gottarollwithit

So i just got done replacing the rear wiring harness and a trans fluid/filter change. The previous owner fried the PCM with an O2 sensor short out. I fixed all of the damage and had the car running on a borrowed PCM.

After doing some work today, everything looks fine. Fuel pump kicks on when i turn the key to #2 pos, but when i turn to crank, all i get is a click!!
Got any ideas?

-As my reverse lights don't come one when putting the shifter in R. I jumped the NSS at the wiring harness by jumpering the middle 2 pins on the side of the connector opposite the clip. That seemed to do nothing.

-My gauges work both when the CPS is plugged in and unplugged.

-My ground at the battery to fender is good, same for those under the distributor.
I got the car to throw a P1694 and p0700 code. The p0700 code went away on its own though.

We tried starting it countless times, but once it somehow weakly cranked, then started. I turned off the motor right afterwards b/c it sounded like it was misfiring and burning stuff.

At this point, i'm thinking maybe the CPS or maybe a bad ground? I jumped the starter relay for like half a second and it seemed to crank or come to life with authority. But, when turning the key i remember it cranking weakly.

What's involved in the cranking system of this vehicle?

00jeepXJ

clean and retighten your battery cables. Also look at all connections for the wires involved with the starting system and battery. Test your battery. Pull your starter and take it into any parts store and have them test the starter.

wallyjxj

Replace the CPS and check the timing. CPS is always an issue for some reason in xjs. check battery then starter. The PCM is a funny thing and if not exactly right it will throw lots of little things off. just make sure the one you have is good.... say put it in another Cherokee and see it behaves.

belvedere

+1. The CPS would not prevent it from cranking.

wallyjxj

bad CPS is almost always a no start. sure the starter motor kicks but it wont fire up. when my cps was bad nothing worked. my scanner wouldn't connect. there was no power at the coil. it was bad

belvedere

Yes Wally, true, but the title of his thread says "no crank".

wallyjxj

i believe from what he is saying that it doesnt crank. fine. CPS is something that is worth replacing if it is in question. there are ways to test the CPS. here is a thread dedicated to CPS trouble shooting http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/c...-maybe-889010/
but what i think you are saying is move on from the CPS.

what do you think it is belvedere?

gottarollwithit

Definitely will NOT crank.

Battery is brand new. I know the connections to the terminals are loose, but they were tight enough to crank with the old battery. It won't even try to crank.
All i get when turning the key is the fuel pump on pos II, then a click on pos III.

I jumped the starter relay. Apparently, if you jump 2 of the terminals, it'll spin the starter. It energized like an angry beast. I jumped 2 other terminals on the starter relay and popped the starter fuse.

Is there any way to tell if i'm getting electrical signal from the key to the relay? I'm really fuzzy on what is between the key and the starter in terms of wiring. I've found info for this on a 95' Cherokee, but i know the wiring situation is rather different 97'+

Any way to test the starter solenoid?

freegdr

Headlights work ?

salad

Yes this has NOTHING to do with the CPS. When you say "energized like an angry beast" do you mean you got shocked? :P Or did it spin? All electrical connections MUST be clean and tight. Scrub them with a wire brush until shiny, reassemble and tighten them up. I recommend a conductive anti-oxidant electrical grease (NOT dielectric grease) on all connections. You can get products like Gardner Bender OX-GARD at Home Depot for this purpose - doesn't take much.

This is from my 1999 FSM but I'd hope that it applies to your 98 as well.

gottarollwithit

Ooo, thanks for sending the FSM pics.

Dunno on the headlights. I'll see if they work soon.
I do know that when i crank, the clock on the CD player goes blank for a moment.

00jeepXJ

Momentary loss of headlights, interior lights dimming and radio screen going blank is normal. They shut down or dim when the starting system is engaged.

gottarollwithit

Gotcha.

So where are all of the grounds on this car???

I've cleaned up the grounds under the distributor, both grounds on the rear of the block on both pass and driver side. Any others?

Radi

Have you tried swapping the starter relay?

Another possibility is the ground for the NSS is bad. The ignition key provides +12V to the starter relay, ground for the relay comes through the NSS.

gottarollwithit

Where is the ground for the NSS??

I tried jumping the NSS, but if the ground for it is bad that'd negate any jumping.

I have power at the starter relay. I've tried swapping it and it didn't help.