Jeep Grand Cherokee engine cutting out

tedlaw

I have a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 80K miles. (4L six) I am having intermittent problems with the engine cutting out for about 5 seconds occasionally. I have replaced the ignition coil, distributor cap, rotor button, and spark plugs. Does anyone have any ideas what this problem may be?

Ted Lawrence

alcan

An intermittent crankshaft position sensor problem (the sensor itself or it's associated wiring harness/connectors) can cause the symptom you're describing

gtjordan

In response to tedlaw's question on Grand Cherokee engine problems, I had a Cherokee Limited that experience similar, but worse problems. In the first two years that I owned that vehicle, I had it towed to the dealer approximately 10 times. It would be going down the road and just shut off and not re-start. The dealer replaced at least 7 each of both the crank and oxygen sensors, but never cured the problem. When I questioned them about the root cause possibly being a faulty computer, they denied it very vigorously. I finally left it with the dealer while I went out of town on vacation for a week with instructions to fix it or keep it. At the end of the week, they finally announced that the problem had been corrected and when asked what they did to fix it, they had finally replaced the computer. They also continued to deny that it had any effect on what my problem was. However, after getting the vehicle back, I drove it for another 8 years before I sold it with the problem never occurring again. If I were tedlaw, I would insist that the dealer replace the computer in my Grand Cherokee.

ducksvette

to tedlaw: I had the same problem with the same engine. I took it to the dealer and he said it was common for the fuel pump to go out. it was replaced and no problem sene. Mine is a 1997.

lucky20

A number of things have been suggested to you as to cause of failure. Not mentioned are bad electrical connections, to include bad grounds. Some questions you might want to answer; when misfiring do you get black smoke at the tail pipe? Will it continue to miss if you try to accelerate hard. Can you reproduce the condition(s) under which the misfire occurs?
Befor you entertain replacing computer control moduals or fuel pumps, install a fuel pres. gage on the fuel rail & tape it to a windshield so it can be monitored while failure is occurring.
I can not count the number of times I have found this type of problem to be caused by a bad ground or connection.

penalty22

I had the same problem in my V8. It was the fuel pump. But I think the fuel pump's problems partly came from a severely plugged fuel filter.

jebb1

jebb1

LAredo has 90,000 miles ...having "No Start" problem and also cutting out on road...replced fuel pump, filter, plugs.....starts with ether but won't keep running....after fuel pump was installed ..1 week ago..ran fine...went to start up after sitting for ...Five days..now won't start...weather was 62degrees today and going down...Buffalo, NY any thoughts?

Mr_Shiftright

If it will start with ether EVERY time, but not otherwise, you have a fuel delivery problem or, less likely, really lame compression in one or more cylinders.

If you told a mechanic about this ether-only starting, and he replaced your plugs and wires, that was a waste of money, he should have known better. The fuel pump was a good guess, however.

Check the fuel filters and fuel relay circuits. Also, there may be a SECOND filter somewhere that you don't know about...perhaps one of those ribbon type that sit in the gas tank? Sorry, it's been a while since I've worked on one of these.

kayakbabe

I had the same problem. Also, the rpms would fluctuate and then slow down to the point the motor would die. This problem got progressively worse until the vehicle would not even start.
This problem occured in two different instances about 3 months apart. The first time, the dealership told me the idler speed control motor was going bad. They replaced it and everything was fine. The second time I took it in for the same problem, they knew they had replaced the idler speed control motor and they asked if I had to have the Jeep jumped. I did and the problem began occuring about 4 days later. It turns out that by jumping the Jeep from another computer controlled car, I had inadvertentaly messed up the setting in my Jeep's computer. It was a simple thing for them to reload the proper settings and off I went. They didn't even charge me. It perplexed me a bit, because the first time the incident had occured, the Jeep had not been jumped, the problem occurred on it's own. But now, It's been six months no and I have had no problems whatsoever. Needless to say, I'm careful about making sure that everything is turned off when I go backpacking and leave my Jeep for several days at a time.

rivergirl

My 96 Grand Cherokee has trouble shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear when it is cold outside and the engine is cold. It will shift fine from 1st to 2nd, but then really hesitates and the RPM dial goes up to 4 if I try to accelerate. Once the engine warms, it will shift from 2nd to 3rd, but it lunges. Has anyone else heard of this? We took it to two different transmission places here but they were stumped. We haven't taken it to a dealer yet. Fortunately for my car, we live in the deep south where the cold weather is an exception, but I worry this problem will get worse with time.

Mr_Shiftright

If the rpm guage is jumping, you have a definite problem that needs looking into...I suppose you could spend $75 or so and get a full service on the transmission...it couldn't hurt to put in new fluid and filter. But slipping in gear is a bad sign usually, sorry to say.

mediascribe

My family has 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee whose engine stops dead, without warning, about once every 3 hours of driving. Mostly happens during gentle de-acceleration (not emergency stops). Very worrisome because always happens when in gear on hwy. Initial dealer response was to suggest $2.5K in repairs, but made no guarantee problem would be fixed. Finally whittled down to $660 in repairs, but problem persists. END