Cane

As the title says, got in the jeep this morning and it would crank, almost fire up, and no start. At first I thought I had partly drained my battery because when I entered the jeep the buzzer started right away, like when you forget the keys in the ignition or the lights are on. I charged the battery but it was already full. Thought about getting it tested? But the starter seems like it's getting full power.

So then I cleaned the throttle body and IAC, tested fuel pressure (without a gauge) and I could hear the pump and when I turned the key pressure built up in the fuel rail, would have to test to know for sure.

I have a distributor cap and rotor laying around so my next step was to try replacing that, but having no check engine code doesn't help much so I thought I'd ask here before doing anything else.

CPS was replaced 3-4 years ago and TPS about 3 years ago. I have a couple TPS in case it's worth trying to swap over, but last time I had issues a code was thrown, nothing this time.

Any help appreciated!

OldTires

How does the ignition coil look? Spark plugs, wires and distributor cap and rotor?

How about the grounds and electrical connections?

Any codes?

Cane

Grounds could use a clean up, hadn't thought of the ignition coil, I'll go look at it. Plugs cap and rotor are about a year old. I'll go ahead and replace for the spare cap and rotor I have. But it started so suddently that I'm thinking there would have been signs if the issue was related to eletrical connections, no? Like sometimes it would start, other times not. Instead it happens consistently. Thanks!

OldTires

When connections go bad, they can suddenly start acting up with no warming.

Another thing to consider is the quality of the gasoline. Small chance, but if you went to a new/different gas pump, maybe you got bad gas.

Cherokoolguy

x2 on the gas, sounds to me (and correct me if i'm wrong) like in order for the engine to start and run, it needs more gasoline than it should and when it tries to idle, it isn't getting the fuel it wants. Check lines, pumps, etc. But also check your plugs and your filter and everything as well. (Again correct me if i'm wrong, im just answering with the best of my knowledge. )

jordan96xj

Grounds and electrical connections are the place to start. Remember that the starter has a more direct connection to the battery, so sometimes it will be fine, while other things are starving for voltage. What you describe are classic symptoms on the XJ for voltage/ground problems during startup.

Next up would be to take a closer look at the IAC. But based on the details you gave, I'm betting it is electrical/voltage in nature.

OldTires

Cane, did you figure out your issue? Just wondering in case it hits me in the future. Thanks.

Cane

thanks guys, i cleaned my IAC, still didn't start, then charged th battery, didn't start, then I decided to clean my battery connections thorougly and noticed the terminals were in pretty bad shape. they looked fine but when trying to loosen the ground the terminal simply broke in half.

i remembered that about 2 years ago my starter failed and while diagnosing a guy that lives in my appartment complex said "hey it must be your terminals, here I have some spare ones!" well they lasted longer than they should have that's for sure.

anyway, long story short now it fires right up and I have some 1/0awg cables and some brass terminals waiting to go in.

OldTires

Good to hear you got it figured out.

Cane

yeah it was weird though, gauge showed full voltage and the starter didn't feel like it was lacking power, like when you will drain your battery and it'll turn over very slowly. With the pedal pressed it would fire right up, but not hold idle. I don't see how that is battery related? Usually if the alternator is fine wouldn't it provide the power needed to keep the jeep running?

I once had a battery connection issue, it would trigger the GEN light when driving, but the jeep would stay running. Then when I turned it off and tried to start it again, nothing, not even a click. I'd giggle the terminals and it would fire right up again. Ended up replacing the battery terminals and all was fine.

Either way, I started taking to bus to get to work so I have less to worry about now, but like I said I'll replace the cables soon and will give the ignition a tune up while I'm in there. I think I'll be fine after that.