Engine low power

The check engine light has NOT come on.
I have not checked the fuel pressure. How do I check this? I am assuming this has to be done by a mechanic.
Mary

I have 2 problems with my '95 jeep cherokee sport. Hopefully somebody here can help me out before I take it to a mechanic and pay loads for him to look at it.

I got the jeep used last year with about 180k miles on it. It seems to run good and only has a few problems.

1. When driving on roads, hitting ANY bump, makes a clunking noise in the back of the truck. Even bumbs too small to feel while driving the truck. I've also had the rear slide out on wet roads when going at low speeds (like less then 20mph) and over rough pavement seams between roads and parking lots. Also the truck will sometimes rock back and forth or side to side when going at a steady 30mph on roads that seem mostly flat. Used to have old off-road tires on the truck but have new tires on it now and it did nothing to solve anything. I'm thinking the struts need to be replaced but am not sure.

2. Thier is an odd smell that comes from the engine. It's really noticable when I pull into a parking space and stop and when I pull into my driveway and stop, but rarly when its driving on roads or stopped at traffic lights. When I first started smelling the odor was when the power steering hose got a leak and I had a mechanic replace it. The smell came back and I found out he only put a flimsey hose on that coulden't handle the pressure. Then I had a friend replace it with a good one retrieved from a junkyard and all was fine for a month. Now the smell has started up again. Its the exact same smell, but unlike the previous two times, thier is no smoke from power steering fluid spraying on the hot engine and thier appears to be no loss of power steering fluid, the level is the same as when filling it after the 2nd hose replacement. So I got no clue whats causeing the smell. Anybody else got any ideas? Could the power steering pump be going bad? Thiers no difficulties in steering at all.

The current tires are stock. Old tires were only a few inches larger. Don't know if it even has a sway bar on it, afaik, the whole truck is stock.
I hope to get a lift kit and big tires though :P

as for being in the crystler forum, the description diden't have jeep vehicles, and I diden't remember if it was GM or chrystler that owned Jeep now.

Also, after rereading your first post, let me add:
i have yet to go off-roading with it :P

the off-road tires (BF Goodrich All-Terrerain T/A tires) came with it. I have little clue as to what mods (if any) were put on it by the previus owner. The steel bumper is dinged up from what looks like bumping rocks while going off-road so I assume the previous owner did that.

I am however saving up my money to buy a lift kit and new larger off-road tires for it for a trip to the beach this spring. And mid or late summer i'd like to goto Paragon.

Figured out what the thunking was.

While on brake with a coworker I was talking to him about the truck (its gotten worse and now feels like the body is moving side to side when going around turns). We went over and looked at it and while he was rocking the truck I was looking under it and the barings between the bottems of the stabilizer bars and the screws that mount them to the axle are completly shot. Both bars could move back and forth by about a half an inch.

While driving home I had the driver side mirror pointing down at the rear wheel and I could tell the axles was moving back and forth when going over bumps and going around sharp turns.

Lol, yea. Shame on me, I should have read it more carefully.
I was only thinking of the sway bar part :P

no clue about the oder yet though. Some smoke came out of the engine today when I pulled into the driveway and stopped though. Backed it out again and was looking all around under the truck and under the hood with it running but coulden't find anything leaking anywhere, even when turning the wheel all the way in both directions and straining it a bit to put more pressure on the power steering. Still think its the powersteering though since the smell only seems to happen when slowing down to a stop while steering. Or in the case of my driveway, turning into a steep hill while slowing down.

This stuff is no longer a problem

R.I.P. My first truck. I shall miss it.

Some F-Head pulled out in front of me while going to work yesterday morning. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him in the back but with the wet roads I coulden't avoid hitting a utility pole and breaking it in half. Luckily I was uninjured. The other driver diden't stop at all.

The repair shop says the truck will cost more to repair then its worth (we got it for $2500) and that we'd be better off just getting a new vehicle. We diden't have collision insurance on it since its an old vehicle and neither I nor the witness of the accident got the liscense plate number of the other vehicle.

Hello, I have a 1994 4.0 L Jeep Cherokee Sport as the title of this thread implies.

The Symptoms:

When accelerating the vehicle does fine. However, when I am stopped at a red light or stop sign, or if I have to decelerate to a slower speed. The Jeep has a sound where it will rumble and pop like in the Youtube video that I am going to post. In that video, it mentions the EGR Valve. However, I read on one forum that 4.0 L Jeeps made after 1994 do not have EGR Valves. Though oddly enough they do sell gaskets for EGR Valves for my 1994 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 L at the Big Box Automotive Stores.

Here is the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQLXqhwTnIo

If you pay extra close attention to roughly the 0:37 to 0:49 mark of the video. That is exactly the sound that it makes before it cuts off and dies. It will not restart for awhile like it has overheated but it does not show that it is overheating on the temperature gauge, but if you let it set for a couple of hours. Then it cranks up and drives again. It runs like a top, then all of a sudden at a stop sign, red light, or when it decelerates it will make that sound and die.

Like I said earlier, I read that 1991 and newer 4.0 L Jeep Cherokees do not have an EGR Valve. So if it isn't an EGR Valve causing that sound (assuming this 1994 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0 L doesn't have an EGR Valve) then I wonder what could be causing the problem?

Things that I have fixed on the Jeep already

- Engine Control Computer
- Distributor Cap
- Rotor Button
- Ignition Coil

This is a problem that has been bugging me for over 2 weeks now and I just want so badly for the issue to be resolved. Any assistance that can be given would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, let me start of by telling you how much I appreciate your response. It means a lot to me. Sorry about the lateness in my reply. Between the holidays and spending countless hours working on the Jeep I haven't been able to get back to you.

Now here is where I am at right now in relation to the Jeep. I feel like it is getting closer and closer to being fixed.

I have done all of the things you mentioned except for scanning for codes, and still it would do the cutting out. However, after cleaning the Idle Air Control Valve / Throttle Body on both sides. The Jeep has never really sounded any better. So that was much needed even though it is still shutting off. I also replaced the Crankshaft Position Sensor in which I heard was a prevalent problem in Jeep XJs. I also grabbed an Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor as well.

The last two days I have let the vehicle idle. Both times it went dead after idling for 1 hour and 10 minutes. So both times it did idle for more than an hour before making that sound heard in the Youtube link I posted in my previous post. When the vehicle shuts down you always have to give it at least 30 minutes before it will fire back up.

I was pleased with the progress in terms of the vehicle sounding better than it has in a long long time and really even better than any time since I have had it. I was getting a bit frustrated because I am running out of things that can be wrong with the vehicle.

I began to fiddle around with the vehicle some more, and my arm moved the ignition coil wire ever so slightly and it killed the engine in the manner shown in the Youtube Video I posted in the last post that I posted. That ignition coil was on there for over an hour, and right at the 1 hour and 10 minute mark.

So I went and got the old ignition coil wire that I originally had on the Jeep before I bought that other ignition coil wire. Instead of the vehicle having to wait 30 minutes to fire up like it normally does. It fired up again as soon as I put that Ignition Coil wire on that hadn't been on. It only stayed on for 15 minutes or so before stalling out, but in that 15 minutes it ran like a top.

So some how that ignition coil wire is getting hot and when you put a cold one that hasn't been run back on it. It fires right back up without having to wait 30 minutes. So I am wondering if I am looking at an Ignition Coil Wire issue, Ignition Coil Issue, or Distributor Cap issue. I have already replaced all 3 but since I hate some brands at big box automotive retailers in which I won't name names. I went to the junk yard to get all three of those replacement parts because they are Mopar brand and there isn't any places here who carry Mopar branded parts. The cap wasn't cracked or anything, and the Ignition Coil looked good as well, but I know that there can always be something wrong with them internally that a visual inspection will not capture.

Also: I don't know if this will help any, but it seems like the cooler it is outside. The longer it will run. For example if it is 65-70 Degrees like it was the other day it only idled for 35 Minutes before going dead. The last couple of days it has idled it has been roughly 50 degrees and it has idled longer at an hour and 10 minutes before shutting off. The only things that have been changed between the 35 minute and 1 hour and 10 minute idling times has been the Crankshaft Position Sensor and Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor.

I would really love your input on what you think might be the issue with the coil wire acting like it is. It would be greatly appreciated and I thank you for your time that you have spent so far with me.