Well..Good and Bad News.. The good - I drove her Jeep all day yesterday. Running various errands for my parents and grandmother, it ran perfect! Seemed even stronger then before! Was very excited to finally have a running vehicle for my girl friend. But as life has it for me- The Bad - I woke up this morning, went out to warm it up for her, and it won't start. Has all electrical items working, lights wipers etc. fuel pump primes but won't turn over. Pt in neutral thinking the safety switch.. Nothing.. And dom light does dim. So doing done research I found it could be the Crankshaft Positioning Sensor, or starter solenoid. Tapped the starter slightly with hammer... No go. Feeling frustrated and annoyed I got her to work this morning via my own Xj. Got back home.. It fired right up. Drove it around for a few.. And now the blower motor is s***ing out also. After a few mins of heat on hi.. it catches on something and makes a crazy loud grinding/crunching sound.. But still throws heat.. Turning it off then on again.. Its fine for as few mins.. This Jeep hates me! And I hate it as well! Lol All I can do now is laugh.

 

Do not despair.
Several things can cause your intermittent (ad therefore somewhat electrical sounding) issue of no starts.
To answer your question regarding the CPS (crankshaft position sensor): yes, this is known to give intermittent issues with running/starting. Much like the cam sensor. Both could be in play here. It starts, then next time it doesnt, and this is all completely random. Sometimes its heat related.
You could check if you have spark, when it doesnt start. To verify this is not the issue, and check fuel pressure to make sure your pump is not only whining, but also working. It sounds like an intermittent no spark issue, and the above sensors can cause this via via.
Dont hate your Jeep, at the moment it just needs a bit more attention than your other one

 

A CPS will not cause the engine not to crank over.
It will however, cause it to NOT start when cranking over.

The fact that the dome light goes dim tells us something here. The starter/solenoid is drawing down the battery in the Start position. Bad grounds, dirty cables, bad solenoid/starter........

 

This^^^ also more info? does it click when it doesn't turn over? (at the starter)

 

No.. It does nothing no sound at all.

 

But the domelight dims?

What if you turn the headlights on first? What do they do?

 

I was thinking it was the cps because what I read said about intermittently not cranking.. And I tapped the stater and nothing happened.. Then after 30 mins it turned over fine.. And started

 

Okay, let me set you straight.

Cranking is when the engine turns over with the starter.
Crank-no-start is when the engine cranks over but doesn't start.

 

Yes I understand.. I turned the key and it did nothing.. It didn't crank.. It didn't try and crack.. there was no noise of any kind.. Other then fuel pump.

 

Not sure about the headlights first I'll try it when I get home

 

I'm going out on a limb and saying that it is starter related, If it draws current as stated earlier when ign is depressed. If it doesn't draw down it could be as simple as mine stranding me at lowes the switch on the column was loose enough to slide down where everything worked except the start function. it seemed to be an intermittent problem at the time till it totally quit.

 

Ok so Would it be worth getting a cps from a JY and buying a new starter? Or should I just get one and see what happens

 

Cruiser54 help!
I don't know what the CPS is going to help. as for a starter, yours might only need cleaned.

 

I agree about the starter. Is it covered in oil ?

What are the battery cables like? Last time serviced? Battery full of water?

 

Cables look good.. Last time serviced.. I have no clue I bought this Jeep about a month ago.. I'm assuming its old as hell along with the battery.. It has 214k miles now.