Just took it for a drive in the yard and it didn't come back.

Weather conditions is rain. I'm thinking their is moisture maybe in the dizzy cap, but I just replaced it a few months back and the Jeep ran fine for a couple minutes.


Went to start it, it started and then died. (Thought, this is ok because I haven't cranked you over for 2 or 3 weeks)
Then started driving in the yard and it died. I started it, it ran for 30ft or so and died. Wouldn't start, just crank and crank.
Ok, gas. the light was on, so I guess it ran out of gas. I put 2 gallons in and still no start.

While I'm cranking the engine over it is firing here and there but not able to pick up and just run.

WTF!?

 

I guess the CPS is dead.

It doesn't just crank, it tries to turn over on its own. Semi-firing, but just will not start. What a great time for the cps to die. At least it is in my yard and not on the street somewhere.


It was a free ride, but damn its costing a lot to keep it running. :-p

 

I remember seeing it somewhere. Not sure if it was Google or this place but I can't seem to find the "how to guide to replace the cps"

I need to know what extensions are needed to reach up in their for the CPS.

 

http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoCPSchange.htm

 

Sweet thanks for that. Just put it in my bookmarks.


This is very similar to what my jeep is doing btw.

 

this writeup is better

http://greatlakesxj.activeboard.com/...picID=24211453

 

Doesnt sound like a CPS. It wouldnt be firing at all.
Mine was acting up, it would only start with it floored and I had to hold the gas to get it to stay running. Ended up being the head/firewall ground strap. Check it.

 

I'll get new battery cables tomorrow and get those installed.

It needs new ones anyways, and I was just going to get them when I was going to fix my oil filter adapter link on the next oil change.
The current ones are is nasty condition. Hope that will fix the issue.
I do hope it is it. Cheaper than a CPS. Seems like the CPS for some reason have gone up in price at Autozone.

 

not the battery cables, the ground strap. Located on the back side of the head, it goes to the firewall. 1/2" Braided Aluminum.
A 12" "Switch to starter" 4ga wire should work good.

 

My jeep started acting up a few weeks ago, would act like the battery was dead sometimes, wouldn't crank right, slow crank, or sounded like the starter was going out, had to give it alot of gas sometimes. almost like it was out of fuel, it was very strange. Got a set of cables from 5-90 on here, heres his website http://www.kelleyswip.com/index.html. alot cheaper than from the stealership and my god are they quality built. Super beefy Cleaned every ground point to bare metal, used dielectric grease, and my jeep runs beautifully now, starts up every time and cranks like a champ. The retarded PO let all the cables melt into each other, that's right, pos and neg cables MELT into each other, and the head to firewall ground strap was split a quarter way through somehow.... Cables are always a good choice, good luck man

 

Got negative and positive 2-Gauge Duralast Gold power cables from Autozone and it seems to have fixed the issue.

My old ones looked absolutely horrible, and were 4-gauge cables.
Hopefully this is the permanent fix to that little issue.

 

Do some basic testing here. Don't guess.

Gotta check for quality spark first with any no-start.

Pull a plug, place the plug electrode near a good engine ground while hooked up to the plug wire, crank the engine and watch.

You are looking for a strong, blue, snapping spark. Yellow/orange/white indicates a weak spark which may not be strong enough to start the engine.

If you have spark, the problem is NOT likely to be your crank sensor.

With good spark, spray a bit of starting fluid into the intake. If it starts and runs momentarily, you have confirmed a FUEL DELIVERY problem.

Spark + Fuel (plus compression and air, but let's assume those are good for now) = START

 

I know spark and fuel are fine, those were checked.
I checked some of the connections and have a few more connections to check tomorrow to make sure that they aren't as bad as the battery cables were.



Isn't their something with the PCM that causes Jeeps to act like this? Fix it by replacing the mounting screws with shorter ones? Or is this another vehicle? If its the Jeep I may wanna look into that.

 

Not on a 89... That was the later years.