Guys, my '87 Grand Wagoneer has started having a random stalling issue once it warms up to running temp. Other than the fact that it only does it when the engine is hot, I cannot come up with any other factors that are consistent every time it stalls.
When it is "cold" (I live in Florida) it runs fine. The first time it stalled was on a very rainy day when there was a lot of water on the roads (no idea if that has anything to do with anything but worth noting). The first time it stalled I was accelerating up an on-ramp to the interstate. I managed to get it in neutral and it re-started pretty quickly but ran poorly most of the next couple of miles to work. Since then, it has stalled when idling in park (after warm up), when driving consistent speeds, when coasting, when accelerating, all conditions. The only other thing that I have noticed is that sometimes when I try to re-start it soon after it stalls, I swear I can smell something like a hot wire. It isn't smoke necessarily, it is faint and I can never track down the source. I don't think the smell is coming from under the hood and I have stuck my head up under the dash when I smell it and there is never a strong smell under there.
When it stalls, it just cuts off. Not really any sputtering or backfiring which leads me to believe it might be an electrical problem. The Jeep will re-start after sitting for a few minutes (I assume it cools down enough to start). Sometimes it starts back up easier than others. Sometimes it really struggles to turn over.
What I have done since it started stalling:
- Checked the wires to the coil (I did find a slightly loose wire at one of the spade connectors which I fixed.)
- Plugged in my spare (new) ICM. Still stalled so I went back to the ICM that was in originally.
- Replaced the Ignition Switch
- Replaced the coil
- Replaced the fuel filter
- Looked over the wiring that I can see. I did notice an orange wire coming out of the ignition switch that had a couple bubbles in the insulation. I also discovered a small bad spot in the insulation on one of the wires in the group of wires that runs over the top of the passenger valve cover. It looks like the heat from the valve cover may have damaged it. I wrapped it up and put some loom and insulating tape around that group of wires.
I did all of these things one at a time to see what item was causing the stalling. None of them fixed it.
A couple of background notes and things that have been done in the last 6 months:
- Oil pressure is good and is usually around 35-40 while driving around town.
- The Jeep runs around 190 degrees most of the time. If I am in traffic it goes over that but stays well within the acceptable temps. (I have two temp. gauges)
- I have replaced (upgraded) the spark plugs and wires.
- I have upgraded to the larger distributor cap/rotor/GM coil. I have not replaced the actual distributor.
- I have replaced the positive battery cables with a heavier gauge set.
- Last week the gas tank was dropped, soft lines replaced and everything cleaned up prior to install. I did this because of a fuel leak, it was stalling prior to this and is still stalling after.
- Replaced the fuel pump.
None of these things, or any other work, happened less than 3 or 4 weeks before it started stalling. Honestly, it was running pretty good when it started this new stalling issue. The only work that was done about a week prior to this starting was I had a shop replace the motor mounts and some of the soft transmission lines.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is my daily driver currently and it really sucks when the engine cuts off and I have to steer this thing to a safe location without power steering.
When it is "cold" (I live in Florida) it runs fine. The first time it stalled was on a very rainy day when there was a lot of water on the roads (no idea if that has anything to do with anything but worth noting). The first time it stalled I was accelerating up an on-ramp to the interstate. I managed to get it in neutral and it re-started pretty quickly but ran poorly most of the next couple of miles to work. Since then, it has stalled when idling in park (after warm up), when driving consistent speeds, when coasting, when accelerating, all conditions. The only other thing that I have noticed is that sometimes when I try to re-start it soon after it stalls, I swear I can smell something like a hot wire. It isn't smoke necessarily, it is faint and I can never track down the source. I don't think the smell is coming from under the hood and I have stuck my head up under the dash when I smell it and there is never a strong smell under there.
When it stalls, it just cuts off. Not really any sputtering or backfiring which leads me to believe it might be an electrical problem. The Jeep will re-start after sitting for a few minutes (I assume it cools down enough to start). Sometimes it starts back up easier than others. Sometimes it really struggles to turn over.
What I have done since it started stalling:
- Checked the wires to the coil (I did find a slightly loose wire at one of the spade connectors which I fixed.)
- Plugged in my spare (new) ICM. Still stalled so I went back to the ICM that was in originally.
- Replaced the Ignition Switch
- Replaced the coil
- Replaced the fuel filter
- Looked over the wiring that I can see. I did notice an orange wire coming out of the ignition switch that had a couple bubbles in the insulation. I also discovered a small bad spot in the insulation on one of the wires in the group of wires that runs over the top of the passenger valve cover. It looks like the heat from the valve cover may have damaged it. I wrapped it up and put some loom and insulating tape around that group of wires.
I did all of these things one at a time to see what item was causing the stalling. None of them fixed it.
A couple of background notes and things that have been done in the last 6 months:
- Oil pressure is good and is usually around 35-40 while driving around town.
- The Jeep runs around 190 degrees most of the time. If I am in traffic it goes over that but stays well within the acceptable temps. (I have two temp. gauges)
- I have replaced (upgraded) the spark plugs and wires.
- I have upgraded to the larger distributor cap/rotor/GM coil. I have not replaced the actual distributor.
- I have replaced the positive battery cables with a heavier gauge set.
- Last week the gas tank was dropped, soft lines replaced and everything cleaned up prior to install. I did this because of a fuel leak, it was stalling prior to this and is still stalling after.
- Replaced the fuel pump.
None of these things, or any other work, happened less than 3 or 4 weeks before it started stalling. Honestly, it was running pretty good when it started this new stalling issue. The only work that was done about a week prior to this starting was I had a shop replace the motor mounts and some of the soft transmission lines.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is my daily driver currently and it really sucks when the engine cuts off and I have to steer this thing to a safe location without power steering.
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