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Why would my "96" Cherokee 4.0L keep going through pick up coils, ie cam sensors ?

It seems like every 6 months or so, my pick up coil goes out. The trusty Jeep becomes not so trusty. Almost 2 years ago was the first time it happened. My truck was down for weeks trying to figure out what had happened. Finally I broke down & took it to a shop $350 later all was fixed the pick up coil had gone out. Within 6 months it starts missing (cutting) out while driving all over again. I took it back & they replaced it for free, Thank God! Now it's at it again. What is up with this thing? Is there something that would cause it to keep burning up pick up coils? By the way these parts from your average "discount" auto stores are of far inferior quality. I've bought 2 @ $35 that didn't work at all right out of the box. That makes the replacement cost for a good part about $90. Any help would be great. thanks, XL

Public Comments

1. cherokees are known to overheat, how hard you drive it can cause problems and if there is a short in your wiring then that could also be your problem.
2. The pick up coil sits on top of the cam drive. You may have a cam drive with worn bearings that allows the shaft to wobble, thus wearing out your cam sensors. It is not too difficult to replace and not too expensive. The hard part is it must be indexed (timing set) and you need a DRB3 or other scan tool to set it up properly.
3. The cam sensor is in the dist. c-tech. Obviously your using poor quality aftermarket parts. Go MOPAR here. Theses rarely fail. Now the cranksensors, those are pretty common failures. Definitely another "go mopar" parts here too. If there was a wiring or other "issue" the problem would reoccur alot faster. ~Dan