'96 XJ Turns off While Driving
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Michigan
Posts: 12
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee(XJ)
Engine: 4.0L I6
'96 XJ Turns off While Driving
Hi Everyone!
I'm new to the forum but hope to become more involved with this awesome community!
I had an interesting experience this morning while on my way to work. About 5 minutes into my drive, I went to turn on the heat (it was about 20F outside) and quickly moved the slider all the way from the left (off) to the right (defroster). For some reason, my car just turned off. It didn't seem to sputter or do anything else abnormal; it just turned off. I managed to turn onto a side street, put it in park, moved the slider back to off, and it started without any issue. I slowly moved the slider to heat and it didn't give me any problem.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I planned to check the battery after work.
Thanks!
I'm new to the forum but hope to become more involved with this awesome community!
I had an interesting experience this morning while on my way to work. About 5 minutes into my drive, I went to turn on the heat (it was about 20F outside) and quickly moved the slider all the way from the left (off) to the right (defroster). For some reason, my car just turned off. It didn't seem to sputter or do anything else abnormal; it just turned off. I managed to turn onto a side street, put it in park, moved the slider back to off, and it started without any issue. I slowly moved the slider to heat and it didn't give me any problem.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I planned to check the battery after work.
Thanks!
#6
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Tacoma, Washington
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Year: 1995
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 inline 6
I had that happening to me as well.. turns out that my blower motor was so bad. that when I tried to run it.. It was drawing way too much power through the wires.... I went through three burned out ignition sets before it finally dawned on me to find the SOURCE of the problem and stop fixing the symptoms. once i replaced the motor and the relay.. no more burning out ignition switches.. no more xj suddenly going dead on me while driving at 70 mph on the freeway.
Not saying that this is YOUR problem.. but its what was causing my xj to shut down.
Not saying that this is YOUR problem.. but its what was causing my xj to shut down.
Last edited by outersketcher; 01-09-2020 at 11:48 PM.
The following users liked this post:
BlueRidgeMark (01-10-2020)
#7
CF Veteran
I had that happening to me as well.. turns out that my blower motor was so bad. that when I tried to run it.. It was drawing way too much power through the wires.... I went through three burned out ignition sets before it finally dawned on me to find the SOURCE of the problem and stop fixing the symptoms. once i replaced the motor and the relay.. no more burning out ignition switches.. no more xj suddenly going dead on me while driving at 70 mph on the freeway.
Not saying that this is YOUR problem.. but its what was causing my xj to shut down.
Not saying that this is YOUR problem.. but its what was causing my xj to shut down.
His first order of business is to pull the steering column shroud and inspect the ignition switch connector and the wires coming out of it for scorch marks, melted wires, and any holes (even pin sized ones) in the wire insulation.
Trending Topics
#8
CF Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 3,520
Received 654 Likes
on
558 Posts
Year: 96
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Hi Everyone!
I'm new to the forum but hope to become more involved with this awesome community!
I had an interesting experience this morning while on my way to work. About 5 minutes into my drive, I went to turn on the heat (it was about 20F outside) and quickly moved the slider all the way from the left (off) to the right (defroster). For some reason, my car just turned off. It didn't seem to sputter or do anything else abnormal; it just turned off. I managed to turn onto a side street, put it in park, moved the slider back to off, and it started without any issue. I slowly moved the slider to heat and it didn't give me any problem.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I planned to check the battery after work.
Thanks!
I'm new to the forum but hope to become more involved with this awesome community!
I had an interesting experience this morning while on my way to work. About 5 minutes into my drive, I went to turn on the heat (it was about 20F outside) and quickly moved the slider all the way from the left (off) to the right (defroster). For some reason, my car just turned off. It didn't seem to sputter or do anything else abnormal; it just turned off. I managed to turn onto a side street, put it in park, moved the slider back to off, and it started without any issue. I slowly moved the slider to heat and it didn't give me any problem.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I planned to check the battery after work.
Thanks!
The '96 pulls all electrical power thru the Ignition switch..if just one thing in the chain of electrics to your Fan goes high resistance, good chance your ignition wiring will fry
as detailed afaic, 4 x relays inside to keep 4 speeds, feed power thru firewall from battery
The following users liked this post:
BlueRidgeMark (01-10-2020)
#9
Seasoned Member
1996 Sport, 4.0, mine did this over a period of about 3-4 months and then one day it would not start again. I'd be driving along and then it would shudder (ignition suddenly off and just as suddenly back on) as if it backfired, but no sound. This same event occurred several times. It was like a bucking motion because with a sudden decrease in engine speed and then a sudden return of spark the drive train would take a shock. Then, one day it just stopped running. I put the transmission in neutral and cranked the engine while moving and it started back up. It continued with this behavior until one day it would not start again and died altogether. The problem was the CPS. It took me awhile to fathom what the problem could be until I remembered a similar event happened with an acquaintance's car some years before and it was caused by a bad CPS.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mikecorrell
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go here
9
09-28-2018 02:38 PM
ataraiders
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go here
6
03-30-2018 09:54 AM
BlkCJ7Laredo
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go here
4
02-06-2017 08:34 PM
cz94xj
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go here
23
10-07-2013 02:08 AM
Gatchmo5710
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go here
32
12-13-2010 04:53 PM
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)