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'99 XJ died will coming off highway, won't start

KEEP3R

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Michigan
Where to begin, where to begin...

my 1999 Cherokee XJ with 187,000miles has been running great for the past year and I was coming off the highway 2 weeks ago and she died right when i came to the light. I have not been able to start the XJ since. I've checked fuel pressure and checked to see if the injectors are working (both are good).

The XJ turns over very well and sounds like it wants to start, but just doesn't.

Next step was checking spark. I checked the spark and it was yellow-orange colored. I replaced the crankshaft position sensor just as a precautionary repair to see if that was the issue. It did not fix it.

I next replaced the distributor cap and rotor as well as the spark plug wires. After replacing those three things related to spark, i have no spark at all. i double checked by putting a spark plug on the wire coming off the ignition coil, still no spark.

So I checked the input connector on the ignition coil to make sure it was getting power and yes it was getting ~12 volts. I replaced the ignition coil and there is still no spark.

I also cleaned up the ground points on the firewall and dipstick area.

I'm at a loss of what to do next. Any input would be much appreciated! thank you all! :bawl:
 
Where did you get the new CPS from. Put the original back in and check for spark? What do your plugs look like? Have you hooked up an obd2 scanner and looked at the key on live data?
 
Where did you get the new CPS from. Put the original back in and check for spark? What do your plugs look like? Have you hooked up an obd2 scanner and looked at the key on live data?

I got it from O'reillys, BWD brand. plugs look ok, the P/O replaced them 2 years ago.

I can try putting the OEM CPS back in and checking for spark.

I do not have a obd2 scanner
 
I have had a bad CPS out of the box. Before you switch that back how did you test the injectors? Did you pull the rail and point the injector tips up while cranking to see the injectors fire? (Don't smoke while doing this)
 
Sounds like the coil isn't getting a proper signal to fire the coil, and that comes from the ECU. They rarely fail, but that's my guess.

OBD II code readers are cheap, a code would really help for a diagnosis...
 
I had an issue hunting 2 years ago. Damn thing died and left me 15 miles or so back on a jeep trail. Got it home did all the cheks your doing, turned over great. New crank pos, cap/rotor, ignition coil helped a bit. Then I found the camshaft position sensor under the distributor cap. Went the a junk yard seeing as I could only fund them with the distributor assmebly. Junky yard piece fired it right up. So if your not getting spark after messing with the cap I'd look there

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Cody is 100% right if you haven't already check the camshaft position sensor on our XJs. They're actually not so much sensors, they're called pick-up coils and they determine the cam position through inductance.
 
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