Ignorant and worried - '97 ZJ Laredo

[DarinM]

It's been running great, except for when it's raining. I cleaned all 3 connectors to the PCM with an electrical connection cleaning spray and put a bungee really tight around the connector on the far left (by the fender) to keep it tight. I've found that when it refuses to start, just reaching in there and jiggling it would usually be enough. I've read on several forums that this connector is a common problem. After doing this, we took our first longish trip in the Jeep last weekend. We went from Wichita to Kansas City, drove around Kansas City a bit and then made a late night drive back home. There were a couple of times when it seemed to hesitate or stumble just a bit, but overall it's running much, much better than it did.

The dealership had quoted the inlaws a couple thousand bucks to get this thing running. I'm less than $50 into it so far. Thanks to y'all for advice and what I've found on the 'nets.

In other news, I sold my TJ Rubicon a couple weeks ago. It wasn't being driven much and the cash was more important than the cool Jeep sitting in the driveway.

Going to look at putting maybe a 2" lift in this ZJ, maybe a bumper/grill guard. My wife drives it and she likes the idea of toughening it up a bit. I'm looking forward to starting to work on this one!

 

[DarinM]

Several months later...

I have learned about the draining (or lack thereof) issue with these Jeeps and performed the "cut a hole in the wheel well and stick a hose on the nipple thing" repair. I also put silicone around the drain outlet in an attempt to keep wayward water from running back into and under the cabin.

I put a remanufactured computer in the Jeep Saturday. It just wouldn't run consistently enough that we could trust it. After checking 2 or 3 Jeep forums, I ordered a computer from All Computer Resources out of Miami. It is a plug and play computer, which keeps me from having to go have it flashed at the dealer. I put it in, cranked it up and after some initial confusion as the new brain tried to figure out where it was, the Jeep settled into a smooth idle. We haven't driven it a great deal yet, but it certainly seems to be running better than it has since we've had it. Previously, if it was wet at all outside, this thing pretty much went on strike and refused to run. It was raining yesterday and it ran with no hesitations. It's raining now and I'm about to drive it a pretty good ways. We'll see what happens.

When I installed this new computer, I did the washers under the screw fix again. I pulled the screws from this rebuild and they were the same length as the OEM. I also did the bungee on the same connector as previously mentioned. It seemed like it clicked in tighter, but why take a chance?

So, we're still not out a ton of money in this Jeep. It's a nice ride, and I'm hoping this computer will give us many miles of reliable chugging along.

I'll check back in, say 6 months from now and we'll see if I'm happy or frustrated, or both. We'll have a baby scooting around the house a bit by then, so I'll probably have other things occupying my brain. Happy Monday!