96 XJ won't start

1996 XJ Sport 4.0, AW4

After coming back from a week long vacation, I found a large puddle of coolant under my xj. Found it was the heater control valve, so I picked up the part, pulled the jeep in the garage, (it started up ok) and fixed the valve. When I went to pull the jeep back into the driveway, it wouldn't start. It will crank over as it normally would, but won't fire. I was only able to check for spark, and swap in a new fuel filter before I ran out of light, and time. The spark seems fine, and the fuel that came out of the old filter was nasty looking, but I can hear the fuel pump when I turn the key. I wasn't able to get it going before I had to call it a night. I'm just trying to get an idea of where I should go next. Could it possibly be the fuel pump from pushing the fuel through a clogged filter? Any help would be greatly appreciated since the XJ is my daily and I can only borrow a car for a couple days.

I know this may sound dumb, but last time I had a problem starting the 97, I was trying to jump it because I had left the key in the run position and it was really weak, anyway, I could not get it to start but it was cranking great. I have become so familiar with all the typical xj problems, so I found myself trying to troubleshoot it, and it turned out it was just flooded. When I finally gave up ALL other ideas, I put the pedal all the way to the floor, and it started right up. Took a minute to clear the fuel flood, but I wish I had tried that first... just a thought. I hope yours is a simple problem...

How did you verify that the spark is okay? A weak spark (orange/yellow in color) may not start the engine.

Try spraying some starting fluid into the intake. If it starts and runs momentarily, you have now confirmed that you have a fuel delivery problem, not an ignition (spark) issue. Testing fuel pressure at the schrader valve on the fuel rail may also be helpful.

BTW, I don't see any relationship to your changing the heater control valve and the no-start unless you did other work at the same time.

Good luck and post back what you find!

The only way I verified that it had spark was just by putting a screwdriver into the plug wire and grounding it out while it was cranking over. I really didn't have much time to mess with it yesterday, so I'm gonna go out and take a more in depth look at things and see if I can troubleshoot the problem. I know the heater control valve is unrelated, but just found it odd that it started and ran fine, and then 10 min later wouldn't start. Thanks for the replies, and I'll post my findings. I'm still open to ideas until I can find the source of the problem!

Alright, here's where I'm at. I've been messing with it for a little bit, and have confirmed that there is a steady stream of fuel coming from the fuel rail when checked from the schrader valve. I tried just plain holding the throttle wide open while trying to start it, and it actually started up, but will only run with my foot on the throttle holding it above idle. As soon as I let off the gas, it dies immediately. It's not throwing any codes, so I'm not sure where to go from here. Seems like a fuel delivery problem of some sort?

Holding the throttle open doesn't give it more fuel, it gives it more air, then the O2 sensor adjusts the fuel to the air. Squirt some spray oil into your IAC opening, maybe it is as simple as s sticky IAC piston, or the coolant is partially grounding out your 12 volt power someplace making the IAC sluggish.
Coolant is some nasty stuff, it is much more conductive than plain water, you may have some coolant on the distributor and/or a connector that is messing with your either your ASD circuits (12 volt) or sensor circuits.
Does it miss when it runs?
Really hot water in a watering can (or bucket) works about as well as anything else for rinsing off coolant. High pressure cleaners seem to be overkill and sometime force water into places that are undesirable. Cold water out of the hose doesn't rinse coolant off as well as hot water does.

AZ XJ said:

Alright, here's where I'm at. I've been messing with it for a little bit, and have confirmed that there is a steady stream of fuel coming from the fuel rail when checked from the schrader valve. I tried just plain holding the throttle wide open while trying to start it, and it actually started up, but will only run with my foot on the throttle holding it above idle. As soon as I let off the gas, it dies immediately. It's not throwing any codes, so I'm not sure where to go from here. Seems like a fuel delivery problem of some sort?

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I had a 99 that would not start unless I gave it some gas. I replaced the IAC, everything back to normal.

Well it seems like the problem is solved. I got it started by holding the throttle open, and then holding the rpms at around 1500 and slowly decreasing them until it was idling on it's own. It seems to have just cleared up after running for a couple minutes. It now starts, runs, and drives fine. I'm still not sure of the original issue, but like I said in the OP, the fuel that came out of the old filter was terribly disgusting. I had drained it into a cup and let it sit overnight, and after it had settled there was quite a bit of sediment in the bottom of the cup. I imagine that it may have played a part. I'll just keep an eye on things for a couple days and see if anything else pops up. Thanks everybody who offered a hand, it is and was very appreciated.

Yup... that's exactly what happened to me... as I said... you just needed to keep her running while it cleared all the excess fuel. I was lucky, and figured it out before I started the major troubleshooting. Weird how it had just happened to me, and I was afraid I would be way off base with the advice, but glad to hear you're back up and running!

Thanks again for the advice, it was weird treating it like it's carbureted, but I'm really happy it worked. So it's all back up and running, but it's just my freakin luck that it got broken into last night, and had the stereo and satellite radio stolen out of it. One step forward and two steps back... lol

Damn, that really sucks!!!! Removable faceplate, I never forget to take mine off... Stereo upgrade time!!!