2001 XJ Losing all power

So... Xj lost all power the other day. Driving then just shut down like someone turned the key off. Went to restart and nothing. So I did the obvious thing and replaced the battery. So today (battery 2 days old and no problems since replacement) the jeep did it again. My wife was driving home and...boom...no power. She said it was like someone turned the key off. She tried to restart and it worked, she did note that it struggled to start. One home I went out to take a look and when I turn the key the it take a good amount of time to catch. Sounds like a car bed engine that needs to be primed or have the gas peddle pumped. I am thinking maybe a file pump, but would that cause the random loss of all...and I mean all power?

Thank you guys in advance


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Checked the alternator?

DasBuxxx said:

So... Xj lost all power the other day. Driving then just shut down like someone turned the key off. Went to restart and nothing. So I did the obvious thing and replaced the battery. So today (battery 2 days old and no problems since replacement) the jeep did it again. My wife was driving home and...boom...no power. She said it was like someone turned the key off. She tried to restart and it worked, she did note that it struggled to start. One home I went out to take a look and when I turn the key the it take a good amount of time to catch. Sounds like a car bed engine that needs to be primed or have the gas peddle pumped. I am thinking maybe a file pump, but would that cause the random loss of all...and I mean all power?

Thank you guys in advance


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Click to expand...

Message tdijet he can help you. He's been working on this problem on his XJ for awhile.

Been here and done it all. CrippledPetey almost had to drag me through the Rubicon the first time this issue started to come up. So... Here is the wonderful news, it could be fairly inexpensive and easy to fix, (with patience and the right extensions) or a royal PITA.

IF, 90+% of the time your 4.0 runs just fine (if not perfect), then one or both of these is almost assuredly the issue.

Starting with the "easier" route. Replace the Crankshaft Position Sensor (CPS). There are a ton of write-ups and a few videos on this. Just be careful as they mention to not drop one of the two bolts into the hole in the transmission bell housing. I did this replacement in about 20-30 mins being patient and only swearing about 10 minutes at my lack of wrist contortionist skills.

Drive and see if your issue is resolved. (Veteran wheelers running 4.0's have told me to keep a spare CPS for the trail, and I have listened).

If your issue presents itself again? Now you know it IS your fuel pump. Now I am not an electrician and know there are ways to test the fuel pump AFTER replacing the CPS. However I found that in regards to fuel pressure, it's spot on until the issue arises. No pre-cursor, you just sputter and stop.

The fuel pump in the XJ cherokee post 97 is only accessible by removing the fuel tank (why this is a PITA). I am a YouTube trained "mechanic", and was able to do so with only moderate fear about fumes and fire ;-)

I recommend the Bosch 67658 (Bosch 67658 Original Equipment Replacement Electric Fuel Pump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C6023G/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_SejUub04TW1PQ) Amazon price of $192 is awesome and you may just want to buy it now.

Why this pump? Because this replacement is such a PITA, why not get the only full pump assembly that has everything AND near 5 star reviews. If you go any other brand? Well... Just saying I never want to do that job again.

Hope this helps and hit me up if you got questions

Oh, and I have been trouble free for 6 months since I did the pump replacement. Runs sweet at 190k+ miles

tdijet said:

Oh, and I have been trouble free for 6 months since I did the pump replacement. Runs sweet at 190k+ miles

Click to expand...

Minus the D30 :cheesy:

Sometimes you need a toothpick on the trail... Come on now lol

I fought the same thing for about a year on my 2001 with 110k miles. On an off, no power, shuts down, fails to start, gauges don't register at key on position, battery over charging at 15-16 volts while running and multiple random power failures all around the cabin and stray voltages causing the ASD relay to make a buzzing sound. I replaced the battery, two alternators, multiple CPS's, new relays, bypassed relay to fuel pump, cleaned all connections, upgraded all the grounds to 0 AWG wire, replaced every sensor on the motor and engine bay.... Finally broke down and took it to the dealership and they found multiple wires hanging and or disconnected from the fuse box under the hood!!! They said i was lucky it did not burn to the ground. They fixed it up for me in an hour and everything is perfect in it once again, everything that was iffy before was fixed with those wires being repaired. If you have a multimeter that can you can probe for continuity in the fuse box, pull every fuse and check them all.

-Chris

Thanks for mentioning the ASD Clownman. In the end for my situation, my CPS was bad, and my fuel pump was starting to draw too much juice which was making the ASD activate.

Whatever is causing your issue DasBuxx, the simple truth is it's causing the ASD (automatic shutdown) to do exactly that, shut the engine down.

As Clownman said, if you have the electrical patience... You can probably track it down. My approach was attacking to 2 most common culprits, which ended up working for me.

Thanks for the insight. Right after I posted I started to thinks about the CPS. I am defiantly going to start at the fuse box this weekend and get that CPS done probably next week. This weekend I am consumed with the tie rods on my little Honda civic I use to do the 60 miles to work a day...swamped out for the 3rd vehicle and this is what happens

I'll keep you posted on as to what I find

Thanks again

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So I finally got around to replacing the CPS today...and ruled out that as being the contributing factor to my problem. I ordered a $16 on amazon with some good reviews and it started and when the engine was reved would die. So I went down the road to AZ and picked up their $80 one...holy s...it wouldn't even hold idle. So I am putting the original back in and looks like I may be moving to the file pump unless there are any other suggestions. Oh and being that I have done this 3 times I'm pretty good at it if anyone needs some insight :banghead:

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So been doing a little more reading. Andy thoughts on the camshaft position sensor or the Throttle position sensor

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In my experience with my old xjs, if you don't buy a Mopar cps, there's a good chance that the ones from auto parts stores can be bad out of the box. Had it happen to me multiple times.

So, lots has happened resulting in the delay of this update. I'll spare the details but moved a few states to the right. Anyway, I purchased a Mopar crankshaft position sensor and power issues were resolved. Still had what seamed to be timing issues and rough idle issues. Took out the camshaft position sensor and the magnate inside had separated from its original position. Replaced that guy too and everything ran better than it ever had!