Wahoooy! She's running After my last post last night, i ended up going back outside to clear up my tools. My little 3year old came out to help me of course. Earlier in the day, (after reading another post) i had my wife prime the pump several times while i swished the tank around a bit - this was to help clear it of any air - but to no avail.
My lad loves the jeep, and after packing up he asked me if he could sit in the drivers seat. He got in, put the seatbelt on, asked for the seats to be adjusted and proceeded to "drive". He turned the key which primed the pump, I turned it back, he did it a second time. It was then that i smelt a strong smell of gas. I looked under the jeep and saw where fuel had spurted out the tank (as i had taken the fuel hose off the tank earlier to check for blockages - which it wasn't). I quickly refitted the hose, went to start it but got no start. Pulled the fuelhose from the filter and fuel poured out. Now i was smiling again. Primed the pump again and proceeded to release the schraeder valve. After a gust of air came out, fuel started to dribble, then gushed out. I then started her again and she fired right up - a little rough at first, but now idles nicely. Apparently, the guy whose post i referred to had a similiar problem when less than a 1/4 tank was left.
Thanks everyone for all your help and I hope this may help somebody else in the future

 

That's great! Glad to hear you got your Cherokee running! Now I know a little history of Jeeps in the UK too haha. Didn't know that until your post. Yep, as soon as your fuel lines are all clear fuel should be pumping out like crazy. You can also check the pressure from the primer valve thing haha it should be around 30psi I think. But yeah, great to hear it's runnin now. Have fun with your XJ!

 

Thanks 87p89lCherokee, just a few little things to sort out before i get her re-registered again. That fuel problem put me back a few weeks, coupled together with the lousy weather every time I tried to do something to the jeep and the fact that when you're at work it is always good weather

I'm taking her to Poland (supposed to be on my way now!) but that fuel problem caused me a big headache. I'll be retrofitting shoulder rear seat belts in her before we go and finally sorting out that roof console.

I'm really looking forward to that trip, need a holiday - badly!

 

Yep, I hear you man, having a garage to work in is a BIG help. Yeah, you can probably just map out a set up from a later year xj that came with the rear shoulder belts factory installed. Good luck with all that and have fun haha