Whats up guys and ladies. I have a 95 ZJ, 5.2 liter, well the 16 yr daughter drives it. Monday morning she went out to start it before school and the thing would not start. I work night shift and when I got home I gave it a try. The motor turns over and it feels like it wants to start but nothing. After taking a nap I tried it again. Well this time I drained the battery. After sticking the battery charger on it I figured I would try it again. This time it started right up. When I got to work I called home and told the daughter it would be fine to drive to school. Just to be safe I had her run out and start it again, which it started without a problem. Tuesday morning she tried to start it and nothing. Again the motor turns over but nothing. I plan on replacing the plugs, wires, cap and rotor but wanted to check with the everyday Jeep owners first. This is the first jeep I have ever owned and Im not sure where to begin. I know it is getting fuel because I smell it (which in itself is probably not a good thing). Any ideas???? Thanks in advance
Also if it helps the weather in Ohio the last week has sucked. It has rained almost everyday and its been getting pretty cold at night, low 40's.

 

Replace the battery. You have enough voltage to turn the engine over, but not enough to turn the engine over and supply voltage to the ignition for spark.

 

Went out today Jeep started right up. No rain in several hours. I was thinking, is there anyway this could be a faulty ignition mod. Battery seems be good as I took it up and had it tested.

 

Older Dodge trucks (73-93) had a problem with misfiring and not starting when it rained. It turned out that water was draining from the hood and cowl right on the distributor cap, which was right under the hood/cowl gap. Maybe your problem?

 

I finally have a day off tomorrow and instead of riding the 4 wheeler I guess I will be working on the old ZJ. I plan on replacing the plugs and wires since the previous owner had taped one of the spark plug wires. When I do that is there anything I should be looking for. I will also take the cap and rotor off and should they need replacing it will be done. I will not be a happy man if it is something that simple.

 

i finally installed a new starter in my 94 yesterday and my truck now fires right up. I had days where it wouldn't even crank over or you would have to crank it and crank it and almost kill the battery just to get it to start. It also has a new battery but that didn't help any. so do the plugs and wires (have fun if you do the cap and rotor lol) and go from there. if you know it isn't the battery there might be a slim chance it is the starter like it was in my case.

 

Good chance its the fuel pump giving you grief. just went through that. finally changed it but it would work and not work. If it does that again go band the bottom of the tank (not easy to hit it hard enough) but that got me home a couple times, but it finally totally crapped.

 

I wouldn't rule out a faulty wire connection on the starter and/or a faulty ground. If you had the BATT tested and it was good then at least you know it's not an excessive parasitic load...

 

when you KOEO (key on, engine off), do you hear the fuel pump prime the fuel injection system? Have you checked to see if there is pressure in the fuel rail? that is easy to do.. there is a valve, just like a tire valve stem on the rail. If you depress it, does fuel come out?

 

nbext tie it doesn't start check for spark and fuel. Must start there

 

Since the engine cranks over I'm with retreaded jeeper. Next time this happens check for a spark. If you have spark the next two items are air and fuel. If no spark then that is a problem.