Help! Won't start!
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 26
Likes: 1
From: WA state
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0 L I6
My 98 xj has given me a lot of issues since I bought it. Driving it home it kept dying as I would slow down and come to an idle. now it won't start. I changed spark plugs, new battery, alternator, starter distributor, camshaft position sensor, crankshaft position sensor, head gasket, intake gasket, valve cover gasket, pistons, radiator, thermostat, timing chain with sprockets, serpentine belt, and ignition... it has good compression so I'm thinking its fuel related or possibly a bad ground..it turns over but won't start please help me!
Senior Member


Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 558
Likes: 226
From: SE TX
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Wow, now that is a laundry list of replacements!
Assuming all is good with those, I would clean my grounds up till they are all shiny and check the fuel pressure at the rail. If you are getting fuel, your plugs should be wet after a cranking session.
If the pressure is good, I would go back and check for spark. After shooting it with that parts cannon, I hope they are working as they should.
Assuming all is good with those, I would clean my grounds up till they are all shiny and check the fuel pressure at the rail. If you are getting fuel, your plugs should be wet after a cranking session.
If the pressure is good, I would go back and check for spark. After shooting it with that parts cannon, I hope they are working as they should.
The idle air controller (IAC) would have been my first suspect for stalling when stopping. I would also test the throttle position sensor.
Did the non-start begin after replacing the distributor and camshaft and crank sensors? Bad part out of the box isn't uncommon, and an incorrectly timed distributor would also cause a no-start.
Did the non-start begin after replacing the distributor and camshaft and crank sensors? Bad part out of the box isn't uncommon, and an incorrectly timed distributor would also cause a no-start.
so the motor has good compression, but does it have correct fuel pressure and spark ?
If yes, the XJ dizzy is, by many accounts, most easy to mistakenly replace one tooth out
I would follow the fault finding procedures outlined in the free download FSM to work through these issue logically
If yes, the XJ dizzy is, by many accounts, most easy to mistakenly replace one tooth out
I would follow the fault finding procedures outlined in the free download FSM to work through these issue logically
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 26
Likes: 1
From: WA state
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0 L I6
The no start issue was before I replaced sensors and distributor its doing the same thing it did before I replaced everything minus occasional white smoke clouds ( it dose not smoke anymore after all engine work)
Last edited by Adam Rogers; Dec 16, 2020 at 05:09 PM.
Senior Member


Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 522
Likes: 28
From: Prosser, WA
Year: 1993
Model: Cherokee(XJ)
Engine: 4.0
There is good info here for you, I don't have the time right this minute to dig through it but here are the FSM's you can use for troubleshooting.
http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/XJ/
http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/XJ/
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