Okay guys, was ridin around with buddies today, dropped it into neutral to rev at some ladies, and as soon as I touched the gas, it backfired twice. LOUD. Not a normal backfire, a LOUD *** backfire, and then died. Took it back to my place, tried starting it, and it turns over fine, so no rods or pistond blown.

But is backfires LOUD. And won't start. I'm also running a punched cat, and no muffler as it was ripped off and mangled when wheeling, and haven't had the money to replace it. My buddy's dad said that I probably jumped timing when i shifted into neutral, but I have no idea.

Thank for ANY help!

97 4.0 Auto 4wd.

 

what is your question

 

check dist cap for hair line cracks

 

Whether reving an engine impresses a lady or not is entirely dependant on the woman herself.

But,in the case that your engine backfires and immediately dies, any woman in the world can do nothing but laugh at you.

 

To jump timing you would have to do something more than rev in N. An XJ has a timing chain and sprockets, not a rubber belt that can easily stretch and slip from a few teeth. If you have enough slack in your chain to allow you to jump timing (what your describing sounds like a 180 degree jump), you have bigger issues than you think. On the distributor end, it's geared into the cam, so absent sheering teeth, again it's not jumping.
Sounds to me more like you bent a valve or destroyed a valve seat trying to showboat for the ladies.

 

ouch, the only lady you need to impress is your XJ

 

Well, I pulled plugs today, they show normal wear, but they have no spark on crank. So I'm leanin toward Crank position sensor.

 

do a compression test while plugs are out. just a thought?