I shot my jeep today

[longmountainman]

I have a '78 j-20 plow truck with a problem that has me absolutely baffled. Last winter it started to idle and then would die suddenly like it was starving for fuel. It was especially noticable when it was under load (ie plowing) and then let off the accelerator..die, like it was sucking air. I have rebuillt the holly 650 (twice), replaced the fuel pump (manual), replaced the gas tank (& fuel line), and checked for vacuum leaks all to no avail. I live on the top of a mtn. in southern PA and we got 11 inches of snow today. I couldn't get the plow out of the shed, more or less down my mile long driveway, so I shot it.. Does anyone have any insight? If not does anyone want a slightly perforated J-20 stake body.

[andy d]

real sudden? it may be ignition related. how old id the coil? the ignition module? stuck open egr?

[loyd]

I had a problem similiar to this after I changed the gas tank on my '81 J10. going down the road it would just die like it was running out of gas, no notice I thought I had something in the gas tank stoping the line up because I would pull over & pull the line off at the tank shoot some air to the line going back into the tank put the line back on get back in & drive off. Sometimes for a couple of weeks some times a couple miles. I bought a plastic tank from one of the guys here
& installed it. Problem solved Right!!! WRONG. about 3 miles up the road it died again. Turned around to go back to the shop it died again. Only this time I noticed a little smoke from under the hood.Turns out that one of the wires going to the coil had a SHORT in it. This only took about six months to figure out about ten min.to fix. don't give up.

[sailingjeep]

What did you shoot it with? smile.gif
Last night I wanted to shoot the jeep and a cat!

[FSJ Thing]

Don't sweat it, I shoot my jeep all the time, and I wasn't the first to do it neither. As far as your problem goes, I concur with rest of these guys. If you find that it's not an ingnition problem (I know this is going to sound stupid with 11" of snow) but it may be vaporlock related. Dying when it's running could be vaporlock itself, and not starting could be from fuel vaporizing after engine stops and pushing all the fuel out of the line. All the FSJ engines are somwhat known for running kinda' hot. Of course, I'm probably wrong, I usually am.

[Stolen76]

PO of mine had a similar problem, got me the Jeep really cheap. Turned out to be a cracked intake. I'd suggest a new intake gasket, probability of a cracked intake is very low. If you can get it to run at all, toss a vacuum gauge on it and see if you are pulling any vac or if it fluctuates.

[Joe H.]

LOL @ shooting yer Jeep...I've lost count of the times I've been tempted to do so myself ;) . I *did* give it a good kick once, though.

[Stuka]

I would check the ignition module. They generally just shut the engine off and random times when they go bad. Normally whent hey get hot. And a lot of times its when you let off the gas from what I have learned.

[mtn goat]

He He HE, While at the target range with my brother, we were shooting over the hood with the rifle. Now bear in mind he has a scope setup for long distance. BAM, BAM...low target BAM and he literaly shot the hood of his truck. HE he he missed the battery by 2 inches. Nice big holes in the hood, out the fender. He was pissed!!

[78 blu ox]

I agree with Stuka on the Ignition module. When mine was going bad it would die while going down the road but would usually start agian untill it quit completly.

[PAJEEPER]

LOL not the first time I've heard of or seen a shot up Jeep! tongue.gif

I agree it sounds like the ignition module.

[longmountainman]

Thanks everyone for the colorful comments and inspiration. To set the record straight I shot it with a .357 snub nose that I keep in the truck to dispatch random varmits such as racoons, groundhogs, & copperheads. As for the jeep it suffered only minor holes in the stake body and one richochet off the frame member near the shock mounts. As for the problem! I took the day off work and spent the entire afternoon replacing ALL the ignition parts. Distributor, rotor, coil, condensor, wires, and plugs. Guess what folks?!@ I don't know what exactly the problem was but It now purrs like a kitten in heat! I would have never guessed it was electrical, 'cause it was classic fuel symptoms. THANKS FOLKS!