Hello
Ok, so one of the main reasons i wanted to join this club was my recent purchase of a 98 2.5 about a week ago, and now she sits dead in the driveway. Here's what happened: at about 60mph the other day on the highway, the jeep began shuddering and i felt the vibrations through the steering wheel at the same time the check engine light came on and i lost power. my foot was planted down to try and keep highway speed but to no avail, she quickly dropped to 30 and was still dropping before i finally pulled over where i cut the power and she has yet to start. I had her towed back home, my gf's father and i pulled out the newly replaced spark plugs (they were from a company called E3..apparently great performance) to our surprise/shock we discovered-and i am in no way exagerating-the top of one of the plugs had been blown clear off, the metal was warped and twisted, charred and exploded outwards much like a spent shotgun shell. The starter tries to turn the engine over but doesnt make it. we changed all the plugs and still nothing. checked the fuel injectors, timing chain etc...nothing, all fine. Since day one, she has been hard to start..i can only start her with my foot all the way down on the gas..and if i dont, i have to wait about 5 min before i can try again. My tune up after i bought it consisted of new oil, new plugs/wires, airfilter, distributor and rotor. Please, if anyone has an idea or has had this problem before i would appreciate any kind of help. I love the thing but i feel like ive been hit with the "jeep curse." final note of info before i post...we tested to see if the new plugs give spark and they do.
thanks
-stan