Car Tech forum: 1996 jeep grand cherokee stalling at lights or stop signs

Hello, my 96 Cherokee ltd edition does the same thing, except it also does it at speed. I have replaced the crank sensor twice and just about every electrical component as well. The problem is that it is dangerous, as I never know when it will cut out, Ie. on the freeway or in traffic. 4 months and $1,200 later, I am ready to drive it off a cliff. Befor this problem, I loved this car (212,000 miles, looks and drives beautifully)
HELPPPPPP!!

I noticed you had a post out there about 1.5 years ago on a 96 jeep cherokee where you replace the PCM in hopes of resolving a stall problem. I have the same jeep and was curious if replacing the PCM resolved your issue when you replaced it. thanks so much. Mike

Behind the fluid resavoir (which must be removed)is the PCM. Remove the black cover and you will see three plug-type connections. Disconnect negative battery cable. Unplug the three connections and you will see two small torx screws. Back them out a few turns and plug connectors back in and attach battery cable. Start jeep and go back to your connections and wiggle them if it does'nt die then you fixed it. If it acts like it wants to die then you have back the screw out some more. I learned the screws were to long and eventually wears through inside the PCM causing a short. Get shorter screws and install them and problem should be fixed.

My 1996 Gr Cher Lim is on its third computer. I'm told it is bad again. Auto Computer Exchange (FL) tech told me MUST change crank angle sensor with the ECM. The sensor was found bad by our local repair shop and replaced, but it did not solve problem alone. The tech said he then tapped on the computer with the car running, and it immediately shut off. Does this sound similar? I'm thinking, find nylon screws???

I have a 96 JGC that started blowing the #20 20amp fuse in the Powertrain distribution center everytime it was started. So my husband swaped around the ASD relay. (didn't work). he swaped in a 30 amp (would go for about 1 mile them blow that fuse. I saw your post, so I tried it,(My Husband didn't think it would work). I losened the screws, drove all over then to Ace to get moe 20amp fuses (the real test). It worked, it didn't blow the fuse. Thank You, Thank you, Thank You,

I read the post from the airline mechanic about the two little screws and cut mine down about an eighth of an inch. It seemed to work fine at first. Now it's back again. Seems like worse than before. Used to be fine at highway speeds but is cutting out at 60 and 70 now too. I'm at a loss. Considering selling it to Carmax for 1700. Pos.

My 1997 JGC laredo did the exact same thing.. Its the worst feeling to have to drive trying to anticipate when your car will just shut down...i ended up purchasing a remanufactured PCM from a chrysler dealership. The first PCM they installed in my car did not work so they had to change it again and so far it has been 1 week and it has been working fine..i am keeping my fingers crossed that the problem has been solved...Good Luck!

guys, I had a similar issue with my 1996 JGC, 126000 miles. my symptoms were hard starting, then it would run fine, drive for 15 to 20 minutes, turn it off, and it didn't want to start again, sometimes it would die while idling, and progressively became harder to start. After changing a pretty much clogged fuel filter, I thought I had it figured out, and it did run better for a week, then started acting up again. I decided to try swapping plugs, wires and distributor rotor and cap. I found that my distributor was very pitted and worn, but the surprise came when I pulled off the wire from the distributor to the coil. the wire actually pulled apart,after a hard pull, and the wire inside was corroded to almost powdered consistency. after I replaced them all, the jeep started up and ran fine ever since.

I have read this forum exhaustively for an answer and am unable to come to a definitive solution to my problem.

My Jeep starts fine and will run as normal for almost exactly 1/2 mile, then it shuts down and will not re-start...Wait a few hours and this cycle will repeat itself. It will idle all day long.

Further details...

5.2L 160k miles original owner
NO CODES
Good battery
Good fuel pressure
Recent Throttle Position Sensor (and I removed and cleaned it)
Recent plugs, cap, rotor & wires
Cleaned and tightened all ground connections

What is the most logical diagnostic progression?

Coil?
Idle Air Control?
Crankshaft Position Sensor?
Powertrain Control Module?
Something I am not thinking of?

Your advice is appreciated.

Wow! The more I research the stalling-not starting-quits when hitting bumps thing, the more I realize that I'm not alone (the 'stalls when bouncing over railroad tracks' gets interesting.) Does anyone know if the pcu has to be reprogrammed if you switch one out of another jeep? We've replaced the IAC valve, crank shaft sensor, o2 sensor, coil,(whereupon it finally started, ran, and died,) plugs, wires and distributor cap, the modulator inside the distributor cap, and now are looking at the wiring harness. We tried another pcu unit from a different Jeep and nothing happened. I'm trying to find out if the unit is bad before I spend $300 for a rebuilt. I'd really appreciate any ideas!

Jeeps dealer was clueless and recommeded a nearly 600 dollar rotor resurfacing, complete tune up, throttle body, and fuel induction cleaning!! They were clueless and it still would not have fixed the problem. The car ran perfectly until you put the brakes on. Everything they recommended could not have contributed to the specif problem. If that were true the car would run porly all the time. I picked up the car and took it home to do a visual inspection on my own. I found a vacuum leak at the small rubber hose that attached to the throttle body and over to the brake booster. There were several dry rotted hoses that I replaced. It cost less than 5 dollars!!! The car is again running perfectly. Never underestimate the importance of vacuum!!