Rockcrawling TJ not wanting to come out of storage

[406to417]

After letting it sit for close to two years I finally decide to get my 99 Wrangler out of storage. The battery was dead so I replaced that then tried starting it. It will run rough for about 30 seconds to a minute then die. I did store with stabil in the tank and have tried running some Seafoam threw it. I havent had any other time to really mess with it, any ideas??

 

[dwh]

2 year old gas...probably.
Dried up crud in the fuel filter...possibly.
Cracked and leaking vacuum line...maybe.

 

[HillbillyfromAL]

Drain all the fluids, gas tank included. Change all the filters. Your spark plugs will likely need changed and the wires to. New air filter or if it's a permanent clean it out real good. Check your electrical connections for rust and corrosion. Did you get the CEL? If so what codes is it throwing? Mice can reck havoc on a vehicle if they get into the wiring make sure that's not your problem. A new battery is something you probably need to invest in but you could try a charger/maintainer and see if that helps. When it dies does it putter like its running out of gas, or just shut off? Hopefully it'll run great after you change all the fluids/filters, and get new plugs and wires in her. Also since its set for so long I'd suggest for the first change out of all your fluids cut them by at least half. There might be alot of surface rust inside everything that needs to get out ASAP. Good luck

 

[406to417]

I had the battery checked it was bad and got it replaced for free under warranty. Going back threw the paper work it looks like May 2011 was the last time I drove it. So it hasnt as LONG as i thought. Ya it pops ,sputters and backfires then dies. Sure it is something simple.

 

[drgnhrt1979]

It could be that it just sat for soo long. I had a Cherokee given to me that sat for close to 2 years, and I had same issues as you are having. Replaced the battery, got it running, had to use the throttle to keep it running till it warmed up enough to idle on its own. Now the guy that bought it off me has done nothing to it and told me the other day that it fires right up and idles fine now. It may just be that yours needs to stretch its parts a few times before it will run on its own.

 

[406to417]

Replaced the spark plugs and fired right up. Runs like a top ...but tomorrow is a new day.

 

[Overlandexpeditionspecial]

A side note, I found a couple years ago, putting stabil in one snowblower over the summer and not in another, the stabil snowblower would not start the next season and the plain gas would. Drained the stabil gas, put new in and it fired up. So not a fan of stabil, and if your going to be storing the Jeep for extended times, you may want to try and find some gas that doesn't have ethanol mixes in it, the ethanol can wreak havoc on rubber parts when it sits for long periods.

 

[Pushrod]

The best thing to do for an engine that is going into storage is drain the gas and run it until the fuel system is completely out of fuel. No gasoline is going to be any good after several months. That way when you go to start it up you will be putting fresh fuel in the tank and starting it on fresh fuel. The crappy gasoline nowdays will eat up metal components in the fuel system and ruin rubber o-rings/gaskets etc. I do use stabil for short term storage like the lawn mower for the 4 months not used in winter but turn off the fuel valve and run the carb. dry before storing.

 

[bob91yj]

Jeeps/Mopar products in general are prone to losing their idle settings in the PCM after a low voltage condition/dead battery. Usually starting them and manually using the throttle to keep them running for a few minutes will restore the settings.

Glad to hear you got the old iron out and going again...one of these days I'll finish replacing the wiring harness on my old YJ and get it going again.

 

[406to417]

Here is a few photos. I call it my rockcrawling TJ but in reality its been more places then any vehicle I have had before or since. I have drove it across country twice now. It was a daily driver from when it was new in 99 up to 2007.Its been from Montana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and almost every where in between. Finding places to put everything got old and doing searchs thats how I cam across AEV, this was back when they first started and where stretching TJs. Going from there got me into "overlanding".

Next to a Brute

 

[Colorado Jeeper]

Jeeps/Mopar products in general are prone to losing their idle settings in the PCM after a low voltage condition/dead battery. Usually starting them and manually using the throttle to keep them running for a few minutes will restore the settings.

Glad to hear you got the old iron out and going again...one of these days I'll finish replacing the wiring harness on my old YJ and get it going again.

I've had this issue on more than one occasion. After the computer reset its self the problem was gone.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Glad you got it sorted out for the most part! I do have to laugh at how your TJ gets labeled as "old"!?! haha! Does that make my Scrambler a relic? Or a flatfender a dino-jeep? :O