Slow to crank, then fires. Hot start...no fire.

Hey all,

I finally got the XJ driveable after the one-ton swap. I replaced my 4 year old Optima Red Top with a brand new yellow top. I cleaned all terminal connection at the battery and cleaned the connection at the starter.

When I go to start the jeep it cranks really slowly like it has a dying battery, but after four or five cranks it finally fires off and runs just fine. No hesitations or studders.

Tonight when I stopped at a gas station after a good 30 minute drive I turned her off to let it cool off since it was running about 220*. The jeep again would crank really slowly and never fire off. After another half an hour and jeep was cooler it would finally fire. I tried to bleed off some pressure in the line thinking maybe some air was in the rail from when i put the tank in the trunk and had the lines disconnected. The fuel was very hot.

I had no response to starting fluid when cranking, thinking I could get it to fire for a few seconds and start picking up fuel.

Any ideas guys?

Looks like the alternator isnt charging fully. I am going to swap it out and see if that does the trick.

Just for future reference for those who may stumble upon this at a later date. Alternator fixed it, as well as cleaning up some grounds on the block. She fires up on the first crank again.