I just picked up this beauty of a 1997 Cherokee from a local guy. He replaced the engine a few months ago, started it up, drove to the gas station, drove back and then it would never start again. UPDATE: The replacement engine came from a 1998 Wrangler!

He replaced things like the starter, distributor cap, wires, plugs, etc but without any luck.

I picked it up because the body is solid as can be - the undercarriage is gorgeous, and, frankly, there aren't many 1997 Jeep Cherokee Country's around!

There is spark and it is set up on TDC. I am not 100% sure on how to check the fuel status - might not be getting fuel.

What are your thoughts?!

Injectors?
I think my first question would be WTF did buddy do at the gas station if it was running fine until then?

Does thw gas in the tank smell like gas?

Beware diesel Dave...

squirt a little starting fluid in there and see it it fires. check that damn crank sensor. (cps) most likely something stupid.

My step father once accidently pumped diesel into his gas burning mercury and about drove him crazy trying to figure out why it wouldn't run. It is a possibility the same could have happened to your local guy. Another thing comes to mind, my brother-n-law got gas from a station that was involved in a scam. The fuel was being "watered down" somehow and his camaro bairly ran and sometimes didn't start. It was finally traced down to the fuel as being the culprit.

That picture looks too familiar, with legs sticking out from under it

X2 on squirting some starting fluid it there to see if it will light it off...

Well, we sprayed some starting fluid into the throttle body and nothing changed. The fuel rail is pressurizing and full of fuel. We also checked the gas in the tank - seems to be gas. I put another 8 gallons of fresh fuel in it for good measure. Any thoughts?

If the guy said that he installed a new distributor, I would check it and make sure he installed it correctly and that it isn't 180 degrees off. I have a lot of friends that have tried installing it on the exhaust stroke and not the compression stroke. Just something I would check if it is only cranking.

I'm going to double-check the TDC - this just doesn't make sense...

Yeah, I see that you said distributor cap not distributor but you still might want to check it and make sure he didn't play with it. That is something that I would check considering that it didn't want to start even with the starting fluid and you are getting a spark....

Does anyone think the ECM might be the issue? Should the ECM have been reprogrammed after the replacement engine was installed? I was just checking for codes and it displays 'No VIN...'

I would have reset the ECU but you shouldn't have needed to have it reprogrammed but i could be wrong.

Its easy to reset
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/jee...ocedure-46047/

I just got word the replacement engine came out of a 1998 Wrangler. Thoughts?

I was finally able to pull the check engine light codes: P0320... Looks like I'll be replacing the crankshaft position sensor?

I installed a new, Mopar cranshaft sensor - still no go...