ok so my dads 97 xj just decided to not start. now earlier in the day my brother washed the motor down and it sputtered and died. obviously from the distributor getting wet. so we let it sit and it ran. later that night it just cranks. we changed the battery and the Map and CPS. we already had the parts that were brand new so we threw them in. he had an old remote starter in it that we just took out thinking that maybe it was the issue but still wont fire. tried starting it wide open (read in another thread) and nothing happens besides it flooding the motor. i read somewhere that the CPS has to be lined up or something so would that be the issue? the oil pressure is good as well. the codes he had for a little while were for minor evap and a weird coolant code but the jeep ran just fine never got hot or anything and the fluid levels are all good. this is getting old fast haha. thanks in advance

I know you say you have spark an fuel. But The first thing you should do is make sure you have a good BLUE spark then check if you have the right fuel pressure. If I'm not mistaken the 97 should have 49psi + or - 5psi. Also make sure everything is dry then we can go from there.

alrighty will do thanks!

so the spark is good solid blue and pressure is good.

Perhaps the washing killed the injectors?

id start by checking your injectors. if there good look at your ecu i just went through this with my jeep. if your ecu is good start following wires under the hood i had an electrical fire in mine it ran fine forever washed it got in the area that had burnt and killed all my sensors injectors ecu it basiclly killed everything. And yes your cps does need to be in the right spot and depending on where you bought it it could be bad i only get mine from my local kragen as there always bad everywhere else. good luck.

Not in 97 the Cps doesn't need to be timed, only distributorless coil on plugs need that

Also, foot to the floor doesn't flood the motor, it starves it. It cuts all injector pulse and so if it was flooding, you would go wot and start it and after a few cranks it would fire when mixture was appropriate.

thanks guys! good to know about the CPS. ill have to look into the ECU trouble shooting

If you can get your hands on a noid light, you could pull a fuel injector connection and test for a signal pulse. You may be able to use an anolog style meter to detect a pulse. No pulse = no fuel to cylinder.

Gotta look at cause and effect. Your brother sprayed the engine bay down and now you have an engine that doesn't start. This is very likely not likely a coincidence.

If you have verified that you have a strong, BLUE spark, (and you said you did) then I would absolutely start with replacing your distributor cap; they hate water and are inexpensive.

The engine management sensor that hates water just as much is the throttle position sensor.

Yea i think its water related as well it just makes the most sense. im going to pull the distributor cap swap that and see what happens then ill look into the TPS. hopefully its not the ECU. thanks man

If you have compressed air, you could pull the distributor cap and blow any remaining water out. Squirt a little silicone spray under that cap and then blow out the excess. Maybe blow around the spark plugs and injector connections too.

Yea I'll give that a shot thanks. Hoping to work on it today.