Kesey

Recently purchased a 94 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L i6. I was trying to check if I had a bad head gasket and tried removing one of my spark plugs to see if there was any residue. I ended up doing a cooling system flush, water pump and thermostat aswell. In the process I removed one of the fuel lines to get to the power steering pump screws.

Fast forward:

I'm now having a problem when accelerating out of turns. My jeep hesitates and feels like it will stall. I initially chalked it up to me not being good at driving stick shift, but I know it's more than that.

The problem wasn't there when I bought the jeep, and only showed up after doing the things I mentioned above. What do you think is causing my problem?

1. Messed up something with the spark plug or wire.

2. Air bubbles in fuel line

3. Air bubbles in radiator (I tried bleeding it and still has the problem)

jordan96xj

When was the last time the gas tank was full? Was it full when the problem started?

Kesey

it was about 3/4 full when i bought it. i filled it to full after buying it. its now about a half tank. this is the lowest it's been

Kesey

Thoughts?

jordan96xj

Your symptoms sound a little like a fuel delivery problem (in general). Then when you add to that that it only happens on accelerating turns, it made me wonder if perhaps something is going on in the tank. But other than maybe filling the tank up and testing again, I wouldn't dig too deep into that theory yet.

Wire harness and rotating parts can get shuffled around in turns as well.

It won't be your radiator. That could cause heat issues, but is not likely that it is causing your engine to cut out. Probably also not your spark plug wires if you only messed with one of them.

Due to the rotation and forces involved, one thing I would take a look at would be your distributor cap and rotor. The tolerances in there are pretty small. I'm wondering if perhaps during turns your losing some spark. For example the inertia of the turn is just enough to cause the rotor to get far enough away from contacts on one side that the spark no longer gets across as it should.

BillyBoy

As.my fuel pump went, I was of when the tank was totally full. At half or less, occasional stumbles when flooring it.

There's also an extra ground connection you can add to the pump. Cruiser54 outlines it on his website. Might help. Definitely won't hurt, especially if you're under there anyway, inspecting things.

Kesey

Something interesting that may or may not be of use in diagnosing this that your post reminded me of. My fuel gauge is backwards. When my jeep says Full, it's actually on E, and when on E, it's actually full. Could this indicate anything?

Kesey

Update: I just filled er up with gas. Full tank. Runs like a dream. What the hell gives?

jordan96xj

Could be something as simple as your fuel pickup is sucking fuel from a bad location in the tank, and when the fuel is pushed around due to vehicle movements its not submerged in fuel the way it should be. This also a little bad for the pump if it happens often. It could be something more complicated like wiring getting moved around with sloshing fuel, or tubing. But you won't really know unless you pull the assembly out and inspect it for yourself. (or take a few pictures and post them for more advice).

Kesey

I changed the fuel filter. Was filled with brown sludge. Going to see if that helps any, if not I'll continue to diagnose

cruiser54

This: