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XJ engine dies intermittently. Any ideas?

1994 UK Cherokee Limited, 4.0l Auto, mileage 85K For the past couple of weeks, only on about three or four occasions, the engine has started to die but usually just manages to pick up. This may have happened more often but was noticeable when idling or moving slowly. Today I was driving on a fast road at about 60 when the engine stopped completely. Rev counter went straight to zero. No backfiring or spluttering and the momentum of the vehicle enabled me to get it to the side and out of danger - although absence of power steering made it a bit of a struggle. After a quick check of HT leads for anything obvious (they are not very old and appeared fine), started up again and it ran sweetly without any more trouble until I got home, about 20 miles.

With such an intermittent problem what might be the areas to consider? Anyone had similar experience?

Frank

Reply to
Frank Pell
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Not experience with an XJ, but I have owned several other cars and trucks, and I woul have the alternator tested. I had a chevy truck once that would only run until it reached a certain RPM, then would just die. It turned out to be the alternator was tit's up. To test it, you might just run it at an idle, and rev up the engine slowly and see if it finally dies. You may have reached high enough RPMs to trip the alternator the one time, then after it happened, you may have unconsciencely shifted at less RPMs trying to ensure it would get you home. Most people when they cannot determine what is wrong with their vehicle, tend to drive it softer until they get it home.

Reply to
Jeff Ramsey

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)

Thanks guys - Crank Position Sensor sounds the likely culprit - definitely not RPM sensitive as all previous occasions have been while coming to a halt or taking off gently. Frank

Reply to
Frank Pell

Reply to
breyfogle

My fuel pump ... 96' Cherokee, 4.0 ... went intermittent something like you describe before finally packing it in. I replaced the pump (had it replaced) and while so doing replaced the CPS and fuel filter as preventive maintenance. So maybe as the others have suggested, start with the CPS, my opinion, worth doing anyway.

Reply to
bowgus

I would look very hard at the Crankshaft Position Sensor that is mounted externally next to the flywheel on the left-side of the vehicle when sitting inside. This gives the master timing information for the entire engine and when it goes bad, and they do, it causes symptoms like you're experiencing

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Bransford

If I had read the post carefully enough, I would have known that the XJ problem was not the same as the one I subscribed. Sorry for the screw up.

Reply to
Jeff Ramsey

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)

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