Anyone know what the difference is between the 97 and 98 distributor? I did a 5 speed swap on my 97 with 98 parts and the jeep kind lurches around during medium throttle. At times it will backfire out the intake, mainly when cold.

I can see that the part numbers are different between the 2 but both years use the same cam, cap and rotor. Maybe the shaft puts is a little different than the 97 position wise and the 98 PCM is set up for this? If so I should be able to put my 97 auto PCM back in and test drive it to see if this is correct and if so just swap the distributors?

Fwiw I did the complete swap, wire harness' and all... Just left the 97 distributor in.

 

You will need a PCM for a 5 speed tranny. The PCM for the AW4 won't work. PCM part number for a '98, manual trans, federal emissions, is 56041531AB

The two distributors are mechnically the same but the switch plates (Cam Sensors) are different, so you should put a '98 switch plate in the '97 distributor.

 

The major difference is the connectors, 97' used the same as the early models, 98' started using a different one

 

Which connectors?

 

98 5 speed PCM is installed along with can plate. Even the base of both distributors have different party numbers on them

 

I have a similar situation here, I have a 98 ZJ and recently had to replace the engine, I got a used 97 engine and after being installed had seemed to work fine for awhile however after awhile it started sounding a bit rough and when starting on a cold engine it would shake the whole engine. Then one day when accelerating from stop it backfired and sputtered, would not restart. Took it to a shop and they said the distributor was all torn up and needed to be replaced. After replacing it they still could not get it running properly and suggested I take it to the dealership, which I did. They replaced the CPS and distributor plate. I noticed all parts that were installed were for the 98 Jeep yet I now have a 97 engine. Could this be the cause of the issue I now have and if so what would I need to do to remedy the situation to get the Jeep running again?