When did Wranglers start getting fuel injection and computers?

[hoganr]

My 1999 Wrangler has been great for 25 years, just driving around town, but the computer has been acting up and now it is back in the shop--starts but then stalls out.

There is a 1976 Wragler in my neighborhood, but I might want something somewhere in between.

Does anybody have a 1976-1999 Wrangler and the inspiration to offer some insights?

Thanks.

Rich

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[GATORB8]

Sometime around '90 in the YJs IIRC.

Give WranglerFix a call for your TJ, this is his bread and butter:
https://wranglerfix.com/

 

[GATORB8]

Just a note, Rich. This is a JL (2018+) specific forum. While there are some knowledgeable Jeep junkies here, and we all help where we can, you may have a better pool of responses on a different forum.

 

[Steph1]

1986, on the 1987 YJ 4cyl 2.5L engine.

 

[Asuriyan]

1990 was the last year of the carbureted 4.2 in the YJ. The 2.5 I4 was fuel injected from the model's introduction.

 

[Riverjeep]

My 1999 Wrangler has been great for 25 years, just driving around town, but the computer has been acting up and now it is back in the shop--starts but then stalls out.

There is a 1976 Wragler in my neighborhood, but I might want something somewhere in between.

Does anybody have a 1976-1999 Wrangler and the inspiration to offer some insights?

Thanks.

Rich

I am still trying to figure out when engines in the modern automobile did away with the distributors, probably about the same time.

 

[GATORB8]

I am still trying to figure out when engines in the modern automobile did away with the distributors, probably about the same time.

I think it was a bit later, my mid 90s Fords still had them.

Looks like 1999 was the last year in the 4.0L.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Before 1987, real Jeeps were called CJs. In 1976 you could buy a CJ5 or a CJ7. You could get a 232 or 258 AMC straight 6, or an AMC 304 V8, all with a carburetor.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Since we're going down memory lane...
A friend had a mid 70s CJ with a 401 AMC V8 (carburetor). He scattered it all over PCH up by Eureka long ago. That thing would go pretty good for an old jeep in the day. But I think it barely had 200 hp.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

I have a 1994 YJ that's fuel injected. As others have said, 1990 was the last year for a carb.

It's common for capacitors to stop working on the YJ computer. There's many repair services out there that will swap yours out or replace the capacitors on them. This may be your issue if you are really sure it's the PCM. Starting and stalling could be a dozen different issues though other than the PCM.

 

[grimmjeeper]

Some of the carburetors on the 258 starting in the last few years of the CJ got some computer control for emissions. I forget the exact year they started but it was mid 80s. I don't remember for sure if the 258 in the YJ kept that computer control or not. The 4.0, of course, was full on port fuel injection.

 

[Tncdrew]

Some of the carburetors on the 258 starting in the last few years of the CJ got some computer control for emissions. I forget the exact year they started but it was mid 80s. I don't remember for sure if the 258 in the YJ kept that computer control or not. The 4.0, of course, was full on port fuel injection.

I installed a throttle body fuel injection kit on my '83 CJ-7's 258. The kit also made it distributorless. It was a nice kit that 100% improved the driveability of that great old 258. Didn't really bump power much, but I wasn't after that.
I really miss the "Usable" (low rpm) torque of that engine. The way I was geared, it had an 80:1 low range crawl ratio... like a friggin tractor! You practically couldn't stall it....
Unlike the torqueless wonder 3.6L I currently have ?

 

[BLS65]

77 CJ7 304 V8 with a 3-speed manual, the Jeep I should never have sold.

 

[Jared1956]

Don’t delude yourself. I’ve owned dozens of open top Jeeps in my life and the older you go the more of a PITA they become. Points, rotor, cap, condenser, dwell, timing, carb tuning for weather and altitude, ethanol fuel destroying things and clogging jets, and on and on.

 

[AZ Hella]

The last few years of the CJ's had a terrible Carter BBD carburetor that is notoriously temperamental. They also had ECM's. The first YJ's had the same carbureted 258 c.i. as the CJ's. The first 4.0l YJ's had crappy Renix fuel injection.
If you want simple stick with an early 70's CJ.

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