AridzonaXJ93

I have been tuning up my93 4.0 XJ for the past month or so since I got it and have a couple of questions I'm having a little trouble figuring out myself.

One thing I noticed since I purchased it is it has hard starts in the morning, I have to cycle the key twice to get a decent start. once it's warmed up it starts in one crank where as it takes 10 cranks if it's been sitting. The starter does not sound any different weather it's warm or hot and yesterday I replaced my fuel pump "not assembly, just the pump motor" because it was getting a little too noisy and while it's much much quieter, it did not solve the problem. My boss tells me it's most likely the crank position sensor but wouldn't it hard start regardless of weather it's cold or warmed up if it was the CPS? I'll be checking my FP at work today and check for drops after it primes.

My second question regards the steering box. Once again in the mornings after it's been sitting when I turn on the car and begin to drive it I notice the steering wheel has what I can only explain as lump at the straight position and the wheel does not want to stay straight ahead, it will **** itself at an angle left or right but it still drives straight, if I try to straighten the wheel the jeep will want to pull very badly left or right, however once it warms up the lump disappears, the symptom goes away and it drives just fine. Any ideas?

If anyone has input I'd appreciate it. thanks.

Lowrange2

I would have blamed the first issue on the fuel pump... I'd check fuel pressure at prime and go from there. This is a common problem on later models but not so much on the earlier ones.

Second issue... I've got nothing. Check for play everywhere. Bad valve in box?

Exactly how cold is it when say cold?

Arizona isn't that cold yet, is it?

salad

First issue sounds like the check valve which is part of the fuel pump assembly. You can verify by doing a "poor man's prime": Turn the key to run, let it sit for a minute, off briefly, then run again, then off briefly, then try to start it. It should fire right up. This doesn't sound like a typical CPS failure.

Second could be bad fluid. It's possible it's never been changed before: do a couple drain-and-fills on the power steering system and see if that gets you anywhere.

AridzonaXJ93

When I say cold I mean it's had time for everything to cool down to ambient temp like it's been sitting for a few hours or overnight.

I've had the jeep on our rack and there doesn't seem to be any play anywhere in the suspension, everything's good. My gut tells me there's something up with the steering box but I'll do a flush and report back later on the results. In the event I decide to replace the box I've read about using a Durango steering box, is this a better option than our steering boxes? what are the pros?

Thanks

AridzonaXJ93

Yeah that's what I've been doing with the old pump, cycling the primes.

Since I replaced the pump it still does it so I will be checking my fuel pressure today. I wish I would have known to inspect the check valve while replacing the pump motor yesterday lol, can just the check valve be replaced or will an entier assembly be necessary if it is indeed stuck?

tjwalker

There is also a check valve on the "fuel pressure regulator" that is in play here for losing fuel pressure.

AridzonaXJ93

I'll be inspecting that as well, thanks for pointing it out.

Girlfriend drove it around all day. Hard starts aren't so bad now, ill still be checking every thing out but didn't have a chance at work it was swamped.

Thanks for everyone's help. I'm still wondering about the steering box, can anyone chime in for the Durango box? Is it a budget alternative or actually have a beneficial purpose?

salad

Yeah Durango box without the snowplow package is a direct bolt-in replacement and is stronger