tan Comanche]

I have an extra CPS at the house, you're more than welcome to it. It has a 3 pin-out connector, for renix I-6...don't know if it is different or not.

 

[Zerkalo]

I'm still riding a "broken" one.. because it's such a PITA to get my finger there to unbolt it.
It screwed me once on trail, once downtown... and twice on the ****ing freeway..

I did a hood vent mod, to cool it down a bit. so far so good, knock on wood.

 

[ozzy702]

I have an extra CPS at the house, you're more than welcome to it. It has a 3 pin-out connector, for renix I-6...don't know if it is different or not.

Just saw your post. I picked up a new one but I really appreciate the offer. RME is awesome.

 

[RogueJeepr]

My mechanic told me to carry an extra CPS with me on all trips (XJ) . I bought a Napa CPS and ran about $83 . He also said you can spay em with water a bit to cool it down .