It always comes in Threes

[Tatsadasayago]

It's an axiom for a reason. Rarely do bad things happen singly or in two's...it's usually three bits of Jeep drama within a short period of time. Sometimes these terrible threes happen at once.

The Cherokee has been sitting since the spring get-together up in Auburn and it ran great. After two months or so of sitting I decided early this morning the old girl needed to stretch her legs and blow the carbon out. As I was warming her up I began considering heading to the parts house and getting a few emergency repair parts such as a coil, rotor, ignition module and a CS-144 alternator for a charging system upgrade. I pondered ordering a water pump since I don't have a good spare on hand.

After the Jeep was warmed up I headed down the street. As I rolled up to the first stop sign, less than 500 feet from my driveway the engine died.
I noticed that the air fuel ratio was well into the rich range of 10:1 just before the engine quit.
I pumped the throttle a few times and spun it with no luck. Thankfully the street was level so I pushed the jeep through the intersection and parked alongside the curb. I checked the carb for fuel and confirmed there was plenty. A test light confirmed the HEI distributor was getting 12 volts in the run and start positions.
I pulled a plug and spun the engine over. No spark.
I checked that the rotor was in good shape and was turning so I was pretty sure the drive gear didn't get munched.
I walked home and drove my Altima to the parts store where i bought a Duralast ignition module for 29.95.
I popped the new module in and had the old girl running in just a few minutes.
I drove the Nissan back to the house then went back for the Cherokee. I started her up and was half-way through a 180 degree turnaround when the engine died again. Spin spin spin, no start. I pushed the jeep to the curb and did some testing. I figured it was possible the new module could have croaked on it's own (As many are known to do) or something else killed it. No spark at the plugs so I did another dash to the parts house where I bought another module and HEI coil.

The new-new module didn't fix the problem so I swapped out the coil. Varooom! Problem solved. No worries as I wanted to have a spare module on hand anyway.

Once again I did the vehicle shuffle and returned to the jeep. As I was turning around I thought, "Screw this, I think I'll just park this thing before something else decides to brea......." KaBaaam and clang-a-clatter-clang-zzzzzzzzztttttt. I stopped where I was, got out and looked underneath. Both drive shafts intact and nothing leaking out. I put the QTrak in 4WD and the jeep moved but there was a lot of snapping and banging coming from the rear end. I idled the Cherokee to the house and backed her into her spot.

A quick look at the rear axle cover showed some chipped paint and a nice little fingertip sized bulge.
I guess my Powr-Lok decided to grenade itself.

Now, the burning question in my mind is...

Jim

[Cheap Hobby]

Geez glad somebody else has these days. I'm thinking it's time to run to dad's for the black and gray chief.

[Stuka]

wow, thats a lot to go wrong in such a short period of time. Did you say something bad to the Jeep before getting into it or something?

[Tatsadasayago]

wow, thats a lot to go wrong in such a short period of time. Did you say something bad to the Jeep before getting into it or something?

Well...maybe.
I had been eyeballing an 01 Durango in the same color saying how I really needed it. Maybe this hurt the jeep's feelings?

[Dr. Marneaus]

Just like any other female, these things get irritated and cause drama when they are ignored for long periods of time.

2 months?!! Ca-mon man, you should know better! Gotta take her out on the town every now and then.

[Renodemona]

More parts to the Jeep gods! Now you can put that Detroit locker in...