Be Gentle, my first time
 

So in a bout of hidden desires, and the drive of someone making impulse purchases, I drove across the state a couple days ago to purchase my first Jeep, a 96 Cherokee, 4x4, pretty well stock with some rugged vinyl applied to the lower paneling.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...3e54d8440f.jpg

Our first meeting.

To make a long story a tad shorter, I was informed while in contact with the seller that the vehicle wasnt running, and that he ( a younger kid) had had his mechanic replace wires, dist cap, plugs, and was still not running leading him to believe the issue to be the ECM. So me in my assumptions that his mechanic had an IQ above 30, and my confidence in the ole trusty straight six made my journey to purchase, and of course the deal I got didn't hurt matters to push me to pull the trigger.

Now Ive got this beast with so much potential in my garage and intend to start the process of giving it life once again tonight. Rather than assuming the ECM is indeed dead, Im going to start by making sure I am getting Fuel and spark, If those prove to be dead, I am landing on an ECM replacement as well. Assuming the injectors are receiving power and the plugs are sparking then my assumptions about his backwood mechanic were indeed false and I need to start the troubleshooting process. Of course there is always hope that I connect the old ECM and battery and it turns out the Jeep was just hibernating, is that too much to ask?

Ultimately as soon as she gets running I will start with a 3 inch suspension lift and some semi aggressive 31s.

This is my first post and my intro, I will keep updated as needed and any advice, or tips for this Jeep virgin would be much appreciated.

Welcome to CherokeeForum! There are some wizards that frequent the OEM tech section that should be able to help you solve it pretty quick! What did you get it for?

Welcome to the forum

Update on status.
 

only gave $500:001_huh: for her. Also an update as to the status, last night I established that my injectors were receiving power and the fuel rail is priming, I wasn't receiving any spark at the wire, as I said before they replaced the cap, so Im assuming the module inside the distributor went bad, purchased a new distributor today and will put it on tonight, if I get nothing there I gues its on to the coil.:thumbup1:

Welcome good luck on troubleshooting your issue!

I would check to make sure you have power to your coil before buying a new one. XJs have a pretty common problem( mine actually died yesterday driving down the road and wouldn't start) where the CPS (crankshaft positioning sensor) goes bad and you will no longer get spark. I changed mine on the side of the road laying in 3" of water lol. It is located on the back side top of the bellhousing. I would check that as well! It is a booger to get to but its astounding how often its the culprit.

Ive had to replace mine before... Bought a AutoZone one and it only lasted 5 years... But I got the new one free! ( lifetime warranty)

I vote for cps, its always the problem when mine just stop running

Much appreciated information, I was going to check power to coil, just got a bit late last night, but ive decided im going to go ahead and replace the coil and distributor, just do to its inexpensive nature, if I get no luck there Ill move straight to the CPS. Thanks for all the help guys, first jeep I have owned or worked on, hopefully the story ends well, 74 degrees tomorrow and spring is on its way, It needs to get out and breathe.

Correct me if I'm wrong
 

But the crank position sensor wouldn't prevent me from getting a spark would it? I know it would prevent ignition. But when I tested it the plugs were not sparking at all.

Yes it can. Have you tried hooking it up to read the codes? I think you can rent a code reader from autozone- they usually give you your cash back upon return. Get a chance to do the distributer yet?

👍
 

I haven't hooked the distributor up. Will do so tonight. I work at a car lot with family in the automotive business. So the scanning won't be an issue. But from the sounds of everything CPS seems likely. Won't hurt to have new parts though.

Keep us posted and good luck!

Well
 

I slacked a bit last night, came down with a fever and didnt get much motivation, but its supposed to be 70+ degrees this weekend so we should see updates soon, thanks again for all the help and words of wisdom.

Drum roll please
 

It wasn't a distributor module, it wasn't a coil, it wasn't the crank position sensor. Keep in mind the guy sold this bc he was tired of working on it and couldn't afford more of a fix, as it turns out two wires were in the wrong place. Mixed them up on reconnect. Apparently when he replaced one of the fixes it got wired back wrong. Now I have a perfectly running XJ, and a happy ending to this story, life is good. 👍👌

Any luck?