jeep shutting off at random

[Roger Carpenter]

I am 66 and a very competent auto mechanic.. my 88 wrangler started shutting off randomly while driving .. I tested and tried everything I could think of found nothing wrong . finally fed up .. I ran a dedicated run circuit to a toggle switch under the dash to a fuse and to my coil . no more shutting off while driving . my only mental concern is should I put a voltage regulator in that line ? ANY THOUGHTS ?

 

[SteelHeadz]

Taking some old mental notes from my past experience , I found the same issue with my 81 CJ7. What I've found is that the signal wire to the coil is a resistor. Full 12 at cold start and resistive after a few seconds. After warm up, the wire opens and causes the shut down. Prior to this diagnosis, I did the same as you did, running 12v continuously shortens the life of the coil without the resistor wire. Eventually I replaced the entire factory setup and wired up an HEI distributor that also houses the coil and is designed to run on 12v continuos. This is for a V8 AMC 360 , if you have an I6 then it might not be the same cause.

Sent from my iPad using Jeepz

 

[Roger Carpenter]

any idea how much resistance? engine starts with ought this circuit engaged so stepping it down shouldn't be a big deal !

 

[Roger Carpenter]

i found my answer .. needs to be 7 volts if anyone is interested.

 

[Tison78_CJ5]

My 78 diagram calls for 1.35 ohm resistance. It is the wire, but.
If you could find 10 watt resistor, you could run regular wire to the coil.

 

[drewbuddy]

I read this
1988 Jeep Wrangler Dies While Driving: 1 Complaints

 

[Roger Carpenter]

well the problem is still not completely resolved .. it shut down again while driving .. next I'm installing a dedicated ground from the trigger to the block .. and cross my fingers !

 

[JPNinPA]

Your block should have a ground straight from the battery.

 

[Roger Carpenter]

so far .. my jeep has not cut off sense adding this ground wire from the trigger to the block .. but it was random before so I'm reserving judgement !

 

[JPNinPA]

If that is the solution I'd replace the ground wires to the block and chassis. Look at posts about upgrading the big three.

 

[Gennybro]

well the problem is still not completely resolved .. it shut down again while driving .. next I'm installing a dedicated ground from the trigger to the block .. and cross my fingers !

What is this "trigger" you speak of?

 

[69jeepcj]

I found a random shut off situation on my dads truck a few years back accidently. Start the jeep and start grabbing wires and moving them. His truck has a short where the wires go through the fire wall to the fuse box, every time you moved the wire the truck would shut down.. Hope it helps.

 

[69jeepcj]

Any luck with this yet?