I need some quick help! I hope..

One of my friends drives a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. She says the problems are getting more and more frequent in the past month. Whenever she takes a sharp turn the engine stalls and the steering locks up. I gotta talk to her again and see if the steering lock up is just the power steering going away with the stall...or if it's actually a lock. The lockup tends to relate to the sharpness of the turn. She also said it will sometimes stall on hard braking.

She says that when it stalls, she can restart the engine with no problem. She said that 'when this happens, the check gauge light comes on and oil pressure guage is pegged at 0. When I talk to her about the steering, I'll see if it says 0 while stalled, or after start up.

Any ideas? The steering I'm thinking is a failing power steering pump...But could her serpentine belt be old and slipping on the pulleys in the turns/braking?

Thanks for the help as usual :D

I would not think that it would be a failing power steering pump causing all of this. I am wondering if it is stuck in 4wd...

Is it a manual?

I'm fairly positive its an automatic...but I think the Grand Cherokees still have the manual shifted transfer case.

Well its an automatic, manually shifted t-case, but it's got 200k miles. She has no idea when a tune up was done last, and said the steering got hard after the truck died.

But she said her parents want her to just take it to a shop. I would hate to see the bill that a shop returns on a 200k mile Jeep [&o]

I'll post back up in case anyones curious about what the problems were.

well the steering is going to get hard if the truck died, no power steering, so that would kinda rule out the powersteering pump,
and i dont see how the belt slipping would have anything to do with it either, that wouldnt cause the truck to stall,if it was My truck, i would place my bet on fuel filter, going around a curve or stopping causes fuel to move right? well if the fuel is being held up by a bad fuel pump or clogged filter, then its not getting the gas to stay running, stalls, the powr steering would become hard because the pump isnt active, but im no true mech either, but thats just my guess is somewhere in the fuel system

but the steering issue, if its actully LOCKING, my first guess would be a bad steering sector?

im not to good with jeeps =\

Easy solution to the whole problem have her get a BLAZER...

lol yea, also have her check her tie-rod ends, make sure they are still in working order

I don't see why tie-rod endswould cause the engine to shutter. I'm with Kyle on this, it must have something to do with the 4wd.

well, it may not cause it to shutter but still might have something to do with the steering, it might just not be one thing ya know, something may have went out causeing somthing else to go out as well, and i didnt say it was the tie rod's i just said to have em checked in case, to eliminate the simple stuff

Just an update for anyone interested..

She took it to Meineke (why do people think quick service places are mechanics?), which charged her $600 to replace the fuel injectors and spark plugs and wires. They did tell her that her serp. belt was good though.. $600 later the problem is not fixed. So her parents want her to check with a different Meineke...

I'll keep ya posted [&o]

Alright, got an update. It has gone fro intermittent to pretty frequent stalling.

Up to now, she has replaced cat converter, ignition coil, dist cap and rotor, plugs and wires, cam and crankshaft position sensors, and had a throttle body cleaning done.

So as she describes it to me, she stalls out in the course of normal driving..not just in turns anymore. Also it heavily jerks on braking, but she had the brakes checked and no warped rotors and what not. Also said that she gets the jerking as shes driving in a straight line, often accompanied by a flashing SES light.

I was thinking fuel supply issue...either pump or FPR. Would a head/intake gasket cause the random misfire, with stalling...but while not seriously damaging the engine (its stalled, restarted and driven fine many times)? One more note...she said this morning after she left the shop with a new crank and cam shaft position sensor, it drove the best it has in a while. No problems. After she turned off the car, and drove it again later, it stalled in 10 min.

That kinda makes me think computer or ICM?

Why is it that doctors and mechanics can get away with charging people for NOT fixing things...

No offense to any doctors or mechanics on this forum. [sm=innoc.gif]

she spent $600.00 and didn't get it fixed. she should take it to a dealer and get it hooked up to their scanner. I use to drive a dodge van that was converted to an ambulance and anytime we had trouble the dealers scanner picked up the fault quickly, better to pay to get it done right the first time, rather that waste money at a grease and muffler shop.

The whole problem is that it keeps getting taken to a shop with no clue as to what it is. A dealer is just going to start replacing fuel parts untill she runs out of money...which is why I'm trying to get some sort of direction to go in before towing it to the dealer.

If it happens every time she drives it, have the mechanic drive it until it quits so he can see for himself what is happening.

Shes never had it come back 'could not replicate problem'...they just are shotgunning it hoping it fixes the stalling.

As my grandpa used to say:

"sounds like it's time for a new radiator cap"
huh?
"You know remove the radiator cap push the jeep out of the way pull a blazer in it's place and put the radiator cap back on, problem solved"

Ya I know doesnt help your situation, sorryabout thatbut I can never resist tellin people that one makes me remember just how much I miss that old man

Haha I actually told her she shoulda gotten a blaze:D

Anyone know what the fuel pressure range is for a 96 Grand Cherokee?

The fuel pressure at idle should be 31 psi

I also found this on another forum at cnet.com

Symptoms: (these usually start with 1 or 2, then worsen to include all of these) stalling, power on at night, repeatedly dead battery, instrument cluster & gages haywire, warning lights, turns over, but won't start, blown fuse on engine block fuse box (in mine, the 20a mini-fuse, the Automatic Shutdown Relay) and to a very lessor extent, very, very slight acting-up in the stereo speakers and tiny, tiny transmission sluggishness is the only way I can think how to describe it.

The Fix: (as unbelieveable as this sounds, but reported to have almost a 90% success rate from around 45-65 people)

BACK THE SCREWS HALFWAY OUT ON YOUR PCM COMPUTER COVER.

Then try to start.

Apparently, over time, these screws are pinching something. Either the bracket inside the cover, the guts inside, or the fat PCM connectors on the outside are weighing down and pinching the pins. Or something else. Anyway, it works. (although, after time, the success rate goes down (for some people) as the problem may return...maybe down to 70%, but then messing with the PCM again jiggles this figure back up & down) Literally, hundreds of Dealers couldn't figure this out (what'd we spend?...$1200.00 each x's 5000 instances=6 million dollars. I'd say the total is much more than that) and it was up to an Aircraft Mechanic to solve this for all of us. (and I've seen posts for this problem from 1996-2006 owners for many Chrysler vehicles besides Grand Cherokees.)

The Directions: (as given from a 1996 Grand Cherokee Owner, I have a 1997) PCM Computer (located on firewall, passenger side, behind the engine coolant over-flow container). It looks like a very-large computer hard-drive. About 10" x 8". Has 3 fat hose-connectors.

Remove plastic coolant container. Back off the two screws on the PCM cover. They are about 1/2" long. Back them off half-way. Try to start and if so, take it out for a spin. Evaluate stalling & electronics. You may now have to re-check for blown fuses as the haywire PCM has been shooting out sputtering energy everywhere. As recommended, replace screws with 1/4". Some people even filed their 1/2" screws down.

Besides this miracle, here are the usual suggestions for the fix from 5 different auto website forums: most popular: new alternator as they often, often check out fine and amps can still be low (volts appear normal) from the internal regulator and bad diodes with cause a drain. Also, replacing the PCM (about a 50% success rate). Dealer cost: $1000.00, Ebay: remanufactured with a 12-month warranty (programmed to your VIN) $249.00 (make sure you check their customer ratings). (Also, it's been recomended to unhook the battery before uninstalling or installing PCM, I guess so there's no surge into the PCM or some other reason) And replacing the Ignition Switch & Ignition Cylinder Lock as often these codes come up on diagnosis. (plus Cam Sensor & Throttle Position Sensor) Cost for me: $750.00

The rest of the suggestions:
A) In your engine fuse block, mark first, then pull out all fuses and scrub them with scotch-brite and contact cleaner. All relays & contacts. (this has been reported to work for many, many folks as the problem (which will spout out dozens & dozens of symptoms) appears to have been cornered between here (the engine fuses) and the PCM computer.
1) Check everywhere for melted wires.
2) Remove positive battery cable for 1 hour in order to reset PCM computer and lock/unlock door to reset key. (although 1 person told me to do this for 4 hours)
3) Check for loose cable on PCM. (and wiggle them while running to see if it starts to stall)
4) Check for frayed wires in door frame, crimping is common. Tighten door hinges.
5) Repeated blown fluses in typical of frayed wires.
6) Confirm rear-window wiper is housed and not stuck in idle position.
7) Inspect wires under driver floor mat. Wetness is common under carpet.
8) Check for feedback in speakers.
9) Try unplugging 5 fuses at a time (from engine fuse block) and try to determine which one is draining battery overnight.
10) Confirm fuel pump is clicking when in ACC before actually trying to start.
11) When starting try hitting various other power switches, like rear-window wiper. (this worked for some people)
12) Unplug/replug wires to distributor.
13) Confirm clean battery terminals/cables. Inspect all 3 grounds to Alt., Batt., & block. (this's also a very, very popular suggestion and indeed finding loose grounds worked for several folks)
14) Check all fuses in both fuse blocks. Especially the AUX and ECU (although I never found mine. Is the ECU the PCM?). Replacement may blow again (immediatedly) or in 5 minutes to 3 days.
16) When instrument cluster & gages go haywire, this's indicative of a charging problem. Replacing the cluster does not solve problem.
17) Replacing Voltage Conjuntion Block does not work.
18) Check hood bulb and other bulbs and confirm they meet Jeep specs.
19) Unhook PCM and rehook to check starting.
20) Check for circuit boards burning up.
21) Replacing oxygen sensors.
22) There's also a lot of talk about weird happenings with power windows & the alarm. Apparently, each model & year may be different, but reported many times is that the alarm cannot be unhooked. It's hard-wired into the system. Again, I believe the idea that's being forwarded is that whatever your weird symptom, it's been tracked down to the PCM and the fuses inside the engine fuse box)
22) And basically every other idea that is however remotely connected to the random symptoms that plague all of us differently.


I mean I guess its worth a shot

Wow...Thats kinda wild. I'll definitely give that a shot. A funky PCM would definitely explain the problems...I'll post back.

Keep the ideas coming just in case though!