Questions and Answers

Jeep Cherokee Intermittent No Start Q. Vince, you might be my last hope for an answer. I drive a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4.0 liter, auto transmission, 158,000 miles, ABS, P/S and A/C. I bought it as a work truck two years ago last month. Since buying it I have put new motor mounts, idler pulleys, power steering pump, water pump, fuel pump, ignition switch, and had the transmission replaced.

This was really more than I bargained for. The straight 6 is awesome, just everything else sucks. Well, now that I have given a little, or a lot, of history, here is my question.

The car doesn't want to start all the time. It floods out and won't start for a few hours. It only does in a random way. No rhyme or reason. It might be after its warmed up one day, or early on a cold morning. I had it in the shop for a couple of weeks and they could not find a problem. It actually never acted up on them.

Now that I have it back, it acts the same way. I'm at a loss. Have you ever heard of this problem before? If so, can you tell me what to do.

Thank you for your time,
Mark

A. This will be a tough one to find since we can not duplicate the problem at will. What we will have to do is figure out what's missing when you start it. Next time it doesn't start shoot some carburetor cleaner into the intake manifold. If it starts and runs as long as the carburetor cleaner lasts, you have a fuel problem. If it still doesn't start, it is probably an ignition problem.

If you want to try something cheap, throw in a new Auto Shut Down relay. A bad ASD relay will often cause a problem like this.

1. Fog Lamp Relay
2. Fuel Pump Relay
3. ABS Motor Pump
4. A/C Compressor Clutch Relay
5. Automatic Shut Down Relay
6. Engine Starter Relay
7. ABS System Relay