frankv569
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- pittsburgh,pa
ok to refresh.. i bought a 96 xj sport 4.0 auto about 2 months ago. i dont know alot about it yet and its givin me a problem. right after i bought it, i changed all fluids and filters (except trans filter-jeep dealer recommended fluid only).tuned it up as much as advanced auto said that i could (cap,rotor,plugs-zero electrode left, wires,fuel filter-full of brown gas and case rusted out almost,air filter,thermostat and flush, muffler and tailpipe).ran good or better after the tuneup -for 2 weeks. then, started running rough and fuel milage started going south. fuel milage was about 17 when i bought it -now about 14mpg averaged on the tankful. advanced originally sold me "autolite" plugs and i started questioning them so i replaced them with the "recommended" champions - no better. now, sometimes (not sure if rain related or not) when i try to start it, it will either not start without throttle applied- other times, it does start but seems to crank too many times to start,seems to crank slowly,and sometimes "sounds" as if cylinders were full of fluid and engine was being cranked(not sure of technical terms) or kind of like timing was off possibly and firing way before tdc to where it was fighting it. the other night (again, not sure if rain/dampness related), it stalled out two times driving home-fully warmed up and both instances i was cruising at slow speeds and throttle not applied.it seems to be stalling - or- failing to start when no throttle is applied and seems to not matter whether engine is warmed up or not. when i was at advanced, i had them check the charging and starting systems with thier large electronic tester(i was curious since the voltmeter reads low and slow cranking) my battery looks older than the jeep too. they said it seems like i have a weak alternator. could a weak battery or alternator cause the stalling? i do have an exhaust leak up front at the manifold and havent repaired that yet-dont know if its loose or cracked i still have to get to it.when i did the exhaust work,i had the cat off-didnt seem or sound bad to the eye/ear. i could see light through it and no loose rattle inside. also, the exhaust leak in the front is definately more noticable since ive replaced the leaking muffler and tailpipe-which makes sense but my question about that is does that mean that my "off the shelf and physically smaller universal muffler is way too restrictive? it really seems to be forcing ALOT more exhaust out of the front leak.