Starts, sputters, dies...

[TheMonk]

This morning my jeep started, ran at a low idle then when I put it in gear and hit the gas it died. It preceded to do this three more times, so I let it sit for a good 6 hours. I just started it up and let it idle for 5 minutes and now it seems to be running fine... any ideas about the problem? It ran fine yesterday and there was a heavy rain last night, if that helps...




p.s. to anyone who helped me last time that I didn't get to thank (computer problems) thanks.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Could possibly be condensation in the fuel lines, or a crack in the distributor (rotor) cap letting in moisture from the rain. Aside from that, I'm drawing a blank.

 

[slo-wrench44]

could be bad wires. try spraying wd 40 on your spark plug wires. i had to do it to my friends 97 4 banger. let it sit for a few minuts and started up and ran ok till it rained again. thats when i told him to stop being cheap and get new wires lol

 

[Sparky-Watts]

could be bad wires. try spraying wd 40 on your spark plug wires. i had to do it to my friends 97 4 banger. let it sit for a few minuts and started up and ran ok till it rained again. thats when i told him to stop being cheap and get new wires lol

Good call. Didn't think about wires. I had that on an old Datsun pickup when I was in High School. One night my dad and I opened the hood, and the spark plug wires lit up like a Christmas tree with all the sparks arcing up and down them!:shock: :lol:

 

[dorun_run]

The others mentioned a cracked cap and rotor and old wires but don't forget to check the ignition coil as this brought a similar problem to me many years ago. One clue would be to start the Jeep in the dark and look at the starter coil to see if you get any blue sparks. This would be indicative of a crack in the starter coil casing which could happen from just wear n' tear or moisture corroding the coil within. A bad one may spark or may not but at least this may direct you down a correct path.
By the way, are you fuel injected or carb?

 

[TheMonk]

Well, over the weekend I put in a new distributor cap and rotor button, the spark plug wires had all been replaced about a month ago so I put some dielectric grease on all the connections, replaced the fuel filter and checked for fuel pressure.... and it still ran the same exact (bad) way. So basically I let it sit there for two days, went to drive it this morning and it ran perfectly fine, the engine even felt stronger. Bah, I have no idea whats up... I still need to find the source of this problem, cuz I don't need to be an hour away from home and have it happen.


It's a fuel injected, I'll definitely check out the coil.

 

[tardis454]

My buddy's XJ started that, and it ended up being the crank sensor.
Check the crank sensor.