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jeep timing

J

justkain

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Fletcher NC
Hey guys I've got a 1995 4.0 HO Jeep Sport. I replaced the distributer cause the housing was broken and the jeep has had no power to get on the interstate or around the hills on the road. Roamed around and it sounded like the timing might be off. So checked the timing by making sure number 1 cylinder was at top dead center using a screw driver and made sure the mark was at 0 on the balancer. Made sure the button was lined up on the number 1 tower on the cap and I can't get it to start. Adjusted the distributor while it was running and was able to turn the distributor enough to keep it running so that tells me where the issue is. My question is do I have the marks set right for the timing? Thankyou for any help.

Erik
 
Last edited:
Isn't there another position sensor as well?

My understanding is that there is the cps installed on the tranny, but also a cam position sensor or something that is installed inside the distributor itself. I know mine has what appears to be a sensor wire coming out of the distributor on my '94. You might be able to verify that sensor is working properly with just an ohm meter.

And is there any chance you're just 180* off on the distributor? I had that on a ford. I could get it to run; I just couldn't get it to run right. Just for kicks I turned dist cap 180* and she fired right up.
 
SanDiegoXJ said:
Isn't there another position sensor as well?

My understanding is that there is the cps installed on the tranny, but also a cam position sensor or something that is installed inside the distributor itself. I know mine has what appears to be a sensor wire coming out of the distributor on my '94. You might be able to verify that sensor is working properly with just an ohm meter.

And is there any chance you're just 180* off on the distributor? I had that on a ford. I could get it to run; I just couldn't get it to run right. Just for kicks I turned dist cap 180* and she fired right up.
Click to expand...
180 degrees off is a possibility, I guess, but I don't think it would idle smoothly at all. I guess justkain might need to describe his symptoms more thoroughly. If it is missing as well as losing power, the 180 degree trick might be worth trying. If it idles smoothly, it's more likely a notch retarded.

The cam position sensor is largely involved with injection timing. If it's bad the engine won't start at all without trickery, but if you do trick it into starting at all, the ignition timing will remain correct. A bad cam position sensor will also throw an OBDI code on a 95.
 
I don't wanna take over his Thread, but my 88 sometimes starts fine and others it acts like it has a dead battery.
Mined you I have
New 100amp alt.
New starter.
2 new 800 CCA red top's.
All new 2Gage battery cables and grounds.
New CPS.
Is this maybe my timing?
Cuz if it starts to act dead and I stop cranking and try again. The 2nd time or 3rd it starts "normal"...
 
You are definately off by one tooth. The crank should be at about 14 degrees BTDC when the rotor is pointing at the #1 plug to allow for the timing advance.
 
Matthew Currie said:
180 degrees off is a possibility, I guess, but I don't think it would idle smoothly at all. I guess justkain might need to describe his symptoms more thoroughly. If it is missing as well as losing power, the 180 degree trick might be worth trying. If it idles smoothly, it's more likely a notch retarded.

The cam position sensor is largely involved with injection timing. If it's bad the engine won't start at all without trickery, but if you do trick it into starting at all, the ignition timing will remain correct. A bad cam position sensor will also throw an OBDI code on a 95.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the info! And yeah, the ford ran like CRAP...but I didn't see any thing about it running smoothly, just that it would start and run (which I guess made me think it was barely running)...and well, that's about all the ford did too. :D

And nice to know about the cam position sensor as well. I always figured it worked in conjunction with the cps to align the distributor and the crank.


now back to your regularly scheduled thread....
 
redjeep3 said:
I don't wanna take over his Thread, but my 88 sometimes starts fine and others it acts like it has a dead battery.
Mined you I have
New 100amp alt.
New starter.
2 new 800 CCA red top's.
All new 2Gage battery cables and grounds.
New CPS.
Is this maybe my timing?
Cuz if it starts to act dead and I stop cranking and try again. The 2nd time or 3rd it starts "normal"...
Click to expand...

When you say it acts like it has a dead battery, what exactly does that mean? The engine turns over slowly once or twice then goes bleh? You hear a clicking sound like a solenoid? You turn the key and don't get squat?

If it's the latter, turn the key and don't get squat, I would first assume a Neutral Safety Switch is a little dirty and caked with goo. Have you tried starting in neutral when it doesn't start in park? If you can start in one but not the other, I would again point to the NSS. Or is this a manual tranny? In which case, I dunno, yer buggered! =P
 
SanDiegoXJ said:
When you say it acts like it has a dead battery, what exactly does that mean? The engine turns over slowly once or twice then goes bleh? You hear a clicking sound like a solenoid? You turn the key and don't get squat?

If it's the latter, turn the key and don't get squat, I would first assume a Neutral Safety Switch is a little dirty and caked with goo. Have you tried starting in neutral when it doesn't start in park? If you can start in one but not the other, I would again point to the NSS. Or is this a manual tranny? In which case, I dunno, yer buggered! =P
Click to expand...

When I say like a dead battery I mean, cranks fine then just drags down and cranks slow and the lights go dim as it cranks slow,fine,slow,fine,slow all in a few seconds.
It always cranks and starts just sometimes it takes a while and everyone looks at me like I need a new battry
IV replace my starter 3 times all with new.(I work at Baxter so I just swap them out)
Its an auto trans

And I just put in a new starter relay


Some ppl say timing is off, should I pull my distributer and turn it?
 
redjeep3 said:
When I say like a dead battery I mean, cranks fine then just drags down and cranks slow and the lights go dim as it cranks slow,fine,slow,fine,slow all in a few seconds.
It always cranks and starts just sometimes it takes a while and everyone looks at me like I need a new battry
IV replace my starter 3 times all with new.(I work at Baxter so I just swap them out)
Its an auto trans

And I just put in a new starter relay


Some ppl say timing is off, should I pull my distributer and turn it?
Click to expand...
That does happen to be what my 87 did when it was one tooth too advanced. It ran fine, but often started as if it had extra engine friction, or a bad head gasket and hydrolock. It might be worth a try. I should note that when mine did that, it may also initially have been a bad distributor getting worse, since it developed without any intervention from me. The bushing was definitely worn, so I put in another one. When I replaced the distributor I got the new one a tooth advanced, and it behaved as badly as before, so I retarded it by one and it was fine. One tooth back from there, it started beautifully, idled smoothly, but would not accelerate.
 
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