hoganJr

I bought a 1989 Jeep Cherokee from a private owner. It looks kinda rough and they couldn't get it to run. They told me some story about the fuel pump going out of it again. I towed it home, put some gas in ti and started it. It sat in the driveway for a couple months because I did not really need it yet. I started it every week or so and let it warm up.
Recently I bought a new muffler for it and put plates and insurance on it. I drove it like 20 miles on a friday and parked it in the garage and changed the muffler.
Then I pulled it out of the garage and parked it in the drive.
Nexy morning I started it up and backed it in to the garage again. I did not let it warm up at all because I was gonna try to tighten up the exhaust manifold gasket.
I tried to loosen and then tighten the exhaust manifold gasket bolts. I sprayed a bunch of PB Blaster on the area. Got the nuts to turn a little but did not want to break the studs off so I quit.
Had a front turn signal bulb socket that would not ground the bulb so I went to lunkyard, snipped one and brought it home and installed it. Blew the flasher fuse in the process and replaced it. Now it's all good.
Now the motor won't start. Turns over fine and occasionally seems to fire on a cylider or two.
It never failed to start before and I drove it 20 miles the day before.
Spark looks OK. Has very little fuel pressure. Pinched the return hose, replaced the FPR, sprayed starer fluid in the throttle body. Motor will not start.
Can you guys help me out?
Thanks
hoganJr

hoganJr

just looking for clues from people who may know...should I be thinking asd, cps...?

Abovetimberline

Make sure you have good power to the icm located under coil,check your cps for resistance should be open when checking terminals when unplugged,you may try and unplug it and plug it back in,that works sometimes,you can also check ballast resistor on left inside fender well to make sure the wires to and from are tight,it is a little white porceline resistor with one wire to and from.

hoganJr

abovetimberline, thanks for the reply. Connections to ballast resistor are tight, haven't cleaned them. I found that the wires from the cps were laying against the heat shield and the insulation was damaged, couldn't tell if the wires were actually exposed, but I cut out the damaged part and spliced good wires back in...still nothing. Have disconnected the cps connector multiple times in hope of a quick fix...still nothing. Not looking forward to replacing the cps, but if others have got their arm and head back there I guess I can too. Not completely sure what the icm looks like or how to test it, but I'm getting a crach course in Cherokee wrenching.
thanks again
hoganJr

hoganJr

I replaced the cps and that did not fix the problem. I replaced all the plugs. They were all uniformly sooty. Now she starts and runs, but not real good. How can I troubleshoot a chronically rich condition?
I noticed that the air hose from under the manifold to the air box is missing. Also could a faulty EGR valve cause this condition?
Thank You
hoganJr

ET JEEP

Check your vacuum system and make sure you do not have a leak or disconnected hose. Some sensors need vacuum. You mention low fuel pressure so you have to check this to see if this may be your problem. It starts and run crappy so ignition is good. Check the fuel and sensor items.

Steelcityfan29

One non start issue I had... Neutral Safety Switch... if yours is auto. Hit the crap outa your handle to make sure its in park.. then try