Bought a 96 XJ Cherokee today was so excited driving it home, until it died. Seller claims he never had an issue and acted very surprised when I called to tell him.

I went around a roundabout and it shut off on me, still has electrics and cranks strong, but won’t turn over.

I took out the idle air controller as another forum advised, it was quite caked so I gave it a clean and tried it again but no luck. My current game plan is to order a new one and try replacing, other than that I have no ideas

anyone had this happen?
cheers

 

Had what happen?

Get screwed by a seller?

Yup. We all have.

Anyway, unless you have LOTS of money, I wouldn't be shooting the Parts Cannon hoping for a fix. Test.

Check error codes, check for spark, check for fuel, and check compression.

 

BTW what do have for toolz & skilz?

Gonna need a multimeter (probably).

And a fuel pressure tester.

 

Jeep Cherokee 1984-2001: How to Read OBD Trouble Codes | Cherokeeforum

 

I mean this might be a silly question, does it have any gas in it? Check for fuel pressure at the fuel rail.

 

Thanks for all the quick replies

my mechanical skills are basic but I was keen to learn more with this car because I expected issues, just didn’t expect it to be so quick haha.

I have a reasonable amount of tools, should be enough to do most things and if not it’ll be easy for me to get more

what should I test first ?

thanks heaps again, sincerely jeeb noob

 

checked error codes got back


54*
No fuel sync (camshaft signal) detected during engine cranking.


12*
Direct battery input to PCM was disconnected within the last 50 key-on cycles

55*
Completion of diagnostic trouble code display on the malfunction indicator lamp (check engine lamp
I think this just means there’s no more codes to relay

any suggestion on the next step ?

 

Slap in a new pickup coil. About 40 bucks.

That said, you could confirm with a multimeter, if you are so inclined.

 

That said2, be careful not to disturb the distributor location (sync to CPS) otherwise we're gonna hafta get into the oscilloscope thing.

 

For helpful tips on pickup coil change get a hold of @awg He's done it a million times.

 

Hi Dave.

In fact I have NEVER done a cam pickup sensor on a Jeep XJ ! (which tells me they are reliable)

( I have rebuilt distributors from other makes though etc etc)

Gent did PM me, indicating he is an Aussie, so I said he can mobile phone me, but after he has downloaded the FSM and EDM

Got to keep those 96 on the road.. I have recently seen one looks like mine locally, 1st one for a while

You gave good answers though as usual

 

Well, whenever I hear "96" I think "awg" -- thanks for stopping by!

Yup! This one looks like a slam dunk for sure!

Which can only mean, it's not. How many times have we seen camshaft position sensor errors turn out to be something else (like CPS errors).

We should really confirm with a multimeter or a cheap 2-channel scope, but if OP has to tool up for signal testing probably cheaper to shoot the Parts Cannon at a cam sensor.

 

Since you might have to do that anyway, here's some testing stuff:

Testing Camshaft Position Sensor | Jeep Enthusiast Forums

You guys have Harbor Freight there?

 

Oooh, that would be bad.

The BEST way to test (although it would be about $150-200 to tool up) is to monitor the CPS and CKS simultaneously to see if they're both valid and synced. They both send 5 VDC signals, CPS turns off and on during a revolution, CKS sends a pulse as each reluctor window passes CPS.



Or, just shoot the Parts Cannon at a coil pickup.

 

Thanks again for the informative responses, I appreciate it more than you know. I’m out of town for a week tomorrow and couldn’t get anything checked today, but I’ll be sure to keep this thread updated with whatever I find.

I always thought diagnostic manuals were scary and non comprehensible to a complete laymen, but they actually seem quite straight forward and am confident in tackling the issues. Ive starting looking at obd2 diagnostic tools like awg suggested, and ill have a reasonably knowledgeable housemate next week to help too

thanks again to everyone that responds