TJ just suddenly turns off

Niko

Niko

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2019
Messages
25
Location
Los Angeles
Hey guys so I’m pretty new to the Jeep world and I need some help. I just got my TJ and it’s an automatic yes yes I know it’s automatic. But for some reason lately it’s been shutting off out of no where. When it first started it was an over heating problem. Checked the thermostat and it was shot so replaced it. My spark plugs were also bad so I replaced those too. It was running like a champ and I took it off roading for the last 3 days but today it started to happened again and I don’t know what’s happening? Please help. Thanks guys :)

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Can you give us more details like, What are you doing when it happens? Are you stopping or stopped, Are you driving? Is there any check engine lights? Does it start right back up or does it take a minute? What year is your Jeep? I had an issue with mine where I would be driving on the freeway and it would just die then it would restart till the one time it didn't and it happened to be a distributor rotor, but they quit using distributors in 99 I think.

So we need some more information if you can.
 
It’s a 99 and it happening when I’m driving I give it gas and the rpms don’t move up. Like it’s not getting enough air flow or something. When it happened I just pulled over turned it off and it went back on. When I got to work today I left it on opened the hood and reved it a few times. The last time I was reving it pretty high and it just dyed then took a minute to start up again and yeah no check engine light on or anything.
 
Niko said:
It’s a 99 and it happening when I’m driving I give it gas and the rpms don’t move up. Like it’s not getting enough air flow or something. When it happened I just pulled over turned it off and it went back on. When I got to work today I left it on opened the hood and reved it a few times. The last time I was reving it pretty high and it just dyed then took a minute to start up again and yeah no check engine light on or anything.
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Does it run good or does it have a miss? Could you have swapped a couple of wires? I know you checked your spark plugs, but spend some time checking the rest of your ignition like wires distributor, timing, etc.
 
I have an Automatic, ( don't be ashamed it's ok) Sounds like a problem I had yrs ago. When I wheeled suddenly it would shut down into safe mode. Restricts the RPM's until it cools down and then runs fine until it happens again, usually after wheeling for a while.
If I was guessing from the limited info, I would guess you transmission is overheating and causing your engine to run hot at that point I'm not sure if it's the engine or the trans telling the computer it's too hot to run safely.
Try adding a transmission cooler and see if it fixes it. You need a trans cooler on it anyway especially with that winch in front of the OEM transcooler which is built into the bottom of the radiator. It can cool at street speeds but cooks on the trail especially if your sitting parked with the engine running for a long period or in 4 low. Turn it off when you stop on the trail.
 
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Dilly Dilly said:
I have an Automatic, ( don't be ashamed it's ok) Sounds like a problem I had yrs ago. When I wheeled suddenly it would shut down into safe mode. Restricts the RPM's until it cools down and then runs fine until it happens again, usually after wheeling for a while.
If I was guessing from the limited info, I would guess you transmission is overheating and causing your engine to run hot at that point I'm not sure if it's the engine or the trans telling the computer it's too hot to run safely.
Try adding a transmission cooler and see if it fixes it. You need a trans cooler on it anyway especially with that winch in front of the OEM transcooler which is built into the bottom of the radiator. It can cool at street speeds but cooks on the trail especially if your sitting parked with the engine running for a long period or in 4 low. Turn it off when you stop on the trail.
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Wow makes sense thanks man. Do you recommend any trans coolant
 
I bought a regular small trans cooler from Pepboys and mounted it flat under the radiator not a bad place but I rock krawl and it gets wacked now and then I will move it up behind the head light on a bracket soon. I added a 75.00 pull fan with an on / off switch I can turn on when I need to, because it's under the Radiator and pulls air into the engine compartment from below. This is a really bad spot for it, but I needed to mount it in a hurry and it worked out for yrs. 2 nd fan and it has some rock rash. Really needs to be somewhere else.
 
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Dilly Dilly said:
I bought a regular small trans cooler from Pepboys and mounted it flat under the radiator not a bad place but I rock krawl and it gets wacked now and then I will move it up behind the head light on a bracket soon. I added a 75.00 pull fan with an on / off switch I can turn on when I need to, because it's under the Radiator and pulls air into the engine compartment from below. This is a really bad spot for it, but I needed to mount it in a hurry and it worked out for yrs. 2 nd fan and it has some rock rash. Really needs to be somewhere else.
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Oh that’s a good idea about the fan too. I want to rock climb a little but for starters just going out is fun. So I think I’ll put the fan and trans cooler on
 
Hey guys so I found out the problem and it was from the thermostat. I had the incorrect one one it so it was running way to hot. But now I’m having a transmission problem I think. It won’t go past first gear and it’s not holding any transmission fluid.
 
Niko said:
Hey guys so I found out the problem and it was from the thermostat. I had the incorrect one one it so it was running way to hot. But now I’m having a transmission problem I think. It won’t go past first gear and it’s not holding any transmission fluid.
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What do you mean it's not holding any transmission fluid? Is it leaking out onto the street or garage floor? How are you checking your ATF level? The engine MUST be running and your 32RH automatic transmission MUST be in Neutral while you're checking the ATF level.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
What do you mean it's not holding any transmission fluid? Is it leaking out onto the street or garage floor? How are you checking your ATF level? The engine MUST be running and your 32RH automatic transmission MUST be in Neutral while you're checking the ATF level.
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I was running it neutral and there’s nothing from the dip stick. I just put some in yesterday and just a few drops
 
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