1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ Shuts down or Cuts off

My Jeep GC ZJ 1993 with 202202 miles V8 engine and automatic transmission cuts off/engine shuts down. I have found that when I put it into 2nd or 1st gear it never shuts off. For example, I am driving with AT in D (Drive) and come to a stop, the engine shuts down. However, if I move the selector to 2nd before coming to a stop it never shuts down. Any Ideas? OBTW it also shudders and headlights dim and battery voltage drops before it shuts down.

I would suspect a torque converter clutch that is not unlocking. This basically leaves the transmission stuck to the engine - the engine can’t turn it & it stalls out. The shuddering & such I’d say is probably a secondary symptom.

If you happen to have an “O/D Off” button or something like that it might also get rid of the stalling. It won’t fix the problem though. My guess is that you’re headed for a transmission shop in the near future.

I will keep this in mind and do not have a problem rePlacing the torque converter. I just don’t see how shifting it to 2nd gear would point to the converter. Any other thoughts or ideas?

Since the trouble doesn’t seem to happen in the other speeds besides Driving it may be a good idea to check out that circuit and see if something there is causing the electrical issue and that is causing the shutdown.

The way it works varies a lot by vehicle / transmission, and I don’t know the specifics on yours - but usually the TCC is just out of the picture if you’re in 1 or 2 rather than D.

Thanks cougar for that idea.

I have a 98 jeep grand in line 6. I have the same problem but I have not tried shifting it into a lower gear. Mine will shut off while I am driving or stopped, it has no rime or reason. Just that the motor shuts off nothing else. If you get something to work with yours please post, I love my jeep but cannot drive it with this problem.

I assume the engine is dieing while under power. If the engine starts right back up I would first suspect a fuel delivery problem. Possibly a bad fuel pump or pump relay.

I will agree with cigroller on this one. The symptoms definitely point to a bad TCC solenoid. The torque converter will lock up in normal drive ranges, like drive and overdrive, but the lockup is taken out of the loop in low gears. If the torque converter clutch will not unlock, the vehicle will start to shudder and shake and eventually the engine will stall when you try to come to a stop. It will be like trying to come to a stop in a car with a manual transmission without pushing in the clutch or shifting to neutral. By the way, the fix will be to replace the torque converter clutch solenoid, not the torque converter itself. If memory serves, you have to drop the transmission oil pan and the valve body to get to the TCC solenoid on this one.

What if the engine doesn’t start right back up but the car is showing all signs and sympyoms of a bad fuel pump? @Cougar

Good grief

:rolling_eyes:

What?? Why goid grief?

[quote=“clarissajohnson75, post:12, topic:63244, full:true”]
What?? Why goid grief?
[/quote]Because this thread is getting ready to celebrate its sixth birthday.

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Good Grief, because you have two threads about the same problem and you have added to this old one. All that makes it hard to help you because we don’t need to be searching for a thread to actually help.

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