Sputtering then dies
TnCJ
Senior Jeeper
- Posts
- 566
- Thanks
- 6
- Location
- South East Tennessee
- Vehicle(s)
- 1980 CJ 5, 4.2 engine, D30,AMC 20, T176, Dana 300, MC 2100 carburetor.
Took the wife for a little drive the other evening in the Jeep. Everything was going fine until we hit the main highway about 10 miles from home.
Started going up a long incline and then it happened............started surging and sputtering. I thought "dang now what" anywho the engine died and I coasted onto the shoulder. I was going over in my mind who I was going to call to tow me back home because I figured this thing just aint gonna start. But to my surprise it fired right back up. I drove to the nearest turnaround and headed back to the house. About halfway home it did it again, I coasted as far as I could looking for a good place to pull to the side. We sat for a little while and I again cranked it, this time it took several tries to restart. When I got back on the road I checked my gauges, temp, oil pressure, volts, all normal. Gas gauge was showing 1/4 full but it's always a 1/4 off so I was pretty sure I still had a half tank of gas.
Long story short, we finally got back to the house after a couple more stalls.
When we got home I popped the hood and checked for anything obvious, everything looked pretty much normal, no loose wires, no gas leaks etc.
It was getting late by this time and I decided to let it rest and tackle it in the morning.
I kept going over in my mind what it could possibly be. To me, it felt like it was starving for gas.
Next morning I drove the truck to the auto parts store and bought a new fuel filter. Got home, took the old one off, installed the new one and told the wife to follow me down the road just in case. I made it almost back to the highway and it started acting up again. I turned around immediately and headed for home. It died several times on the way.
Finally made it home, took the line from the fuel pump off, stuck it in a jar and fired it up. According to the FSM it should pump at least a pint of fuel in 30 seconds. It did better than that, filled a quart up in less than 30 seconds.
So that pretty much ruled the fuel pump and filter out.
I was then thinking it must be an electrical problem and was about to order a new dizzy.
But on second thought I still couldn't get it out of my mind that it was acting just like it was running out of gas.
On a whim I disconnected the fuel line from the fuel pump, took the gas cap off and blew air back to the tank thinking there must be a blockage in the line or who knows what kind of
is in the bottom of the tank. Hooked everything back up and went for a drive. I've driven it for two days now and not another hiccup. [knock on wood].
I know what I did is just a temporary fix, and don't recommend anyone else do it. It's just a matter of time that it will do it again.
I plan on dropping the tank this week and flushing it out, maybe put a handful of marbles in there and swish them around. Also going to replace the sending unit while I have it out as it isn't accurate and it has a screen on the pickup tube that is probably in bad shape.
Hopefully that'll fix it..............until something else breaks down lol.
Started going up a long incline and then it happened............started surging and sputtering. I thought "dang now what" anywho the engine died and I coasted onto the shoulder. I was going over in my mind who I was going to call to tow me back home because I figured this thing just aint gonna start. But to my surprise it fired right back up. I drove to the nearest turnaround and headed back to the house. About halfway home it did it again, I coasted as far as I could looking for a good place to pull to the side. We sat for a little while and I again cranked it, this time it took several tries to restart. When I got back on the road I checked my gauges, temp, oil pressure, volts, all normal. Gas gauge was showing 1/4 full but it's always a 1/4 off so I was pretty sure I still had a half tank of gas.
Long story short, we finally got back to the house after a couple more stalls.
When we got home I popped the hood and checked for anything obvious, everything looked pretty much normal, no loose wires, no gas leaks etc.
It was getting late by this time and I decided to let it rest and tackle it in the morning.
I kept going over in my mind what it could possibly be. To me, it felt like it was starving for gas.
Next morning I drove the truck to the auto parts store and bought a new fuel filter. Got home, took the old one off, installed the new one and told the wife to follow me down the road just in case. I made it almost back to the highway and it started acting up again. I turned around immediately and headed for home. It died several times on the way.
Finally made it home, took the line from the fuel pump off, stuck it in a jar and fired it up. According to the FSM it should pump at least a pint of fuel in 30 seconds. It did better than that, filled a quart up in less than 30 seconds.
So that pretty much ruled the fuel pump and filter out.
I was then thinking it must be an electrical problem and was about to order a new dizzy.
But on second thought I still couldn't get it out of my mind that it was acting just like it was running out of gas.
On a whim I disconnected the fuel line from the fuel pump, took the gas cap off and blew air back to the tank thinking there must be a blockage in the line or who knows what kind of
is in the bottom of the tank. Hooked everything back up and went for a drive. I've driven it for two days now and not another hiccup. [knock on wood]. I know what I did is just a temporary fix, and don't recommend anyone else do it. It's just a matter of time that it will do it again.
I plan on dropping the tank this week and flushing it out, maybe put a handful of marbles in there and swish them around. Also going to replace the sending unit while I have it out as it isn't accurate and it has a screen on the pickup tube that is probably in bad shape.
Hopefully that'll fix it..............until something else breaks down lol.
