I don't mean to be a dork, but for the non-crank issue - it's in Park, right? (I've spent hours tracking a non-crank issue, only to find i'd moved the shifter out of the way to work under the dash....)
I agree those stupid squeeze-on wire connectors are worse than useless. Check to see that they didn't completely cut the copper wires inside the insulation where they were installed.

Once you get it cranking again:

Hook up a timing light, confirm spark is near TDC for #1 while cranking.

I didn't notice if you said you'd replace ignition coil - is the spark strong? I had a weak coil that stranded me on the side of the road, that still sparked, but not enough to let it run.

 

Sooo Charockee says the starter wire from the ign switch can be cut for a remote start installation. Guess that could do that!

 

are you getting signal from the key switch to the stasrter relay/solenoid by radiator

 

well the starter is cranking so unless there is something I am missing I am getting power to that solenoid. the starter drive is kicking out every time the engine fires even briefly but the starter is cranking. I know I probably will need to replace the flywheel. I did not know this when I had the engine out because before I overhauled the engine it would not even fire so it did not kick out, and the flywheel did not look bad at that time. but it sure would have been easier to replace before I put the engine back in lol.

 

are you sure you dont have the timing 180 off?

I have done this before and have the same symptoms you have.

Cranks and cranks may fire up for a second then backfires and dies.

build a rig from a spark plug non fouler and a length of hose. screw non fouler into cylinder 1 and feel for compression as your buddy turns the bolt on the harmonic balancer to 0tdc. If you dont feel pressure your on exhaust.

Next set your dizzy.

This is easy to mess up I have done it more than once.

At least if you go back and do this you can be sure you are on compression and that eliminates one more thing.

 

I'm curious about the distributor.. you say you're adjusting it one tooth either way? What or where exactly is that? My '93 Laredo 4.0 has no 'teeth' like on an old chevy dist with the gear on the end. It just has a flat on it to mesh with the oil pump. It was not possible to adjust the timing. I went back and looked at the 'how to' article I used to be sure.
One thing I thought about, could the plug wires be off by one hole? I mean the firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4 going clockwise.. #1 in #5, #5 in #3, #3 in #6 etc.. or vice versa.. I wouldn't even suggest such a thing, but it looks as if you've done everything BUT swingin' the black cat over it. Very interesting post! Looking forward to see the solution.
"This thing ain't got no gas in it" Karl Childers ;-)

 

That slot is to mate the dizzy up to the oil pump.

There is a gear above that, it gets driven off the cam.

Check again the gear is there.

As far as one tooth adjustment, you rotate the oil pump slot a little with a screw driver then drop the dizzy in. This in effect moves it over a tooth or two.

If you do it too much you will be way out.

Thats why you set the oil pump slot in a position relative to a clock, when you install the dizzy.

 

Stockli.. now that you mention it, I remember seeing the gear down in there when I was trying to line up the oil pump/dizzy slot. I didn't give the gear a second thought while I was doing it, as I had marked/indexed the dizzy body and rotor position before removing it and was only concentrating on that. Geeez i'm gettin' ate up in my old age ;-) I knew the dizzy was spinnin' the oil pump, so what'd I think was spinnin' the dizzy?? Ate up I tell ya!

 

Wow, you still don't have this running yet?

I guess I shouldn't be one to talk though, I haven't even attempted to start my new motor yet. Every time I fix one thing I find something else I need to replace- this week it's the fuel pump.

How about a " short" recap of where you stand with regards to cranking, fuel pressure, compression, quality of spark, and sensors that have been replaced. From the picture your distributor position looks good- I'll assume you've got the timing order correct and spark plugs in the right place. Have you done any investigation into confirming the fuel injectors are all firing? This could be done by testing the pulse wire of each injector while someone is cranking over the engine.

 

auto shut off relay? my second thought was it sounds like the ECU isn't getting a signal from a sensor. I would look more at the distributor, cam shaft possitiong sensor.

 

No I still don't have it running. I have put it on the back burner for now.

as far as being sure it is not 180 out. I have tried it 180 out just to test it and it won't even fire.

I bought the noid lights and checked the fuel injectors they are firing.

so to recap:
This jeep is a 93 Cherokee with the 4.0 it has 199,000 miles on it. My son drove it out of town this summer and it quit on him. It would crank but not fire. I brought it home in a trailer.

I should mention that last winter I put in a new high torque starter, and new spark plugs.

While he was trying to get it started a helpful bystander told him he had a bad starter and proceeded to try to jump start it. this did not help.

Anyway I brought it home. I assumed it was probably the crank positioning sensor so before I even looked at it I picked one up at O’reillys and swapped it in. it still would crank but not even try to fire. So then I had my Dad come over to help. He is a pretty good mechanic but he is retired and has not done a lot on later computerized engines. He is top notch on carbureted vehicles though.

1. Replaced crank position sensor.

Ok so we started trouble shooting. The first thing we found when we pulled the distributor cap off was that the insides of the distributor were in pieces. The cam position sensor etc. was broken.

2. Replace distributor, cap, and rotor.

So then it still would not start. it would not even fire. So we tested the coil and found that we were getting no spark from the coil.

3. Replaced coil.

It still would not start. But at this point we were getting spark from the coil wire.

4. Checked fuel pressure at the fuel rail. it was ok. It measures 35 at rest and 40 cranking.

5. checked compression. It was not great but ok, around 100 on 4 cylinders 90 or so on the other 2.

So at this point we thought it must be timing. We had spark, fuel and compression it must be timing. The timing light seemed to show the pulse at the proper time but I thought possibly the harmonic balancer had slipped, and it was hard to tell where the mark on the balancer was. We tested tdc by using a compression tester hose and thumb over the hole to check. And we were pretty sure we had it at top dead center but we could not think of what else it could be so we pulled the timing cover to confirm that it was timed ok. Dad said it would be but I thought it was worth a look. He was right. I was not about to go to all that work for nothing though so before we took it apart I bought a new timing chain and gears. The timing was ok and the chain was loose but not terrible.

6. Replaced timing chain and gears.

At this point I thought maybe that new crank sensor I got was bad out of the box so I swapped the old one back in, but it still did not help. (This was before I learned how to test the sensor.)

7. Swapped old cps back in.

8. Then I bought a used guaranteed computer and swapped it in and still no luck.

At this point I was very frustrated. And since the engine was a greasy mess and had 200,000 miles on it with low compression (spec is 150) I felt I was just polishing a turd. So I decided to pull the engine and tear it down so that at least I was working with a good starting point. I had planned to rebuild it as soon as we could get it started because it was using oil and leaking all over and I wanted to put a hotter cam in it. I also wanted to make it look nicer. I felt that it was possible it had something internal such as a wiped cam lobe or bad valves that was contributing to the problem but I did not think this was what was keeping it from starting. I felt it would allow us to start from scratch with a known quantity in the engine and figure out where the electrical problem was.

9. Engine overhaul.
-Bored .030 with new pistons and rings.
-Bearings
-comp cams camshaft
-water pump
-harmonic balancer
-heads with valve job replaced all valves and seals. Proper valve springs installed.



in the mean time I bought a third crank sensor at Napa and tested all three and the 2 new ones tested the same resistance and the original had zero resistance so I installed the new one from Napa with the new engine.

i put in a new fuel filter and 4 gallons of fresh gas.

10. Fuel filter and gas.

Tried to fire it up and it would fire and it even ran briefly. Terrible but it ran.

Thought maybe we had the distributor in one tooth off even though we installed it when the head and the front cover were off so we pulled the distributor several times and still it won't start. We tried it one tooth off either way and even reinstalled it 180 out. 180 out it would not fire at all just backfire.

11. New plug wires.

12. Checked fuel injector pulse with noid lights. They seem to flash properly
13. replaced O2 sensor.

14. I have looked at the wiring but I have not pulled it out of the harness yet but this is still a possibility.



after all this I gave up and took it in to the dealership. they told me it needs a new flywheel because every time you crank it and it fires the starterdrive kicks out. this would cost me over 800.00 for something I can do myself with just time.

as of now I have stopped working on it for a while.

right now I have spark, I have fuel pressure, I have fuel injectors pulsing, I have compression. I can't get it to run long enough or crank long enough to check the timing with a timing light. I know there is something wrong in the electronics. that is causing the timing to be off. it is the only thing it can be. I hoped that the dealership would be able to diagnose which electrical component was bad. they had it for about 2 weeks and could not get any further than I am now. so I guess the next step will be to pull the flywheel just so I can get it to crank better. even though I know that is not what is keeping it from running. what I want to do is find someone who has a running cherokee that I can swap components off until I find what is wrong.

I have gone back over everything we have done. I KNOW the engine is good and built right. I have replaced multiple components I am concerned something I have already replaced such as either the distributor or computer is bad, but I have already spent so much time and money on this thing I really don't want to spend anymore money without a better idea where to spend it. but so far every suggestion anyone has offered, and everything any of the mechanics I have spoken to or seen have not been able to track down where the problem is.

so basically I am at a loss where to go from here. I will probably replace the flywheel and see if that will help the cranking issue. and then I may take it to another mechanic I know locally.

 

To remove all doubt about whether it's firing the spark at about the right time - simply hook up your timing light to #1 - look at the mark. It should be very close! If it's wrong, it'll be way off.
If the Noid light is flashing and you have fuel pressure - even if it's firing at the wrong time, it should run. Smell a plug to verify.
Dribbling a few teaspoons of fuel down to prime it is never at the right time, but it will run momentarily.
Take loose the exhaust - at the header or cat, it may be plugged tight. Just a small opening will do.

To check to see it it's the wrong cam firing order - check for compression on #1 at tdc, the check the next one for the same.

 

I know this is gonna sound like waaaaaaaay out in left field.....

and my apologies as I know you have been valarous in your effort to get 'er running again......

there is a ceramic resistor that is used for fuel delivery that is usually wired up on the fenderwell on the drivers side....

yours missing? or not connected.. I may be off on the year, but if that is cracked or missing it wont ever start.

my 2 cents, an god bless all your hard work sir!

cpnwrench

 

yes It is called a ballast resister unless I am mistaken. and it is hooked up and I checked it for continuity. It does have continuity but I don't know how to check it any further than that. I do not know what resistance it is supposed to have. does anybody know how to check that.

 

I have tried to test it with the timing but whenever it fires it kicks the starter drive out so it is hard to be sure where it is firing. and the plugs have been fouled twice now and they are definitely getting fuel. we have tried shooting starting fluid into the throttlebody and that did not help. I have not tried disconnecting the header yet. I will have to try that.

as far as cam timing are you suggesting the cam I received might be made wrong? or that somehow the timing gear is on the cam wrong?