rustynail17

I apologize if this has been posted but i can't find my issue through countless hours of searching the internet....

she has sat for 3 years but i started her on occasion.

So last night started the jeep, took a good 5 seconds of cranking to start and if i revved it, it would act like it was gonna die....if i got on it driving though no issue...
This morning came out started, idled fine. Took off, no issues. Went to the gas station as it showed a quarter of a tank, after adding roughly 8 gallons of premium as the thing has sat for 3 years i was figuring that would be good to go...she went to empty... but then after driving came up to 3/4 a tank... drove 21 miles to work, 30.2 miles to texas park and wild life and then 20ish miles to meet my wife, turned it off sat there waiting for her and she took a good 5 seconds of cranking to start back. Took off again, no issues. got about 4 miles away and she dies on me in a turn lane. push it over to the side of the road and crank crank crank crank, nothing. Let her sit for a while and she acted like she was just about to start then crank crank crank crank. Fast forward 20ish minutes of checking things not starting it i read a post about fuel pump issues. So I turn the key, 5 secs, turn the key 5 secs, repeat 3 or 4 times, she starts! idled down to like 200 rpms goes to 0 comes back to 900 goes to 0 dies. I start it again, giving her gas which seemed to be making her die....I pedal she cuts out, i let off she trys to idle.

Now here's my thoughts.

Clogged fuel pump from the older crap fuel?
i ran outta gas even though she shows half a tank... she was at 3/4 before i started my journey from the gas station but I did drive around 80 miles and IF shes getting 10mpg... well that would explain it but if it were empty why would she start and die, start and die?
Fuel filter?
charcoal canister?

I'm thinking I start by dropping the tank and checking the fuel pump or should i add 2 gallons of gas and see what happens? I can hear the fuel pump kick on and off and the fuel pump was like a year old before she sat down for 3 years.
I also have a check engine light and the last time it was read it said it was a vapor issue.

oh! and when i try to start her i smell fuel?

EDITED: 11-27-21 , got her running after adding 5 gallons of gas, however, when i give it gas she dies, let her idle for a bit, idles rough. Now she wont start again, maybe i need to add like 10 gallons of gas with some cleaner? sounding like she's putting herself out... not sure, either clogged or not enough.

Thanks yall! please ask questions as i'm sure i forgot things.

agreen

- what year is it?
- you should definitely check fuel pressure (with a gauge)
- you should not use "premium"
- pull the spark plugs and check see how they look, as well as the cap/rotor

rustynail17

99, ya im ordering a pressure gauge, don't run premium got it just did that because the old gas. Would spark plugs effect it running after started though? idk cars very well i am handy though.

Thanks!

agreen

You can tell a lot about what's going on with the engine from reading the spark plugs. Rich, lean, hot, oil consumption, etc.

"Premium" is a bit of a misnomer. It's not "better" gas, it's got a higher resistance to preignition. Not something an engine with an 8.8:1 compression ratio will ever worry about.

Since it's a 99, you should also get an ELM 327 bluetooth adapter. They're like $10-20. You can use a variety of free apps with your phone to connect to it. It makes diagnosing issues much easier when you can actually see what the sensors are seeing.

evil_goat

It is definitely possible that you ran out of gas. I had a very similar situation where it would die, then start, then die again, then it wouldn't start after that. I added about 1 gallon of gas, and it still wouldn't start. After adding five gallons it started fine.

agreen

Haha I kept thinking to myself last night when I read through this thread
"I feel like they've said what year it is, I just can't find it". And of course, it's in the title.

rustynail17

ill have to look into that! thanks! im starting to think the tank is empty lol... i hit it and shake it and hear no movement

EDIT- ordered one of those! so it just tells ya the codes huh?

rustynail17

i'm starting to think this might just be the case my guy!

agreen

It does way more than that. It can tell you the livestream data from all the sensors and a lot more features, depending on what kind of app you use. I like to use the "car scanner" app. It can do datalogs, live data, read codes, etc.

rustynail17

i always thought they were fake due to being so cheap. good to know! it should be here saturday, thanks for the tip! which app do you recommend?

agreen

For the beginner, you really can't go wrong with Torque Lite. It's free and fairly simple to use.

I like using Car Scanner because it does datalogs, but it's a lot less user friendly. I actually have both installed because Torque has a better dashboard. So let's say you want to know what temp your coolant is. You can have up to 8 displays pulled up on the same screen at a time. I'm talking digital readouts of things like that, manifold pressure, o2 volts, engine rpm... pretty much if it has a sensor, you can read it.

rustynail17

Well, got her running, she's idling rough and if I give her gas she immediately dies idk what the heck

evil_goat

Something could be wrong with the fuel delivery system. Maybe a bad pump, or fuel clogged filter. The code that you get should tell you more about the issue.

rustynail17

ya just gotta reader today, gonna see!

fb97xj1

If thats still the case, check your vacuum lines, including any rubber connections between them. Look around the injectors for any signs of leakage. One or more could be sticking and dumping fuel. Check the plugs. Too much gas will foul the plugs and idle rough. I would take a look at the throttle body as well. It, and possibly the IAC, need a good cleaning.

Sitting for a couple years couldve taken its toll on the gas. After 3 years, probably not. You never know, tho. Could even be water in the tank.

Hopefully the code reader gives you something to go on.