Hello all,

I am trying to troubleshoot my jeep not starting, the other day I got in my car and could not start it. I checked all fuses and relays and everything looked fine. I sprayed a bit of starter fluid in the air intake and it starts for a second then dies so I figured it has to be fuel related. I pushed on the pin on the fuel rail and gas just kind of dripped out instead of shooting out presurized like it should be. So I figured it was the fuel pump that went bad. I spent the past 2 nights swaping out the fuel pump and once everthing was put back together it still didnt start. I did notice by pushing on the fuel rail pin thay it is coming out much faster but it does not seem to be as presurized as it should be. Any suggestions to why it is not getting presurized to the right level?

 

There's a few recent threads about the neutral safety switch. Nss. Might wanna look those up. If you put the key into the on position and cant ove the shifter down its that. If it does move try and start in neutral. Don't really know but its a start. I did my fuel pump last two nights also. Damn chipmonks

 

It will let me shift in neutral, and yesterday I also tried starting in neutral with no luck. It has to be fuel related and I'm almost positive its somehow a pressure issue. I also have a wrangler and when I push the pin on the fuel rail on that car it comes out much faster almost like a midst. I do not get that on my Cherokee. I just don't know what else it could be because its a brand new fuel pump.

 

First thing you need to do is check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail with a mechanical pressure gauge. Just pushing on the valve will only tell you if the is fuel in the line. You need to know if you have the right pressure. If I'm not mistaken the pressure should be at 49psi. It would not be the NSS. If it was the NSS it wouldn't even turn over. Pressure check is where you need to start. BTW, What brand of fuel pump did you install. Hopefully not an airtex. Those are garbage and never seem to work in our XJ's. The best ones are the Bosch then Carter. Bosch being the best.

 

But seriously though, the first think you need to be checking is electrical, such as the fuel pump relay or the fuse for it. Do you hear the fuel pump prime up when the key is turned on?

AFTER you have verified that the fuel pump relay is triggering and the fuel pump is priming, then you can check pressure.

Beyond that check that you have 5V at all your sensors, TPS, CPS, etc...

 

If you have any pressure at all at the fuel rail valve, the pump has electrical power and is priming.

RTorrez1 had a good suggestion. And question as to brand of pump.

 

The problem ended up being a bad Crankshaft sensor, once that got replace it ran beautifully. Thanks for all the replies.