Yesterday my daughter was going to drive my 98 xj 4.0. The Jeep started fine and was idling normal, she put it in reverse and the engine started running very badly, she put it back in park but the engine kept shaking so she shut it off. I went out and tried to start it and it was trying to start but was bucking and backfiring through the intake. Today a buddy and I took a look at a few things trying to find the problem. At top dead center the rotary button is pointing at No. 1 position. The distributor would wiggle side to side by hand, this was rectified by tightening the hold down bolt. Now it will not start at all. We are planning on replacing the cap, rotary button, plug wires and and maybe the coil and module. Are we on the right track or should we have it towed to a professional? Thanks

 

Either nobody has a clue, or nobody read my post, or cares. Maybe my question is just stupid? When I started working on the jeep today it started on the first and second try. I decided to go ahead and replace the d cap, rotor button, plug wires and dist module. Tried and it was back to it's old tricks. Pulled and tested coil per Haynes and replaced coil. No help. It is firing, getting fuel and has $150.00+ of new ignition parts and I am back to square one. I had it towed to my mech. Maybe he can diagnose the problem.

 

Lame forum. Got it fixed no thanks to this forum.