Another "jeep dies while driving" thread

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Lat22

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Apr 23, 2018
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Tiki Island, TX, USA
My 2004 automatic transmission TJ started dying/stalling at random times while driving down the road. I've been reading threads on what might cause this and have lots of things to troubleshoot when I get a chance (clean grounds, camshaft position sensor, fuel pressure, etc). Something different with mine is that it will restart immediately. I just put it in neutral and restart while I'm still rolling. In most of the other threads I've read, people have trouble restarting. No CEL, codes or anything else like that.

This all seemed to start after my subwoofer amp shorted out two weeks ago. I don't know why or how it happened, but it fried it. I removed the amp and put wire nuts over the ends of the power cables. Is there any way this could be contributing to my problem (grounding)? I'm not very good with electrical issues. Any and all help and advice appreciated! Thanks.
 
ask a radio shop around town, if they have seen that problem. put a new subwoofer in an see if it fixes it. aint no fun without a sub woofer. maybe when the subburnt, it send a arc back an toasted something else.
 
That's a an interesting comment cambolt.
I would check loose power cable and every module that is connected to the circuit in between the battery and the starter including loose grounding. Google the schematic diagram from your year model as your guide and trace the line meticulously.
If not from the circuit, then go for the CPS (it's pain in the neck to reach that little sensor :( )
 
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I think one of the first things you need to do is check your fuel pressure with a gauge. Without a gauge your not able to tell much, so loan one from an auto shop that has that program or just buy one.

How many miles on it btw?

I had a similar issue but I replaced several sensors and replaced the fuel pump before my issue of stalling while driving was cured. This can be a long process but things can be ruled in or out based on certain things.
 
Does it just totally die instantly or buck a little before it stalls? I'd start looking at the cam/crank sensors.
 
It only has about 50,000 miles on it. When it dies, it does it very quietly. The power steering is the first thing to give it away. Hopefully I’ll be able get to it this weekend to begin troubleshooting. Thanks for all of the help.

One other thing. I put a Scan Gauge II on it to try to monitor some stuff in real time. The Gauge goes dark after a few seconds instead of staying on like it does in every other vehicle I’ve used it on. Does the OBD port on jeeps behave differently than other vehicles? Would a bad PCM do something to the OBD port? I know I’m grasping at straws.
 
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I had a very similar experience with my 2001 Wrangler Sport about a year ago. No symptoms of any kind until one day it started randomly (not often) shutting down while driving. You would feel a loss of power steering along with no throttle...like it was fuel starved. Like yours my Jeep would always restart right away and it never threw any CEL codes. After doing some research on the forums luckily my problem turned out to be an easy fix and hopefully will be the same for you!
While researching the issue I kept hearing Jeeper's say...when's the last time you disconnected, re-brushed, cleaned and reconnected your battery terminals? I thought to myself...no way this is my problem cause I ALWAYS keep my battery connections spotless and sprayed with CRC battery terminal protector. Although my battery connections looked spotless and tight they had not been disconnected and brushed in years and "low and behold" if that didn't completely stop the random engine shut-off issue! They say that sensors are real finicky when it comes to battery connections so it's not a bad idea to re-brush and reconnect battery terminals periodically regardless of the way they look. Hope this helps you out...it stopped my problem!
 
This happened to me two times. The first time I had to over-tighten the negative battery terminal. The second time I just got some new battery cables. Never had that happen since.
 
Thanks again for all of the replies. I’ve been driving the Jeep all weekend and it’s run like a champ. No issues. One thing I had forgotten to mention in my original post was that on the day it started dying, the battery was dead and I had to charge it. I’m thinking my issue may have been battery related. This Jeep sits a lot so I’m going to put a battery tender on it. Hopefully my woes are behind me.
 
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