lehitch

My 1997 Cherokee country 4.0 won't start. It seems to only happen when it's cold. So I replaced the battery to see if it was the problem but it didn't solve anything. I don't know if it's getting spark or not. Any help would be great. Thanks.

DeadCellM60

First step would be to determine if you are getting spark or fuel. After we know that, diagnosing this thing will be a whole lot easier.

Potatowalker

can you hear the fuel pump "prime" when you turn the key to "ON"? Does the starter crank the engine when you turn the key to "Start"? Do you have a check engine light on constantly? Have you looked at plugs/wires/rotor recently? Do you get any gas smell after it cranks without starting for a bit? Notice anything else out of place recently? Does it run & idle normally once you get it to start? The more info you can provide, the better the suggestions will be...

lehitch

I just replaced the plugs, cap, and button. Also got a new battery. Started when it was warm the other day. Cold today and won't start. It turns over and over when I turn the key. I can hear the fuel pump engage. Once it starts when it's warm it runs great.

lehitch

Just replaced the plugs battery cap and button. It turns over and over when I turn the key. I can hear the fuel pump engage. Starts up when it's warm. But it's cold today and wouldn't start. Just kept turning over.

lehitch

Also. No check engine light on ever.

Potatowalker

If it cranks and won't start, then your lacking spark or fuel pressure or something is throwing the mixture way off. At this point, since you've ruled out the general maintenance items like plug/wires/etc. you'll have to start systematically testing for spark and fuel pressure. If you have good spark at the plugs and your fuel pressure is within specs then it's something like a sensor.

I had my IAC go bad and it wouldn't start in the cold unless I feathered the gas for 5 minutes 'till it warmed up. I was also having a problem with a bad check-valve in my fuel pump at the same time. That was a rough one to figure out cuz it was being starved for fuel and air at the same time. There are a ton of great posts on here already that after a good bit of searching, allowed me to diagnose and fix the problem myself (i've never had any automotive training beyond drivers ed).

Potatowalker

another thing you can do is the Check Engine light flashy-code trick. There is a way to get the CEL to flash and you count the flashes and compare the numbers to a code chart and it will give you limited info if there is anything registering. Mine's never turned the CEL on but I've definitely gotten it to flash me some codes before. I forget the exact procedure (has it finally been that long?!) but it's easily googleable. That may or may not help you narrow down your problem.

Just wanted to let you know there can be multiple major malfunctions in the engine and never have the CEL come on, even when it's a bad sensor!

lehitch

after trying to start it today, its still a little cold out, but warmed up a bit, it does smell like gas when i open the hood.

Flash1034

Any more on this?

Flash