11th Jul 2008, 02:00

I own a used 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4-cylinder. I'm not too vehicle savvy to say the least. I'll explain in as much detail as possible to make it sufficient to understand. Bare with me.

First off, here's some other info that might be of use:

Body Style: 4 DR. WAGON/SPORT UTILITY

Engine Size: 4.0L L6 MPI

Drivetrain: Rear Wheel Drive.

I never drive more than 10 mph over the speed limit, meaning I don't ever do anything dumb like racing in it. Had it for 2 years and 9 months exactly. I'll elaborate on why I bring this up a bit later.

I was driving when all of the sudden the engine shuts\ off; power steering locked up, and I turned it as far as it would go to get onto the sidewalk. After popping the hood and everything, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary (with my limited knowledge). I got back in and tried to start it.

It cranked right back up and I drove back the 15 minutes to my house. I thought I may have knocked the key out or something and decided to try driving it again from my house. I was trying to get to work in the first place. It took 5 minutes before the engine cut off, steering locked up, etc.

A day later, after explaining it to my dad, he didn't know if I was explaining it enough and decided to ride with me and my brother to see what would happen. This time it took just driving down the street for the engine to cut off. Yet again, it cranked right back up and we drove it around for 6 or 7 minutes and came back to the house.

It doesn't grind or anything; the engine just shuts completely down. No extraordinary noise or anything. Suffice to say, the engine light has been on ever since this incident.

Also, I'd like to mention a few things I tried while driving. When the incident first occurred, I had my radio on. I turned it off to drive back home.

The second time (after I thought I bumped the key out) I drove a few minutes with the radio off, and then turned it on. Engine turned off a few minutes afterward. After turning the Jeep back on, I turned the radio off and drove it back home without the engine shutting off.

When I showed my father and brother, I didn't even have the radio turned on when it shut off down the street (about a 15 second drive). When we drove the rest of the 6 or 7 minutes, we drove with the air conditioner on full blast, and the radio on. The engine DID NOT shut off. So it wasn't a low battery or screwed up alternator like we were guessing.

Now here's another kicker. A few days later, my dad told me to start the Jeep, put it in drive (hold on the brake), and shut it off to see if it would turn back on in neutral. The plan was to take it to Discount Auto Parts or something to get the check engine light checked. In case the engine shut off in traffic, the plan was to put it in neutral and turn it back on to drive so as to avoid an accident.

While holding down the brake in my own driveway, I turned off the engine while in drive, and I put it in neutral and tried to start it up. The engine would no longer turn over. It's cranking but did not turn all the way over, and hasn't for the past couple of days.

So, we called our friend who happens to be a specialist with transmissions. He hooked up his little computer thing-a-ma-bob to something under the steering wheel to get a reading from the check engine light. He got 3 codes, only 2 I can remember.

1) Got something called a rev engine code. As if I had been racing in it or had it in neutral pushing the gas for long periods at a time.

2) Cylinder 3 is misfiring.

I'll update the 3rd once I find out what it was.

After running a few more checks, he's pretty baffled. He isn't a "throw parts in and see if it works" kind of guy. He finds out what's wrong and then fixes it. Problem is, he's pretty stumped. But, because he's determined, he's going to continue to look at my Jeep and figure it out.

I figured I'd come here and maybe somebody can throw some support mine and his way.

One side question to add on to this story. Weeks before the engine abruptly quit working, the auto-lock and unlock button stopped working on my keychain. I changed the battery in it and it still doesn't work. Know what the cause of that would be? What would need to be replaced in the Jeep?

Thanks for any and all help! I'll answer any questions as best as I can if anybody needs me to clarify anything.

-Baffled Jeep Owner

Lehigh Acres, Florida.