Project shrimp boat (bubba gump’s)

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

This is my post on a 2000 WJ 4.7 for a customer that doesn’t work on his own stuff but wants the perfect Mexico runner...


First he got some iro critical path 7”, 4:56 gears, spartan rear locker custom rear 44hd skid and iro truss
Along with some Hanson bumpers.. (of which are terrible)



And a custom 31 gal fuel tank...





So all his tools would fit he wanted me to leave a little space in the original tire well

And because of the new tank it needed a new gauge to work with the sending unit and to keep the old one reading to not throw off the jeep computer I tied it to the side of the new sending unit.




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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

So far everything runs great... in town
Get it out on the highway and let the heat problems begin

It had a winch mounted to the front and license plate to the front of that so of course the air flow was blocked hence the main over heating issue so the license plate was moved and the fairlead lowered to let more air flow and I cut out the center of the cross bar to allow even more flow

View from the lower openings on the bumper.



Not enough so I removed the winch, cut out the back of the grill and that at least at this point takes care of the engine overheating...


Now the bigger issue
The fuel is vapor locking something fierce killing the engine after the jeep gets heat soaked and has run at highway speed for at least and hour at which point I release air pressure at the fuel rail and then it will start back up again but will happen more often once it’s done it until I cools


The codes that come in and don’t like to stay clear...

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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Just curious if I put a inline fuel cooler... but maybe that’s not the problem.
It’s frustrating enough he’s considered going back to the stock tank but I’m not entirely certain the tank or pump are the cause.
Any thoughts?


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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

So I’m on a 2 hour test drive and it has done fine at interstate speeds but when I started to slow down coming into a town almost to my turnaround point it vapor locked, died and after 3 attempts to restart I got it to fire drove it to the nearest exit and when I got it to a safe place it died again and refused to start at all with major pressure at the schrader valve on the fuel rail I’m just trying to make it run again...


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[Ted_Z]

Fix the evap leak (P0455). I had that code on my WJ and it would surge and die occasionally. There was a crack in a hose near the evap canister.

[Ted_Z]

Also the lean fuel system code could point to a fuel delivery issue. Maybe the non factory fuel pump can't keep up?

[Ted_Z]

I forgot to add that running lean will contribute to the overheating problem. Also ditch that silly aftermarket grill, it too could be hurting air flow.

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Also the lean fuel system code could point to a fuel delivery issue. Maybe the non factory fuel pump can't keep up?

I just matched the new pump with the same 140psi rating the Jeep calls for
Or should I go with a higher psi so it’s never maxed?

I forgot to add that running lean will contribute to the overheating problem. Also ditch that silly aftermarket grill, it too could be hurting air flow.

I’ve told them to but they don’t want to spend $$ for another grill

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

So I made it back to town and again highway speed was fine until I slowed down at all then it choked and died. Release all the air from the rail wait a few then it would start and go but die again upon slowdown. Now at lower rpm it won’t even go 1 block without dying
I’m inching my way back to the shop...
and it’s only 98°! 🤨

[Ted_Z]

Do you have a way you can put a gauge on the fuel rail and read it while you're driving?

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Do you have a way you can put a gauge on the fuel rail and read it while you're driving?

Not that I know of but I’ll check tomorrow.
It doesn’t do it at all until the jeep has been driven for at least an hour in hot weather... then holy s@#$&#!!!



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[Kraqa]

How is the tank vented? Whats the gpm of the pump? And whats the condition of the fuel pressure regulator?

When it dies do u have pressure in the tank?

Also check to make sure there isnt a leak on the fuel pickup. You could be sucking air into the fuel system.

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

How is the tank vented? Whats the gpm of the pump? And whats the condition of the fuel pressure regulator?

When it dies do u have pressure in the tank?

Also check to make sure there isnt a leak on the fuel pickup. You could be sucking air into the fuel system.

Tank is vented out a tube parallel to the filler neck (factory wj)

I’m told the gpm was matched to the stock but I’m curious if it wasn’t or if it was just pressure that was matched

Pressure regulator is the filter as stock to the wj

No pressure in the tank I did check that and even left the cap off for a bit to see if that would help

Double checked and resealed any and all connections on the pickup side and not finding any air draw

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Also there is another thing going on with this heap...
it may be something to do with the fact it’s a 2000
but 4:56 gears and 33” tires should work together to return to stock configuration right?
Speedo is off by a few mph but it won’t drop below 2500rpm at 70-75 mph and just in general seems to set at higher rpm no matter what.
Could it be the trans in need of a change?
4.7 and barely 100k on the clock



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[Ken L]

A question I have about the overheating is did run hot and vapor lock before all the mods? And if the customer says no, are they telling the truth?

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

A question I have about the overheating is did run hot and vapor lock before all the mods? And if the customer says no, are they telling the truth?

All unknown as he bought it in Kansas drove it to our shop in November and we put the main lift/bumpers on in January-February and it’s been here most of the time

[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Did a few more mods to help this

Found a stock replacement pump so it matches lph and psi rating and mounted it to the tanks sending unit and removed the other inline external pump that was added

[Yjsaabman717]

The external pump may have run out of oomph after having to pull fuel up and out of the tank for so long. They are often designed for pushing more than pulling.

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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Test drive today went well no more vapor locking new pump in tank did the trick it seems!

And now the cruise button won’t operate... this freakin Jeep

[Yjsaabman717]

I just had to replace the brake light switch on mine. The cruise was acting up intermittently and I noticed the brake lights were staying on at times. New switch fixed both issues.

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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

I just had to replace the brake light switch on mine. The cruise was acting up intermittently and I noticed the brake lights were staying on at times. New switch fixed both issues.

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I had my 02’ do that but my cruise still came on just wouldn’t set.
This one won’t even come on


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[Yjsaabman717]

Gotcha.

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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

Noticing a rear driveline vibe at highway speed so I checked angles and corrected to match each other at 9.6° and 9.5° but seems to have made it worse... t-case 1 1/4” drop kit messing with that?


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[fluxcap]

If it has a slip yoke the t case and pinion need to be parallel.

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[Stealth Crawler ZJ]

If it has a slip yoke the t case and pinion need to be parallel.

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As what I’m trying to get but it’s worse now


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