For those of you who have been following this thread, I thought I would provide an update.
Since my last post, I had my jeep mechanic pull and reseat all fuses, relays, etc etc. He replaced the CPS (2nd time) as well as the cam positon sensor. He also replaced the battery cable ends as well as checked all the grounds, all wiring, the plug to the PCM, etc.
Well, I guess it was too good to be true, thinking that my Jeep problem was completely fixed. Although I drove the jeep for three weeks and over 500 miles before I experienced any problem, I have recently had the following glitches, some of which are precisely the same symptoms as before (engine shutting down.... all gauges to zero.... engine crank but not restart until at least an hour later) while the other glitch scenerio is new.
Glitch # 1 (new):
While sitting stopped and the transmission shift in the "park" position, running the engine just to keep the air conditioning on while I wait to get started, the engine just simply shuts off very abruptly. However, the gauges do not flip to zero like they have done with my chronic problem, and I am able to restart the engine immediately. Please note that this has happened on three different occasions, all while I am sitting parked with the engine idling at about 700 rpms. (If I had not been having what appears to be chronic electrical or computer related problems, I would have suspected some fuel-delivery problem such as a fuel filter, fuel pump, etc. )
Glitch # 2 (original problem)
In addition to the above unusual glitches, I did have two repeats of the original problem. While driving down the highway at 60 mph, the engine abruptly shut off, and all of my gauges went to zero (by the way, the radio stayed on). I allowed the car to slow down so that I could find a safe place to stop, and when I slowed down to approximately 30 mph, the gauges all abruptly came back on and the engine started running again! Again, I have only had this happen twice during my 500 miles of driving three weeks after my last repair.
One thing that I had not noted before, as I did not recognize it as a possible "pattern." On two of the engine and gauge shutdown episodes, they occured as I had just completed a low-speed "U" turn. As I fully completed the turn, the engine shut down, and the gauges went to zero. After I waited about an hour after each glitch, the gauges would again return to normal, and the engine started just fine.
************************************************************From everything that I have read and have been told, including some comments here, it seems that I may well have a "flaky" PCM.
After reviewing the history of this, what would be your next best attempt at repair ? Is it "more likely" or "less likely" that it is the PCM ??
Could a flaky pcm cause an abrupt engine shutdown with gauges being disabled and the car not start again right away in one glitch, and later cause an engine shutdown when the car just shuts off, but gauges stay normal, and it will restart right away ?
Thanks for staying with this thread, and any continued interest and ideas... I do appreciate it...
James