hey guys, I'm new to this forum stuff but I have a 98 cherokee sport that I just recently purchased. I bought it very cheap from a guy I know. The jeep sat for a lil over 2 years and he said it ran before he parked it. I put a new battery in, i had to add gas cuz it had an empty tank, and it wont fire over. It will crank but it wont turn over. I had a cherokee before so I'm familiar with tinkerin with them. I figure it needs a distributor cap, plugs, wires. But I'm also leaning towards the cps. I bought the jeep as a cheap project to work on with my brother so i hope i didn't get in over my head. I just want to get it runnin so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

try the crankshaft postion sensor, mine just keeps cranking to and everybody on here is telling me its that so good luck with that!!

 

Here is a diagram of the crank sensor. Usually the connector is degraded.

 

thanks for the quick replies. I guess i'll have to put a new cps in. The jeep sat for a long time and it needs a lot of other things replaced as well. I was hoping for the problem to be something a little less expensive but i guess its a jeep thing. thanks again

 

the cheapest crankshaft sensor i found so far is at 4wd.com but could be different then yours who knows!!

 

try several applications of contact cleaner in both ends of the plug and several cycles of plugging and un-plugging the connection.

 

what type of contact cleaner should i use and should i plug and unplug both ends

 

I use the spray from Radiocrack. Yes do both ends and anyplace that has a plugable connection.

 

thanks ill give that a try before i buy a new cps

 

You can even clean the sensor side of the CPS. 9 times out of 10 the sensor it fine it just can't pick up the signal do to dirt and dust.

 

the crank sensor is a mag pulse generator, i see it all the time in my job. it is a magnet and any debris on the end will impede the signal. like stryker said, try cleaning the end of it.

 

had to replace my crank sensor. was a b*** to get to but mine did the same thing.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I changed the crank sensor today and it started right up on the first try. It was a pain to do but it was worth it in the end. Now I can get to the other hundred things that my jeep needs lol. When I run into more trouble, you guys will be the first ill ask. I appreciate the help and thanks again.

 

how do u get the CPS OUT? AND WHAT KIND OF TOOL DID U USE ? MINE IS FRAYED AND IT KEEPS DIEING BUT I DONT KNOW HOW TO GET IT OUT

BCINGU

 

I would check your spark plugs too just to be safe. I dont want to make assumptions, but if your he sold it to you really cheap he may not have done too much maintainance. Plugs are easy and cheap. sounds like you got your sensor problem figured out, congrats, check plugs too