When the engine stops... Does it make a sputtering sound or just a dead stop? I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to your other questions yet, lots of stressful events going on over here... I'll check on that again and get back with you... Or did you get those issues solved?

Tim "Sandman"

ORC Land Use columnist:
My May Column

 

I solved the starter problem, when I had my muffler fix they told me that I didn't use enough shims. One of these days I am going to stick another in there and see if the noise stops. He said it wasn't catching the flywheel right I believe. Anyway the AC needs to be recharged cause the compressor works and when I look in the eye glass near the radiator while the AC is on it looks foamy, and according to my Haynes, it needs to be recharged. The only other problem I have is the stalling. It shuts dead, you wouldn't notice it if the power steering didn't shut off because when it shuts off it doesn't make any noise. It has done this before when I pull in to parking lots after driving fast and coast to a spot. Other than that I am all good. Oh I forgot I need to make and install a new bumper, but someone else already gave me directions on that so I am all set except this stalling thing. I am trying to get the Jeep all fixed up so I can sell it for more. Than I am going to sell the car my father is giving me tomorrow, his old car, a 95 mazda protege LX, its ugly and would blow in the snow. After selling these, I might trade in the Mazda, I want to buy a 93 or newer Grand Cherokee. Well check up on the exhaust when you have time, if email is easier Jeff803@hotmail.com or you can just send me a private.

Jeff

 

Does it have a tachometer? How many RPM's is the engine at when it stalls? What happens if you put it in neutral before you turn and maybe keep your foot on the gas a little? Still stall?

Tim "Sandman"

ORC Land Use columnist:
My May Column

 

I have a tachometer, but it stalls without warning and at various times so I can't read what is says on the tach. And it doesn't do it everytime. I could do the same thing like 5 times and it might only stall like one or two times, but it does. It is annoying. It does it sometimes when I am coasting in neutral like down a long hill or something, inorder to save gas. Someone said I might need a new air filter but I checked and it is fine. All my vaccum hoses are fine too. I can't think of what it could be.

Jeff

 

What is the condition of the distributor cap and rotor, coil, spark plugs and wires?

Also it is possible it could be that the fuel filter is dirty or the fuel in the tank has water in it.

 

If it dies or stutters when you punch it, you could have a bad accelerator pump in your carb or even something as simple as a clogged fuel filter preventing enough fuel from passing through the carb.

 

How do I check these things. I can't afford 50/hr to ask a mechanic questions. Thanks.

Jeff

 

Start by telling us how it idles in Park. Is it smooth or does the engine wiggle around?

I posted this before to you but I'll rewrite it here. Remove the air cleaner cover. Start the engine and let it idle. Take a clean rag and gently stick it down the carburetor throat,(the hole in the top of the carb closest to the front of the Jeep). If the engine is tight and has no vacuum leaks, it should stumble and stall. If it has vacuum leaks it will continue to run. If it continues to run, you have vacuum leaks.

 

Ok I took of the top of the air cleaner or carburator or whatever, and turned it on. I then shoved the rag in every hole that came into the carburator one by one, too make sure I put it in the one you were talking about. I think you meant the one with the big vacuum hose connected to it. Well I stopped up every hole and it never shut off or did anything. How do I find the vacuum leaks now?

 

OK, Jeff, let's try this again. If you remove the cover from the air cleaner, the top of the carburetor is visible on the inside. The top of the carburetor has two 1 1/2 inch holes in there. The one closest to the front of the engine is the one the rag was supposed to go in. If you did stuff the rag in there and the engine did not die, you have either a large vaccum leak or many little ones.

If all of what I said is true, the engine must idle like crap. These vacuum leaks could be the source of your dashboard fan troubles as well.

Finding leaking vacuum tubing is not difficult but is is a drawn out process. You are going to have to inspect all the tubing for soft spots, kinks, holes and stretched out of shape at the connectors. Unfortunately, the 2.8 engine has a lot of vacuum tubing, all of it is essential to make the engine run well.... It is going to take time and patience. If you remove the air cleaner completely from the engine, you will see a lot of 5/16 inch vac tubing there. From personal experience, a lot of leaks and kinks occur there. The larger size tubing is 3/8 inch; that is for things like the power brake booster on the driver side fire wall. Again, refer to the Haynes manual, chapter on engine control... there is a vacuum diagram for the 2.8 engine with auto trans. There should also be a diagram on the driver side firewall.. Good Luck!!/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

 

I tried it again. I took off the top and clogged the hole on the top. I thought you meant a hose coming into it before was what I was supposed to clog. When I clogged the hole on top it shut off as you said it should. Now we know that isn't it now what? I checked the vacuum tubes today and I didn't find one with a hole or kink or cut or anything. I did look at those cylindrical things by the battery you said were the vacuum storage or something like that. Well one of the two is broken from the thing that holds it down and is just sitting there. Would this make a difference? The black little line you said was for freon or whatever connects to to this one(the black from the black and the pink that come from the firewall). All the hoses that control the vents and stuff were connected and secure with no holes or worn marks or anything. Hope this helps with your diagnosis.

 

If it is broken in a way that would cause the vacuum to leak -- it would be a problem. If it's just off of the mount and not damaged, then no. Vac lines are very finnicky, though. If they don't have vacuum, you don't get to go.

If I didn't have a Jeep, I wouldn't have a life.

'88 MJ SporTruck
Rebuilt 2.5L: 40 over rings, 10 on crank, 10 on bearings
nearing 400K

 

It is just broken off the mount. I believe it is still intact though. It stalled again last night. I was crusing a long at like 30 and I saw my friend at the store I almost passed so I slowed down and turned in real quick and it stalled. I think it only happens while I am turning, at least that seems when it decides to stall. Only once has it stalled while I was going straight, usually it is as I pull into somewhere.

 

OK so now we know that the engine is getting good vacuum. You should at some point secure that cannister instead of having it bounce around.

The black and pink lines that go into the firewall are vacuum lines, not freon ones...the freon ones are the metal tubes that enter the firewall just below the black and pink vacuum lines.

The next thing to check for the stalling problem is the distributor cap and rotor. The distributor is located under the air cleaner near the fire wall. It has 7 wires coming off the top of it; they are the 6 sparkplug wires and the center one is the coil wire. Don't remove the wires. On the sides of the distributor , there are 2 screws. Turn each screw 1/4 of a turn and lift the cap off the distributor. Carefully turn it over so you can see the underside of it. Look for cracks in the plastic, black lines, which are carbon trails (the trails can cause miss and cross firing), and worn contact points. Under the cap and now on the topp of the distributor is the rotor, plastic circular in shape with a metal tip. Check to see if the tip is worn. The rotor spins with the engine and the tip touches the contacts on the bottom of the cap. This makes a circuit and fires the sparkplugs via the wires at the right time. So, if you find anything wrong with the cap and rotor, both should be replaced.

 

I tried to take off the distributor cap but only one of the screws would turn. The screwdriver wasnt catching the other screw, I think I need a flatended philips instead of a pointed end. Anyway when I was putting the air filter configuration back on. The PCV or PVC I forget, filter caught my eye. I remembered reading that it was another filter like the air filter somewhere in Haynes. Than I realized THE DAMN THING HAD NO FILTER IN IT!!!! It was only the filter holder, so I ran down the street and picked one up. They didnt have the exact one but this one fits the tube and is way bigger and still fits without hitting anything. Its a lot longer than the orignial. Well anyway I put it in and started up the Jeep and idled so much smoother!!!!! It felt like it ran better too. I might have just been looking for an improvement and concocted this one when I started it and it might not actually do anything. So here is the question. Could this be the answer to my poor idle and stalling problem??

Jeff

86 XJ 2dr 2.8L auto 139kmi