so, yea, i dont have an e-brake, and i have a 5 speed in an 88 xj. got in my jeep, started it up and shut it off but forgot to put it in gear. i got out and shut the door and my jeep starts rolling down a hill and right into a pond, i couldnt get into it before it hit the water. so i finally get into it as it hits the water and i slam on the brakes but it just sank further into the soft sand. so at this point, my body is half underwater and the water was up to the passenger side of the windshield (no joke). thankfully my friend was there with his truck to pull me out right quick. and please, i dont need any crap about my own stupidity.

here's where the problem starts, after we pulled her out, we had to leave it over night because there was water in everything but thankfully i didnt hydrolock it. so the next day i go out there, pull all the sparkplugs, and do an oil change, then i cranked it over, shot all the water out of the cylinders and then continued to put the plugs back in and crank it and it just cranks. so we finally get it towed back to my house and i was messing with it today but i cant pin point what the problem is, im pretty sure its getting spark from the ign control module, but i dont think im getting spark to the plugs, the cap, rotor, and wires were all replaced recently so i dont think thats the problem.

in my mind, the main culprits are the stator, and possibly the crankshaft positioning sensor seeing as ive never replaced it. obviously it could be any number of sensors but if someone has a better idea, id appreciate it.

also is there any other spots where fuses might be hidden on an 88 XJ? because all the fuses on the block under the drivers side are fine, but i dont think my fuel pump is going anymore.

im this |--| close to just scrapping/selling her and i dont think i want to quite do that yet, so please help me figure out why she's not running!

 

Is there water in the distributor?

 

Did you try to remove a plug, and put it next to the block so the plug is touching the block, and crank the motor over so you could see if the plug was firing?

 

I have the vision of the scene from Risky Business in my head after reading this.

Did you pull the cap and dry it out? I would start by verifying that you are getting spark, to all the cylinders. Afterwards, I would check the relays in the PDC under the hood. Then test the crank sensor.

 

"Is there water in the distributor?"
there was, but its out now.

"Did you try to remove a plug, and put it next to the block so the plug is touching the block, and crank the motor over so you could see if the plug was firing?"
my friend tried that while i cranked it, and he said there wasnt any spark...but he could just be an idiot.

"Did you pull the cap and dry it out? I would start by verifying that you are getting spark, to all the cylinders. Afterwards, I would check the relays in the PDC under the hood. Then test the crank sensor."
its drying out tonight. whats a pdc?

 

Gas tank ingested water.

Water doesn't burn like gasoline.

 

Good advice here. That bank of relays was underwater.

Check the CPS and check for spark, and FYI the stator in the distributor won't cause a no start.

I don't think there's gonna be a silver bullet cure here. You've got your work cut out for you.

 

ballast resistor happens everytime they get wet they get fryed its on the driver inner fenderwell try hooking the 2 wires together if it runs thats your problem its like a 10$ fix

 

X2 this was my thought as well.

 

PDC, is the Power Distribution Center, AKA Fuse box under the hood. Its on the passenger side, so it got sumerged. Very well may have fried some/all relays.

 

88s didn't have a PDC but they had 3 to 4 relays on the passenger side inner fender that are responsible for things like fuel pump etc.

This whole deal is gonna be a mess and this Jeep will most likely be plagued with electrical problems for the foreseeable future.

 

Thank you.... Did not realize 88s didn't have a PDC per se. Agreed^, I feel a good healthy dose of dielectric grease is gonna be needed regardless of the issue(s) found. A friends truck got swallowed by the tide, the saltwater reeked havoc with that truck for over a year.

 

how can i tell if they are bad? and yea i realize the second part, im trying to find a car to buy but with 450 dollars its kind of hard.

 

You can easily rule out the starter.

Turn the key. Does the motor spin? Ok, then it's not your starter.

 

Should have used the e-brake lol jk.. Im not sure about xj dizzys but there is an igniter in most dizzys. you might have ruined that. You should see if you can barrow a friends and see if you get spark then. The igniter cost a lot itself so you might have to get a whole new dizzy. <-- btw i mean distributor.. old car talk not sure if you would have understood.