Jeep won't start

[ubnserved]

I can't believe that you are still working on this.... I have been sick for since the Friday before Christmas so I haven't been keeping up.
I think I said this before but here goes - if there is spark going through the side of any boot replace it, it is bad. Do not replace any sensors until spark is going only where it is suppose to be going. There are no sensors that will direct the spark to place where it should not be.
Check the gap on your plugs.
Make sure all plug wires are in the harness they are suppose to be in.
You can test your spark at the cap and at the coil by putting your spark tester in place of or in line with your coil to cap wire. If the spark is good there then it should be good the rest of the way to the plug if all the parts (plugs, cap, rotor, wires) are good.
Did you already replace the cap and rotor like you were going to?
Make sure your battery is fully charged.

After you have finished all of that then you can try to start it. I also suggest using a flammable brake clean instead of starting fluid it is less explosive, meaning less chance of an accident.

 

[ubnserved]

Homercidal sounds like you are on the right track. Do not over look your battery and cable connections. I have to harp on my guys in the shop all the time on battery voltage before they go chasing electrical issues.

Was the number one cause of techs chasing non existing problems at my shop. You can never say it enough - charge the battery then test and clean the cables!

Still sounds like bad plug wires to me. But he needs to check gap and cap and rotor also.

 

[ubnserved]

Also about these codes.... doesn't matter about trying to get them right now if there are any. Spark is going to places it should not. Also it is a 99 which means that if there were any the SES light would be on.

 

[rekoob]

True that. I still find it cheaper than a car payment, and in general the Jeeps have been pretty good mechanically.

I hear yeah. I'm on my fourth Jeep right now and may soon add another to the driveway, don't get me started on why we still don't have the other two. If I could keep the wife and/or daughters out of one of them I could call it mine but as it is I maintain the two Jeeps we have for them to drive, I'm on my motorcycle 99.9% of the time anyway.

 

[Homercidal]

I have replaced the coil, cap and rotor. The wires I changed a few years ago, they could be bad. For the cost I'd wouldn't mind changing plugs and wires too, but it's very strange that it was driving fine when I parked it in the driveway and then the next day the thing won't fire. I would have expected some misfires, sluggish response on acceleration, etc.

But I've eliminated a sensor problem, timing problem, fuel problem, and it's sending spark, so it's just got to be a spark quality problem. Not enough juice or bad ground (cleaned and added new ground so that's not it) or bad wires.

Now the wires that I did check seemed to read fine, but if the boots are somehow suddenly gone bad, then the wire itself is not the blame. Gap could be off by a small amount, but the plugs I checked were clean and only open a miniscule amount.

I'm going to go with wires at this point. The main reason being that when I tested the spark at 20KV I got no spark, but arcing at the distributor wires. At 10KV I got spark, but it was still arcing. If the gap was bad but the wires good, then spark should have gone easily to the gap tester and to ground. It would seem that due to bad plug wire boots, the voltage is still finding an easy path to the other wires.

However, testing the voltage going INTO the coil will tell me if there is enough voltage to create spark in the cylinder. I've read where some cars arc at the distributor and it's considered normal, but in my experience, I've never seen or heard of it being a good thing.

I probably should get back to getting it fixed. The holidays made me want to forget about it, and I've been driving my other truck around. The Durango takes a LONG time to heat up and the steering is very stiff until it warms up a few minutes and you turn the wheel back and forth. Probably need to put some stuff in the PS pump to loosen it up.

 

[YeastMode]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but if it were me(and at one time it was) I would replace the wires and spark plugs (properly gapped) now and eliminate that as a problem. Based on everything I read on here, I believe that one of the two will fix your problem now that you have replaced the coil, cap and rotor. As has been repeated here as well, check the battery terminal connections just to be safe.

IIRC, changing the plugs on the 4.0L straight six is not very difficult. Changing the plugs on my 2002 F150 with a 5.4 V8, on the other hand, causes ratchets to spontaneously fly through the garage at a high velocity. People who have done it know what I am talking about.

 

[fuzzy2133]

I hear yeah. I'm on my fourth Jeep right now and may soon add another to the driveway, don't get me started on why we still don't have the other two. If I could keep the wife and/or daughters out of one of them I could call it mine but as it is I maintain the two Jeeps we have for them to drive, I'm on my motorcycle 99.9% of the time anyway.

Get a 77 or older Bronco and they will leave the Jeeps alone...


On topic the OBD1 and early OBD2 systems are always fun repair adventures.

 

[Homercidal]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but if it were me(and at one time it was) I would replace the wires and spark plugs (properly gapped) now and eliminate that as a problem. Based on everything I read on here, I believe that one of the two will fix your problem now that you have replaced the coil, cap and rotor. As has been repeated here as well, check the battery terminal connections just to be safe.

IIRC, changing the plugs on the 4.0L straight six is not very difficult. Changing the plugs on my 2002 F150 with a 5.4 V8, on the other hand, causes ratchets to spontaneously fly through the garage at a high velocity. People who have done it know what I am talking about.

Yeah the cost isn't even too bad considering I plan to keep the thing forever. I've change the plugs on a 92 caravan for a friend. Never again.

 

[ubnserved]

Yeah the cost isn't even too bad considering I plan to keep the thing forever. I've change the plugs on a 92 caravan for a friend. Never again.

When I bought a truck for the wife (08 ram 1500) she kept insisting on a mini van. I traded in an old truck I had for it and years of payments. I brought it home as a surprise for her birthday and told her that there was no way that she was getting a mini van unless she took up turning wrenches. It's paid off now and have never had to do any repairs on it (knock on wood ) . With all the repairs we did on mini vans at the shop I can guarantee that we would not have a mini van now if I had gotten one for her then. The thing that sucks is it is time for new tires, problem, she has wrecked every vehicle of hers within 8 months of putting new tires on.

 

[Kirkwooder]

When I bought a truck for the wife (08 ram 1500) she kept insisting on a mini van. I traded in an old truck I had for it and years of payments. I brought it home as a surprise for her birthday and told her that there was no way that she was getting a mini van unless she took up turning wrenches. It's paid off now and have never had to do any repairs on it (knock on wood ) . With all the repairs we did on mini vans at the shop I can guarantee that we would not have a mini van now if I had gotten one for her then. The thing that sucks is it is time for new tires, problem, she has wrecked every vehicle of hers within 8 months of putting new tires on.

If I was you, I'd be looking for some used tires! I just sayin.....:fro:

 

[ubnserved]

If I was you, I'd be looking for some used tires! I just sayin.....:fro:

Maybe that will break the curse. .. I do know someone with stock tires that are all but new (1000 miles ) but the stock tires suck so bad. Terrible on wet roads. But I could save $500 bucks on them. But they suck so bad.... but I can't drive anyway, but they really really blow.... but it is her truck. See my dilemma?
Used tires it is..... I will just have to talk them down a little bit more... $250 area I think.

Yeah so what I'm talking to myself!

 

[Homercidal]

Well, I picked up some plugs and wires. I didn't get the plugs I wanted, but decided to go with an OEM replacement and the best wires they had.

Started right up.

I've never seen or heard of a car running so well and then just not starting when plugs or wires were the problem! Normally I'd expect it to run a bit rough or be very sluggish on acceleration.

So I got a whole new ignition system for about $130.

Bonus, I get the Jeep out of the garage in time for me to put the '07 Fusion in there for a CV joint swap! Hopefully that gets done on Saturday so I can get my work space back. I wanted to make some beer bottle crates this holiday break and missed out on it.

 

[YeastMode]

Glad it worked!

 

[cjbalough]

Just had the same - running fine then no start - issue with my Chevy astro van. Thought i got a batch of bad gas....but after finally "opening the hood " which is an hour + process that includes removing the drivers seat :-o. I pinned it down to ignition and found the coil sparking but no spark leaving the cap. Simple new Cap & rotor solved it. I will do the wires and plugs in the spring when it warms up...they require removing the wheels and inner fenders so you can do contortions with your hands and have creativity with extensions and universals to get at them. Thought I was good with an old tech v6 with rear drive!

While it never ran bad it certainly runs better now and has more power.

 

[Homercidal]

Too snowy to know if it's got more power, but I am guessing it probably does. Funny thing is how I was just helping my friend with his wife's van and he was complaining about his Grand Prix being sluggish and I recommended changing plugs and wires. He did and was so glad it ran better. Now here I am a few weeks later should have taken my own advice!

 

[ubnserved]

Glad it's fixed for you..... all that for a piece of wire. At least you have other vehicles to drive.

 

[Homercidal]

Just in time for the snowmageddon! Probably got about 6 inches this weekend. A few more today/tonight. Might have to break out the snowblower again.

Wife's car needs new tires now. I guess her tires were not made for snow.

 

[Kirkwooder]

It never ends..........

 

[TxBrew]

This story really lacked explosions, did you maybe get into a car chase after it fired up?

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Homer's SWMBO: Why are you out of breath?

Homer: I got the Jeep started!

Homer's SWMBO: But that doesn't explain why you're out of breath.

Homer: It was in gear when it started. I had to chase it about four miles down the street.