Category Archives: Gear

At long last, my Jeep is fixed!

Although I’m withholding final judgement–the beast is fixed! Anyone who knows me knows I’ve had problems with my 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0 6-cyl for what seems like ages. It’s been having issues (well, one issue in particular) since at least fall of last year. I’ve only owned the car for 5 years now, and I didn’t want to give up on it just yet–most of the time it ran great.

Fixing the car was definitely an adventure involving a lot of research, trips from Boston to Autozone and my parents house to work on the car in their garage. I also had it in a shop a few times for minor part installs, in hopes they would have a solution.

Get ready for a long winded account of how I fixed it.

The problem

Last fall, my car started randomly “stalling” while I was driving–and it’s an automatic. This would happen at any speed, in any gear, at completely random intervals. For awhile I was completely stumped, sometimes I’d go an entire trip without a hitch, sometimes it’d be stalling left and right.

(If you’ve happened to find my site searching for a solution to this stalling issue, skip down to the solution heading.)

Eventually I had to start telling my friends, “hey, if my car stalls while we’re driving, don’t worry about it, it just happens sometimes.”

I did some routine maintenance stuff and cleaned a few parts, but even after reading countless posts on Jeep forums, I didn’t know where to start–it could be any number of things, for example, my Jeep computer could’ve gone haywire.

I took it to a shop, and they had no ideas. It was definitely an esoteric Jeep specific problem.

The arduous process

I then decided I’d have to figure it out myself and do the fix, rather than have a shop throw parts at the car and be charged premiums on parts and labor.

I started reading Jeep forums about similar issues–a lot of them. Whenever I had some time I’d try all sorts of keywords to locate someone who had my problem. There was tons of information on the internet, especially since Jeep owners in particular seem to love to tinker with their cars.

In the meantime I started replacing things that needed to be swapped out of my almost 16 year old car, and also tried a few parts that were my best guess from what I’d read.

I did a bunch of stuff, starting with simple tasks like cleaning the battery posts and throttle body. Eventually I replaced pretty much the entire ignition system–ignition coil, wires, spark plugs, distributor cap & rotor, and the cam shaft sensor. The spark plugs were worn, and the coil was cracked so it was good to get new parts in there. I changed my fuel filter and oil filter. I had the map sensor, o2 sensor, and coolant temperature sensor changed. I cleaned the IAC sensor, eventually changed it, then changed it back.

None of this fixed the problem, although it did help the car. It took a number of weekends to swap out the parts. Whenever I had a free day I’d go home and do just a few parts, since I didn’t want to install too many new parts and not be able to test the effect of each one on the car.

The solution

One part that kept being mentioned online was the Crankshaft Position Sensor, or CKP / CPS as I’ve seen people refer to it. At first I ignored looking at it, because it was one of the more expensive sensors, changing it involved becoming a contortionist (as one Jeep owner put it), and it wasn’t always the fix.

What the sensor does is magnetically determine gaps in the teeth of the crankshaft disc, and use the output voltage as an aid in the rest of the engine’s timing to control emissions.

Eventually I ran out of other ideas, and so I bought a Duralast Crankshaft Position sensor. Not to ruin the suspense, but if there’s one thing I learned while replacing this sensor, it’s this: Don’t Ever Buy Duralast Sensors for your Jeep. In fact, I plan to avoid Duralast if at all possible in the future. You’ll see why in a moment. I read warnings from other Jeep owners on the forums, but figured I’d be fine. I was wrong.

A few months ago I replaced the old Jeep CKP sensor with the Duralast one. It took awhile. The youtube video I watched said you needed to remove a bracket in front of the CKP bolt to get it at. Nothing is ever as simple as it sounds on an older car–this bolt and bracket were completely rusted together. Also, as I found later, you don’t need to remove this at all.

View from under my Jeep. The Crankshaft sensor is held in by the top bolt that is in the middle of the photo, and it goes into a slot on the right.

The results was this: the car no longer stalled (great!), but every 15 minutes or so in a cycle it would buck and miss and stutter and have no power when you try to accelerate. It was even less drivable. It actually took me awhile to link the change in the symptoms back to the new part, I think I just couldn’t believe that a brand new part could be faulty.

At this point I was desperate. I was so sure the new sensor was going to fix the issue, and now instead I had a new problem! What the hell.

The right part for the job

I redoubled my efforts on searching Jeep forums until I found a few threads that convinced me the Duralast part wasn’t going to fix the car, I needed a real MOPAR original Jeep part.

My Dad managed to swing by a nearby Jeep dealer, since of course I was stuck in Boston without a working car. He picked up a new sensor, and I came back on the train to do the install, a trip which was quickly becoming routine. I pulled the CKP out again, much quicker this time, only to discover that I had the wrong MOPAR part! I couldn’t believe it. The Jeep parts department at the dealer swore to my Dad it was the right one. Instead I had a harness for a Cherokee…not a Grand Cherokee.

This weekend for a third time I pulled the part, and finally swapped in the new (correct) one. After about 2.5 hrs of driving, I haven’t had an issue.

The offending part. The crankshaft position sensor.

This week I should finally be able to call my Jeep fixed, and not have to worry about repairs for awhile. It’s been a long road to this solution.

The underside of my Jeep.

Getting out from under the car after the succesful repair.

This repair wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my Dad and his expansive tool set, nor the countless posts on similar Jeep problems from various Jeep forums. If anyone finds this page who has the same problem and wants any information, feel free to contact me.

Housatonic Fly Fishing

Last weekend, May 27th-30th, I hopped a train out from Boston (my Jeep being in need of repair) to meet up with family and begin our annual Memorial Day weekend camping trip. We almost always go fishing, although I’ve only been fly fishing a handful of times. We were headed the the Housatonic river in Cornwall Connecticut, the premier “classic” east coast trout fly fishing river. Last year we headed down to nearly the same area, for an entirely different adventure–backpacking a small section of the AT from Jug End in Mass to RT. 41. This year we opted for some more relaxing car camping.

A little background on fly fishing

I’m still a beginner when it comes to fly fishing, but I felt like this trip I was finally starting to get the hang of things. There’s a lot of know how to fly fishing, from which fly to use in what river at what time of year, to being able to actually cast said fly where you think a fish is. Not to mention untangling your line after a (inevitable) bad cast, or re-tying your line completely waist-deep in the middle of a river.

While that may seem complicated and frustrating, I actually find fly fishing to be very relaxing, and rhythmic. There are two main types of fly fishing, nymphing with a fly below the water, or casting a dry fly on top of the river. We nymphed almost exclusively, since no trout were rising to eat the flys–even at dusk.

Bash Bish Falls

We fished a good amount on Saturday, but I didn’t get my camera out until Sunday when I convinced my family we should go for a hike. While their idea of a hike was a little different than mine, we still had a good time. We drove north to Mass, through New York, to get to Bash Bish Falls.

From the overlook at Bash Bish Falls

I snapped a few quick photos of my family and the falls, we hung out for awhile, and then headed back to camp for more fishing.

My parents enjoying the view

My sister with her SLR

Fly Fishing Take Two

After heading out and gearing up at my Dad’s favorite spot on the river, I decided to stow my camera in my chest pouch and risk losing it in the event I fell into the water. Luckily I didn’t, and we fished the evening away right up until we had to get our headlamps out to find our way back to shore.

You’ll notice there aren’t any photos of actual trout caught during our time on the river. You’ll have to believe me when I say both my sister and I each caught a decent size trout on Saturday, and a few smaller fish on Sunday. Since this section of the Housatonic is catch and release only, it was hard for me to get my camera out in time for any of my sister’s fish, and impossible when I had my own fish on the line in one hand, while unhooking it with the other.

Our only disappointment was that although there was a nice evening hatch (flys surfacing on the river), no trout were rising to eat them. We attributed it to the river still being high from the long winters runoff.

Early Evening on the Housy

New Gear

My Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2 all set up.

Part of this trip that I was excited about was trying out my new purchases–a ultralight 2-man backpacking tent weighing in a 3 lbs 6 oz, and a new 45 degree down sleeping bag, weighing in at 1 lb 3 oz. It was great to get used to these on a comparatively luxurious car camping trip, rather than on the trail.

The interior of my abode, complete with pillow.

I was extremely happy with both. We got caught in a strong thunderstorm Monday morning at 6 am, and since we were camping on trampled dirt, my tent ended up in a sizable puddle–and stayed completely dry inside for the duration of the 4 hour storm! I also think the tent is roomy enough to actually use with two people, although in continuous wet weather I might feel a little cramped. What I was not happy with, was discovering that my sleeping pad had sprung a number of miniscule leaks, leaving it deflated every morning. I attempted to patch it without success. I’ll try again when I’m at home.

Books

Though the storm soaked a lot of our gear, it didn’t stop the book sale my Mom wanted to visit. I was disinterested at first, but scored 3 great outdoors books for only a few dollars. I got National Geographic’s guides to both the National and State parks, as well as a book on rock climbing techniques. Along with a book I grabbed off the family bookshelf–Ray Jarine’s Beyond Backpacking, I should have my reading cut out for me, to get even more psyched about trips this summer and fall. I’ve been engrossed in Jardine’s book, his approach to backpacking and thru-hiking, and I’d like to note he invented the Spring Loaded Camming Device, which was revolutionary.

Extra Photos

Since I risked bringing my camera out with me, I’ll include a few photos I took to give you an idea of the Housatonic.

Waiters, the most stylish outdoors attire.

Waders, the most stylish outdoors attire.

Upriver from where I was fishing

My Dad and Beth downriver from me. Excuse the blurryness.

Head Monsters, Marker Dukes, Mad River Glen, Jay Peak and La Niña…

…Are all my new favorite things.

Northern Vermont got blasted with snow last week and over the weekend. Mad River Glen and Jay were both 100% open so we packed the car and headed north. MRG had been mostly closed during the week, so we figured we’d hit MRG on Saturday for some fresh tracks, and then migrate up to Jay on Sunday to take advantage of the overnight snowfall they were expecting.

I’d never been to MRG before, but I’d heard the stories: they have a single (chair lift), don’t do much in the way of snow-making or grooming, and they still don’t allow boarders. Additionally, from a brief chat with a patroller, Rob discovered that ropes and closed signs at MRG are kind of like stop signs in Italy: more of a friendly suggestion. This all made for some exceptional tree skiing: scratchy in places, but mostly knee deep powder with deeper drifts. The woods there are both tight and steep. We spun around 8 laps in the woods before we ran out of gas around 2 pm.

Jay got nearly a foot over Saturday night, and fortunately for us (but not so fortunately for every behind us) we managed to get the first chair up. We were among the first people to hit the woods to far skiers left (Beaver Pond and Andre’s). Again, there were a few bares spots, but mostly it was knee deep powder, with thigh deep drifts no uncommon. It snowed all day, and we continued to find fresh tracks until our last run of the day, just past 3. Behold:

Be envious!

Plenty of snow left by the afternoon…

Of course, in order to best enjoy these epic January conditions, a sweet pair of powder boards are necessary. Thanks to Quiver Killers, I was able to pull my Dukes off of my BD Havocs and plop them onto my Head Monsters with relative ease the night before. At 193 cm long and 95 mm under foot, the Monsters are, well just that: monsters. When I first pulled them out of the box like two years I began question my judgment in buying such a pair of skis on the East Coast. And then they sat in the corner of my room while I decided what to do with them. The excellent snow conditions over the weekend prompted me to pull ’em out and take ’em for a spin. It took me a run or two to figure out how to handle them in the woods, however due to a variety of factors, I found them to handle nearly as well as a significantly smaller ski. The Monsters are exceptionally light, even for their size (in fact they are the lightest of all of my skis). Coupled with the snub-nosed form factor of the Dukes, the whole setup keeps a very low moment of inertia. I found that this really lets me throw them around quickly. The Dukes are mounted well aft of center which allows me to pivot on my heels quickly and easily, and the added length up front lets you keep an aggressive forward stance. All in all, they could hardly have worked out better. I can’t wait to take these beasts out west…

The Vermont sunset on the way home from Jay.

The boot conditioning process.

It’s pretty unremarkable: clean off the muck with a wet rag, clean again with some Nikwax cleaning gel, dry off, and finally buff in a bunch of Nikwax waterproofing wax.

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