Why does my engine start then shut off immediately?

Answer 1

I experienced a similar problem with my 84 CJ7 this year; however, my main problem was stalling, not just starting and dieing as is your problem. First thing I did was check all electrical connections to my distributor, coil, and alternator. They were all good. Second, I inspected my carb., fuel filter, and my fuel pump. Those were good. Third, I checked for any and all loose bolts/nuts on my manifold and carb. (tightened anything loose), and then checked for any bad vacuum hoses (also making sure they were in the right place... I think I replaced 3 or 4 vacuum hoses). Fourth, I took off my EGR valve, cleaned the crap out of it, put it back on and confirmed that it worked. While I never did get to check my ignition ballast resistor (another step supposedly), what I chose to do was to check my ignition module (under my coolant resevoir). Well, I found a bad wire on one of the two plugs. By the time I bought a new ignition module, my Jeep had already stopped stalling on me, and, I wasn't experiencing the "start and stop" any more. One last thing: the pick up coil in the distributor... I also checked that just to make sure. I had the right ohm reading, but, I don't know if that was even applicable to my two problems (stalling and "start and stop").