Heading out to rescue my TJ from Columbus, Ohio tomorrow — Might need some advice

TominAZ

TJ Enthusiast
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Joined
Jan 1, 2020
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145
Location
Mesa, Arizona
Hello, all, I guess I have TJ again. My daughter's 1997 TJ broke down (another thread) and it's mine now. She has another car for college. I just have to get it running and drive it back to Arizona. It's showing all the symptoms of a bad ECM. I ordered one from O'Reillys that should arrive in time for my departure, and another one from Wranglerfix, sent directly to the AAA shop that has it in Ohio, but doesn't do ECM replacementments. Hopefully one will make it.

Problem is, my schedule won't support another try in over a month. I only get one shot. I'll bring tools and whatever knowledge I've gained from this forum. If I plug in the replacement and it works, all is well, otherwise, I'm kind of screwed. I'll have to tow it to the only jeep shop in town that can't even look at it for two weeks.

So, sometime Saturday afternoon I might ask for help. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
 
And since everyone likes pictures..

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Hello, all, I guess I have TJ again. My daughter's 1997 TJ broke down (another thread) and it's mine now. She has another car for college. I just have to get it running and drive it back to Arizona. It's showing all the symptoms of a bad ECM. I ordered one from O'Reillys that should arrive in time for my departure, and another one from Wranglerfix, sent directly to the AAA shop that has it in Ohio, but doesn't do ECM replacementments. Hopefully one will make it.

Problem is, my schedule won't support another try in over a month. I only get one shot. I'll bring tools and whatever knowledge I've gained from this forum. If I plug in the replacement and it works, all is well, otherwise, I'm kind of screwed. I'll have to tow it to the only jeep shop in town that can't even look at it for two weeks.

So, sometime Saturday afternoon I might ask for help. Any advice would be much appreciated!!

God Speed. I have no tech knowledge to impart.
 
Might it also be the crank position sensor or fuel pump? Can you again tell use what happened, how, and when? Driving along and….stopped for gas and …any details will help us help you. Good luck
 
I would be fully prepared for it to not work with the new PCM in which car I would strongly suspect the harness. Unless you are planning on bringing a spare with it, there is no quick fix for that unless you get lucky. Typical spots for the harness to go bad are around the back side of the engine where it turns by the valve cover and near the exhaust where O2 sensor and CPS wires get melted. Try looking for damage and jiggling things around.

Good luck and if worse comes to worst tell her to stay put with her Jeep and transfer to OSU!😉
 
It's rare that a PCM fails. Mechanics point the finger at it when they cant figure out the problem. The 97s are able to give stored DTCs by cycling the key on/off/on/off/on and they will be spelled out on the odometer. Try that first to see what is stored and go from there.

What are the symptoms?
 
When my harness went bad, the Jeep would just die. No code, no check engine light, no gauges, no nothing. When it eventually decided it wanted to start back up it was kind nothing happened.
 
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Might it also be the crank position sensor or fuel pump? Can you again tell use what happened, how, and when? Driving along and….stopped for gas and …any details will help us help you. Good luck

I will offer what little details I have.
- wouldn't start after fill-up
- AAA tow truck driver confirmed no spark
- AAA mechanic noticed the fuel gauge reading empty and confirmed the tank is full
- AAA mechanic confirmed power to ECM is good
- No codes and no communication with ECM
 
I will offer what little details I have.
- wouldn't start after fill-up
- AAA tow truck driver confirmed no spark
- AAA mechanic noticed the fuel gauge reading empty and confirmed the tank is full
- AAA mechanic confirmed power to ECM is good
- No codes and no communication with ECM

Exactly what you would see with a harness that went bad in the right way or a dead PCM. I lean towards harness because it happens much more often than PCMs completely dying.
 
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Could rent a uhaul and tow dolly (or flat trailer) to get it home
I second this. I did a dolly rental awhile back from uhaul and it was somewhere around $65/day. If you’re already driving out there that’s going to be the most cost effective way to go.
 
I second this. I did a dolly rental awhile back from uhaul and it was somewhere around $65/day. If you’re already driving out there that’s going to be the most cost effective way to go.

I'll be flying out today at 6:30pm. I reserved the one-way U-Haul package for $2732 with tax and insurance but I hope not to use it.
 
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O'Reillys came thru with one sooner than expected when no other parts house or junkyard even had one, $230. I'm impressed! Any precautions I should take besides disconnecting the battery before installing? I'm not sure how to check for shorts like it says.
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