so i have a 85 xj with 2.8L, owned it few yrs and it as always and i mean always ran perfect. but the other night wen to start it and it just cranks over. ran fine didnt give any signs of something wrong. so i replaced fuel pump cuz it was leaking check all filters. i have fuel through the lines pump carb and seems to be going to the cylinders ( plugs r wet) i have spark timing marks r right (10 btdc) rotor firing on 1 at the right time. checked all fuses. really confused seems lik it should do something but it dosent even tring to fire. can anyone help?

 

Wow, that was hard to read. Anyway, maybe it's flooded? (You said plugs are wet.) Maybe someone with some 2.8 knowledge/experience will chime in.

 

Good spark at coil, plugs? if plugs are wet either flooded or no /weak spark...

 

mabye its flooded but this has been like this a couple of days. it seems to have strong spark at the plug. they do have a few miles on them. I haven't check spark on every cylinder yet. mabye the plug are not firing hot enough an it is flooded. I'll get a new set of plugs and see what happens. Thanx

 

What color?

 

the plugs? they are whitish, definitely burnt. i know i need plugs and wires. it was just weird that in 15 min it would not start.

 

ohh you mean the spark....it seems like it was a bluish color

 

Try removing all the plugs and dry them off. Ground the coil wire and crank the engine over a few revolutions with the plugs out. Reinstall the plugs, hook up the coil wire, and give it a shot. If it starts and runs way too rich the carb is dumping fuel for some reason (float sank, debris between needle & seat, etc.).

 

Thanx guys! I'll give that a shot today Turbo X J. hopefully it will do something. I get reall sad if i dont have my jeep. I'll postlater let u guys know how it went. sorry about the bad grammer and such, its a little difficult with out a keyboard.

 

ok pulled all plugs found one that the porcelain was all cracked so went down bought new set fired and almosr ran. fouled again....... soo frustrated ......mabye i do have weak spark...cap and rotor still look decent....is there away to test the coil with voltameter???? i am all alone so i cant crank it over and check for good spark. also doesn't seem to be dumbing too much fuel into cylinders, plugs are not completely soaked

 

A simple test of the coil is to toss it in the trash and get a new one.

 

lol nice!!!!! thats what i would love to do but im on a budget of $0.00. so i'd like to diagnose problem instead of throwing parst at it :-)

 

The factory service manual doesn't give specific about coil testing. Try Googling "how to test Jeep Cherokee ignition coils". Lots of hits come up.

It pays off to search for fixes using Google.

 

THANX SO MUCH EVERYONE!!!! I am soooo *#%$#* happy i am rolling jeep man again!!! so it was cap and rotor in the end so strange only getting spark on one side. " K.I.S.S" keep it simple stupid. lol now its running better then it has in a yr. again than everyone!!!

 

Cool, just make sure the distributor isn't trashed (lots of side to side play of the shaft indicates NFG).