Steve R

Hi guys! First time poster.

My wife's 99 Cherokee drives wonderfully still with 185k on it. We've had a lot of maintenance work on it, but recently we have two specific niggling stalling issues that have lasted through our usual tech's checks:

1. Only when the engine is hot, we can't shift to reverse. Stalls out almost immediately, with no chance to gun it through. As the engine cools it works better and better, and a cold engine reverses fine.
2. Occasionally on sharp turns (left or right), the engine stalls out in motion. Hasn't happened to me in ages, but happened today twice on a drive home, and the check engine low fuel light was on. Not sure if fuel amount has anything to do with it, but I'll have my wife keep an eye on it.

These sound like obvious problems to anyone with Cherokee experience? I'm happy to get a new transmission if that's what's needed, but I'm assuming these are two separate issues and the turning issue doesn't seem like a transmission problem to me.

Thank you for any ideas!

Password12345678

Well, let's start with the basics I suppose. When's the last time you had a full tune up? How does your transmission fluid look and smell?

​​​​​​Since your check engine light is on, bring the Jeep to your local auto parts store like AutoZone or O'Reilly's. Most of them read engine codes for free. Report back your findings.

Steve R

Whoops, thanks for pointing out my mistake. The Fuel Light was on, not the check engine light. Last tuneup was about 9k ago. I'll check the fluid when I have access to the jeep again.

RockyMtn96XJ

Not shifting when hot may have something to do with thermal expansion on something that needs to move, but can't because its jammed up.. Maybe I'm thinking way too far into it.
Shutting off when turning may be something coming loose and is shifting around when turning. Wires or something.

Spencer_P

I had a car that would stall when turning in the rain and the battery light would come on and you'd lose power steering, I thought it might be the belt tensioner but it was the alternator. I'm not saying that's your issue but might be something to check.

lawsoncl

Stalls like someone turned off the key? A few non-obvious things to look at. Shake and wiggle the wiring harnesses under the hood, especially the one along the fuel rail to firewall. Look at the vacuum lines as well, including the one to the map sensor. Bad motor or trans mounts cause excessive movement which can cause wire or vacuum line chaffing, internal cracking and shorting out. Make sure the crank sensor and O2 sensor wiring are not against the exhaust. I've also seen this cause by the bellhousing bolts not being tight and putting in reverse causes the crank sensor to move just enough out of alignment to kill the engine.

Password12345678

What would happen if you found an empty backroad and threw the Jeep left and right about a dozen times? It might stall, and if it does so repeatedly, then you might be on to something. (Just make sure there isn't any loose cargo! lol)

Randy Bobani

Neutral Safety Switch