Hybook1

For my sons 16th birthday, I found a 1989 Wrangler with only 37,000 miles. I bought the Jeep and drove it about 60 miles to my house. I killed the engine for about 10 minutes and then when I restarted it and put it in gear it died and took a little bit to get started again. This happened again yesterday a after about 50 miles. Any suggestions?

Little Fella

4 popper or 4.2l six?

Hybook1

It's a 4.2I six

Little Fella

Copy. Now when you say it won't start, you mean it's turning over but not starting or your getting nothing at all?

Hybook1

It's turning over and will restart after 4 or 5 tries.

Little Fella

Mine had a similar problem. Turned out it was a combination of vacuum lines to the carb leaking and the carb itself leaking around the pivot points for the butterfly. The carb vacuum leak got worse as the engine bay heated up due to expansion.

Check for rotten vacuum lines cause they're cheap to replace.

If you're planning on keeping the jeep for any length of time, get an aftermarket carb or the Howell fuel injection kit for it.

The factory carb is problem prone and notoriously difficult to tune.

Hybook1

Thanks for your help!

Little Fella

Hope it's something simple for you. My 89 was the beginning of my jeep journey / addiction! And the bane of my existence till I replaced the carb.

TURTLECON

The factory carter carb in those are notorious for acting wonky. If your starter & solenoid are fine, then check your vacuum lines like suggested. If the lines are fine, it's probably your carb acting up. My 87 used to die at red lights or Stop signs. Cleaning the Venturi solved this problem for me. If you google it, you'll find some good step-by-step instructions on cleaning your Venturi assembly inside the carb and/or you could rebuild your carb with a kit as well if you want.
Best long term solution would be to swap the carter with a Howell or MPFI system, but that gets expensive. Loved my 87 & was sad to sell it, but I needed the extra money.