Note*. When doing this test, Turn the key to the Run position or there can be no spark.
An auto = trans in park. Stick = block the tires securely, trans in neutral, E- brake on.
Pull a plug wire, and holding a screwdriver by the handle put the tip in the end of the plug wire where the plug goes. Find a good ground to touch the shank of the screwdriver on while cranking the engine. Move the screwdriver slightly away from the ground while looking for a spark.

 

Thanks!
And I followed your advice, I've got a buddy bringing over some cold ones later to figure this all out over!!

 

What time should I be there? jk
Keep wires and things clear of the fan and belt.
And don't worry about gettin' zapped...it doesn't hurt...

 

Much...

 

man honestly..as we talked about earlier..we have the exact same jeep..i hate the motor in mine..but as far as the jeep goes..i dont want another one..the jeep is amazing..i can go places in my stock jeep that my buddies cant with there jeeps...the 2.8 has no potential..but it is what it is..and there kinda rare..id hang on to it..if you sold it you would miss it badly

 

So...Progress
I ran the engine for a little bit to let it warm up, (it wasn't running too rough). Then 1 by 1 I pulled of the plug wires to listen for a difference in engine sound. I heard a difference every time, for all 6 cylinders.
Also, while I was doing this, the plug wires were arcing to everything in sight, except me (whew). So every plug was getting spark, that I know for sure.
Because It seemed to be running "better" I decided to see if I could take it for a drive. I was able to get going, and the "missing" sound was gone!
So I drove around the block, but theres still a lot of hesitation when I'm accelerating, and it started kindof lurching / galloping if the engine RPMs were in this one range that it didn't seem to like.
Still no power, but its definitely not missing anymore.

Also, I ran a compression test when I got back because the engine was nice and warmed up, and I don't really know what I'm doing from experience, beyond instructions and stuff, I went through 5 "compressions" on each cylinder, and each time it got up to right around 150 on the comp. gauge, it varied by +/-5.

So its not a bad cylinder right? something else? EGR valve was mentioned a while ago, would that do this? The missing is gone, but theres still definitely something wrong.

Thanks,
-Kyle

 

Yah 85, I'm not going to sell it. It's just too cool. I took the jeep wheeling right before this happened, and in 4lo and 1st I'm pretty sure I can literally climb anything. I just want to get it running and keep it that way, then maybe down the road I'll do the engine swap when I have money. It involves changing basically the entire tranny, transfer case, and a crap ton of the driveline to do it right, so thats WAY down the road if I can avoid it.
Power to the 85 2 doors!!

 

well..unless your wanting to go bigger in motor..the 2.5 4cyl will bolt directly to our trannys..there def not much on power..but there damn good motors..and the camaro 3.4 will bolt up to..but you would have to convert it to carbeurated.

 

next thing on my list..is rebuilding the motor..or doing a swap..rebuilding the tranny..and transfer case..it works fine now..but the tranny is a little iffy sometimes..and it needs a new clutch

 

Oh I was thinking of going to 3.8, but I think theres more work involved there. 3.4 would be a nice little boost tho.

 

I think you mentioned the plugs, but I would like to make a suggestion. These engines need all the help they can get. They don't breathe well and the ignition is weak. If you put some Bosch +4 plugs in it, you will gain a full 1000 rpms on the top end and the corresponding horsepower to go with it. It is a cheap fix and may solve most of your problem.

 

Why do a carb. Leave the electronics in and get the wiring harness and get the full 165 horsepower.

 

DOH!!! I forgot to hold the throttle wide open while I was doing the compression test. Crap. Oh well, so disregard the above compression results, I assume that ruins the test. They were still all the same, but I'll run it again tomorrow when it's light out.

 

Thanks for the tip 4.3L XJ. I will put those +4 plugs in. As to the breathing well, I think Edelbrock makes a performer intake for the 2.8 thats supposed to help a lot.
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_...ormer-v6.shtml
It requires hood shims and a holley carb to fit the more powerful one I believe.

So I'm going to run the compression test again tomorrow, and figure out how to check the EGR valve I guess.

 

I put the bosch platinum plus in when I changed them. I geuss I'll upgrade the plugs again for a little extra boost