• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Won't start up. Out of state!!

H

hoodboogie

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Quantico, VA
Currently out of state and my XJ will not start now. My wife and I drove from Mobile,AL to Quantico, VA just fine. Looked at houses all day and then drive back to our friends we are staying with and it started to putt and die out. Made it to their house and shut it down. It was raining so I figured I would diagnose it this morning. Now it doesn't want to fire up at all. I checked the fuses under dash and inside engine bay, pulled crankshaft and camshaft sensors to see if plugs were wet (pulled just the plugs, not the entire sensor). I let it sit after trying to start to see if I get the NO BUS error but I did not get it. Also have pressure at fuel rail.

Any help? We are supposed to drive back to Alabama tonight.

1999 XJ
Auto 4.0 147k
 
Last edited:
Are you getting any spark when you crank it?
 
I can't check spark yet. Where I'm staying they don't have man tools and I ned an extension to get down to the plugs.

Cap and rotor are dry though.
 
Pull a plug wire off of spark plug, pull the cover back and see if you can get it to arc to anything metal...

I think this would justify a quick trip to walmart for a 100pc tool set. It would for me anyways.
 
pull a boot off one of the plugs and shove a metal body pen or mechanical pencil in there so you can arc it off one of the head bolts or a/c compressor. A Phillips screw driver is what I use but be resourceful!
 
Got it to spark off a bolt.

Could it be bad fuel? Never had fuel keep it from starting completely. We did just drive 900 miles and filled up between bama and va.

Gonna run to parts store and get some starting fluid.
 
Be specific and detailed about exactly what you see, feel, and hear with the no-start.
starter engages or not
engine turns with starter or not
engine runs a little bit or not
engine has bright blue spark or not

The most common no-start (engine cranks, does not run) is a failed CranKshaft Position Sensor on the bell housing.
 
Tim_MN said:
Be specific and detailed about exactly what you see, feel, and hear with the no-start.
starter engages or not
engine turns with starter or not
engine runs a little bit or not
engine has bright blue spark or not

The most common no-start (engine cranks, does not run) is a failed CranKshaft Position Sensor on the bell housing.
Click to expand...

Well the engine turns over so the starter must work. The vehicle sparks every half second or so. Not extremely strong but does spark. Engine does not run at all.

Changed all the plugs today. Put in some water remover in the tank. Still nothing. Gotta charge the battery now as its almost dead.

As for the crankshaft sensor, I always thought it wouldn't spark at all if that was the issue?....
 
See if youre getting fuel out of the fuel rail. If youre getting spark and you say it was puttering out last night you may have a fuel pump that went south. Im not 100% sure on the 99's but, my 95 and 96 both have shrader valves on the common rail to hook a pressure gauge to. You can just hit it with a screw driver like a valve stem on a tire. If you have spark and you have fuel, it should fire.
 
did you try to turn the key to the on position, but not crank it to see if you can hear the high pitch "hum" of the fuel pump kick on? If you don't hear anything, smack the piss out of the gas tank with a hammer while cranking the engine to see if you can get the pump to kick on.

If you hear the pump kick on but still no start put your ear under the hood and listen if the fuel injectors power up, it will kinda make the same noise as the fuel pump, if you can't hear it, just put a hand on the injector rail, you should feel the fuel rush to the injectors
 
Test the CPS.

Low voltage can cause a no-start. Test the battery and the alternator.

Perform basic trouble shooting of the start and charge systems. Remove, clean, and firmly reconnect all the wires and cables to the battery, starter, and alternator. Look for corroded or damaged cables or connectors and replace as needed. Do the same for the grounding wires from the starter to engine block, and from the battery and engine to the Jeep's frame/body. You must remove, scrape, and clean until shiny, the cable/wire ends, and whatever they bolt to. Jeeps do not tolerate low voltage, bad connections, or poor grounds
 
Doesn't hurt to rule out the easy and obvious first as well. Swap the fuel pump relay with a known working relay (say the horn for example if they're the same type...I think they are).

"No bus" on the odometer has me thinking its something more along the lines of the crank sensor. Faulty crank sensors make late model XJ's do some weird things...
 
Well I have tested a few times and I do have pressure to the rail. I'm in a semi noisy neighborhood so it's hard to hear the pump run. But I woulda turn the key on then go hit the shader then repeat a few times to see if it was building pressure and it would spray for a second then quit. As far as I know it shouldn't keep spraying fuel unless it's running.

As far as voltage, it has a new battery as of September, it hammers hard when you hit the key and never had any power issues. Doesn't mean there isn't an ignition issue though but the vehicle it self has plenty of juice.


Only things left I can think of (unless the cps is actually bad) are bad fuel, pump, injectors, or timing jumped on me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
No Start No Bus
Replies
16
Views
3K
Rob Mayercik
R
Root Moose
Cooling System Reset (2000 XJ)
Replies
1
Views
1K
Rob Mayercik
R
C
Losing coolant
Replies
18
Views
4K
Anak
Anak
M
92 XJ ECU connector
Replies
5
Views
138
Rob Mayercik
R
N
New Engine is Hard to Start
Replies
0
Views
34
NGThomas
N
Back
Top