Hi all, I've been reading this forum for years for all my repairs on my 1996 XJ 4.0L, but this is my first post because I haven't seen any posts similar to my situation. I had routed some gas line too close to the exhaust apparently, and it ended up damaged and leaked as I was trying to make it home a few days ago. I ran out of gas and it threw a P0171 code (running lean). I thought it was just due to running out of gas, but the code stayed on for the next 50 miles or so. It operated as expected during this time.

Last night, I started it and drove for a minute before it felt like it slipped into neutral and then caught 1st gear and lunged forward before immediately dying. I had accidentally started my jeep last week with a transmission line unconnected to the radiator, losing some fluid. When I'm low on transmission fluid, it slips into neutral at low speeds, so I wasn't too worried, just thought I'd have to top off when I get home. But my jeep wouldn't start back up. With the code still on, I decided that my fuel filter may have gotten clogged from debris at the bottom of my tank when I ran out of gas, so I replaced that. After trying to start it up, the code was gone, but maybe I cranked it too many times and it is now cranking very weak/slow. I momentarily got a "Gen" light but that and the p0171 code are now gone. My fuel line seems to be pressurized as the fuel rail valve sprays gas again, but still no start. I was working alone so I had to film to see if I was getting a spark, but it looked like I wasn't getting a spark.

I'm a bit lost on which direction to take now. Thanks in advance for any input or suggestions!

One thing at a time. You are going to have to peel the onion one layer at a time.


First, the cranking speed. Check your connections and cables, of course, adn your battery charge. It might just be low. If all of that is good, and it's cranking too slowly, you may have overheated your starter. If so, you probably need a new starter.

Next, you have to get it running before you can check your trans fluid. Check your fuel pressure. You'll need a gauge for that. Just poking somehting into the Schrader valve to see if it squirts does not prove you have adequate pressure.

Thanks for the help @BlueRidgeMark ​​​​​​, a new battery got the jeep cranking normally. I found no spark to the spark plugs but spark out of the ignition coil (even though the housing is cracked). Opened up the distributor and found the rotor snapped in half. I put a new one in and got it running but the distributor was bouncing and making a thumping sound. I opened it again to find the rotor bent and the cap all cut up on one side.

So now I'm thinking I'll need to replace the whole distributor and time it. What I'm worried about is that the distributor seems to be resting on the motor mount (mine are super worn). Is it possible that the mounts wore out so much that the engine sunk, pressing the distributor on the mount and bending the shaft?

After watching some videos on distributor swapping, it looks like my engine is wayyy lower than others for my distributor to be resting on the mount. I can't even get a wrench on the distributor hold down bolt since things are in the way with it sunk down. I'm guessing this could only be caused by the mounts being in really bad condition?

if you had spark at the coil you should replace rotor dizzy and leads all at the same time

Like Mark said. "Peel the onion one layer at a time."
You need to fix motor and maybe trans mounts. You're gonna have to replace the distributor.

The go on to fuel pressure. Keep in mind that if you don't fix the mounts first, you could end up needing a fan and a radiator

Somehow I didn't notice that my passenger side mount bracket completely broke off, which cased the engine to lean, bending the dizzy. I think I'll try the brown dog bracket/mounts. Thanks all for the help, this is gonna be a fun fix