So i'm trying to figure out why my new 4.0L is not starting in my xj and to try and fix it i'm trying to adjust the timing by turning the crank to however many degrees it's supposed to be from factory. Anybody know how many degrees the timing should be set to on a 4.0L to start?

 

I'm not sure you can mess with timing on an electronic ignition...but if you can, the distributor hold-down nut should be loose enough to turn the distributor while you crank the motor - that is how I did it in my hotrod days. But those distrubitors had points.

All that said, 10 degrees before top dead center on number one cylinder is probably a safe start.

 

What year is it?

If it has EFI, there is no timing adjustment on fuel injected models the ignition timing is set by the ECU.

 

Figured out what may have been my problem... the new flywheel i bought turned out to be too far away for the cps to read so it wouldn't advance the timing. Now the problem is there's a short somewhere that wasn't there yesterday night. Turn the key and it shorts and kills the power... you can see it short at the positive terminal. Any ideas about this one?

 

Start tracing wires. Or buy a short detector

 

Good news, it runs. Reseated the distributor 60 degrees counterclockwise and it started right up. Have to fine tune the timing so it idles just fine though. Oh, and I busted a brand new u-joint while driving it, just going to take off the front driveshaft for now.