1992 Jeep Cherokee, the new addition to my line up of never ending projects... 

Have been distracted with other things and work. I do plan on giving an update on the Cirrus and the Cherokee this spring when the weather is a bit warmer. Also have a replacement/new project car to introduce.

Because I haven't had anything worth uploading happen and I'm not one of those idiots who need validation through constant interaction in the comments from their content.

I haven't had any issues like that with my jeep. Sorry to hear that you haven't found someone who can find the problem. I know a lot of mechanics are typically the "replace parts till it works" type of people, instead of the "find the problem and fix it" type. Can you give me any more information on what it does immediately before and after it dies? Does it only do it when it's at operating temp? That sort of thing. If you're any good at story writing, making a quick short story sort of post describing a typical breakdown of before, during, and after the breakdown when it's working again might help me narrow it down.

@@hellcat1988 Once upon a time there was a very stupid girl who thought a sweet old lady would never scam her. So she bought the old woman's Jeep Cherokee Laredo in late autumn. It was cold, and the car seemed to drive just fine. But summer was coming, because there's only two seasons in Alabama, summer and fall, and the weather started to get warmer. That's when the car, which seemed to be in good condition started to slowly heat up and then just die completely while driving. At first it would take 40 minutes, then as the weather warmed, it would take less and less time after leaving the house for the car to overheat and die. During the hottest part of the summer, it might get five minutes down the road. Sometimes the girl could sit and let it cool for awhile and it would crank back up after ten minutes. If it was cooler, this took less time, if it was warmer, it took longer. She replaced the distributor cap thingy, cut off the catalytic converter, and replaced something else but I've forgotten what it was... She forgot what it was, yeah. Some belt type thingy. Oh, and the car threw out all sorts of different codes every time like it was haunted by a mechanic who was still trying to scam you from the afterlife. There was nothing wrong with the parts the codes were associated with. All fluid and oil levels were fine. Will work fine during the coldest part of winter. Which is like, a week or two out of the year here. The end. My "cousin" had the same car, same problem, but I think he just got rid of his because he couldn't figure it out either. I'm not a quitter. I would like to fix it and rev past the house of the old woman who got me.

@@cocobutter3175 Part 1 : I Need to know the year and if you have a temp light or temp gauge as well to be sure I'm giving you the correct advice, but I'll give it a shot anyway. Keep in mind that these prices and fixes are for a 93 like mine. Ok, first thing I recommend when you get a car, even from someone who "did all the things the shop says" or "did all the things the owners manual says" or "had it tuned up regularly" is to change EVERYTHING involved with a basic tuneup. Spark plugs, plug wires, cap AND rotor, fuel filter, air filter, BRAKES ON ALL 4 CORNERS, and fluids, including radiator and differential fluid. Most people don't bother to read the jug, but radiator fluid is only supposed to be good for 3-5 years. After that, it can loose it's ability to prevent corrosion, and that leads to problems or clogs. Even if you bought it from a shop and they showed you a pile of old parts, I'd rarely ever trust them without looking at the parts ON the vehicle. (and making sure they didn't just scrub the road grime and rust off) Shops and stealerships are NOTORIOUS for ripping off anyone and everyone they can. Second, you were a little vague about if the car overheated to the red line and died or got to normal operating temp and died. If it's the first, overheating to red line before dying, I would suggest having someone who knows how check to make sure that your water pump is actually moving water. If it is, and the fan is spinning with the engine (belt driven fan) or turns on when it reaches the temp the computer calls for (electric fan) then save yourself a LOT of time and wasted effort and just order a cheap, aftermarket radiator, radiator cap (if the aftermarket one doesn't come with a new one) and thermostat, and replace them outright. Sure, you can try to clean the radiator, but most of the time you inevitably just end up having to replace it anyway. The radiator is going to probably be the most expensive part, and the most time consuming to install. It's $73.79 plus shipping from RockAuto, but you might be able to find it cheaper on a different parts supply website, or, if you have the luck of the gods, a cheap but still good one in a junkyard. Over time, radiators can get plugged up with rust, stopleak (if an idiot had their front feet in it) and various other nastiness that builds up in your cooling system for no obvious reason. Replacing the thermostat at the same time probably isn't needed, but you might as well since they're cheap and you'll be under the hood anyway. Same with the radiator cap, as that spring and rubber gasket DO wear out over time. It's also a good time to check the condition of your radiator hoses, and replace them, if need be.

@@cocobutter3175 Part 2 : If it's the second issue of dying at operating temp, which, from your story, I suspect it is, it could be your intake air temperature/charge temperature sensor, M.A.P. sensor, or, less likely, your coolant temp sensor. If you have a coolant temp gauge, and it's working, that's not the problem. If you have a coolant temp light, and it never comes on, make sure the bulb isn't burned out. It should come on for a few seconds when you turn the ignition to accessory, but before you actually crank the motor over to start it. If the bulb is good, but you don't have a way to test if the sensor is actually telling the computer the engine temp, I'd suggest just replacing it. It's $3.16 plus shipping from RockAuto Anything 96 and newer will have an OBD2 port and can be read with a dirt cheap bluetooth diagnostic adapter off amazon or ebay, which I HIGHLY recommend getting to anyone with a car newer than 95, since they are cheap and give real time info, AS WELL as allow you to read the trouble codes, all for free, with an android app called TORQUE. You can use it with your phone or tablet, or even use an android emulator on a laptop. The reason that the intake temperature sensor can cause your engine to die is because when the engine is cold, the computer knows that it's not going to be able to run at peak efficiency, regardless of what the sensors say, so it defaults to a standard "Just get the dam thing running" program map. After it gets closer to operating temp though, it starts to look at the readings it's getting from the sensors. When the intake temperature sensor goes bad, it will either read as dead cold, or melting the engine hot. If the computer thinks the air coming in is too cold, it will dump more fuel into each combustion stroke than it actually needs and flood itself out. If it's reading too hot, it'll send too little fuel and there won't be enough to actually cause an explosion strong enough to move the pistons. Either one is bad. This too can be checked with that obd2 tester if you're lucky enough to have a 96 or newer car. If not, the sensor is $11.43 plus shipping from RockAuto. The coolant temp sensor will cause the same issue, as the engine wants a specific amount of fuel for what the engine temp is to maximize efficiency, and to prevent pre-ignition detonation, where the fuel and air mixture ignites before the spark plug is supposed to light it. This can kick the piston back against the direction the engine wants to turn, and that can make bad things happen REAL quick. The only other sensor that could be causing that problem off the top of my head would be the manifold absolute pressure sensor, but it's less likely. That would cause the same fuel problems, as well as timing issues, as the temp sensors, as if it doesn't know how much air is getting pulled into the engine, it can't give it the correct amount of fuel. Even though the truck has a distributor, it still uses the cam/crank position sensors, throttle position sensor, M.A.P., and temp sensors to try and figure out the most efficient amount of fuel to send to the engine for the amount of power you're demanding. Now comes the cheap and dirty way to check for a sensor problem on any car, newer OR older than 96. If it's doing something it shouldn't while running, start unplugging sensors one at a time, then plugging them back in and moving to the next one, until it quits doing whatever it is it shouldn't. You may need to give it a little rev each time you unplug something to let the computer know something has changed, but often the change in engine operation will be immediately noticeable. If it dies, plug that sensor back in, start it again, and move to a different sensor. If you get through all the sensors and the only time something changed was when you unplugged the sensor and it died, it's probably not that sensor, but it's worth a shot to have it checked out/replace it if it's cheap enough. If it's NOT doing something it SHOULD, like not running when it gets warm, start unplugging sensors as in the previous paragraphs, after it's reached operating temp (but before it dies if you can) until it runs more or less normal when warm. Yes, it really is that simple to diagnose a sensor issue, with even the most modern internal combustion engine car. I'd start with the two temp sensors, for the intake first, then the coolant. Then the map sensor third. One of those SHOULD be the source of your problem, from what you've told me. I will warn you now that just like with home computers, if you ever have to use the word SHOULD when talking about a problem and potential fix, it almost never is. At least in my experience... If you go back and read this post a few times, you'll see that, while I took a long time to explain it, the problem and the tests for it are really pretty simple, and relatively cheap for someone who can do the jobs in their driveway. If you're not sure what the sensors look like, or where they are, look up the parts on a site like RockAuto, where they have pictures of the sensors, then hunt around till you find them on your engine, or buy a Haynes or Chilton repair manual for your vehicle and HOPE that they have a picture that shows where it is. The only other five things that I can think of that would POSSIBLY cause the issue you're talking about, as unlikely as they could be, related to your issue, without actually touching the truck, would be : One, the fuel pump is on it's way out and can't keep up with the demand for fuel. (extremely unlikely since it runs fine cold) Two, your engine has very low compression at operating temp, but that wouldn't give you any overheating issues, if that's what you're having, so I doubt that it's the problem. Three, you have a bad electrical ground somewhere that makes contact when it's cold, but comes loose when the metal warms up and expands. (Pretty damned unlikely) Four, the computer is crapping out and lost it's program map of what it should be doing once it's warm. (EXTREMELY UNLIKELY. We're talking less chance than winning the lotto here...) Fifth, the fuel pressure regulator might be bad, allowing fuel to be sucked strait into the intake. Had that problem on both my jeep and that 92 mazda navajoke in my older videos. It made the mazda run like crap and die all the time, but the jeep didn't really seem to notice it much. You'll usually notice a bit of a strong fuel smell when the engine is at operating temp, or just after shutting it off, if that is your issue. I ask that you keep in mind that I am NOT an A.S.E. certified mechanic, and have mostly learned how to work on cars by DOING it, with very light instruction from my dad/friends/internet over the years on things I had NO idea about. That said, one shade tree mechanic/diagnostician like me is usually good for at least 3-5 school taught parts replacers at a shop. If you get through all of those checks and are still having problems, please let me know and I'll try to help you further. At the very least, please let me know what year it is and if it has a temp gauge. Good luck, and I hope I helped you fix the problem. Oh, and P.S., get a catalytic converter back on there. The engine looks at the exhaust before and after the cat on most fuel injected vehicles to know if it's running too rich or too lean. Probably wouldn't cause your issue that you've asked me about, but can lead to other problems down the road, like poor fuel mileage, carbon buildup, and misfires. Unless you're planning to have an aftermarket E.C.U. installed and programmed not to look for it, you're better off with one than without.