It's a love-hate thing.

[Its a jeep]

I'm 17, I live in New York, and I have a 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport.

It's got about 112,000 miles on it, and I've had it since November 2006. It's a nice car, but honestly I do abuse it. Haha. I'm one of those crazy teenage drivers. And I love driving fast, and just fooling around.

But lately all of my antics have been showing on the car. Last June it started acting funny. When I first started it up and began driving it down the street, it began accelerating funny. It would jerk forward real quick and then not accelerate at all when i pushed the gas. But I often solved this problem just by flooring it, I know it's probably not the best for the car, but it did go away, at least for the time I was driving it for. But then when I turned it off and restarted it, it would do the same thing.

I realized that if I kept the tank full it would hardly ever jerk. But again, I am in highschool, and keeping the tank full is a little hard for me to do. I tried a lot of things already to fix it. But dry gas in the tank in case there was water in it. I changed the distributor cap, the spark plugs, the wires, and the rotor. But nothing seemed to have fixed it at all.

I'm really pretty lost, I don't work well with cars. I've never really worked on them. But I do depend on this jeep, and I love it even though it gives me a lot of grief.

 

[mud4feet]

Basically,

"As you sow so shall you reap"

Meaning:

Your deeds, good or bad, will repay you in kind.

Origin:

From the Bible, Galatians VI (King James Version):

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."


Personally, I think you'll have similar (or worse) problems with any vehicle you own until you learn a little respect. I feel sorry for your XJ. The meaning of the quotes above is "it gives you lots of grief because you give it lots of grief". Sorry, I'm an old geezer - been there, done that with lots of vehicles (not a Jeep, fortunately) 'til I wised up (sometime in my 20's - oh so long ago). Take it easy on your Jeep, grab some wrenches and get greasy, break some things, fix some things, listen to old people, and LEARN!!!!

 

[Its a jeep]

Haha, Yeah. Lately I've been easier on it. But I really can't figure out what the problem is with it. I've been told it either has to do with the clutch or the fuel system. But I can't be sure. I've been trying to see if anyone has had a similar problem with it, but I can't really find any...

It's a little frustrating. But the thing is, when the problem started I hadn't been hard on the jeep. I had just started driving, and I think that the problem caused me to be hard on it, ya know? Cause I didn't know what else to do but floor it. Haha.

It's a lame excuse, I know, But it's the truth!

 

[mud4feet]

............But it's the truth!

Well, there's nothin' at all wrong with the truth!!:lol: :lol:

I said before I felt sorry for your XJ but I also feel sorry for you.....having to grow up with these "new-fangled" vehicles. Back in the day.......cars didn't have computers controlling everything. You could play around with the timing, twist the distributor a bit this way, a bit that way......fiddle with the carburetor settings.......gap the points a bit more, a bit less.......experiment with the exhaust (no cat!!!!).......bunch of other stuff - fun times!!!! And the old geezers didn't need any "engine analyzers" or "OBDII Code Readers"......they could tune 'em to a smooth purr by ear.

So, stick around, enjoy your Jeep, and listen to the "wise ones" on here (I don't include myself). That Jeep can take you places you never imagined a "car" could take you and the "wise ones" can teach you things you never thought you'd know!!!!

Welcome aboard!

mud

 

[jeepster357]

Well first off welcome to Jeepz!
Now for the Q&A are you throwing any codes? Is the motor "bogging down" when you accelerate (to much fuel or low spark) or is the engine not responding at all (possible throttle linkage) kinda simple questions but things we sometimes fail to notice in the middle of a problem. feel free to hollar at me if you want more answerless questions lol, ill try to help if i can.

 

[mud4feet]

BTW.................do I sound like your Dad, or what???:funny: :funny: :deadhorse:

 

[Wrangl3r93]

First off welcome to Jeepz. Being only 19 myself I'm not going to pass judgement on your driving technique. My dad made it obvious very quickly that if I break it, I fix it(including buying the parts). I've become a pretty darn good mechanic, but I've also gone without my jeep a few times.

If I were you, next thing I'd check would be the fuel filter.

 

[Its a jeep]

Thanks for the welcome
=]

And as for the jeep i'm pretty sure it's not bogging. Sometimes when it's idling the engine revs a bit by itself, or as I'm coming to a stoplight it will start to shake and rev and then stall out. Those have been the most recent symptoms of whatever is wrong with my jeep.

And Wrangl3r93, I think the fuel filter is an unserviceable part. I hear it's in the fuel tank? But I'm not entirely sure.

 

[TerryMason]

Now mud, are you reading this guy the riot act - quoting scripture and all! I bet you've beat up your Jeep a time or two (you don't need a winch if you don't plan on getting into trouble!)

As to your problem, you are right, the pump, filter, check valve and regulator are all located on the top of the fuel tank.

Is it giving you any codes? Just take it to the local parts store and have them test it. It may be something simple like an O2 sensor.

 

[Its a jeep]

First off, I'm a girl.


And second, I plan on checking the computer today, my friend has a scanner he can hook up to it. I'll let you know what comes from it.

 

[Wrangl3r93]

I have no clue where the fuel filter is on your xj but I'm under the firm belief there is no unserviceablepart on our jeeps. I just straightened the frame on my old jeep with a comealong, some chains, and 2 front end loaders .

 

[Its a jeep]

Well, the thing is with the filter I don't want to have to drop the tank just to get to it and find out that that wasn't the problem, ya know? And I technically wouldn't be doing the majority of the work, and it just seems a little more reasonable to check all of the easy things first, before it resorts to that.

 

[Wrangl3r93]

Oh I understand you always look for the easiest things first because 9 out of 10 times it is a simple fix. You've already done basically a full tune up, did you put fuel injector cleaner in your tank when you did all of the rest? A bad o2 sensor will also cause your jeep to have all kinds of weird symptoms. Is there any smoke coming from your tailpipe? My ex gf's jeep had a bad o2 sensor and it was dumping fuel straight into the engine with symptoms exactly like what you describe, except hers was smoking and you could smell the unburnt fuel near the exhaust.

 

[Its a jeep]

Yeah My boyfriend has a 1992 Mitsubishi Galant with a DSM motor, and with his engine the smallest things end up going wrong. He spent 3 months rebuilding it after he pretty much blew it up. And even though those engines are always breaking down, and need a lot of attention, they're really nice. So yeah, I've been looking for small, easy things that might be going wrong right now.

But it hasn't been smoking, and It's never smelled like fuel. It could be what's wrong with it, but I dunno yet, I'm really just waiting to get the computer checked and maybe that'll let me know.

And I haven't cleaned the fuel injectors out yet, I was planning on doing that soon, maybe tonight.

 

[Wrangl3r93]

The only good use I've ever seen a DSM motor put to was a coffee table. At my local Autozone they'll run the codes for you for free. If you're a girl they'll all but trip over they're own feet trying to get outside to help you.

 

[Its a jeep]

Hahahaha, I tend to get that reaction a lot. I'm not quite a girly girl. I like fun things like cars, videogames, and mud. And I don't really have that many friends who are girls. Drama is annoying, and boys are just more fun.

8)

But I'll get that all checked out later today, or maybe tomorrow.
I'm not to worried about it right now, it'll be fixed soon.... I hope.
Haha.

 

[cewtwo]

Welcome to Jeepz! You sound like a wonderful addition to this group!

Some people don't tend to read the Introduction area of the Forum, so try a post in the technical forum.

Just an idea!

 

[Its a jeep]

Ah, I got it figured out

=]

Both the o2 sensors are bad, and they need to be replaced.
It explains why I've been going through gas like crazy. It's running rich.

Ahhh, It's a good thing i get paid on Friday.
Spend all my money on my jeep - again.

It's pretty much the story of my life. Haha.