Jeep overheated, then sat for a year, how to get started?

I just bought a Jeep that overheated a year ago, and havs been sitting ever since. The lady said it was running fine when she cut it off but did drive it a little after she saw it was overheating. It turns over fine, and before I put a new motor in this, I would try and see if I can get it started. Do you think it will start with the gas that is a year old? Starter Fluid? Any tips, I hate to go to a lot of trouble and then find out I need a new engine. Thanks

disconnect the fuel line on the undercarrige somewhere (it realy doesn't matter) and turn the key on, let the fuel pump pump out all the old gas.
Put a gallon or two of new gas in it.
What year, motor, tranny is it? There are different ways to go about using stater fluid on differnt types of fuel dilivery systems...

Thanks for the reply, it is a 1996 4.0 with the aw4 4x4.

I have no idea as to where you should put the starter fluid then... sorry. You probably won't need it though.

Pull the plugs, squirt a tablespoon of oil in each cylinder.

turn engine by the crank bolt after the oil in the cyl. replace plugs and add new gas. try to start and see what happens-- if no start, but cranks fine, try a short spray of starting fluid into the airbox.

--Shorty

Do you mean actually put some gas in each cylinder? Or just new gas in the tank. I siphoned all the old gas out, but I am not sure what to do about the gas in the lines. Thanks

new gas into tank- not cyl. as for the lines, I would pull the line at the rail and at the filter and blow through them to remove any old junk. Truthfully, though, I have bought much older vehicles that have sat for much longer and been able to run them on the old gas-- just expect the idle to suck for however much gas is left in the system!
good luck!
--Shorty

Thanks, I will give it a shot tomorrow, I am also going to check the compression in each cylinder. Do you see any reason why it would not start from overheating? I mean it turns over great, just want even sputter or anything, just turns over. Thanks

I missed the part that it turns over -- I wouldn't waste time with the oil in the cyl-- you've already spun it and either gotten oil up there or totally wiped the rings away (just kidding- but move on to why it's not starting)

see if you're getting fuel to the rail first-- if yes, we'll assume (temporarily) that you're in need of spark at the right time.
pull a plug and have someone crank the engine (at least three revolutions) see if there's spark-- if yes, you'll want to hit it with a timing light and see if the spark is at the correct time.

if fuel is to rail, and strong spark is at correct time, then you'll be looking at fuel pressure/volume and compression in the cyls.

do I see any reason why it wouldn't start after overheating?
yes, a REALLY warped head or cracked head Could cause it, but I would verify the three things needed to start first. Fuel/air mix compressed and spark at the right time.

best of luck and lemme know what you find!
--Shorty

Did she say what "overheated" means? Just the temp gauge in the red or loss of coolant? It has coolant? Others on this board have mentioned that an overheat can be bad for a thermostat so you might want to plan to change yours.
I bought a 96 that had sat for an unknown amount of time with a bad piston (and cracked head) due to what appears to have been a loss of most of the coolant. Even with no compression in one of the cylinders it ran. Roughly, but it ran.
Sitting for however long mine did allowed a lot of rust to form on the rocker arms, kind of like one of those crystal gardens so you might want to look in the oil fill cap and see if there's anything similar visible on the two you can kind of see through there. Consider changing the oil as what's there may have a significant amount of moisture in it and be who knows how old.
On the fuel question, since it took me 6 months to get the engine rebuilt I'd guess mine was sitting for at least a year. Pull the fuel line off the fuel injector rail and put a tin can or something under it, turn on the key till the pump runs and see if gas comes out. About 1/4 cup will come out and the pump will shut off (in a 96 anyway.) If it looks like gas (i.e., not jelly) I wouldn't worry about it. Fwiw, I added some sta-bil (gas storage stabilizer) and drigas (for water removal) and didn't encounter any issues starting it the first time with the new engine.

I am really not sure the exact story, I bought it from a guy who bought it from the county, so he just told me it overheated.

The Jeep is not getting any spark. I drained the fuel, it didn't start, checked for spark and none. I changed the CPS and coil and still no go. Any ideas? Thanks

This may be a dumb idea since I'm new to this Jeep thing, but I overheated an LT1, then let it sit for a year, and a small leak in the head gasket caused a world of hurt via moisture in the cylinder. Might not be a bad idea to pull the head and check them out.

Yeah, I figure there probably is damage, but shouldn't I still get some spark?

Yes, I would think you should still get spark, but do you really want to run it if there might be damage in the cylinder? That might just make it worse.

If you are worried about internal damage, you should do a compression test. You could also use a borescope to look inside the engine without taking it apart.

I already did a compression test and realized I had low compression on cylinder number 2. I really don't care if it causes anymore damage to the engine as I have a junk yard engine waiting if I need it. I just want to get spark and get it cranking. Thanks