Merry Christmas folks. I have a new problem. Before I took my jeep to firestone for a new serpentine belt and oil change, it was running fine. It started easily and had a steady acceleration. After I got it back from Firestone, I had trouble starting it the first time, but made it home easily. I did notice that it had a higher idle and much more pickup, but as soon as a I released the gas, I'd feel a thunk. Today, I started it up the first time since I took it in (2 days prior), and I not only had trouble starting it up, but it also created this horrid vacuum noise from the airbox side of the engine. I shut it off, and started it again, and it still had that noise, but after I gased it a bit, it returned to normal. I ran some errands without too much trouble other than a hard start (the sound disappeared) and as soon as I got home, I tried starting it again. It wouldn't start the first 4 times I tried, then finally, on the fifth try, I though it didn't start, but as soon as I let go the key, it slowly and quietly started. What could those technicians have done to my jeep? my wife also complained about ethanol smell from the exhaust after the hard starts- recently Hawaii introduced 10% to the gas. Could it just be a coincidence that this trouble happened after Firestone? Anyone have any ideas? I'll have to call firestone after christmas. Merry Christmas, Ray 92' 4.0L XJ 4x4 automatic

I have been running E10 in all my cars, pickups, ect.. for 20 years here in the midwest with no problems so don't worry about it.

Check all the vaccum lines to make sure they are connected.  Also check them for cracks, sometimes the rubber boots at the end of the hardlines can get dry rot and break lose.  It is common to pull the airbox when replacing the belt so check all the connections in that area, the fitment of the filter cover, ect..
You can examine by eye or start the engine and listen for the whistle/sucking noise of a vac leak.

The reason you are getting the gas smell is it is flooding when not firing up.


Andy

Thanks for the feedback. I did a thorough check, and I didn't find crack or anything, but at least it doesn't hiss anymore. It still drives a little off and starts weakly. Would an extra tight serpentine belt cause something like this? I noticed that it's definately tighter than before. Mahalo, Ray

No.

Andy