Having an anoying issue. I have the stock 4.0 with 247k miles. I'm having a crank no start issue. Here's what I've done.
1.)new plugs, wires, distributor cap/rotor
2)replaced the Crank position sensor on the bell housing.
I noticed that it runs alright when the temp is around the upper 60s and and does well when the weather is hot. Rain/water does not affect it. There is a noticeable miss at idle but it's not crazy bad when it decides to fire off and run for short periods. I noticed that the rpm needle doesn't bounce when I turn the key like it did with my 1994 ram 2500 (cummins), my 1995 ranger (2.3 Lima single cam dual plug). I also noticed that at idle my oil pressure dummy Guage bounces off of max and 3/4 max when idling, but will read right but twitches while driving. Coolant temp Guage somewhat reads right but will occasionally not read at all. During crank/no start episodes, the oil pressure Guage twitches at max , temp Guage doesn't read at all, and the rpm needle doesn't bother to twitch or even move and there's a heavy smell of raw gasoline. When it does run it'll stall like you just turned the key off and it might start in an hour or two.
I'm unsure on how to test the neutral safety switch and would like to know how to bypass on the jeeps. (My ram 2500 and my ranger were both bypassed with manual transmissions and I have an automatic in the jeep.)
From what ive read here and other places is that all of this is related and i cant figure out what it points to.

HELP!!!!!!!!!

 

So do you have an XJ Cherokee or a ZJ Grand Cherokee? Your post say GRAND but your profile says XJ.

If ZJ, you should try the Grand Cherokee forum at: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f5/

If XJ, you should change your title to avoid confusion.

 

The Grand Cherokee ZJ didn't start until 1993, so I'm guessing it's an XJ. If it's cranking, it's not the neutral safety switch (NSS) because that only prevents cranking unless it's in park or neutral. Have you verified whether you have spark? A heavy gas smell sounds like you don't yet the injectors are firing, which would make me suspect the coil since you already changed plugs, wires, rotor and cap. I would also check fuel pressure.

I also highly recommend visiting cruiser54.com and start working through his great tips, especially the ones covering ground connections.

 

Good point!!