Ok its a 98 xj auto w 6cyl. its got high miles but it ran great. one day it started running funny and the cel came on. i got the light checked and came back bank one sensor two. ok no biggie running a litte ruff but still ran so i went about my day. on my way home i swing by a buddies house, we were chating and when i was about to leave he made a comment on the jeeps exhaust (stock) so i reved it up to like 4500 rpms. it sputtered then shut off. i drug it home only a few blocks away and there its sat since. I pulled the cap off and found the rotor had exploded. there was a lot of corrosion on the points and all over the inside of cap. i replaced the cap/ rotor/ plugs/ wires/ and new coil. all new parts. Nothing i still had no spark. then i went to a local junk yard and got a pcm from another 98 or 99 xj and swapped them out, still nothing. no spark. I have replaced the crank angle sensor with a new one along with the cam sensor inside the distributor. still nothing. then finally i replaced the complete distributor with a known working one from a friend. nothing! the only thing left is the ignition switch on the column and the ignition itself. Im taking any advice!! how can i test the ign switch? also i have switched around some relays and the ASD functions properly. Another thing i should mention is the key to my old xj worked better in the ignition than the factory one so i was using that key. a few days before all this happend the key got stuck in the ignition so i left it there. no biggie i guess but not sure if this is having any effect on it. and no neither keys have the chip inside them. just a regular key. thanks a lot for any help!


short version..... replaced plugs/wires/cap/rotor/distributor/coil/crank angle sensor/ pcm and no spark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

it turns over great new battery too! and i had a buddy use a test light and probe the distributor plug while turning key on and cranking to see if there was power at the dist and there wasnt anything!!

 

When you hold the end of one of the spark plugs to the block while turning it over there is no spark right?

 

no spark coming from the plug wires and none coming out of the coil wire.

 

and i have cranked it over w the cap off and the button is rotating. also checked all the fuses under the hood.

 

check for power in the wires going to the coil and cam sensor

 

ok ill check that in a few. . does it need to be while cranking or can it be while key is on?

 

no power coming out of the plug to the cam sensor

 

Check all fuzes and relays inside the fuse box on passneger side wheel well that have anything to do with engine, fuel or spark. I know there is a big fuze that says something like Engine 1 or Engine Management 1. That one kills all jiuce going to the motor. I saw a shorted fuel pump cause this fuze to blow in an XJ one time.

 

i can hear the fuel pump prime and i have some fuel pressure at the rail. i have chacked all the fuses and relays under the hood on passenger side. i dont know how much fuel pressure im getting but i am getting some, but the main problem is no spark! ive also heard of shorted out o2 sensor wires doing weird things. i just find it weird that i reved it and the buttone blew apart and something else randomly failed. no clue lol

 

Try cleaning or replacing your NSS. If that's not it I had a chevy do that because the oil sensor was bad and the computer thought I had no oil pressure and refused to spark.

 

im looking up where the nss is now.. going to look at that now. i had a bad oil pressure signal thing by the oil filter on another xj but it ran fine. thanks!

 

if the nss were bad wouldnt it not allow it to crank or would it? because ive tried starting some cars in gear and it doenst let it crank?

 

NSS precludes starter ops other than park and neutral when adjusted properly.

I didn't notice you checking power to and from the coil. The distributor should have taken care of the other issues associated with an exploding button, odd as it is.

 

yea the distributor came out of a known running jeep and i replaced the cam sensor and the rotor and cap. so it should be good. just weird that it happend the way it did. rev then die lol