1980 CJ V-8 Engine shuts off

While riding down the mountain this morning, this Jeep shut off two times.
It cranked right back up. When I got to the bottom of the mountain, but
still rolling downhill, it shut off a third time. I came to a complete
stop , and it took several minutes for it to crank back up. I let it run
for about ten minutes, turned it off, and recranked it. It cranked quickly,
in about a second.

I then drove it back up the three mile mountain, and it did just fine. It
now cranks fine.

Could I have a fuel filter problem on this Jeep ? On this model, where
is it located ?

Does this model have a CPS ?

Any other ideas of what might be causing this ?


Thanks for any advice !!!

--James--

I would be checking out the engine to body mesh ground strap first. It
should run from the rear of the engine up to the firewall. There also
should be one going across an engine mount. If the ground is punky, the
ignition module can shut down.

The gas filter should be right in front of the carb. It should have two
outlets. The center outlet should go to the carb and the top outlet
should go to the fuel return line. If the return line isn't at top, you
can get airlocks in the gas line.

You don't say what carb or flavor of V8 you have in it. Some carbs just
plain don't like going up or down steep hills. If the float isn't
adjusted just right, it can stall out.

I have heard bad things about Holly carbs and hills, but don't know for
sure. I have also heard bad things about the Carter BBD on hills, but
have never had any trouble with mine or the ones I have tuned and
kitted.

Just FYI, you have no CPS, just a pickup inside the distributor 'if' you
have a stock Jeep engine in there.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)


James wrote:
>
> While riding down the mountain this morning, this Jeep shut off two times.
> It cranked right back up. When I got to the bottom of the mountain, but
> still rolling downhill, it shut off a third time. I came to a complete
> stop , and it took several minutes for it to crank back up. I let it run
> for about ten minutes, turned it off, and recranked it. It cranked quickly,
> in about a second.
>
> I then drove it back up the three mile mountain, and it did just fine. It
> now cranks fine.
>
> Could I have a fuel filter problem on this Jeep ? On this model, where
> is it located ?
>
> Does this model have a CPS ?
>
> Any other ideas of what might be causing this ?
>
> Thanks for any advice !!!
>
> --James--

On Tue, 26 Dec 2006, James wrote:

> While riding down the mountain this morning, this Jeep shut off two times.
> It cranked right back up. When I got to the bottom of the mountain, but
> still rolling downhill, it shut off a third time. I came to a complete
> stop , and it took several minutes for it to crank back up. I let it run
> for about ten minutes, turned it off, and recranked it. It cranked quickly,
> in about a second.

Before we begin, let's define our terms -- because there's a lot of sloppy
terminology about and words that mean one thing to one person says
something completely different to another. I'm not trying to be mean, you
aren't the first to do this here (think "Tower of Babel"), but your
description doesn't tell us enough to help you yet.

CRANKING: Mechanical parts of an engine being deliberately put into motion
by an external starting system. The term is decended from the early
practice of using a ratching hand crank to start an engine. Does /not/
mean RUN.

SPIN/SPIN UP: Same as CRANKING. Does /not/ mean RUN.

RUN: An engine that produces enough power to complete the next power
stroke, so that it will produce enough power to complete the next power
stroke, so that...

DIED: An engine that, for no apparent reason, ceases to produce enough
power to complete the next power stroke.

SHUT OFF/SHUT DOWN: An interruption of the electrical and/or fuel supply
that causes an engine to cease RUNNING. This is generally deliberate.

POP-START: Putting the vehicle into motion and using the drive train to
CRANK the engine in an effort to START it.

START: CRANKING the engine over by any means until it RUNS.

TRIES BUT DOESN'T CATCH: Engine cranks over, some cylinders fire, but
engine doesn't produce enough power to RUN.


You were driving down a mountain this morning and your 1980 CJ-[uknown
type] with a [unknown size] V-8 and an [unknown type] transmission and it
died twice. The third time it died you came to a complete stop and it
took several minutes for it to restart. Once it did start you were able
to shut it down and restart without problems.


> I then drove it back up the three mile mountain, and it did just fine. It
> now cranks fine.
>
> Could I have a fuel filter problem on this Jeep ?

My /guess/ is that you have a fuel problem, either in the filter or the
plumbing. Since it died going downhill, but not up, I'm guessing there's
a problem with the pickup in the tank -- but I really can't be sure. On
the other hand, it could be an electrical problem that only appears when
the weight is shifted forward -- a bad ground strap for instance.

More information is needed:

This CJ is new to you?
This CJ originally came with the 304 V8, or has it been modified?
Manual or auto tranny?
What restarted the engine the first two times -- starter or pop-start?
Was the fuel tank full, half full or less?
Any other symptoms like the radio went off, lights got brighter or
dimmer, wiper slowed, everything electrical went out?
Any recent repairs, additions, subtractions? Did you recently change your
gas cap for a locking one?
Any other odd things recently, like the left signal not working?
Does your choke open when the engine is hot? Did you look to be sure?


> On this model, where is it located ?

Dunno, I've got the 258 I6. You can find the filter by following the fuel
line back from the carb to the fuel pump. It's a cylinder about 3" long
by 1 1/2" wide and it'll have three ports: upstream comes from the fuel
pump, the center downstream port goes to the carb, the _top_ port goes to
the charcoal cannister mounted on the firewall below the steering column.
The top port must be on top, but if it isn't it didn't cause your engine
to die.


> Does this model have a CPS ?

No. A bad CPS on Jeeps generally show up as a no-start, not a
dies-while-running-and-resumes. Your ignition, if stock (and IIRC), is a
Ford breakerless ignition. Once it dies it has gone for good.


> Any other ideas of what might be causing this ?
>
>
> Thanks for any advice !!!

Let us know more about your CJ and we'll be glad to help you. One word of
advice: Don't start replacing parts willy-nilly. That is just playing
Parts House Roullette and the customer never comes out ahead.




--
"I defer to your plainly more vivid memories of topless women with
whips....r"
R. H. Draney recalls AFU in the Good Old Days.

Thanks Mike, those are good things to check, and I will have it done.

This Jeep has **only** gone up and down mountains since 1980, and I have
never had this problem that I can recall. But, that doesn't mean that the
carb float isn't out of adjustment either. This Jeep is only used while on
vacation, so it sits a lot, and I wonder if that may have something to do
with it. I have already used the old gas that was in it before its last
use, so I don't think it could be bad gas now.

I will have those items checked, and also see how it does in the next week
or so.

Thanks again Mike !!


--James--

On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 12:17:25 -0500, James wrote:

> Thanks Mike, those are good things to check, and I will have it done.
>
> This Jeep has **only** gone up and down mountains since 1980, and I have
> never had this problem that I can recall. But, that doesn't mean that the
> carb float isn't out of adjustment either. This Jeep is only used while on
> vacation, so it sits a lot, and I wonder if that may have something to do
> with it. I have already used the old gas that was in it before its last
> use, so I don't think it could be bad gas now.
>
> I will have those items checked, and also see how it does in the next week
> or so.
>
> Thanks again Mike !!

Since it sat with gas in the tank, I would be investing in a couple of
bottles of gas drier just on general principles. If you look at aviation
practices, you never park an airplane with a part-full tank and most still
have water separators. A partly empty tank will breathe and water will
condense as the outside temp goes down at night. The more air space, the
more air and resulting moisture. Beside, the ethanol might clean some of
the varnish from the old gas while you are at it.

--
Will Honea >

Will, it had 1/2 tank of gas when I got here. I used all of that, plus
1/2 of a fresh tank. I would not think it was that, but I guess it could
be.

Just this afternoon, I went back up and down the mountain without a single
problem.


--James--

On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 16:15:16 -0500, James wrote:

> Will, it had 1/2 tank of gas when I got here. I used all of that, plus
> 1/2 of a fresh tank. I would not think it was that, but I guess it could
> be.
>
> Just this afternoon, I went back up and down the mountain without a single
> problem.

Take up flying <g>. You get anal about things like that since getting out
to walk home is frowned upon. Seriously, I never saw much problem in
places like Colorado but I saw a lot of water problems in farm equipment
down in South Texas. Stuff would sit for weeks/months and we had water
separators on everything. Always checked that before starting. Heck, I'm
old enough to remember when my Ford V8 had a water separator in the fuel
line!

--
Will Honea >