Fuel pressure leak is what my issue ended up being. I had a small pressure leak where the valve stem was. It almost seemed like it kind of just vibrated loose. Let it be known that it will always be the last thing you check. lol.

 

Ignition switch?

 

Not much help to add here, but maybe what I discovered will help someone else trying to troubleshoot this problem ...Have a 2001 also and have been dealing with this since I bought it...Was poking around under the hood today and when I shut it off with the hood up, I could literally hear the fuel trickling back to the tank...Was told the fuel pump was just replaced before I bought it....Regardless, I guess I'll need to get a fuel pressure gauge to find the cause of the drain back...

 

yeah i had the same problem and i changed out my starter and all the wires workin from the battery back and it turned out that the starter fried on me. after i changed that the problem dissappeared but i didnt think of oil spitting on it that might be something to look into and maybe i should do that before i fry another starter

 

cherokeehugger, I am a moderator and your thread is fine where it's at. We don't promote flaiming newbies on the this forum and I won't stand for it.

To give you the correct answer to your problem, it is the one way check valve in your fuel pump that is bad. Not the fuel pump itself but, the check valve which is inside the fuel pump. I had this same problem awhile back with my 91 XJ. If left overnight, I would have to crank and crank and crank to get it to start. If started shortly after turning off it would sometimes start right back up. It always ran fine once it was running so, I knew the fuel pump was good. It was just very frustrating to have to crank it for so long to start it up. What the check valve does is keeps the fuel in the line once the engine and fuel pump is shut off. So, there is fuel at the engine when you go to start it back up. When the one way check valve goes bad, the fuel drains clear back to the tank every time you shut it off causing the extended cranking to get it started again. Unfortunately to fix it, you will have to replace your fuel pump. That is was fixed mine. I hope this helps you.

 

I have the same problem with mine. I found this thread but, haven't tried it yet.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/sta...m-fixed-23239/

 

I've had this same issue with my 01 cherokee. I picked it up about 8 months ago for $600 with 210k miles. Needed work but ran fine for the most part. Since I've had it, and the 20k miles I've put on it I've replaced starter, alternator, ac compressor, fuel pump, purge control valve, standard tune up, new plugs, coil pack, filter, so forth. Gotten everything working great, but STILL have the hard start, new fuel pump and purge control valve have less then 1k miles on them. Any ideas on where to go from here? Kinda feel like the hard start issue is over working the starter and dont wanna have to replace that again prematurely. Thanks

 

where is this valve stem for the fuel system u speak of. Having the same problem. Replaced fuel pump, purge valve
and still nothing

 

 

As a Mechanic here the common cause of the fuel draining back is the fuel check ball in the pump, the only way to fix the issue is replace the pump. what you can do till you replace the pump to reduce the crank time is to cycle the they key on and off 2-3 times before trying to start the jeep!

 

I'll check again this weekend, but wanna say it was in range last time I checked, gunna go through and check hoses real good too