New XJ 1988 owner
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From: Prescott, Az
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Alright - cleaned all the grounds (the ones i saw and could find after some searching) used some fine grit sandpaper on both the terminals and the "metal" and changed some of the terminals and cables that were basically loose.
Also cleaned up my IACV aswell as most of the electrical connectors in the engine bay with some elec. cleaner.
Also, the vaccum lines were all wrong, the EGR vacum line was connected to the air box etc....it was chaos...so I bought some new vac. lines and redid everything according to the chart that cruiser gave me and well, I don't know what did it but it idles a lot more stable now...around 500 rpm's but no dips like before...!
It still needs a bit of throttle to get going though...could it be the CPS? It just cranks and doesn't fire when holding down the key.
Also cleaned up my IACV aswell as most of the electrical connectors in the engine bay with some elec. cleaner.
Also, the vaccum lines were all wrong, the EGR vacum line was connected to the air box etc....it was chaos...so I bought some new vac. lines and redid everything according to the chart that cruiser gave me and well, I don't know what did it but it idles a lot more stable now...around 500 rpm's but no dips like before...!
It still needs a bit of throttle to get going though...could it be the CPS? It just cranks and doesn't fire when holding down the key.
CPS should be fine if it starts. My Tips have a test for it.
Your TPS could also be an issue. Again, Tips has a procedure to check it.
Ever replace your fuel filter or check fuel pressure?
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Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Haven't checked either but will do, the TPS is next to the IACV if i'm not mistaken right?
Haven't checked the filter or the fuel pressure, will replace the fuel filter when my shop gets it back in stock. The pressure though, needs a special tool right?
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Prescott, Az
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Check the line from the throttle body to MAP sensor on the firewall. If that leaks vacuum, the Jeep will run real rich and not start well unless the gas pedal is nearly floored. Also check the electrical connection on the MAP.
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Check the connections with a multimeter or just check that they're not broken/dirty etc?
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Prescott, Az
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Good luck finding that hose. Dealer only if you can still get it.
The clip that holds the wires to the MAP is many times broken and it doesn't plug in securely. Makes it run rich as hell.
The clip that holds the wires to the MAP is many times broken and it doesn't plug in securely. Makes it run rich as hell.
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Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Ah, will go through that and check it - hopefully it's something that you suggested (easy fix)
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From: Prescott, Az
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
One thing I was also wondering about was the distributor cap and the ignition cables. How do I know which cable goes to which sparkplug? I see that the engine has an ignition fire sequence stamped on it but It doesn't really tell me much.
Just wanted to go through so that they're all lined up correctly.
Just wanted to go through so that they're all lined up correctly.
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From: middleburg fl
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
wow very interesting reading here. cruiser54: props to you for being so helpful to andrew. Im thinking Andrew you should just consider purchasing a plane ticket for cruiser so he could have a nice working vacation in a beautiful country. At the very least you should stop by prescott and say hi when you do youre la to ny run
and i would think you would know if it were miswired the motor would be shaking and there would be a definate loss of power. in addition two of the exhaust ports on the manifold would remain cooler than the rest on startup due to a lack of proper firing order. click on this for a pic of proper firing order
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...lectedIndex=11
and i would think you would know if it were miswired the motor would be shaking and there would be a definate loss of power. in addition two of the exhaust ports on the manifold would remain cooler than the rest on startup due to a lack of proper firing order. click on this for a pic of proper firing order
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...lectedIndex=11
Last edited by kennzz05; Aug 6, 2013 at 05:35 AM.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 162
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
wow very interesting reading here. cruiser54: props to you for being so helpful to andrew. Im thinking Andrew you should just consider purchasing a plane ticket for cruiser so he could have a nice working vacation in a beautiful country. At the very least you should stop by prescott and say hi when you do youre la to ny run
and i would think you would know if it were miswired the motor would be shaking and there would be a definate loss of power. in addition two of the exhaust ports on the manifold would remain cooler than the rest on startup due to a lack of proper firing order. click on this for a pic of proper firing order
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...lectedIndex=11
and i would think you would know if it were miswired the motor would be shaking and there would be a definate loss of power. in addition two of the exhaust ports on the manifold would remain cooler than the rest on startup due to a lack of proper firing order. click on this for a pic of proper firing order
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...lectedIndex=11

And thanks to you as well for the firing order, will be taking a look and making sure everything is good. But would the engine show it that clearly if let's say if 1-6 were mismatched?
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From: Prescott, Az
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
My better half and me will be taking the "south" route through the country and we'll be passing by prescott so i'll hopefully be stopping by cruiser and buying him a pack of beer as thanks for all the help 
And thanks to you as well for the firing order, will be taking a look and making sure everything is good. But would the engine show it that clearly if let's say if 1-6 were mismatched?

And thanks to you as well for the firing order, will be taking a look and making sure everything is good. But would the engine show it that clearly if let's say if 1-6 were mismatched?
And, we have a brewery here in Prescott......
Last edited by cruiser54; Aug 6, 2013 at 07:06 AM.
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Joined: Jul 2012
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From: middleburg fl
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
My better half and me will be taking the "south" route through the country and we'll be passing by prescott so i'll hopefully be stopping by cruiser and buying him a pack of beer as thanks for all the help 
And thanks to you as well for the firing order, will be taking a look and making sure everything is good. But would the engine show it that clearly if let's say if 1-6 were mismatched?

And thanks to you as well for the firing order, will be taking a look and making sure everything is good. But would the engine show it that clearly if let's say if 1-6 were mismatched?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 162
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
And we'll, we'll figure out something :P quite a while to go before we're in the US and a bit more until were in Arizona!
Originally Posted by kennz05
the short answer is yes it should be obvious as you would only be running on 4 cylinders
I check the MAP wire connector and the vac line and cut the original plastic tubing and replaced most of it with new vacuum tubing just to be on the safe side. Didn't seem to be any bad connection in the connector, fits and clips in fine.
Started the engine and it now fired after quite a bit of cranking (about 5+ times). Might be a coincidence but i'll try tomorrow and see if I can reproduce it.


