Thunderlizard

Just picked up a 96 grand cherokee for 1k. Has 237k on the body and 150k on the motor. It was running and then died while on the highway. Changed the fuel filter and the ignition coil. The fuel that came out of the filter was a dark tan. After both componants were replaced, it started and ran but for only about 1 mile and if I let off the gas it would want to die again. Eventually it would just crank but wouldnt start. I just recently replaced the spark plugs and retimed the distributor. The cps was changed 8 months ago and the camshaft position sensor in the distributor was replaced a few months ago. I have tried spraying starter fluid into the intake manifold to see if that would do the trick but it yielded no results, as did cleaning out the fuel injectors. I plan on dropping the tank and cleaning the fuel pump to see if that would help. I also have an idea that it may be the ignition switch, or the distributor and rotor. But I just keep hitting a brick wall. Trying my best not to take it into my mechanic for his $100 diag fee because i am on quite the budget. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated if you have ran into the same problems. Thanks for the help!

dave1123

Welcome to CF!

In my opinion, you should drop the tank, clean it out very well, and replace the pump with a new one. It sounds like it's been sitting awhile with fuel in it and it got contaminated. This happened quite often when tanks were steel. They would rust inside and any water would settle out. You should probably try another set of injectors.

In my younger years, I bought a barn queen 37 Dodge. It ran perfectly for 3 months, then I drove it to Syracuse NY from Warwick RI because I was relocating. I got as far as Albany and she died! It had one of those glass AC fuel filters on it and the bowl was half full of brown water! All the crap from the bottom of the tank got stirred up and plugged the filter. I found a nice old garage mechanic who drained and flushed the tank and cleaned the carburetor. Even then, I had to stop many times to clean the filter before the trip was done.

HP2

An engine requires air, fuel, ignition, and compression, in the right amounts at the right time. So one of those six things is off.

Air is a given, unless your filter is so clogged as to strangle the engine. Remove the air hat to ensure air available.

Fuel, turn it over a few time and hit the schraeder valve in the fuel rail. If it squirts, you have pressure. You can try pulling an inject to see if the pintle will rattle.

Spark can be check by removing a plug, reconnecting the wire, and setting the plug on bare metal or grounding it with a clip on wire and turning it over. You should see a consistent blue spark.

Its rare that compression sudden goes out, but while you have that plug out for testing spark, you should be able to hear a distinct "puthhh" every time that cylinder tops out. That means you have compression.

If any of these fail, then you know where to start looking for the next failure point upstream on that system.

dave1123

If to won't fire on starting fluid, obviously there's no spark. Ether is violent and the slightest spark will ignite it. Start checking the cap and rotor, wires and the coil. Check for voltage supply to the coil.

97grand4.0

I was just going to say what Dave said!

If you spray starter fluid in the intake and nothing, then clearly it is NOT a fuel problem.

"I just recently replaced the spark plugs and retimed the distributor. The cps was changed 8 months ago and the camshaft position sensor in the distributor was replaced a few months ago."
Retimed the distributor?
Check for spark. Check for 12 volts at the coil. Check for 5 volts at the tps, map, and cts. and get back to us.