Renots

title history on my issue. 4-5 months back I was having an issue with my shifting. Every time I would hit 45 with little throttle opened the jeep would up shift and cause my RPMs to drop. Then when I would try and go faster or drive up a hill the jeep would bog and give no power unless I punched the accelerator and it would down shift finally. I was thinking maybe my TPS was failing and giving a flat spot which didn't allow it to shift and compensate for the torque converter.
Then one day the engine just cut off on me and my CEL came on. Went down to advanced auto and got the code read. My coil pack was shot. Bought a new one along with a TPS and installed. Ran great for 10 minutes then bam, CEL and rough idle. Went back. It was a code for the Cam pos/CKS. Bought a new CKS and installed, now it ran worse. Then I learned my lesson, never by crap autozone sensors.
Fast forward:
I replaced my cam sensor and my crank sensor with Mopar parts and made sure the chain was indexed and the holes lined up. Once those two Mopar parts were installed the XJ ran great. The idle was still a bit jumpy and assumed it was my crap autostore TPS. Also once in a blue moon if I punched it or went around a turn the engine would sputter off again. Not everything at once, just by pairs; 6 cylinders, then 4, then 2, then pfft, off. I could easily resolve this by turning off and then turning back on.
Yesterday I went and bought a new Mopar TPS. Installed and now my idle is smooth as ever. Drove to the store and at one stop light I gunned it in 4x4 with snow all around to get around a soccer mom van. Either the acceleration or the bumpiness caused it to stall again.
Today I spent the morning cleaning all my grounds and throttle body. All the grounds I could find (3 screws in the passenger side of the block, one on the firewall, the starter wire, battery terminals and connections, neg battery ground to chassis). Made the TB shine. I didn't get into the IAC but my idle doesn't seem to be an issue. I heard there's another ground behind the spare tire but haven't searched for it yet.
The jeeps a punk, after all the cleaning I backed off my ramps, over a 5" snow bank to get out of my driveway, and 3 houses down it stalled. Turned it off and back on and had no issues going around the block. I even did a quick donut in the snow at the end of the street to try and kill it again. No luck.

Any ideas why I'm still stalling? Could the coil pack I bought from advanced auto be my culprit? I'm tired of throwing money into this damn jeep.

Back when this first occurred we had a couple inches of snow fall and I didn't have any protection below my hood vents. I thought the snow may have gotten in and screwed up a sensor or two. I have protection now...cheap quick fix, but it keeps water off my sensors.

Dr J

I kinda don't like posting ZJ stuff here, but will, since I have both XJ and ZJs. I had what sounds like this same prob with 96 ZJ. My problem seems to have been remedied by resoldering some contact joints inside the PCM, inside the cover where voltage regulator parts live, if I am correct. There is a long strip connector there which connects with the rest of the PCM when the cover is on. Diagnostic - with jeep running, wiggle the harness connectors at the PCM, if engine falters or dies, you might consider removing the PCM and use a volt-ohm meter to check connectivity *as you put a little stress on the connector strip*. My connectivity was fine until I put just a litte pressure on the strip connector. Mine had five bad joints, which I easily resoldered on the kitchen counter with the five dollar type solder iron (very understanding wife). Not saying that fixed my problem, but the problem has not recurred in the three months since I did that. I just put a 1500 mile round trip on her and did not experience the problem again. Others more familiar with PCM issues on XJ should chime in. You may search the ZJ forum for more details. Yeah, I replaced sensors out the wazoo, too, but not from AZ. No change. My local shop was stumped and I dared not take the old bucket to the dealership. Good luck, let us know.

Roler

So, you have new CPS,camsensor, TPS (all Mopar) and new coil (aftermarket), cleaned up grounds.
Assuming those sensors work properly (yes, assumption is the mother of all f#ck ups), you say that when you apply firm throttle and mentioned once when cornering, it stalls.
With that, I'd check the battery (have it load tested, the only way to tell: it can be good enough to start but acting funky when suboptimal. Having it checked, ticks the box).
Check the fuel delivery next: pump and fuel pressures

When was your last tune-up done?

Renots

Thanks all.

When it stalled there doesn't seem to be anything to do with the load of throttle. It seed to be when things giggled around. Why i thought it was a ground.
Went back under and found another ground I hadn't cleaned, took off the PCM and cleaned all the screws holding that down and cleaned around the battery, even that battery sensor. Started it up and drove it to work (20 minute drive) no CEL. Drove it after work to the gas station with no CEL. Then about 5 minutes into my drive back home it popped back ok.
Went to advance auto and read the codes. Still the P1391 for the cam/crank but now I have a pending 0740 code! Damn it!
So now the jeep's back up on the ramp and I'm changing the fluid and filter hoping it's just old fluid. I haven't serviced the tranny since I got it 40k miles ago and we're up to 124k. Not sure if the previous owner did anything but felt like a good chance to get some clean fluid in there and a new filter.
But! It's driving me crazy, I can't get the dipstick tube off of it and I can't get the damn bolt holding the dipstick tube bracket off either. Soaking in PBBlaster as I type. Hopefully that works, I really don't want to have to cut the tube since the jeeps my only way down to the parts store to buy new tubing...

Roler

Regarding the diptcik issue/ATF change: leave the dipstick alone for now. Do a drain and refill, drive around and repeat this. Given the possible long neglect, you will need to do likely a few times before the fluid will appear to stay red. Thats the point that if you would like to replace the filter (which is more of a screen), you drop the pan. Some write-ups or how-to's are in threads here, so while you do the drain/refill thing, you got some time to dig into that.
Some will just leave the filter for what it is, and go with the drain refill.

kennzz05

on the initial kickdown issue read these

https://www.google.com/search?q=adju...a&channel=fflb

Renots

Awe! I wish I read this before changing. I spent the afternoon changing the filter yesterday. Had to cut the darn dipstick piping and hose it up. At least it'll be an easier change next time. The jeep is shifting a whole lot better in the lower gears but I'm still having that downshifting issue above 45mph. The overdrive solenoid must be stuck. Grr oh well, it drives fine for where I drive right now, never really get above 50 and that's just cruising.

Renots

Thanks! Ive adjusted that cable in the past and recently, so that's not my issue unless it's stretched. But doesn't feel like so. It died on the way to work today rounding a left turn. There wasn't much throttle being given, more of it slowing itself down as we turned. I'll get my battery tested, it's from '10 so it's a bit old. Just more $$$ that I don't have being thrown. Ugh

Renots

Thanks! Ive adjusted that cable in the past and recently, so that's not my issue unless it's stretched. But doesn't feel like so. It died on the way to work today rounding a left turn. There wasn't much throttle being given, more of it slowing itself down as we turned. I'll get my battery tested, it's from '10 so it's a bit old. Just more $$$ that I don't have being thrown. Ugh

Xcessive

Just a thought, but I had a very similar thing when I first got my jeep. Turns out I had a weak battery. It tested good, bit was just weak enough to cause issues.

Roler

"Hosing up" is an ok way to fix it, but you might want to keep an eye out for leaks. I did the same with the aux trans cooler lines. I can recall a thread with pics that showed a nice hose-with-hose clamps fix for that dipstick issue. And yes, in the future you will have no issues dropping the pan again.

Renots

You predicted my morning...haha. I didn't clamp one of the hose clamps tight enough and woke up to a red puddle. Glorious!

Tried to tighten it this morning and drove to work at 9:30 am. Just got home and it's stick slightly leaking. To help the issue from getting worse all day I did a little parking lot flexing with the thought it's throw most of the fluid towards the rear and away from the hose. Worked pretty well. If I can't seem to tighten it I'll have to drain and use a longer hose and reclamp. The fun never ends!

Roler

Double hose clamps might be a try....but yes, this tends to happen on this spot.
Nice parking.

Renots

Thanks! My battery is from '10 son4 years old now ish. I need to buy a voltmeter, it seems it's a golden tool to own when owning an XJ. It was originally a California jeep so the CCA is only 300 I think. I had a focus that I brought to NY from Cali and in the first winter had to upgrade, car wouldn't start in the mornings because it was so cold. I'll look into the battery, wouldn't hurt to upgrade anyway.

Renots

Thanks x2, I tightened the clamps so tight the screw started unscrewing itself. No puddles in the morning so hopefully it's solid now