Lon

Jay Pique proclaimed:

> My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
> begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
> thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
> have bought a Santa Fe instead.

They are good winter rigs when owned by someone with sufficient brain
cells to take proper care of the ignition and fuel systems. You
*should* sell yours and buy a Santa Fe.

Lon

Jay Pique proclaimed:

> My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
> begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
> thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
> have bought a Santa Fe instead.

They are good winter rigs when owned by someone with sufficient brain
cells to take proper care of the ignition and fuel systems. You
*should* sell yours and buy a Santa Fe.

Lon

The original whiner noted that it turns over ok. That is not a battery
or starter problem. Ignition, too thick and oil, and fuel system are
the suspects depending on whether the engine fires during cranking,
fires regularly but does not increase in speed at all on a fire, or
fires and then quits.


Dana Rohleder proclaimed:

> They are a great winter rig, but yours is 21 years old! Obviously, you need
> to check your battery and starter connections. If it isn't starting within
> 2-5 seconds, you either need a tune-up or you have bigger problems. If you
> want reliability, consider a newer car. If you want a great winter rig that
> is built like a tank, gets lousy gas mileage, and will give you problems
> occasionally, fix this one.
>
> Dana
>
> "Jay Pique" <JayPique@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1132887418.306032.79050@g49g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
>
>>My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
>>begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
>>thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
>>have bought a Santa Fe instead.
>>
>>JP
>>
>
>
>

Lon

The original whiner noted that it turns over ok. That is not a battery
or starter problem. Ignition, too thick and oil, and fuel system are
the suspects depending on whether the engine fires during cranking,
fires regularly but does not increase in speed at all on a fire, or
fires and then quits.


Dana Rohleder proclaimed:

> They are a great winter rig, but yours is 21 years old! Obviously, you need
> to check your battery and starter connections. If it isn't starting within
> 2-5 seconds, you either need a tune-up or you have bigger problems. If you
> want reliability, consider a newer car. If you want a great winter rig that
> is built like a tank, gets lousy gas mileage, and will give you problems
> occasionally, fix this one.
>
> Dana
>
> "Jay Pique" <JayPique@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1132887418.306032.79050@g49g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
>
>>My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
>>begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
>>thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
>>have bought a Santa Fe instead.
>>
>>JP
>>
>
>
>

Lon

The original whiner noted that it turns over ok. That is not a battery
or starter problem. Ignition, too thick and oil, and fuel system are
the suspects depending on whether the engine fires during cranking,
fires regularly but does not increase in speed at all on a fire, or
fires and then quits.


Dana Rohleder proclaimed:

> They are a great winter rig, but yours is 21 years old! Obviously, you need
> to check your battery and starter connections. If it isn't starting within
> 2-5 seconds, you either need a tune-up or you have bigger problems. If you
> want reliability, consider a newer car. If you want a great winter rig that
> is built like a tank, gets lousy gas mileage, and will give you problems
> occasionally, fix this one.
>
> Dana
>
> "Jay Pique" <JayPique@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1132887418.306032.79050@g49g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
>
>>My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
>>begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
>>thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
>>have bought a Santa Fe instead.
>>
>>JP
>>
>
>
>

Lon

Jay Pique proclaimed:

> Earle Horton wrote:
>
>>These are great rigs, if you can get over the fact that they suck gas and
>>won't hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood or sheetrock. (That is why I got a twenty
>>year old Suburban, instead of a twenty year old Wagoneer.) As with any
>>twenty year old vehicle, yours needs some regular maintenance to keep in
>>shape. If you fix that battery or whatever is ailing it, and institute a
>>program of regular maintenance, yours should give years of additional
>>service, unless of course it is a rust bucket. (Another failing some of
>>them have.)
>
>
> <grin> You're right, of course. Since it turns over without fail to
> begin with, I'm wondering if there's a problem with fuel getting to the
> cylinders. Maybe plugs? I think I need to get a copy of the Dummies
> Guide to Carbeurators!

Old saying. Do not mess with the carbs until you are absolutely certain
the ignition system is in excellent working order. If you are certain,
you are not qualified to judge. [OK, so this applies to SU carbs and the
cars that had them.]


Roughly what is the outside temperature and how long does the engine
crank before it slows down? Problems here would indeed be battery,
cabling, or aging starter. Or wrong oil.

Does the engine fire regularly as it cranks? If the firing is
regular, it tends to make the ignition less of a suspect.

Does the engine sputter or change speed when it fires? This could be
poor fuel, either too much or too little, depending on the type of
sputter or speed change.

Are you using a winter grade multi-grade oil? A cold engine with oil
that is too thick will fire and sputter, but can't generate enough power
at low speed to turn itself thru the wrong grade of oil for the weather.

Lon

Jay Pique proclaimed:

> Earle Horton wrote:
>
>>These are great rigs, if you can get over the fact that they suck gas and
>>won't hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood or sheetrock. (That is why I got a twenty
>>year old Suburban, instead of a twenty year old Wagoneer.) As with any
>>twenty year old vehicle, yours needs some regular maintenance to keep in
>>shape. If you fix that battery or whatever is ailing it, and institute a
>>program of regular maintenance, yours should give years of additional
>>service, unless of course it is a rust bucket. (Another failing some of
>>them have.)
>
>
> <grin> You're right, of course. Since it turns over without fail to
> begin with, I'm wondering if there's a problem with fuel getting to the
> cylinders. Maybe plugs? I think I need to get a copy of the Dummies
> Guide to Carbeurators!

Old saying. Do not mess with the carbs until you are absolutely certain
the ignition system is in excellent working order. If you are certain,
you are not qualified to judge. [OK, so this applies to SU carbs and the
cars that had them.]


Roughly what is the outside temperature and how long does the engine
crank before it slows down? Problems here would indeed be battery,
cabling, or aging starter. Or wrong oil.

Does the engine fire regularly as it cranks? If the firing is
regular, it tends to make the ignition less of a suspect.

Does the engine sputter or change speed when it fires? This could be
poor fuel, either too much or too little, depending on the type of
sputter or speed change.

Are you using a winter grade multi-grade oil? A cold engine with oil
that is too thick will fire and sputter, but can't generate enough power
at low speed to turn itself thru the wrong grade of oil for the weather.

Lon

Jay Pique proclaimed:

> Earle Horton wrote:
>
>>These are great rigs, if you can get over the fact that they suck gas and
>>won't hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood or sheetrock. (That is why I got a twenty
>>year old Suburban, instead of a twenty year old Wagoneer.) As with any
>>twenty year old vehicle, yours needs some regular maintenance to keep in
>>shape. If you fix that battery or whatever is ailing it, and institute a
>>program of regular maintenance, yours should give years of additional
>>service, unless of course it is a rust bucket. (Another failing some of
>>them have.)
>
>
> <grin> You're right, of course. Since it turns over without fail to
> begin with, I'm wondering if there's a problem with fuel getting to the
> cylinders. Maybe plugs? I think I need to get a copy of the Dummies
> Guide to Carbeurators!

Old saying. Do not mess with the carbs until you are absolutely certain
the ignition system is in excellent working order. If you are certain,
you are not qualified to judge. [OK, so this applies to SU carbs and the
cars that had them.]


Roughly what is the outside temperature and how long does the engine
crank before it slows down? Problems here would indeed be battery,
cabling, or aging starter. Or wrong oil.

Does the engine fire regularly as it cranks? If the firing is
regular, it tends to make the ignition less of a suspect.

Does the engine sputter or change speed when it fires? This could be
poor fuel, either too much or too little, depending on the type of
sputter or speed change.

Are you using a winter grade multi-grade oil? A cold engine with oil
that is too thick will fire and sputter, but can't generate enough power
at low speed to turn itself thru the wrong grade of oil for the weather.

Lon

Were the Canadian engines subjected to the same indignities as the
American ones were during the infamous smog era of the mid-70's to 80s?
Without good multiport fuel injection, engines of that era were not
shining examples of driveability.


Mike Romain proclaimed:

> You should be able to give it two shots of gas and hit the key with a
> vroom.
>
> My CJ7 starts at the first blink of the key.
>
> What engine do you have?
>
> When was the last tune up? Specifically distributor cap and rotor.
>
> How old is the fan belt?
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
> Aug./05 http://www.imagestation.com/album/in...?id=2120343242
> (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
>
> Jay Pique wrote:
>
>>My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
>>begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
>>thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
>>have bought a Santa Fe instead.
>>
>>JP

Lon

Were the Canadian engines subjected to the same indignities as the
American ones were during the infamous smog era of the mid-70's to 80s?
Without good multiport fuel injection, engines of that era were not
shining examples of driveability.


Mike Romain proclaimed:

> You should be able to give it two shots of gas and hit the key with a
> vroom.
>
> My CJ7 starts at the first blink of the key.
>
> What engine do you have?
>
> When was the last tune up? Specifically distributor cap and rotor.
>
> How old is the fan belt?
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
> Aug./05 http://www.imagestation.com/album/in...?id=2120343242
> (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
>
> Jay Pique wrote:
>
>>My '84 GW doesn't like to start in the winter. It turns over ok to
>>begin with, but then it gets weaker and weaker as I crank it. I
>>thought these were supposed to be good winter rigs? I new I should
>>have bought a Santa Fe instead.
>>
>>JP