'93 2.5L 4 cyl

had some time so I did some maintenance on the jeep. replaced fluids in diff and tranny, replaced a worn cap and rotor, fuel filter, air filter. drove the car afterwards and no problems.

next day came out to go to work and car would not start. turned over no problem. batt is only a few months old.

I know it's either fuel or ignition. I'm sure firing order is ok on distributor. I did not replace spark plugs or wires. do plugs always need to be replaced w cap?

also, not 100% positive I didn't put fuel filter in backwards. will check it out next chance I get but would run at all w filter backwards? it ran for a whole day like that w no problems.

reading in Haynes about how to check fuel pressure. is there a simpler method if I don't have a fuel pressure gauge?

 

Do you hear the pump priming? I would go over everything with the distributor make sure you got those connections all the way on there.

 

I went out there this morning and got underneath to make sure the fuel filter was oriented correctly and it was. and then I got someone to switch the key on while I was underneath and could hear the fuel pump working. and then checked the spark plugs and they all looked fine and rechecked to make sure I had the firing order on the distributor cap on right and it was. and then I fired it up and it ran smoother and quieter than it did before. I have no idea what happened yesterday. maybe it was the rain? maybe it somehow got flooded?