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Engines cranking but noting firing?

Demonoid369

Demonoid369

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
Salem, OR
97' 4.0L
Long story short: pulled the connector off the battery(negative terminal) and pulled the wire of the 1st cylinder spark plug, changed my mind on what I was going to do so I plugged the battery connector on and gave it a crank, engine didn't start and then i realized I had forgotten to plug the wire back on to the spark plug. I reconnected it on but it still won't fire, I know the battery is good since its cranking the starter over and such, I know I have fuel because I released the pressure on the line and it primes itself when I turned the key to on, I know I have air also since the iac and tips work.
So what is going wrong? Why won't this fire? It's cranking and cranking and cranking but never firing. Is the 1st cylinder just flooded and not letting it start or did I somehow throw the timing off by the not letting the spark plug do its job? I'm lost here
 
Anybody? Lol kinda dead in the water right now, I'm at my parents house, and they're gone for hunting so I'm locked out and I'm a town away from my apartment lol if I can't get it running I'm stuck sleeping in my jeep lol
 
Make sure the coil to distributor cap high voltage cable is plugged in all the way, then test it for spark. If it sparks, then pull a plug wire and test that for spark.

I guess it is possible you blew a fuse, unlikely bit possible. I'd check the fuses before I decide on the problem being anything exotic.

If you pulled and/or reconnect the battery with the ignition on, you may have deeper problems.

Just because it primes doesn't mean you have sufficient fuel pressure while you are cranking. It will prime, build a little pressure then dribble while the engine is cranking if you have a engine management issue.

Check that you didn't inadvertently pull a connector (or wire) loose while you were pulling the plug wire.
 
No worries in keeping the ignition on and connecting the battery, I turned it completely off when it wouldn't start. I'll see if I'm getting a spark but its going to be hard since I'm by myself lol I know I should be getting fuel because it was working just before I did this.
 
Last edited:
Shouldn't the engine still fired up even with the 1st cylinder not firing?
Could cranking it without the first spark plug connected screw with the timing?
 
Demonoid369 said:
I know the battery is good since its cranking the starter over and such
Click to expand...

You need to perform a load test on the battery and perhaps refresh your terminal connections and grounds. It shouldn't drop below 10.5 volts when loaded with half the CCA rating for the battery. Our Jeeps are finicky when battery voltage drops. Before trying to diagnose another possible issue, start with the simple stuff. A questionable battery will have you chasing your tale with other symptoms.
 
Well I had my brother do a jump to make sure and still no fire, I even have a battery charger that will charge at either 2 or 10 amps and both way the battery is fully charge and still no fire.

This was a engine system that before no start, would fire after the first crank, no chatter, perfect temp, it is a engine that at 201,000 miles is in great shape, spark wires are recent, coil is recent, rotor is recent, oil change is recent, all in the last month or two. I'm just baffled that after everything that is in great running order, that one non connected spark plug wire can throw this to the dirt and won't fire. Every connector is connected, everything is as it should be. Shouldn't the engine have fired after I plugged the wire back in?
 
So before my brother took me back to my apartment and left the jeep at my moms house, we had swapped the 6th cylinder wire with the 1st cylinders wire(they're the same length) just to see what would happen, well after I turned the key it sounded like it was slightly firing? Different from the regular cranking cranking noise. Does that sound like wire failure? I checked all and there was no soft spots in the wire to suggest broken, I can't imagine leaving one wire disconnected could fry all my spark plug wires?
 
Check the connections at the negative battery terminal. You said you had it off and if I were you I would chase all the grounds from the battery and make sure they are making good contact.
 
I tried that, all the grounds have been upgrade to larger wire and cleaned for great contact/connection. Did that about 3 months ago :-/
Any idea why swapping the 6th and 1st spark wires would make it sound more like its firing just a tiny tiny bit?
 
What is this?
3edare8e.jpg

Took the wire that goes to it and the center of the distributor and did the paper clip test, nada! No spark nothing. So no power is going to the distributor. Did it fry itself?
 
Sounds like your coil took a poop. I dont know how it would have done that unless the plug wire back-fed into the coil after you cranked it over causing it to fry. Never heard of that happening, but you never know.
 
So if I was to unplug the connector to the coil and used this:
e7ypyneb.jpg

What should it be turn to and what should I look for? Is there a specific side the red and black wire should go in to? Me Understanding electric is like a blind man trying to read a novel that's not in Braille.
 
I know you really cant check a coil with a muti-meter. there is a way to check if it through Ohms although i really couldn't tell you the correct amount. get yourself one of these bad boys, invaluable shop tool. I know you should be able to pick one up on the cheap. regarding your sleeping in the jeep, i start honing your B&E skills to get into your parents house. :explosion

http://www.harborfreight.com/inline-ignition-spark-checker-69014.html?hftref=cj
 
From the way I've explainer this, from swapping the 6th spark wire to the 1st and vice versa and it sounding more like it was firing ish, but no spark from the coil to the distributor. Could this be a coil or the crank position sensor? Coil is $33 and the cpm is $66. I don't want to buy random parts since money is tight
 
Still dead in the water, been searching. Symptoms of a CPS Seems to be the voltage, and gas and other sensors fail? None of that happens with mine If so then could it be my ignition coil then?
 
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