I have a 1996 XJ, 4.0 AX-15 5 speed. It sat for about 7 months (between August and now because of school and winter). The alternator crapped out so I replaced that and now it has a very very long crank (almost 30 seconds) and it barely idles unless I romp on the throttle a few times. Once the idle finally does stabilize, its only at about 300-450 RPM. Anyone have any ideas? Or should I just go get some fresh gas?

 

fresh gas would def be a plus you should put treatment in it if its going to sit that long

 

I never quite planned on storing it that long. This person whom I used to go wheeling with kinda screwed me over one day by "borrowing" my Jeep (his wasn't running when we went wheeling so I brought him with me. He proceeded to push me into a mud pit and jump in my Jeep and sink it up to the windows). It never ran right on the way home, so I parked it and was planning on working on it the next day. Next day comes and its a downpour and I don't have a garage to work in. Priorities came before the Jeep so it fell to the wayside for the winter.

 

all fluids and filters should be changed also to limit any more damage from that fun day in the water

 

The fact that it got wet is important here.

The "throttle position sensor" absolutely hates water. And a symptom of a bad TPS is having to tip in the throttle a bit to get it started.

So if I were you, I'd get a new TPS in there and see if that resolves it. They aren't particularly expensive; $45 or so.