Now that the YJ is again my daily driver, it has develped a new issue which I kind of put a bandaid on for the time being, but I would like to hear your opinions as to what it may be...
First, some prior issues (as it MAY be related). When I first start the jeep, it starts just fine, but then the RPM's drop way below normal. It also sputters, as if one cylinder is not working properly (kind of a brrrrrrrummm, brrrrrrummm, brrrrrrrrrrrruuuuum cycle). I just use the hand throttle to keep the RPM's at about 1,500, and then, after 3 or 4 minutes, it idles just fine.
If I kill the engine, and try to restart, the engine will NOT restart unless I throttle up, and then it kind of starts one cylinder at a time... Very odd.
But I kind of learned to live with the engine like that until, about a month ago, I started to see the throttle drop whenever I let off the gas. It got to the point where the Jeep would just die on my, so I used the little screw that sets the closed position of the TB plate to open the throttle a little bit. From then on, the Jeep will not die, but the RPM's would drop so low as to make the A/C compressor shut down whenever it detected the los RPM's (at least, now the Jeep would keep on running).
I started running the Jeep without the A/C, and noticed that the drop in RPM would not happen at all. If I turned on the A/C, then the drop would immediatly happen. I am guessing that the bearings in my AC comrpessor may be full of gunk, mud, or God knows what, and it is creating extra drag on an already small engine, and that this may be the cause of my problems, but what do you guys think?
Also, since I have not used the air filter oil on my Jeep, I am guessing that there may be some gunk in the conbustion chamber. I have some new injectors laying around (the other half of the 8 I bought some 5 or 6 years ago when I went to the Ford ones) that I was gonna drop in along with a performance distributor ignition system (I ordered one when I relocated the coil high-up on the firewall; I was having problems killing coils in the stock location, and I guess my guess that the heat and water were killing them was right, as I have yet to burn up a coil since I relocated it). I also want to throw in new plugs (gapped at .050") and see if that helps with my non-A/C related issues, but I also think I have issues relating to the A/C compressor. Anyway, I figured the starting issues are either spark or fuel issues, and this should take care of both!
By the way, the issues on the engine are NOT caused by the ECU; I have 2 of those, and swapping them does not alter anything. I am also changing out the fuel tank sending unit (finally got the 20 gal one, so I will be able to tell how much gas I have! This means I am getting a new fuel pump... I also got the new gaskets, roll-over valves and seals to try to eliminate that gas smell near the rear fenderwell... When I install all that, I am also installing a new fuel filter, and will try to replace the fuel line from the tank to the filter).
So, what else should I be looking at? Any ideas? Is there a way to change the bearings on the A/C compressor, or does this mean a new unit? I am even tempted to go back to the stock FPR (I have one of sharp's adjustable ones on) just to make sure that is not the issue (I will also check fuel pressure before I do to make sure it is stable and where it should be).
Anyway, feedback is greatly appreciated!
