1995 Jeep Wrangler Engine shutting off while driving

AMANDREWS

MEMBER
1995 JEEP WRANGLER
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
46,000 MILES

I have 1995 Jeep Wrangler. I had it put in the shop last year for electrical problem, It would die and not start for a while then all of a sudden it starts it would also have headlights going on and off. Winshield wipers going off w/ every bump. They fixed and it ( A short in the wiring behind the dash and it ran a whole year w/ no problems. All of a sudden the same thing starts up this spring, the wierd thing is if you let it sit a half hour or so it will start, sometimes longer or shorter, but it walways dies again. I put it back in the shop three times w/ no success. Could it possibly be something else that we are simply missing. I have replaced the distribtor cap the pin, fuel pump and everything involved with that except the actual tank. Do you have any suggetions to try before getting rid of it. Could it possibly be not the wiring again but the coil and if so how would I check it?

1 Reply

BREWER

MEMBER
34 POSTS

Tricky situation for sure.

My parents had a chrysler lebaron that would do the shut off thing you mention, and it was their distributor - extremly minor and normally undetected problem in it that caused the issues. Thing is, their car's problems didn't involve headlights or wipers.

It sounds electrical, and thus the first thing you need to ask yourself what it is that is common amongst all these circuits? The wipers work on one circuit, the headlights are on another, and the engine is on yet another. The only common thing is the brain that controls them all. The PCM (computer) could be faulty causing the issues - could be a grounding problem inside that computer.

The other possibility is water on the wiring. Do you have the famous windshield leak? Thus causing the driver to become soaked at the feet during heavy rainstorms? If so, then maybe the problem is rusty connections under the dash or fuse box. (Or even water getting into the computer inside the engine compartment for that matter)

gut says - computer problem though.

Good luck.