Two Issues with my renix era.

[Nova Wake]

Ok I have a 88 Comanche that i bought awhile ago the previous owner had it sitting for almost a year prior to me getting it. I have resently redone the exhaust and other items to get it to pass inspection. I have two intermittent problems with it. One is the heat is totally f'ed up. The other is it likes to stall occasionally.


First the heat will work okay(no great) not to long after start up but if it runs for about an hour it gets weaker and weaker till its barely luke warm, also the lights in the front heater panel will go in and out sometimes, so i'm not exactly sure if it the wiring or what. I do have a problem with the radiator cap and it staying tight, it did piss out its contents twice on me when it was summer, now that its winter it stays semi tight and hasn't really done more than leak a little if it loosens. So not sure if its a pressure problem either.

The other problem is a little more annoying as it doesn't really do it all the time and in reality very rarely. When i first got the truck it stalled on me a total of three times, once it was low on gas so not sure if that was it. But today it stalled on me a whole bunch of times in succession after a brief wheeling trip. It was fine the whole time till it was time to go down a hill the truck absolutely does not like slow driving its always fine as long as I'm pressing the gas pedal like up hill, normal driving, and etc. Down hills are usually fine to UNLESS i have done an ample amount of slow city or off-road driving then when i reach an area where its down hill or driving that requires no gas pedal it will choke out unless i punch the gas pedal. It will restart right away if i punch the gas, sometimes the starter will squeal and nothing or it will try to turn over and nothing unless i pump the gas. The truck was fine again after i had it over 35 again and diddint have any issues with slow driving again. It seems like it accumulates if i do a lot of short slow driving but never happens on the highway or any long distance steady driving? not sure what that is. I do have a bad(gone) o2 sensor but I'm not sure whats causing it. The truck can go months without doing this and did all day today except for the last down hill of the day(after around two-three hours of slow off road driving and a few hours before that of road driving) the truck had zero problems till that point and now its fine again.

its a 4.0 automatic.

 

[87manche]

when you say the heat gets weaker, do you mean that the fan stops blowing as hard, or that the air coming out of the vents gets cold?

You for sure need to replace the surge tank and it's cap. Trust me.

The stalling, does the truck die like you turned the key, or do the accessories stay on?

 

[Nova Wake]

Heater blower works fine, the heat itself gets weaker and weaker, it doesn't exactly get all the way down to nothing just to barely luke warm just enough to keep the window from freezing up, sorta like it works when the engine is at 75% of its operating temperature, then once its fully heated the heat cuts out. I have a volvo cap on the way, i believe the previous owner replaced the surge tank and the radiator. I no i can't shut the hood hard or the cap will just come loose. Truck just stalls lights on dash come on and radio stays on just as if it was in the accessory position, a few times i didn't even notice it did stall it just cut out and the radio was on, it diddnt stumble like it does other times(sometimes you can tell its gonna choke and apply gas and its fine) I can't even get it to replicate it, its that infrequent.

 

[87manche]

I'd say that your poor heat and leaking cap are related. The system must remained closed to work properly. After you get the cap you need to properly burp the system. Search on here and you'll find step by step instructions.

the stalling is a few things maybe.
Check the ground harness at the rear of the head.
You'll want ot check the TPS.
Check for vacuum leaks in the harness and lines. They like to crack at the plastic junctions.
Probably pull the IACV and clean it as well.

Those are the spots I'd start at. Then head on to checking the harness around the exhuast.

 

[cruiser54]

If you still have the bottle with cap in the passenger side rear area of the engine bay, fill it up and replace the cap with a 703-1396 cap from Napa.

 

[cruiser54]

Click on the following link for known REnix driveability issues. Numbers 1 thru 5 and number 11 would be a great place to start.

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/cruiser54s-mostly-renix-tips-153657/