Jeep wrangler shut off while driving and wont start

@vitathread sounds like a fuel issue. Remember that Chrysler/Jeep has had issues with the TIPM and it is possible that your Jeep is part of this.

Typical symptoms of a TIPM failure

Fuel pump not turning off and burning out

Airbags not deploying OR deploying randomly

Engine stalling while driving

Starter cranks but won’t start

Horn going off at random times

Power windows not working

Doors locking or unlocking themselves

Check your fuel pump and relay as well as your fuses and see if that has power.

JK Newbie

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I apologize for the length but need help and have searched and read a lot but I might have a special case. Well, I bought an '08 Wrangler back in February this year and have ran into the no start issue plus it'll die on me while driving. It's a manual with 91k miles. Sometimes it won't start for an hour even after pulling battery cables, fuses, holding battery cables together for 10 seconds and even 10 minutes, it just clicks once with power to lights, radio, etc. Then, it'll start like nothing happened. It'll also die on me randomly while at 10, 20, 40mph or at a red light. No warning but all lights and radio stay on. Sometimes I can start it right away, sometimes I can't for an hour or the next day. It will also sometimes stay revved up at 2200-ish rpms while downshifting or just with the clutch in costing to a stop. I'll have to put it in gear and give it gas for it to act normal. It started all this after I installed a Pioneer head unit with Crutchfield doing the harness for me. I added a backup camera and spliced into the reverse wire and spliced into the parking brake wire. Did military splices with solder. Took it out and put the stock back in, same problem. Hurt my knee so I had the dealer take a look and the said loose wire in the ignition somewhere so they replace it and re-keyed it... Died in my driveway. Took it back, said bad PCM. Replaced it... Died in my driveway. Knee was better by this point so I replaced the crankshaft position sensor. Worked flawlessly for three months. I then added some cheap LED headlights with antiflicker harness and it started acting up again 2 days later. Replaced the cps again with an OEM because I bought a cheap aftermarket one the first time, didn't work. I've seen where people run a wire from neg battery to alternator, will that fix some or at least one problem? What do I troubleshoot next? Could it be a fuel problem that would cause all of the symptoms? I'm lost, any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

-Mark

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I had a similar problem several years ago. Would start up and then half a mile down the road die and would have to coast to a stop. I believe it was a loose ground, I don�t have an s-Pod so everything is hooked up to my battery. Just last week I unhooked everything and cleaned the terminals (preventive maintenance) which if you haven�t done I would try and also check to make sure your battery is good. My first battery lasted about 8 years, I believe shortly after my stalling issues that I just went ahead and replaced it. Battery was replaced December 2016 with Autocraft Platinum 34 AGM 10310829 and has not let me down, knock on wood. This was easy but your situation might be something else, intermittent fuel pump?

JK Newbie

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So, I messed around with all the grounds under the hood (loosened and cleaned them along with the battery terminals and connections from the winch) and added a battery cable from the negative to the alternator bracket. It started a couple times then on the 3rd start it was dead but put the e-fan on high. I unplugged the battery cable that I just installed and tried again, no start but the e-fan wasn't on. I decided to take off the Smittybilt 9500 winch to see if that was the culprit. It seems like it was. Now when I turn the key on, all dummy lights go off except for the engine light. Before, the esp, battery, lightning bolt etc. would stay on. I wasn't able to communicate through the obd2 before, even at the dealer but now I can. It must have been something with the winch and now it's sitting in my garage. If anybody wants it around the Layton Utah area, I'll let it go for $50, was on the Jeep when I bought it and I never used it or tested so I don't know if it works. Thanks to everyone who posted on similar topics and the reply to this one!

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That didn't work, it's acting up again. When it's acting up, I can't read trouble codes or make contact through the OBDII port with my tuner but I can when it's running. I get the battery, esp, bas, traction control and engine light when it's acting up. The symptoms, no start and it dies on me while driving, are all pointing to the cps sensor but I've replaced it multiple times now. The first time it was replaced it fixed the issue for almost 3 months. I'm leaning towards replacing the pigtail to the plug but there's only a couple of inches before it gets routed through a larger wire loom and I don't think I'll have enough room to do a proper splice. Anybody replace that and have a better way? The dealer wants to replace the whole wiring harness and said the harness is around $560 and I'm sure they'd charge a full day or two of labor. If I can get it started today I'll take it to a shop to check fuel pressure and the battery again. Any thoughts?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mayhem 3Echo9

<snip> I get the battery, esp, bas, traction control and engine light when it's acting up. The symptoms, no start and it dies on me while driving, </snip>

Since the PCM has been replaced, plus a lot of other work, I'm suspecting an intermittent low voltage problem. The battery lamp means low voltage and that sounds like a probable root cause of the problem. Here's a few thoughts:

Batteries can have weird intermittent internal problems. Given it's an intermittent problem and lots of other repairs haven't worked, substituting a different battery sounds like a good test.

Intermittent connections at terms, lugs, crimps, or grounds might be the issue. The engine ground is on the passenger side of the block, near the knock sensor, across from the cat. The bolt also holds a heat shield, and there's a jam-nut holding the ground lug to the engine block. I've had it apart while the trans was out for a new clutch, but I think a thin open-end wrench (grind one down if necessary) might get in there with the cats in place. This is the ground wire that appears to be the cause of an intermittent no-crank issue that some have solved by running a parallel (duplicate) ground wire from the alternator bracket to bat neg. A single battery jumper cable could be used as a temporary ground wire for a test when the problem is active.

Last edited by Mr.T; 10-01-2019 at 09:35 AM. Reason: added bold...

JK Newbie

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It finally acted up while at the mechanic on base. He narrowed it down to the TIPM. He could get it to die, while it was running, by wiggling either the relay (forgot which one he said was the culprit) or harness. He tested the wires and harness and they were good so we decided it was the relay and the TIPM needs replaced. Bought a rebuilt TIPM and will replace it once it's delivered. Hopefully it solves the problem.

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