my motor is dead! please help!

heres what happened: my motor (lifters) started clicking pretty bad last week. i added seafoam into the oil hoping it would fix it. the next day it started running REALLY rough, like it had multiple misfires. pulled it in the shop and it got worse. now it didn't want to start either. so i took off the head, found 2 blown lifters and a bent pushrod on cyl#1. so i put in 2 new pushrods, cam & lifters, assembled everything, and cranked it, no start. pulled the timing cover off, it's timed right. distributer indexed. WTF??? so i got a new cps & plugs sunday night, no difference. have spark, good fuel press. tested all sensors, no codes are thrown. my canadian 95' 4.0 wants to start. it turns over and randomly catches 1 or 2 times, but no startie???? it could only be the brain, wiring, or mabye the cam sens??? this is my DD, too!!! @$$%$@%#%*&% i tried everything i know of!!!AAAAHHHHHH!!!! PLEASE HELP !!!!!!!!!!

Are you sure the cam is timed to the crank correctly? maybe you missed a ground or other wire when you were putting everything back together.

yes the timing is correct. i pulled the cover to check it. all grounds are solid. the cam and distrib. are timed dead on (not 180 off or it would not fire at all). but it's almost as if the spark or injector timing is off-?

The vacume line came off my EGR valve once and I had the same symptoms.

thanks, but no egr. about 4 years ago i took it to the dealer to get my cracked header replaced,(under warranty) and they said when i picked it up that they also had to replace some "fried" ignition wiring???

$50 to the person who can guess my problem today -so i won't have to take it to the stealership....i am "at my limit":repair:
a certain loose wire on the ecu harness mabye?
certain loose wire under the column?
an invisible evil jeep gnome???
:hang:

seeing as how you have spark, timing and fuel pressure out of the question (assuming your injectors aren't messed. - have you checked the electrical connectors on them?) the only other thing I could think of is a bad vacuum leak. How's the line from the TB to the MAP sensor?

D

got mad, took the (connected)rail off and cranked it...he he it works the vac line itself is fine. though i could take an xtra map & plug it in to test...

Just a couple of thoughts, things I´ve screwed up in the past. I always use a compression gauge to find number 1 compression, it will build enough pressure in the exhaust stroke to fool you, won´t fool the compression gauge.
Line up the timing marks by hand and put the distributor in, so the rotor is pointing directly at or slightly after number one, it´s possible to put the distributor in with the rotor slightly before number 1, which doesn´t work well. Rotor often lines up, almost between 1 and 2, on many models it´s possible to intall it between 6 and 1, which is often actually 6.
When starting, the IAC can hang closed, motor tries to start, sometimes catches but won´t run. Hold the throttle open slightly. A low battery seems to also affect IAC, function.
Compression test and vacuum test, just for piece of mind. Arn't that many connectors, unplug them and look at the contacts, it´s possible to push one out the back, if they don´t line up correctly. Oil in the sensor connectors will mess you up.

THANKS at tdc the rotor is centered right on #1 so it's better to be slightly ahead?
ok. IAC. wasn't sure if that might have something to do with it. gonna remove the tps this time i know compression is under 100-don't think it has slung enough oil around to seal the head gasket well...
i will try that with the throttle after i take out and clean my plugs AGAIN...

i had the same problem with my 90 4.0 i had problems with a bad starter relay. it should be behind the battery. long metal box. there is an orange w/ black tracer wire that leads out of that harness that runs to the fuel pump ballist and to the ingnition stuff that is right under your coil. so here is a quick test.

first . pull the plug on the fuel pump ballist it should be right by the air cleaner box and has that same oarange wire going into it.

now. get in and turn the key, dont try and start it. just turn it to acc to where it would turn the pump on. if you dont hear the pump. than the starter relay is o.k. if you do hear the pump. get out and walk to the passanger side. right below the coil you will see were the oarange wire plugs in comming from the starter relay. now pull that. if the pump shuts off than the relay is your problem. its a $35 fix. the coil inside that relay is tempramental and dosnt like to be jared and alot of time something as minute as pulling the battery cable fries it. the problem is when it fries. it fries as an open circut. so it will still turn. but it keep's the fuel pump running at full pressure. when you tested the fuel pressure was it at 39 or 30 psi? thats a good tell too if it is at 39 not running than the starter relay could be your problem.

not for sure this will help on your 94. but it sent me for a whirl on my 90. i think jeeps are the cause of early male pattern baldness. that problem proved it

xuv-this said:

THANKS at tdc the rotor is centered right on #1 so it's better to be slightly ahead?
ok. IAC. wasn't sure if that might have something to do with it. gonna remove the tps this time i know compression is under 100-don't think it has slung enough oil around to seal the head gasket well...
i will try that with the throttle after i take out and clean my plugs AGAIN...

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Actually the the intial setup is for the trailing edge of the rotor, to be 0.035 after number 1. This is recommended for earlier Rernix, may be the same for yours. A look in the book or FSM, will tell for sure.
Compression below 100, with a charged battery and all the plugs removed, is pretty low. 105 is a number I´ve heard, as being the low acceptable number.
If the plugs are oil fouling, it´s gonna start really hard. a little squirt of ether into the throttle body, may help get it going, after you´ve cleaned the plugs. Use the ether sparingly, it´s dangerous, it can blow and cause motor damage. Inside of the cylinders may be really oil fouled, enough oil (or oil/fuel mix) can cause the piston to lock (same thing as hydrolock). Take a look in the spark plug hole with a flashlight, you can often see quite a lot. Top of the piston wet? Puddle of oil or oil fuel mix in there? Try turning the motor over (purge it) with a charged battery, the plugs out, throttle full open, maybe even the fuel pump relay removed (or someway to keep more fuel from being dumped in there). Might even take a couple of small squirts of brake cleaner into the spark plug hole (with the plugs out) and turn the motor over a few times, to purge things a bit.

8Mud said:

Actually the the intial setup is for the trailing edge of the rotor, to be 0.035 after number 1. This is recommended for earlier Rernix, may be the same for yours. A look in the book or FSM, will tell for sure.

Click to expand...

That's not in the FSM, it was in a TSB. And it's 0.020, not 0.035. But the principle is the same. With the piston at TDC (compression stroke!), the trailing edge of the rotor should be BEYOND the contact in the cap with a gap of 0.020"

The only way to actually measure this is with a disposable cap that you cut away the side of around the #1 turret so you can get in there with a feeler gauge.

thanks! i found the starter relay, but where is the ballest resistor on a 95? -can't find it in the good ole' haynes manual. charged my battery last night, too. i'm at class right now, but will check all of this stuff this afternoon. anybody have trouble with ignition wiring on a mid 90's xj?

i believe the ballist is on the driver's side . right by the air cleaner box. it should have a plug going into it. you should see the oarange w/black tracer wire in that plug. it sould have a few other plugs going into it also. the one you want to pull is the biggest one.

Eagle said:

That's not in the FSM, it was in a TSB. And it's 0.020, not 0.035. But the principle is the same. With the piston at TDC (compression stroke!), the trailing edge of the rotor should be BEYOND the contact in the cap with a gap of 0.020"

The only way to actually measure this is with a disposable cap that you cut away the side of around the #1 turret so you can get in there with a feeler gauge.

Click to expand...

My bad, getting old, think I´ll recheck mine, now that I stand corrected. Think I set it at 0.035.

it aint' there... but my ecu is!!!
mabye i should pull that!:laugh2:

xuv-this said:

it aint' there... but my ecu is!!!
mabye i should pull that!:laugh2:

Click to expand...

It do get confussing, just about the time you learn one series they change it.
The last time I helped with a top end rebuild on a OBD I, one of us managed to crack the CPS, also clamped a wire between the head and the block. Think there were a few too many hands in there (there were five of us). it tried to start with the cracked CPS, then crapped out completely. The clamped wire blew a fuse.
Where is all the oil coming from in your cylinders? From the top or the bottom? I´m getting old and have worked on a whole bunch of different motors, the old brain is in need of some serious defrag. But I seem to remember it being possible for the O ring, to slip out of the slot in the valve, when reinstalling the valve retainers. One of those things you have to watch close during reassembly.

Another thought, you might want to check your intial setup, 100 compression sounds way low, especially if the pistons are oil soaked.
Go to TDC 1, put a curve into a piece of welding rod and stick it in the sparkplug hole. Rotate the motor by hand, a little left and right (like 1/8-1/4 turn) with the last motion to the right, to align the timeing mark. You can feel when the piston is at the top, with the welding rod (may take a couple of tries), why not make sure. Make sure the piston is TDC, then check to see if the number one intake and exhaust rockers are a little loose and can be wiggled a little left and right. If not rotate the motor a little left and right, watching the valves closley. The rockers (valves) should be as high as they go at TDC number 1 compression. Just a quick check without the dial gauge and degree wheel, to see if your close.

thanks again! its prolly something stupid like the wire in the head thing, or oil in a sensor plug. from what i understand (coming from a old guy that works at the dealership) : that a replaced head gasket will not completely seal right off unless both the block and head are spotlessly clean-not an easy task on those surfaces. ok. so the gasket will absorb a very little bit of fluid and soften everything enough to seal properly in the right spots. thats why he told me to squirt a little bit of atf in each plug hole.