Just bought a 96 Cherokee sport pretty cheap. It’s in pretty good condition and fairly low mileage. Bought knowing it didn’t run, guy I bought it from said his shop had diagnosed a bad pcm/ecu. Not entirely convinced that diagnoses is correct as I have heard it’s not as common for them to fail before other things ( I’d rather not spend 400 dollars to not fix the issue) . I try and start the thing and it cranks for about 2 seconds then completely stops. I’ve read about the crank no start issues being caused by bad crank position sensors but it hardly cranks before dying. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Error codes?

 

Lots of unknown variables here, assuming the battery is good and the battery terminals are clean and tight. Power and ground wires aren't corroded or frayed. Did the jeep have any work done to it prior to you buying it that may have brought this on? New flexplate? Poor work quality with low quality parts installed correctly/incorrectly? Wiring harness cut and spliced modified anywhere?

Can you manually jump the starter and it still only cranks short then stops or will it continue to roll over?

Obvious thing verify fuel and spark and testing those systems for potentially faulty components.

 

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/fsm...ds-awg-274313/

Download the 96 FSM, using the Index, check out the relevant sections (the following)

You need to feel the ASD, and Start relay with fingers while cranking

Presumably one of them is cutting out when it should not, then follow the diagnostics

 

Well bit the bullet and bought a new pcm and it actually fixed the issue. Thanks for the help folks